The Lower Rhine Plain (German: ''Niederrheinisches Tiefland'') is one of the

natural regions of Germany This division of Germany into major natural regions takes account primarily of geomorphological, geological, hydrological, and pedological criteria in order to divide the country into large, physical units with a common geographical basis. Polit ...

and lies on either side of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

north of the city of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

Geography

The Lower Rhine Plain is bordered in the south by the

Lower Rhine Bay The Lower Rhine Bay (german: Niederrheinische Bucht), sometimes called the Lower Rhine Bight,Luttig, G.W. (ed.), ''General Geology of the Federal Republic of Germany'', Nagel u. Obermiller, 1980, pp. 29 and 44. is a lowland plain in the German sta ...

and

Cologne Lowland The Cologne Lowland,Dickinson 1953, 35, 461–64, 466–73.Elkins 1968, 229. also called the Cologne Bay or, less commonly, the Cologne Bight (german: Kölner Bucht), is a densely populated area of Germany lying between the cities of Bonn, Aachen ...

, in the southeast by the

Bergisches Land The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains ...

, to the east and northeast by the

Westphalian Basin The Westphalian Lowland, also known as the Westphalian Basin is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine (in the extreme southwest) and in Lower Saxony (on the nort ...

and in the west by 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 ...

. The Lower Rhine Plain is an extensively

terraced In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

landscape. The otherwise level terraces are interrupted by various features like the V-shaped valleys, flood plains, old river courses or the

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...

ridges of the Lower Rhine Heights. The height of the terrain is under 100m above NN almost everywhere.

Geology

The Lower Rhine Plain is the northern half of the geological structure known as the

(''Niederrheinische Bucht''). Its geology was probably a result of deposition in the last 30 million years, which has given rise to sediments and layers of sedimentary rock in this plain up to 1,300 m thick.

Climate

Annual precipitation in the area is between 700 and 750mm and the average annual temperature is between 9.5 and 10.5 °C. The area benefits from a 'North Atlantic' climate with mild winters and a long growing season.

References

{{Authority control Regions of North Rhine-Westphalia Rhine

Geography

Geology

Climate

See also

References