The international geography . western watershed. Thelong eastern tributary of the Ems is the Haase, of the Weser theAUer, of the Elbe the Havel, of the Oder the \etze, and of the Vistulathe Bug. The sudden change of course from west to north in theElbe at 52* N., in the Vistula at 53° N., is extremely striking. ItWOUI4. seem as if the Elbe at one time flowed through the presentvalley of the Aller and had received the Weser at Verden. The Odersimilarly has at one time evidently continued its north-westerly course(south of Frankfort) and received on its left bank a great stream, pursuingits way
The international geography . western watershed. Thelong eastern tributary of the Ems is the Haase, of the Weser theAUer, of the Elbe the Havel, of the Oder the \etze, and of the Vistulathe Bug. The sudden change of course from west to north in theElbe at 52* N., in the Vistula at 53° N., is extremely striking. ItWOUI4. seem as if the Elbe at one time flowed through the presentvalley of the Aller and had received the Weser at Verden. The Odersimilarly has at one time evidently continued its north-westerly course(south of Frankfort) and received on its left bank a great stream, pursuingits way to the sea at the present mouth of the Elbe. This primitive rivermust have been the Vistula, which then flowed along the southern base ofthe Baltic lake plateau. The primitive Vistula then found a way for thefirst time across this elevation down the Oder gorge to the present StettinerHaff, the Elbe taking over its old mouth ; a second time, and nearerits source, it found another way across the ridge to the Danziger Haff, b\. Fig. 137.—r/id Rivers of the North Geriiian Plain. which its former tributary, the Oder, was left an independent river with thedeserted mouth. All these changes were brought about by the influenceof Earth-movements which the crust-blocks, or buried mountains,experienced far into the Quaternary period. In a plain quite small altera-tions in level suffice to break up the arrangement of river S3stems and toallow them to form new combinations. The great deserted valleys are stillbefore us ; for example, the valley of the prehistoric Oder is now utilisedby the Friedrich Wilhelms Canal to unite the Oder and the Spree, andnearer Berlin the small Spree in the great richly wooded valley ofthe primitive river is as little in harmony with its surroundings as a mousein the cage of a lion. Hydrologically, however, all these bendings to thenorth result from the law^ that rivers, as soon as they have secured a shortercourse, leave the earlier one in stagnation, so far
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectgeography, bookyear19
