Chapter 350: Mother River
The Rhine is one of Europe's great rivers with historical significance and cultural traditions, and one of the most important industrial transport arteries in the world. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
The river is easily accessible and is one of the busiest rivers in the world.
The Rhine is also connected to other major rivers by a series of canals, forming an extensive network of water transport. The low freight rates on the Rhine help to reduce the price of raw materials, which is the main reason why the Rhine is the main axis of industrial production.
One fifth of the world's chemical products are produced along the Rhine. The Rhine, which has long been a source of political disputes in Europe, is now being a source of increasing pollution and is now focusing international attention on ecological protection.
The main stream of the Rhine is about 1,230 kilometers long (it is currently estimated that the total length of the Rhine from the source of the Rhine in the Alps of Graubünden, Switzerland, through Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and France, to the mouth of the Dutch Gulf) is about 1,232 kilometers), and the navigable mileage is nearly 900 kilometers, of which about 700 kilometers can travel 10,000 tons of sea vessels.
The Rhine, the vessel that sailed to Lorelai on the Rhine, flows from the Alps to the North Sea basin, and the geography and geological setting of the Rhine today began with the Alpine Orogeny.
In southern Europe, this period began in the Triassic period of the Mesozoic Era, about 240 million to 220 million years ago, and occurred in the Paleomediterranean between the Eurasian and African plates. The present Mediterranean Sea is derived from this slightly larger ancient Mediterranean. In the Jurassic period 180 million years ago, the Eurasian plate and the African plate moved in opposite directions, and began to squeeze the paleo-Mediterranean seabed, causing the Eurasian continent to press above the paleo-Mediterranean, and the edge of the plate was in the Oligocene and Miocene Alpine orogenies of the Cenozoic.
Several tectonic plates shifted during this extrusion, creating unique geological features near the Mediterranean, including the Pyrenees, the Italian Alps, and the mountains and islands of Anatolia and Greece moving westward. This extrusion and orogeny continues to the present day, resulting in the continuous rise of the mountain range and volcanic activity every year.
In northern Europe, the North Sea basin was formed during the Triassic and Jurassic, and sediments continue to accumulate until now. The area between the Alpine orogeny and the sedimentation of the North Sea basin is still relatively high, including the Ardennes, the Eifel and the Vosges, due to the earlier Variscan orogeny.
After the Eocene, the Alpine orogeny created an N-S fissure system in this area. This rift is mainly made up of the Upper Rhine Graben in southeastern Germany/eastern France and the Lower Rhine Bay in northwestern Germany/southeastern Holland.
In the Miocene, a river system developed in the Upper Rhine graben, which continued northward and is considered to be the first Rhine. During this period, no tributaries flowed into the Rhine, but the watershed between the Rhône and the Danube flowed from the northern side of the Alps.
The Alps are now the watershed of the Rhine, but this was not the case in the past. In the Miocene, the Rhine's watershed reached only the southern part of the Eiffel and Westerling mountains, about 450 km north of the Alps.
The Sieg then flows into the Rhine, although the Moselle is not yet a tributary of the Rhine. The northern foothills of the Alps feed into the Danube.
The Rhine extended southward by river raids and caused its tributaries to continue to increase. During the Pliocene, the Rhine reached the Vosges Mountains by its rivers, including the Moselle, Main and Neckar rivers.
The northern part of the Alps is the valley of the Rhône. In the early Pleistocene, the Rhine incorporated most of the rivers that flow into the Rhone in the present-day Alps, including the Aare.
From this time onwards, the Rhine basin extended to the upper reaches of Lake Constance, and the upper reaches of the Main (after Schweinfurt) and the Vosges Mountains became part of the Rhine basin.
The Ice Age Pleistocene was an era of interlaced ice ages, with about 6 major ice ages beginning 600,000 years ago.
At that time, sea levels had dropped by 120 metres, exposing most of the continent's edges. In the early Pleistocene, the Rhine flowed northwest into what is now the North Sea. During the Anglian glaciation, the northern part of the present-day North Sea was covered with ice, and large lakes were formed through the canals of England.
The source of the Rhine is turned through this canal in England. During the Ice Age, the mouth of the Seine was located off the coast of Brest, so both the Thames and the Seine were tributaries of the Seine. When the sea level returned to its original height approximately during the interglacial period, the Rhine River formed a delta in what is now the Netherlands.
The last ice age lasted from 74,000 years ago to the end of the Pleistocene. In northwestern Europe, there are two phases of extreme coldness, peaking 70,000 years ago and 29,000-24,000 years ago.
The second stage is slightly earlier than the last glacial maximum.
During this period, the Lower Rhine flowed westward, through the Netherlands, southwest through the English Canal, and finally into the Atlantic Ocean. The British and Israeli Canal and most of the North Sea became land, mainly because the sea level was about 120 meters lower than it is today.
During the last ice age, most of the current source of the Rhine was not located beneath the ice, although its source was undoubtedly glacial water.
During the Ice Age, the flora and fauna of the permafrost stretched from Asia across central Europe to the Atlantic.
At the height of the last ice age, when ice sheds covered Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea, Scotland and the Alps, permafrost was naturally distributed in this area. Loess, or wind-blown dust, is deposited in and around the Rhine valley over the permafrost, making the soil suitable for farming.
When northwestern Europe slowly began to warm 22,000 years ago, the frozen subsoil and glaciers extending from the Alps began to melt, and the winter snow melted in the spring.
Most of it goes into the periphery of the Rhine, and the downstream channel grows as a result. Rapid warming and the transformation of vegetation into open forests began 13,000 years ago.
About 9,000 years ago, Europe was completely overgrown.
As the global ice cover shrinks and the water level of the oceans rises, the English Channel and the North Sea are once again flooded. When the snow melts, the water flows into the sea, and the sediments on the land are flooded and become the coastline of Europe (transgression).
About 11,000 years ago, the mouth of the Rhine River was located in the Strait of Dover. In the southern part of the North Sea, there is still some land connecting the European continent to the United Kingdom. About 9,000 years ago, when sea levels rose, this connection was interrupted and affected the distribution of human habitation.
Since 7,500 years ago, the conditions and currents of the tides were quite similar to those of today.
The frequency of sea level rise has decreased, mainly due to the sedimentation of the Rhine and the continued uplift of the coast: at least 7,000 years ago, the coastline was quite similar to what it is today. In the southern part of the North Sea, sea levels continue to rise due to tectonic deposition, rising about 1-3 cm in 100 years (1 m in the last 3,000 years).
HoloceneAfter the beginning of the Holocene epoch (11,700 years ago), the Rhine entered the valley left over from the Ice Age.
As sea levels continue to rise in the Netherlands, the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta began to form 8,000 years ago. Contemporaneous absolute sea level rise and tectonic subsidence had a strong impact on delta change.
Human influence appeared in the delta region 3,000 years ago, resulting in an increase in land clearing (agricultural activity in the Bronze Age) and a rapid increase in the sedimentation of the Rhine in the highlands (central Germany), resulting in a faster increase in the delta area.
The Vaal and Lower Rhine rivers currently flow into the North Sea through the former Meuse estuary near Rotterdam. The Ethel, a branch of the Rhine, runs north into IJsselmeer (IJsselmeer, formerly a saltwater lagoon, but has been gradually becoming a freshwater lake since 1932).
The volume of the Rhine is divided into three sections: the Vaal (6/9 of the volume), the Lower Rhine-Leck (2/9 of the volume) and the IJssel (1/9 of the volume).
The Rhine originates in the Swiss Alps and has two headwaters, the Vorderrhein and the Hinterrhein.
The Pre-Rhine originates in Lake Toma and flows eastward through Disentis to Reichenau above Chur to join the Post-Rhine from the south.
Below Chur, the Rhine leaves the Alps and forms for the first time the boundary between Switzerland and the Duchy of Liechtenstein, before flowing into Lake Constance, where the gentle water forms a delta.
Exiting the lake, the Rhine flows through its narrow channel of Untersee. From there, the Rhine bends towards Basel; In between, it is the Swiss-German boundary river; The exception is below Stein am Rhein, where the border is deviated from and the Rhine waterfall in Schaffhausen is entirely in Switzerland. The Rhine flows rapidly between the Alpine frontier and the Black Forest region, and the waterway, which used to be blocked by rapids, has now been built with several weirs (dams).
In this area, it joins the Thur, Toss, Glatt and Aare rivers, tributaries of the Alps, and joins the Wutach from the north.
Below Basel, the Rhine River bends north and the valley widens (about 20 li), with a wide, flat valley floor flanked by the ancient mountains of the Foge Mountains and the heights of the Black Forest, the Haardt Mountains and the Oden Forest.
The main tributary that flows from Alsace is the Ill River, which empties into the Rhine in Strasbourg; In addition, there are short tributaries, such as the Dreisam and Kinzig rivers, which flow from the Black Forest.
Further downstream, the Neckar flows into the Rhine at Mannheim; The Main meets the Rhine opposite Mainz.
The Middle Rhine is one of the most spectacular and folklore-rich stretches of the river. The 145-kilometre-long stretch of the Rhine flows through the steep, slate-covered slopes of the Hunsruck Mountains to the west and the Taunus Mountains to the east, creating a winding and deep gorge.
As far as Koblenz, the slopes on both sides are covered with vineyards; In Koblenz, the Moselle and Lahn rivers meet the Rhine.
Further down, there are rolling hills in the distance, the foothills of the volcanic Eifel Upland to the west, and the foothills of Wester Forest to the east. In Andernach, the basalt Seven Hills protrude to the west of the river.
Below Boen, the river valley opens into a vast plain, and the old town of Cologne is located on the left bank of the Rhine. Düsseldorf, on the right bank, is the main commercial centre of the North Rhine-West Walberia coalfield.
Duisburg is located at the mouth of the Ruhr River, where most of the coal and coking coal transported by the Ruhr River, as well as imported iron ore and oil, are loaded and unloaded.
The last stretch of the Rhine lies below the border town of Emmerich, in the delta region of the Netherlands.
The Rhine River is divided into many wide forks here, such as the Lek and Waal rivers; Further down, there is the Merwede River.
With the completion of the massive Delta Project in 1986 (built to prevent flooding on the southwest coast of the Netherlands), all major forks of the Rhine were cut off; There are now sluice gates and horizontal channels to allow the river to flow into the sea.
Since 1872, the New Waterway C****, built to improve navigation from the North Sea to Rotterdam, has become a major waterway linking the Rhine to the sea; Built along the canal, Europoort is one of the largest ports in the world.
The Rhine River has abundant water throughout the year, with a navigable mileage of 886 kilometers from Basel, Switzerland; The many tributaries on both sides of the river are connected by a series of canals to the Danube, the busy shipping Rhône and other water systems, forming a network of water transport in all directions.
The Rhine flows through Europe's main industrial region and is densely populated. Germany's modern industrial region of the Ruhr is located between its tributaries the Ruhr and Lipper rivers.
Between the Ruhr and Lipper rivers, the Rhine is connected by four artificially dug canals and 74 river ports, from which 7,000-ton vessels can reach the North Sea.
The Rhine's course is like a road, with milestones at intervals marked with kilometers.
The Rhine not only guarantees water for industry in the Ruhr area, but also provides important transport conditions for the Ruhr area. It is precisely because of this convenient transportation conditions that large quantities of iron ore and other mineral raw materials can be transported here from abroad.
The Ruhr industrial area is very busy with the Dutch inland waterway network, with ships coming and going every day, like the traffic on the streets, and the volume of freight is among the highest in the world.
Historically and in terms of freight volume, the Rhine is the unrivalled commercial transport artery of the world's rivers. Since the incorporation of the Rhine River into the Roman Empire, the Rhine has been one of the largest transport routes in Europe.
Therefore, such a river flowing through several countries, Ye Chao said that he would have to come and experience it, otherwise, he would come to France, Germany and Europe in vain.
In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the mother river of several countries, at least, the Germans admit that it is their mother river, because Germany really benefits from it.