{Chapter 3

Par 5: Onwards to the sea

Rhine divided into sections: Oberrhein

= Upper Rhine Plain

Upper Rhine graben: when the surface is stretched out too much, the continent breaks and become a much lower part than the surrounding area.

In the Upper Rhine graben, the valley is approximately 50 km wide

Graben or rift :The earth’s crust is extended and afterwards collapsed. Horst: higher surrounding area’s.

HorstHorst

Basel: start of the middle course of the Rhine wide river, no mountains in the area.

Meanders: gentile bends in the river

The forming of meanders: sediments transported in the river batter the walls of the river. Fast flowing water cause erosion of the outer bend, slow flowing water causes sedimentation/ deposition on the inner bend.

Because of the deposition, the bends are growing

Oxbow lake: a U-shaped lake formed when a wide meander is cut off to create a lake.

meander

Middle Rhine: deeper and narrower valley

Romantic Rhine: Along the middle course of the Rhine there are a lot of castles (burgs)

The lower Rhine: almost no relief a wide, flat river valley

Drop (verhang): the fall (verval) of a river per kilometre

Length 1 238,8 kmHeight (source) 1 602 mFall 1 602 m (from source to sea level)Drop 1,214 m/km

Altitude 12mAltitude 0 m

Fall in the Netherlands 12 mDrop in the Netherlands

Length 150 m

v-shaped valley