Elbe glacial valley
The Elbe-Urstromtal is a wide valley in the North German lowlands , which was formed in the Vistula Ice Age by the meltwater of the Scandinavian inland ice . Today's Elbe flows over a length of around 300 kilometers from Genthin ( Saxony-Anhalt ) to its mouth in the North Sea through the glacial valley .
course
The Elbe glacial valley is - in contrast to other glacial valleys - neither dried out nor silted up, but leads today's river Elbe approx. From the height of the city of Genthin. To the northwest of the Elbe estuary near Cuxhaven , the Elbe glacial valley continues below the North Sea and leads south past Heligoland to the White Bank.
In the area of the Lower Elbe in particular , the former course of the primary stream is clearly visible. From Hamburg-Bergedorf to Geesthacht, a Geest slope up to 50 meters high remains , which formed the former bank. The current bank of the Elbe suburbs is also identical to that of the primary river.
history
The Elbe glacial valley was probably formed between the coldest section of the Vistula Ice Age about 22,000 to 18,000 years ago and the end of the glaciation of northern Germany about 14,500 years ago. At that time the glaciers were melting; the Elbe glacial valley absorbed the meltwater and led it into the North Sea , which at that time was up to 120 m below today's level. The coastline at that time was about 600 km further north.
The Elbe-Urstromtal took in the meltwater of the Glogau-Baruther Urstromtales , Warsaw-Berlin Urstromtales and Thorn-Eberswalder Urstromtales one after the other and discharged it in the direction of the North Sea basin . In the further course the Weser probably also flowed into the Elbe glacial valley.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Klaus Figge: The Elbe glacial valley in the area of the German Bight . In: Deutsche Quartärvereinigung e. V. (Ed.): Ice Age and Present . tape 30 , no. 1 , January 23, 1980, ISSN 0424-7116 , p. 203–211 , doi : 10.3285 / eg.30.1.16 ( publiss.net [PDF; 5.2 MB ; accessed on March 19, 2017]). The Elbe glacial valley in the area of the German Bight ( memento of the original from March 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
