Muskauer Heide
The Muskauer Heide , in Upper Sorbian Mužakowska hola , is a natural area in Saxony and is located south of Bad Muskau .
It is a flat undulating terrace area underlayed over long stretches of Miocene brown coal seams at an altitude of 120 to 170 m. The dunes, which were blown up around 10,000 years ago in the postglacial of the Vistula Ice Age, form one of the largest inland dune areas in Germany. Between Nochten and Rietschen it extends around 30–40 km. These dunes were formed by prevailing west-east winds. The southernmost forms a sharp border with the Upper Lusatian heath and pond area . For the inexperienced, the dunes can often not be seen as such due to their vegetation.
In general, dry and nutrient-poor sand locations are dominant. Gley , bog and moor soils can be found in lowlands close to the groundwater .
The climate of the Muskauer Heide is weakly continental, with warm dry summers with long fair weather conditions and cold winters. At 650 mm, the annual precipitation is still quite high in relation to the north-west Saxon dry areas, but since the water seeps away through the sands very quickly, the risk of forest fires in this area is relatively high.
The potential natural vegetation is birch and oak / pine forests. Due to forestry, pine monocultures can be found in many areas today. Other areas, on the other hand, are still very valuable ecologically, such as in the northwestern part of the Weißwasser jungle and the Trebendorf zoo .
Coordinates: 51 ° 27 ′ 34.4 " N , 14 ° 47 ′ 57.4" E