Orne (river)

Orne
Orne
	The Orne in Caen
Location
Country	France
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Aunou-sur-Orne
• elevation	240 m (790 ft)
Mouth
• location	English Channel
• coordinates	49°16′42″N 0°13′34″W / 49.27833°N 0.22611°WCoordinates: 49°16′42″N 0°13′34″W / 49.27833°N 0.22611°W
Length	170 km (110 mi)
Basin size	2,932 km2 (1,132 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	27.5 m3/s (970 cu ft/s)

The Orne (French: [ɔʁn] (listen)) is a river in Normandy, within northwestern France. It is 170 km (110 mi) long.^[1] It discharges into the English Channel at the port of Ouistreham. Its source is in Aunou-sur-Orne, east of Sées. Its main tributaries are the Odon and the Rouvre.

The Orne flows through the following departments and towns:

Orne (named after the river): Sées, Argentan
Calvados: Thury-Harcourt, Caen, Ouistreham

Name[]

The name of the Orne in Normandy, which is referred to as the Olinas by Ptolemy,^[2] is a homonym of Fluvius Olne, the Orne saosnoise in Sarthe, which Xavier Delamarre traces back to the Celtic olīnā (elbow).

Hydrology and water quality[]

The waters of the Orne are typically moderately turbid and brown in colour. pH levels of the Orne have been measured at 8.5^[3] at the town of St. Andre sur Orne where summer water temperatures approximate 18 degrees Celsius. Electrical conductivity of the Orne has been measured at 30 micro-Siemens per centimeter.

References[]

^ Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - L'Orne (I2--0200)".
^ Smith, William, ed. (1857). "Olinas". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. 2. London: John Murray. p. 473–474.
^ Hogan, C Michael, Water quality of freshwater bodies in France, Lumina Press, Aberdeen 2006