Abstract
A bathymetric survey of an Amazon floodplain lake adjacent to the Trombetas River, the Lake Batata
(Pará State, Brazil), was done in order to characterize the lake morphology. This study serve as a tool for
limnological interpretation data and in environmental impact assessment due to the disposal of tailings
from bauxite processing. Lake area, volume, shoreline lenght, maximum effective length and width,
shoreline development, maximum, relative and mean depth, volume development and a hypsographic curve
were calculated. Lake Batata is shallow (mean depth 2.19 m) and its area is approximately 18 km² at low
water level. Based on the configuration of the shoreline, the lake can be divided into differents compartments: the main body, the bay, the channel and the outlet. The basin of the lake is slightly convex with a
typical U-shaped configuration. The lake is submitted to a significant seasonal variation of its surface area
and shoreline lenght. The distribution of maximum effective fetch, at the main body, is coincident with the
maximum turbidity values, evidencing the wind effect over the lake.
