Misplaced Pages

#331668

26-697: It is part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta , and is situated between the islands Goeree-Overflakkee and Sint Philipsland . To the west, it continues into the Grevelingen , from which it is separated by the Grevelingendam . Before 1967, it was a tidal river, but it was closed off as part of the Delta Works . 51°40′N 4°11′E  /  51.66°N 4.18°E  / 51.66; 4.18 This Netherlands location article

52-561: A waterway that appears to be one continuous stream may have numerous separate names for different sections, e.g. Rhine → Bijlands Kanaal → Pannerdens Kanaal → Nederrijn → Lek → Nieuwe Maas → Het Scheur → Nieuwe Waterweg . Since the Rhine contributes most of the water, the term "Rhine Delta" is commonly used, although this name is also used for the delta where the Alpine Rhine flows into Lake Constance . By some calculations,

78-567: A complex of lakes at the current location of the IJsselmeer. He called it Lacus Flevo . Over the centuries, the lake banks crumbled away due to flooding and wave action, and the lake, now called the Almere , grew considerably. During the 12th and 13th centuries, storm surges and rising sea levels flooded large areas of land between the lake and the North Sea, turning the lake into a bay of

104-588: A dyke was built between Enkhuizen and Lelystad as the northern boundary of the Markerwaard , a planned but never realized polder in the IJsselmeer. This dyke, the Houtribdijk or Markerwaarddijk , split the IJsselmeer into two parts. The former southern part of the IJsselmeer is now the hydrologically separate Markermeer . The proposed polderisation of the Markerwaard was abandoned after many of

130-530: A lake, or perhaps water running to Flevum on the coast may have run via the lakes to the coast, perhaps first through an ancient version of the Vecht , or the IJssel . The IJssel however was joined to the Rhine artificially, by Drusus , and is quite far from any of the places known to be called Flevus. Suetonius says that this channel was still referred to as Drusus' fossa in his time. Some authors have argued that

156-514: A lock and diverted into a new outlet called the " Bergse Maas ", then the Amer flowing into the former bay known as the Hollands Diep . The northwestern part of the estuary (around Hook of Holland ), is still called Maasmond ("Meuse Mouth"), ignoring the fact that it now carries only water from the Rhine. This might explain the confusing naming of the various branches. The hydrography of

182-774: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rhine%E2%80%93Meuse%E2%80%93Scheldt delta The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is a river delta in the Netherlands formed by the confluence of the Rhine , the Meuse ( Dutch : Maas ) and the Scheldt rivers . In some cases, the Scheldt delta is considered a separate delta to the Rhine–Meuse delta. The result is a multitude of islands , branches and branch names, in which

208-400: Is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland , North Holland and Friesland . It covers an area of 1,100 km (420 sq mi) with an average depth of 4.5 m (15 ft). The river IJssel , after which the lake was named, flows into the IJsselmeer. Two thousand years ago Pomponius Mela , a Roman geographer, mentioned

234-874: The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal ), and Ghent (through the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal ). The land areas in the delta are protected from flooding by the Dutch Delta Works . The shape of the Rhine delta is determined by two bifurcations : firstly, at Millingen aan de Rijn , the Rhine splits into the Waal and the Nederrijn , and secondly near Arnhem , the IJssel branches off from the Nederrijn. This creates three main flows, two of which change names rather often. The largest and southern main branch begins as

260-962: The Nieuwe Merwede ("New Merwede"), which branches off from the southern branch where it changes from the Boven to the Beneden Merwede; the Oude Maas ("Old Meuse"), which branches off from the southern branch where it changes from the Benede Merwede into the Noord, and the Dordtsche Kil , which branches off from the Oude Maas. Before the St. Elizabeth's flood (1421) the Meuse flowed just south of today's line Merwede–Oude Maas to

286-610: The Dutch population did not want the loss of the traditional seaside (now lakeside) environment and vistas. In 1986 three polders in the IJsselmeer constituted the new province of Flevoland , the twelfth province of the Netherlands. The water of the IJsselmeer is now almost completely fresh, the saline having long since been purged. This altered environment has had an impact on the fish and plant ecosystems . The change has been beneficial for Dutch boats, many of which are steel, as

SECTION 10

#1732783988332

312-473: The IJsselmeer, the closed-off bay functions as a large freshwater reservoir, serving as a source for agriculture and drinking water. Outlet sluices in the Afsluitdijk regulate the water level of the IJsselmeer. The IJsselmeer is used for transport and fishing. It also offers a number of opportunities for recreational activity, both on the water and on its shores. Due to the shallowness of the IJsselmeer,

338-608: The North Sea and formed an archipelago -like estuary with the Waal and the Lek. This system of numerous bays, estuary-like extended rivers, many islands and constant changes of the coastline, is hard to imagine today. From 1421 to 1904, the Meuse and the Waal merged further upstream at Gorinchem to form the Merwede . For flood protection reasons, the Meuse was separated from the Waal through

364-577: The North Sea, called the Zuiderzee . The Zuiderzee continued to be a threat to the Dutch, especially when northwesterly storms funnel North Sea waters towards the English Channel, creating very high tides along the Dutch coast. During the 17th century, Zuiderzee dykes collapsed several times, and plans were drawn up to eliminate the threat by draining the bay. Later drainage plans focused on creating fertile farmland, but they never progressed beyond

390-691: The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta covers 25,347 km (9,787 sq mi), making it the largest in Europe. The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is economically extremely important, since the three rivers are major navigable waterways . The delta is the entrance from the North Sea to the German and Central European hinterland (and to a lesser extent France ). Major ports in the delta are Rotterdam , Antwerp (Belgium), Vlissingen , Amsterdam (through

416-969: The Waal and continues as the Boven Merwede ("Upper Merwede"), the Beneden Merwede ("Lower Merwede"), the Noord River ("North River"), the Nieuwe Maas ("New Meuse"), Het Scheur ("the Rip") and the Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway"). The middle flow begins as the Nederrijn , then changes into the Lek , then joins the Noord, thereby forming the Nieuwe Maas. The northern flow keeps the name IJssel until it flows into Lake IJsselmeer . Three more flows carry significant amounts of water:

442-665: The Zuiderzee. The Zuiderzee was no longer a sea inlet and was renamed IJsselmeer ( Lake IJssel ) after the IJssel river that flows into it, which is also the namesake of the province of Overijssel . The continuing flow of fresh river water soon flushed out the salt water. Part of the IJsselmeer was later closed off to form the Markermeer . From 1929 till 1967, over half the IJsselmeer was drained, creating 1,979 km (764 sq mi) of polders : Wieringermeerpolder , Noordoostpolder , East and South Flevoland . In 1975,

468-401: The current delta is characterized by the delta's main arms, disconnected arms ( Hollandse IJssel , Linge , Vecht , etc.) and smaller rivers and streams. Many rivers have been closed ("dammed") and now serve as drainage channels for the numerous polders . The construction of Delta Works changed the delta in the second half of the 20th century fundamentally. Currently Rhine water runs into

494-454: The details are no longer clear, there was apparently sometimes an extension of the Old IJ that came close to the North Sea here. But the term Flevo was also have used by Pomponius Mela to refer to the fresh water lakes which were in the area of the modern Zuiderzee , which Mela specifically says that the Rhine fed into. So the Rhine mouth mentioned by Pliny might have been a discharge into

520-435: The freshwater significantly reduces rusting of the hulls, and there is far less build-up of marine growth (such as algae and barnacles below the barges ' waterlines). This has the knock-on benefit that barges and yachts in the IJsselmeer need far less antifouling , a coating which is inevitably somewhat toxic to wildlife. Due to considerable amounts of water from the Rhine flowing through its distributary IJssel into

546-567: The list of other peoples who he says are stretched out along 100 Roman miles , between the mouth of the Helinius (understood to be the main mouth of the Meuse , where the Waal ( Latin : Vacalis ) also discharged) and the Roman fortification at Flevum (a port north of the Old Rhine ). The Roman castrum at Flevum was mentioned by Tacitus, and is equated today with Velsen . Although

SECTION 20

#1732783988332

572-594: The mouth Pliny mentions is the Vlie , much further to the north than Velsen where the main waters of the lake entered the North Sea. There are actually five emissaries , namely; 51°43′50″N 4°42′57″E  /  51.730431°N 4.715881°E  / 51.730431; 4.715881 IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer ( Dutch: [ˌɛisəlˈmeːr] ; West Frisian : Iselmar , Dutch Low Saxon : Iesselmeer ), also known as Lake IJssel in English,

598-554: The planning stage. It was only after the flood of 1916 that the legislature approved the Zuiderzee Works , a major hydraulic engineering project that involved building dykes, draining parts of the Zuiderzee, and constructing the Afsluitdijk to keep tides and high water out. In 1932 the Zuiderzee was closed off by the Afsluitdijk, a 32-kilometre (20 mi) dyke connecting Friesland and North Holland on either side of

624-490: The sea, or into former marine bays now separated from the sea, in five places, namely at the mouths of the Nieuwe Merwede, Nieuwe Waterway (Nieuwe Maas), Dordtse Kil, Spui and IJssel. The Rhine–Meuse Delta is a tidal delta , shaped not only by the sedimentation of the rivers, but also by tidal currents. This meant that high tide formed a serious risk because strong tidal currents could tear huge areas of land into

650-582: The sea. Before the construction of the Delta Works, tidal influence was palpable up to Nijmegen , and even today, after the regulatory action of the Delta Works, the tide acts far inland. At the Waal, for example, the most landward tidal influence can be detected between Brakel and Zaltbommel . Already in the time of Julius Caesar , the "Island of the Batavi " was known to the Romans . Its eastern point

676-653: Was the split of the Rhine into the Oude Rijn and the Waal , which at this time were the two main branches of the Rhine. The Waal flowed into the Meuse in the Roman period. Pliny the Elder 's Natural History gives a list of tribes living in the " Gaulish islands", within the delta region between different mouths of the Rhine. First, he mentions the large island of the Batavians and the Cananefates . Then he gives

#331668