Plate (geomorphology)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Landscape structure of Brandenburg; The subdivision into slabs and lowlands is particularly noticeable in central Brandenburg

A plate or plateau (not to be confused with the plate term from plate tectonics ) is generally used in geomorphology to describe plateaus or plateaus that rise only a few to a few dozen meters above their surrounding area.

Definition

This term has established itself, for example, in the North German lowlands , where higher-lying areas that are completely surrounded by glacial valleys and other lowlands are referred to as 'plate'. The height differences to the surrounding lowlands are between a few meters and a maximum of around 150 m at the transition from the Oderbruch near Bad Freienwalde (Oder) to Barnim .

The term is also used in the area of ​​the Rhineland loess plates, as well as the Gäu plates in the southern German layer level country or in the gravel plates of the Alpine foothills (examples are the Donau-Iller-Lech plate or the Parndorfer plate ).

Plates in Northern Germany

With the exception of the glacial valleys, slabs consist of all other components of the glacial series . In terms of area, the ground moraines predominate in front of the sand and the terminal moraines .

Slabs are particularly widespread in central Brandenburg , in northern Saxony-Anhalt (the Altmark ) and in Lower Saxony . In the area around the North Sea , the plates belong to the Geest .

Slabs are usually named after the largest place on them. Often, when panels form closed cultural landscapes, they also have traditional landscape names. In West Brandenburg the plates are also known as 'Ländchen'.

Well-known records are:

Loess plates

In the European lowlands and especially in the Rhineland there are numerous slabs of loess. Well-known loess plates are: