Orne (river)

For the river Orne in Lorraine, see Orne (Moselle).

Orne
The Orne in Caen
Origin	Aunou-sur-Orne
Mouth	English Channel
Basin countries	France
Length	170 km (110 mi)
Source elevation	240 m (790 ft)
Avg. discharge	27.5 m3/s (970 cu ft/s) at mouth
Basin area	2,932 km2 (1,132 sq mi)

The Orne (Ptolemeus Olina) is a river in Normandy, within northwestern France. It discharges into the English Channel at the port of Ouistreham. Its source is in Aunou-sur-Orne, east of Sées. The Odon is one of its tributaries.

The Orne flows through the following departments and towns:

• Orne (named after the river): Sées, Argentan
• Calvados: Thury-Harcourt, Caen, Ouistreham

Name

The name of the Orne river in Normandy, which is referred to as the Olina by Ptolemy, is a homonym of Fluvius Olne, the Orne saosnoise in Sarthe, which Xavier Delamarre traces back to the Celtic olīnā (elbow).

Hydrology and water quality

The waters of the Orne are typically moderately turbid and brown in colour. pH levels of the Orne have been measured at 8.5 at the town of St. Andre sur Orne where summer water temperatures approximate 18 degrees Celsius. Electrical conductivity of the Orne has been measured at 30 micro-Siemens per centimeter.

See also

• St. Andre sur Orne
• Canal de Caen à la Mer

Notes

• The Orne at the Sandre database