Venice: High Water 1 by sandra46
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Description
Acqua alta (high water) is a phenomenon which generally takes place in Venice in winter time, when a combination of astronomical tide, strong scirocco wind (warm south-east wind pushing Adriatic waters towards the Venetian Gulf) and seiche (the periodic movement of sea waters, a sort of long wave which washes all Adriatic coasts ) can cause a larger inflow of water into the Venetian Lagoon. Conventionally, in Venice, a sea level higher than 80 cm above the local datum of Punta Salute, is called "acqua alta": at this level height a lot of problems about transport and pedestrian use of roads in lowest sides of the town (St. Mark's Square) arise. When tide gets over 100 cm, the phenomenon involves a bigger part of pedestrian routes. When the tide exceeds 100 cm (5% of public land flooded), the phenomenon begins to affect larger sections of the city. At an altitude of +110 cm, about 12% of the city is affected by flooding. But when you reach the +140 cm, is flooded about 59% of the city.
When I took this photo of one of the very many campielli (small squares, literally small fields) the tide had been rising for some hours, but was not exceptionally high, and the boat did not risk to enter the Church.
Thanks for your kind comments.
Comments (31)
alanwilliams
such beautiful colours
Radar_rad-dude
Wow! Imagine that! A most amazing image and informative descriptive! Thanks for sharing with us, Sandra! Most excellent photo and read!
Richardphotos
a beautiful city and I wondered before about high tide and strong storms causing havoc with the city. beautiful buildings and capture
Leije
Very interesting infos and impressive capture with the water level !
CarolusB
I remember this square - can't remember its name - luckily, it was rather drier when I was there last year.
giulband
Hello Sandra! When have you taken this beautiful shot? I was in Venice friday to see a photographic exposithion of Salgado and one of Fontana. If you are here I suggest you to see both this exhibitions are absolutely great!!!
Jean_C
Superb and impressive shot, the water is near the houses! Thanks for the interesting infos!
bazza
If that water gets to high it will be entering buildings.. Great capture Sandra.
durleybeachbum
That is so interesting! Your photos of Venice make it look more colourful than I believed it to be. I like it!
claude19
impressive capture...wonderful comment about this high water !!!
drifterlee
That's really high, Sandra. Beautiful shot!
whaleman
Wonderful photo! I find this all so hard to imagine living there and maintaining those buildings...just amazing!
eekdog
such a pristine photo, Sandra. great info..
Celart
Great capture and beautiful colors. Very well done
jeroni
Excellent work and perfect realisation
magnus073
Sandra, you did a superb job on this presentation. As always I leave you're gallery a bit wiser having learned about what an effect the high tides can have on Venice. The view here is breathtaking, and I would very much like to know where you were in order to make this perfect capture.
Faemike55
and there are those who will say that there is nothing wrong with the climate! Great capture
sandra46
Actually it doesn't! The climate has nothing to do with the phenomenon. In fact it has existed since the end of the Ice Age and the formation of the Venetian lower fluvial plain. Every 2-3, sometimes 4-5 centuries there is a cycle of marine inflow, followed by a cycle of marine outflow. Unfortunately today we are in a cycle of inflow of the sea into the lagoon. I'll explain it in the next posts. Ciao! Sandra
blinkings
WOW that is high.
jayfar
Super colour saturation Sandra and a great image.
dakotabluemoon
Wonderful image here my friend.
jac204
Interesting information and nice capture.
erlandpil
excellent photo erland
virginiese Online Now!
Great capture. Thanks for the explanations too !
mickeyrony
Surely so bad moments they passed by thoses crues...((5++))
Hendesse
A lot of water but a very nice photo. I like the colors.
Valeriya
Awesome!
soffy
Wonderful capture and so beautiful colors,thanks for the interesting info:)**
danapommet
Excellent information my friend and I did realize that there was occasional flooding but I did not realize that it could be this high. A fantastic photo Sandra and I love to learn new information - thank you!
jocko500
wow this is cool looking .
anahata.c
Fascinating about the tides, etc: I'd read about the major floods of Venice---I mean the immensely destructive ones---and they sound nightmarish. This shot itself is stunning, because I'd not seen a shot of high tide in Venice before. (I realize, of course, that "high tide" is a general term, much more common in other places than the variety of tides you have in Venice. I mean it only generally.) It's wonderful to see this capture, because we can see how the water has begun engulfing the thoroughfares, and how it approaches entering the buildings. I wonder how Venetians feel when they see the waters rise---but I suppose that, after knowing the odds of serious destruction, they treat it the way a Midwesterner would treat a threatening sky: Storms will come, for sure, but tornadoes, only rarely. But boy that water is high... The shot is filled with saturated hues, and the composition is all weighted to the left (our left), and then balanced off by much more white sky on the right. Plus the boat---in that opposing blue (opposing the rich red behind it)---moors us towards the center. It's a busy but elegant photo, and I really like its complexity, its music. Venice looks like a continually rich city, with a real pile-up of architectural forms and facades. It almost reminds me of New Orleans, even though they're very different places. But your capture pulses with rich hue and form, and it's quite inviting and charming---for all that high water.