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Loch Ness is one of a series of interconnected, murky lochs in Scotland that were carved by glaciers during previous ice ages. Quite large and deep, Loch Ness has exceptionally low water visibility due to a high peat content in the surrounding soil.

Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area at 56.4 square km (21.8 mile²) but due to its extreme depth is the largest by volume. At its deepest part 226 m (740 ft) London's Telecom Tower at 189 m (620 ft) would be completely submerged.

Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the fabled monster, " Nessie", the Loch Ness monster, although it is scenic in its own right. Boat cruises operate from various locations along its shores giving tourists the chance to look for the monster.

It also acts as the lower storage reservoir for the Foyers pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme, which was the first of its kind in Britain. The turbines were originally used to provide power for a nearby mill, but now electricityElectricity is a property of certain subatomic particles, such as electrons and protons, that gives rise to attractive and repulsive forces between them. It is one of the four fundamental forces of nature, and is a conserved property of matter that can be is generated and supplied to the National GridFor the mapping grid, see British national grid reference system The National Grid is the electric power transmission network in Great Britain. See also CEGB National Grid Company plc Scottish Power..

At its southwestern end, near Fort Augustus, one can see the only island on Loch Ness. Cherry Island is an example of a CrannogA crannog is the name given in Scotland and Ireland to an artificial island or natural island, used for a settlement and usually linked to shore with a timber gangway or stone causeway. The name can also be used to refer to wooden platforms erected on sha ( artificial islandMexico City, Tenochtitlan was an artificial island of 250,000 ( Dr Atl) Dejima, not allowed direct contact with nearby Nagasaki An artificial island is an island that has been formed by human, rather than natural means. It is usually constructed on an exis generally from the Iron AgeIn mythology, the Iron Age is the age following the golden, silver and bronze ages and characterized by a general degeneration of talent and virtue, and of literary excellence. In Roman literature the Iron Age is commonly regarded as beginning after the t).