Note préliminaire sur l'hydrologie de l'étang de Thau (Température et salinité)

The study of the fauna and flora in a pond requires a good knowledge of this environment's physico-chemical conditions. Gourret (1897), Pavillard (1905), Sudry (1911), then more recently Mathias and Tcherniakofsky (1932), Fatemi (1938), Tuzet (1947) and J. Escot-Molinie (1955) provided information on the temperature, salinity, density, PH, etc. of one of the largest ponds of the lower Languedoc, that of Thau. However, for a century, the water exchange between the pond and the Mediterranean Sea has often differed. These changes (the most recent ones being among the most interesting) have modified its hydrology. This is one of the main reasons which lead us to carry out this study. This study which started at the end of winter 1954-1955 is still in process, and was extended to the ponds of Salses-Leucate and of Corsica. We present in this work the first results obtained in Thau. The first part will deal with a few general facts as well as a description of the meteorological factors impacting the pond's hydrology. In the second part, we will provide data about this hydrology.