Vesle
| Vesle | |
|---|---|
The Vesle at Muizon.
|
|
| Country | France |
| Basin features | |
| Main source | 187 m (614 ft) |
| River mouth |
Aisne 49°23′34″N 3°28′7″E / 49.39278°N 3.46861°ECoordinates: 49°23′34″N 3°28′7″E / 49.39278°N 3.46861°E |
| Progression | Aisne→ Oise→ Seine→ English Channel |
| Basin size | 1,460 km2 (560 sq mi) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | 140 km (87 mi) |
| Discharge |
|
The Vesle is the river on which the city of Reims stands. It is a fourth order river of France and a left-bank tributary of the Aisne. It is 140 kilometres long, rises in the département of Marne through which it flows most of its course.
The Vesle flows through the following départements and towns:
It rises at an altitude of about 187 metres, on the dip slope of the Upper Cretaceous chalk, near the village of Somme-Vesle, east of Châlons-en-Champagne. Though still passing through the chalk country, it soon begins to flow on its own Holocene deposits. It passes through Reims (latitude 49° 15’ 57’’ N, longitude 4° 1’ 46’’ E). On leaving the city's western outskirts, it enters the much more wooded landscape of the Eocene geology. The info box photograph shows the Vesle as it passes through fen carr, a little downstream from Reims. Halfway From Reims to Soissons, at Fismes (Latitude 49° 18' 28" N Longitude 03° 40' 53" E) the river receives the river Ardre from its left bank. At Condé-sur-Aisne, having descended to an altitude of about 45 metres, the Vesle joins the Aisne River.
From Sept Saulx, some 20 km. above Reims, and into the city, the river is paralleled by the Aisne to Marne Canal. Below Reims, its valley accommodates the road, now the N31/E46, between the two former Gaulish tribal centres of Reims and Soissons.
The Vesle is a river of medium flow, like most which come from the chalkland of the Champagne-Ardenne région. Its flow was recorded over a period of 34 years (1967-2000), at Braine, in the department of Aisne. That is to say a little short of its confluence with the Aisne. The catchment area down to this point is 1,440 km², very nearly the whole basin.
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Wikipedia