Key Facts about Seine River

About Seine River:

• It is France’s second-longest river after the Loire, covering a distance of 775 kilometers. 
• This river has a drainage basin, known as the Paris Basin, of approximately 79,000 square kilometers and drains mainly northern France. 
• Course:
  • It rises 446 meters above sea level in the wine-making region of Burgundy, near the town of Dijon.
  • As the Seine approaches Paris, it is joined by the Marne, one of its largest tributaries, on the right bank.
  • It flows through Paris for about 13 kilometers from west to east.
  • It finally empties into the English Channel, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating northern France and southern England. 
• Most of the river basin is formed of permeable rocks, the absorptive capacity of which mitigates the risk of river floods.
• The basin receives modest annual precipitation ranging from 650 to 750 millimeters.
• It is one of Europe’s great historic rivers, and its drainage network carries most of the French inland waterway traffic.

Q1: What is permeability?

The ease with which fluid is transmitted through a rock's pore space is called permeability. Although a rock may be very porous, it is not necessarily very permeable. Permeability is a measure of how interconnected the individual pore spaces are in a rock or sediment. A sandstone is typically porous and permeable. Shales are porous but have a lower permeability because the finer grain size creates smaller pore spaces.

Source: Seine River in Paris still too polluted for Olympic events as opening ceremony looms