The Gäu PlateausElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972, pp 186-188. ASIN B0011Z9KJA. () form the largest

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

in the German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. Not surprisingly, the individual geographical units of this large region show considerable variations in climate and soil types. A common feature of the region, however, is its landscape of flat-topped hills of

Muschelkalk The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; ) is a sequence of sedimentary rock, sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 m ...

, gently rolling tracts of

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

and

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

s in which the layers of Muschelkalk have been covered by

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

s of Gips

keuper The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolomite, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Lat ...

and Letten

. The Gäu Plateaus are the northwestern part of the Southern Scarplands.

Location and geology

The Gäu Plateaus extend from the

Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...

to the

Tauber valley The Tauber () is a river in Franconia (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length. The name derives from the Celtic word for water (compare: Dover). Course It flows through Rothenburg ob der ...

. They are bordered to the west by the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

and the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...

, to the north by the

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the Germany, German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße Route, Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried' ...

and the Mainfranken Plateaus, to the east by the Franconian and Swabian Keuper-Lias Lands and the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

. The underlying rock is made up of the layer of

, which is largely covered by Letten

. The

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s in the region are mostly of very high quality.

Natural region subdivisions

In the ''Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands'' ("Handbook of the natural regional divisions of Germany") which appeared from 1953 to 1962 the Neckar and Tauber Gäuplateaus are part of the German Central Uplands and contain the following subdivisions (the handbook's regional numbers are shown in brackets):Meynen, Emil (ed.). ''Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands.'' Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen 1953-1962 * Alb- Wutach Region (120) * Baar (121) * Upper Gäue (122) *

Neckar Basin The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwen ...

(123) * Stromberg and Heuchelberg (124) *

Kraichgau The Kraichgau () is a hilly region in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine Plain to the West. To the east, its boundary is c ...

Dickinson, Robert E. (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.), pp 564-575. London: Methuen. ASIN B000IOFSEQ. (125) *

Kocher The Kocher () is a -longincluding its source river Schwarzer Kocher right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, m ...

Jagst The Jagst () is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The source of this 190 km long river is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. The Jagst winds through the towns of Ellwangen, Cra ...

Plains (126) * Hohenloher Ebene and Haller Ebene (127) *

Bauland The Bauland () is a Gäu landscape in the northeast of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is a natural region within the Neckar and Tauber Gäu Plateaus (major unit 12) in the South German Scarplands. Location The Bauland is a Gäu l ...

(128) * Tauberland (129)

Natural regions of Germany according to the BfN

Based on the system of the Division of Germany into Major Natural Regional Units" (''Gliederung Deutschlands in Naturräumliche Haupteinheiten'') by the Federal Conservation Office (BfN) in 1994 the natural region is known as ''D57 Gäuplateaus, Neckar and Tauber Land'' (''D57 Gäuplatten, Neckar- und Tauberland'') but covers the same area.

Name

The term ''Gau'' (in

Alemannic German Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (''Alemannisch'', ), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alemanni ("all men"). Distribution Alemannic dialects are spoken by approxi ...

: ''Gäu'') was originally used to refer to open, treeless water meadows. Today the term '' Gäu landscapes'' (''Gäulandschaften'') is mainly used to refer to the open terraces of the Swabian-Franconian Scarplands and so includes the areas of open, fertile arable fields. The name Neckar and Tauber Gäu Plateaus is to be seen as a collective reference for the Gäu landscapes located in the catchment area of the river

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar ...

and its tributaries and which extend northeast to the catchment area of the

Tauber The Tauber () is a river in Franconia (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length. The name derives from the Celtic word for water (compare: Dover). Course It flows through Rothenburg ob der ...

References

Literature

* Kullen, Siegfried. ''Baden-Württemberg.'' 3., aktualisierte Auflage; Neubearbeitung. Klett, Stuttgart 1989 (Klett Länderprofile) * Geyer, Otto F. & Gwinner, Manfred P. ''Geologie von Baden-Württemberg''. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1991. * Borcherdt, Christoph. Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Wissenschaftliche Länderkunden Band 8. ''V. Baden-Württemberg.'' Darmstadt 1991.

External links

Maps of the major natural regional units according to the BfN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gau Plateaus Geography of Bavaria Regions of Baden-Württemberg