Glogau-Baruther glacial valley
The Glogau-Baruther Urstromtal , usually referred to as the Baruther Urstromtal for short in Germany , was created around 21,000 years ago as a drainage path for meltwater during the maximum expansion of the Weichselian inland ice . It is thus the southernmost and oldest of the three large glacial glacial valleys in Brandenburg .
course
The Glogau-Baruther glacial valley stretches from the Polish city of Głogów , from the confluence of the Barycz River into the Oder in a west-north-west direction south of Krosno Odrzańskie (Krossen an der Oder) and Zielona Góra (Grünberg), north of Forst and Cottbus , the Oberspreewald , via Baruth / Mark and Luckenwalde , south of Brandenburg on the Havel via Genthin to Tangermünde on the Elbe . From the confluence of the Elbe into the Baruther glacial valley west of Genthin to the mouth of the Elbe near Cuxhaven , one speaks of the Elbe glacial valley . While the old moraine land, which was shaped by the Saale Ice Age, is located south of the valley , to the north is the fresh young moraine land , which owes its origin to the ice or the melt waters of the Vistula Ice Age. In many places, according to the glacial series Sander, form the northern boundary of the valley ( Lieberoser Heide , Brandsander , Baruther Heide, Zauchesander and others). The sands are bounded in the north by the terminal moraines of the Brandenburg ice edge .
Landscape image
The Baruther glacial valley typically has an almost table-level bottom with a width that varies greatly between 2 and 20 km. Only in places, like between Baruth and Luckenwalde, are higher glacial tiger races preserved. The valley slopes, however, are only a few meters to a few dozen meters high. The valley floor originally consisted of meltwater sand. However, by ( periglacial ) processes, extensive dune fields in the Baruther glacial valley were blown up (e.g. near Horstwalde ), which noticeably enliven the monotonous relief. As a post-glacial formation, the large bogs are particularly important. Over long stretches they shape the character of the glacial valley as a wetland. When the groundwater level is low (e.g. northwest of Baruth / Mark ), however, dry pine forests dominate. To the west of the Lusatian Neisse , the natural landscape has been largely destroyed by the Jänschwalde and Cottbus-Nord opencast mines . Today the typical character of the glacial valley only emerges from the Spreewald .
particularities
The Baruther glacial valley probably fell dry after a few hundred or thousand years when the inland ice melted back to the north and exposed low-lying areas. This quickly attracted the meltwater. That is why the Baruther glacial valley has passages to the north and northwest at several points. Therefore, between the Baruther glacial valley in the south and the Berlin glacial valley in the north, there are numerous smaller " glacial valley-like" drainage routes, the so-called glacial valleys , which were surely only briefly flowed through by meltwater when the Berlin glacial valley was not yet fully operational. The areas protruding from the glacial valleys like islands are called plates .
Rivers in the glacial valley
The following rivers use the Glogau-Baruther glacial valley from east to west:
- Barycz (German Bartsch ), tributary of the Oder
- Or
- Bober , tributary of the Oder
- Lusatian Neisse , tributary of the Oder
- Spree , tributary of the Havel
- Dahme , tributary of the Spree
- Nuthe , tributary of the Havel
- Plane , tributary of the Havel
- Temnitz , tributary of the Plane
- Buckau , tributary of the Havel
Since the landscape north of the Baruther glacial valley is mostly deeper than the glacial valley itself, most rivers leave the Glogau-Baruther glacial valley after a short walk to the north. Only the Elbe follows the glacial valley over a longer path.
Landscapes within the Baruther glacial valley
Sections of the Baruther glacial valley in Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt sometimes have their own historically grown landscape names:
- The Oberspreewald
- The name Baruther Urstromtal is particularly popular in the section between Lübben via Baruth to Luckenwalde and is now common property there (see community Nuthe-Urstromtal ). The Flemming meadows are also located in this section .
- The Belziger landscape meadows
- The Free Havelbruch
- The Fiener Bruch
- The Bücknitz Heath