The Schwalm (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
) or Swalm (
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
), is a small
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
and the
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 Netherl ...
, tributary to the river
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...
. Its source is near
Wegberg
Wegberg (; li, Berk ) is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Wegberg is situated between Mönchengladbach in the northeast and Erkelenz in the southeast; the town of Rheindahlen is to ...
, in the
district Heinsberg, south-west of
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.
Geography Municipal subdivisions
Since 2009, the territory of Möncheng ...
, in
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
(Germany). The Schwalm flows through
Wegberg
Wegberg (; li, Berk ) is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Wegberg is situated between Mönchengladbach in the northeast and Erkelenz in the southeast; the town of Rheindahlen is to ...
and
Brüggen before flowing into the Meuse across the border with the Netherlands, in
Swalmen
Swalmen (; li, Zjwame ) is a town in the south-eastern Netherlands. The town is situated between the German border and the river Meuse (''Maas'' in Dutch).
Until 1 January 2007, Swalmen was a separate municipality, covering the villages Swalmen, ...
. Its total length is 45 km.
Sources
The original source region has since become an area of
carr with poor water quality. The water of the Schwalm comes mainly from ''
Rheinbraun's'' waste water pits. This
brown coal
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
open cast mine is required to feed the waste water into the surface water. Otherwise it would fill the mine, which is up to 230 metres deep.This is achieved by means of shafts (''Schlitzschächten'') through which the water flows back into the
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit ...
. If it were not for these shafts, the rivers
Niers and Schwalm would long since have dried up. This would also destroy the mixed alder and ash wet woodland typical of the region.
Course
The
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
of the Schwalm is in a
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...
area south of the German village of
Wegberg
Wegberg (; li, Berk ) is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Wegberg is situated between Mönchengladbach in the northeast and Erkelenz in the southeast; the town of Rheindahlen is to ...
-
Tüschenbroich at an elevation of about . From there the river flows mainly through the
Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, its riverbed running between the rivers
Rur,
Nette and
Niers.
Of its total length from this source to its
mouth
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
on the
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...
, near the village of
Swalmen
Swalmen (; li, Zjwame ) is a town in the south-eastern Netherlands. The town is situated between the German border and the river Meuse (''Maas'' in Dutch).
Until 1 January 2007, Swalmen was a separate municipality, covering the villages Swalmen, ...
at about , 13 kilometres of the river run through Dutch territory.
Parts of the river which, for example, run past the villages of
Wegberg
Wegberg (; li, Berk ) is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Wegberg is situated between Mönchengladbach in the northeast and Erkelenz in the southeast; the town of Rheindahlen is to ...
,
Niederkrüchten,
Schwalmtal,
Brüggen-Born,
Brüggen and
Swalmen
Swalmen (; li, Zjwame ) is a town in the south-eastern Netherlands. The town is situated between the German border and the river Meuse (''Maas'' in Dutch).
Until 1 January 2007, Swalmen was a separate municipality, covering the villages Swalmen, ...
, form natural
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ban ...
s.
The
catchment area
In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
of the Schwalm is 268.7 square kilometres,
of which around 27 square kilometres lie in the Netherlands.
Tributaries
*
Beeckbach
*
Mühlenbach
*
Knippertzbach
*
Kranenbach
* Elmpter Bach
Flora and fauna
The
carr and
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...
/
bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
areas along the Schwalm provide a diverse habitat for
fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...
and
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
...
.
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
s,
dragonflies
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...
,
damselflies
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings alo ...
,
bluethroat
The bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small Europea ...
,
kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...
and
golden oriole are to be found as are
water crowfoot
''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.
The genus is distributed in Europe, ...
,
bog myrtle
''Myrica gale'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae, native to parts of Japan, North Korea, Russia, mainland Europe, the British Isles and parts of northern North America, in Canada and the United States. Common names include ...
and other rare plants.
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
,
barbel Barbel may refer to:
*Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles
*Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish
**''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...
and
chub
Chub is a common fish name. It pertains to any one of a number of ray-finned fish in several families and genera. In the UK, the term ''chub'' usually refers to the species '' Squalius cephalus''. In addition, see sea chub.
In family Cyprinida ...
are at home in the river; along the
river banks are also various members of the eter
water rat family.
References
External links
Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature ParkSchwalm-Nette Nature Reserve
Rivers of the Netherlands
Rivers of Limburg (Netherlands)
Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia
Beesel
Roermond
Rivers of Germany
International rivers of Europe
{{Netherlands-river-stub