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TheGulf of Lion orGulf of Lions[1] is a wideembayment of theMediterranean coastline ofCatalonia inSpain withLanguedoc-Roussillon andProvence inFrance, extending fromBegur in the west toToulon in the east.
The chief port on the gulf isMarseille. Toulon is another important port. The fishing industry in the gulf is based onhake (Merluccius merluccius), being bottom-trawled, long-lined and gill-netted and currently declining fromoverfishing.
Rivers that empty into the gulf include theTech,Têt,Aude,Orb,Hérault,Vidourle, and theRhône.
Thecontinental shelf is exposed here as a wide coastal plain, and the offshore terrain slopes rapidly to the Mediterranean'sabyssal plain. Much of the coastline is composed of lagoons andsalt marsh.
This is the area of the cold, blustery winds called theMistral and theTramontane.[clarification needed]
The current name of the gulf appeared at least during the 13th century (in medievalLatinsinus Leonis,mare Leonis) and could come from comparison with alion: it would simply suggest that this part of the sea is as dangerous as a lion because it has very violent, surprising winds that threaten boats (sailors and fishermen know these dangers very well[2]). This comparison with a lion is suggested by various converging sources: Deroy and Mulon's dictionary of French place names,[3]Mistral's comprehensiveOccitan dictionary,[4]Diderot andD'Alembert's famousFrench encyclopedia[5] and several texts in Latin since the 13th century.[6][7]
These sources, especially Deroy and Mulon, Diderot and D'Alembert, reject the hypothesis according to which the name would be related to the city ofLyon, since it is too far from the gulf.
A former name inclassical Latin duringRoman antiquity wassinus Gallicus (that is, "Gallic gulf").
The Gulf of Lion is not a simplepassive continental margin; it results fromOligocene-Miocene anti-clockwise rotation of theCorsican-Sardinian Block against the EuropeanCraton. This extension rejuvenated a very complex tectonic framework inherited from the Tethyan evolution and the Pyrenean orogeny. The Eocenemountain-building event that built the Pyrenees compressed and thickened the entire crust. Oil geologists predict that there will be considerable oil deposits at the seaward margins of the gulf.
The gulf's bottom topography,the Mistral, extended cold weather, and evaporation combine to create a sinking of surface waters which forms the Levantine Intermediate Water of the Mediterranean Sea.[8]
The Gulf of Lion is notable, according to C. Michael Hogan, for occurrences of biodiversity associated with the reef building organismLophelia pertusa.[9]
A wind park is planned.[10]
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42°59′47″N4°00′01″E / 42.99639°N 4.00028°E /42.99639; 4.00028
