The Paderborn Plateau () in central Germany is, geologically speaking, the southeastern element of the

Westphalian Bight 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, at the same time, the largest

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

landscape in

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. In the west the Alme valley forms the boundary with the

Hellweg In the Middle Ages, Hellweg was the official and common name given to main travelling routes in Germany. Their breadth was decreed as an unimpeded passageway a lance's width, about three metres, which the landholders, through which the Hellweg pa ...

region including the

Haarstrang The Haar () or Haarstrang is a ridge of hills on the southern edge of the Westphalian Basin in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From a natural region perspective it is the southern, submontane part of the Hellweg Börde, which stan ...

and

Hellweg Börde The Hellweg Börde (German: ''Hellwegbörde'') is a '' börde'' landscape and natural region on the southern edge of the Westphalian Lowland in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which embraces the old Hellweg trading route cities and tow ...

; to the north the plateau is bordered by the Lippe depression, the

Senne Senne may refer to: Places * Senne (Germany), a natural region of Germany *Senne, a district of Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,75 ...

and the

Teutoburg Forest The Teutoburg Forest ( ; ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed the ''Teutoburg Forest'' ...

. Its eastern limit is the

Eggegebirge The Egge Hills (, ), or just the Egge (''die Egge'') is a range of forested hills, up to , in the east of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography The Egge extends from the southern tip of the Teutoburg Forest range near Horn-Bad M ...

. To the south are the

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the States of Germany, German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. ...

and the Waldeck Upland. The Paderborn Plateau is divided into four landscape regions: The Sintfeld in the south, the Brenken Plateau in the west, the Bockfeld in the north and the Lichtenau Plateau (Soratfeld) in the east.

References

External links

BfN Landscape fact file
Landforms of North Rhine-Westphalia Plateaus of Germany ! {{NorthRhineWestphalia-geo-stub

See also

References

External links