Geest is a type of

landform A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, m ...

, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established ...

. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

s formed as a glacial

outwash plain An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and ca ...

and now usually mantled by a heathland vegetation on the

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

deposits left behind after the last ice age during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

epoch.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 214. . The term ''

geest Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash plai ...

'' is a substantivisation of the Low German adjective ''güst'', which means "dry and infertile". It is an

Old Drift Old and Young Drift are geographic names given to the morainic landscapes that were formed in Central Europe; the Old Drift during the older ice ages and the Young Drift during the latest glaciations – the Weichselian in North Germany and ...

landscape, characterised by the sandy depositions of the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. In the depressions between the raised flats are wet meadows and, where drainage is poor, bogs. Geest lands are made up of

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice she ...

s and sandurs. They are almost always next to flat

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

lands, the geest being higher and better protected against flood but, compared to the marsh, with poor soil for agriculture. Where the geest borders the sea directly, sand

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coa ...

s exist. The oldest settlements in Northern Germany and Denmark lie on geest, since it provided better protection against

storm flood A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the no ...

s. Many important towns are on the boundary between geest and marshland where people could enjoy the flood-protection of the geest but still use the much more fertile soil in the marsh. Examples of regions characterised by geest are: * the

Burgdorf-Peine Geest The Burgdorf-Peine Geest (german: Burgdorf-Peiner Geest) is a geest landscape, dominated by end and ground moraines, between Hanover and Brunswick in North Germany, with an area of about . Its natural borders are the Aller depression in the nort ...

* the

Cloppenburg Geest The Cloppenburg Geest (german: Cloppenburger Geest) is a geest region near the town of Cloppenburg in North Germany and the centre of the Saalian glaciation Upper Pleistocene terrain of the Ems-Hunte Geest region. The meltwater sands (''Schmelz ...

near

Cloppenburg Cloppenburg (; nds, Cloppenborg; stq, Kloppenbuurich) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of Cloppenburg District and part of Oldenburg Münsterland. It lies 38 km south-south-west of Oldenburg in the Weser-Ems region between Br ...

* the geest hillsides between

Wedel Wedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately south of Elmshorn, and west of Hamburg. History Foundation and Middle Ages The first known mention of ...

, Altona and

Hamburg-Neustadt Neustadt (, literally: "New town") is one of the inner-city districts of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. History By 1529, Hamburg was firmly anchored in Lutheran Reformation and had successfully managed to divert its trade awa ...

and between Hamburg-St. Georg,

Bergedorf Bergedorf () is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, named after Bergedorf quarter within this borough. In 2020 the population of the borough was 130,994. History The city of Bergedorf received town privileges in 1275, then ...

Geesthacht Geesthacht () is the largest city in the District of the Duchy of Lauenburg (Herzogtum Lauenburg) in Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany, south-east of Hamburg on the right bank of the River Elbe. History A church was built in what is today ...

and

Lauenburg Lauenburg (), or Lauenburg an der Elbe ( en, Lauenberg on the Elbe), is a town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the northern bank of the river Elbe, east of Hamburg. It is the southernmost town of Schleswig-Holstei ...

north of the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

(see also:

Elbe Urstromtal The Elbe Urstromtal (german: Elbe-Urstromtal) refers to the present-day valley of the Elbe over a length of around between the German town of Genthin, Saxony-Anhalt, and the Elbe's mouth into the North Sea near Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony. The '' urst ...

) * the central geest areas of the islands of

Amrum Amrum (; ''Öömrang'' North Frisian: ''Oomram'') is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and has ...

Föhr Föhr ( ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; da, Før) is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest N ...

and

Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is th ...

* the

Hanoverian Moor Geest The Hanoverian Moor Geest (german: Hannoversche Moorgeest) is a gently rolling landscape between Hanover and Nienburg in the German state of Lower Saxony covering an area of around . It belongs to the raised bog regions of northwest Germany, which ...

* the Heide-Itzehoe Geest * the Linteln Geest near Kirchlinteln * the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Brem ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

* the Rehden Geest Moor * the Schleswig Geest * the

Stade Geest The Stade Geest (German: ''Stader Geest''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Stoder Geest'') is a natural region of low, sandy heath (geest) in the North German Plain. It includes a large part of the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the cities of Hamburg, Bremen a ...

near

Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is ...

(including the

Zeven Geest The Zeven Geest (german: Zevener Geest), which is part of the Stade Geest, is an area of sandy terrain in the northeast of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is named after the town of Zeven. Geography The Zeven Geest lies in the Elbe-Weser T ...

and Wesermünde Geest) * the Wildeshausen Geest in

* the

Wingst Wingst () is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Wingst belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the Duchy of Bremen, which was ...

northwest of Hemmoor (Lower Saxony)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Oronyms

See also

References

External links