Niedermoorwiesen im Schwentinetal

The river Schwentine is approximately 62 kilometers long and flows through the hills of the counties Plön and Ostholstein in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. On its course, the Schwentine passes through many lakes, among them are the lakes of the “Holsteinische Schweiz”. The name “Schwentine” is derived from the wendic word “Sventana”, which means “holy river”.

The landscape that the Schwentine passes through has been formed after the last glacial period, the Weichselian, 25000 to 12000 years ago. The hills of eastern Schleswig-Holstein denote the end of the glacial advances and consist mostly of end moraines, formed by the material that the glaciers pushed along before them. During the Weichselian glaciation there were five glacial advances in this region. The Schwentine valley was formed mainly by deposits of the third and the fourth advances of the ice.

In the downstream region between Preetz and Raisdorf, the Schwentine flows through a wide valley between two moraines. Originally, there were several meanders of the river in this valley. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, the river was straightened out but the character of the adjacent meadows in the valley could be preserved. A key feature of these meadows is that they are regularly flooded in the winter months.

The meadows of the Schwentine valley are based on fens that developed on glacial deposits. Fens are a particular type of wetland. They form as a consequence of aggradation of lakes or rivers, near the sources of streams, or in depressions with considerable groundwater influence. They contain a large amount of dissolved nutrients, i.e. they are eutrophic, which allows a diverse vegetation to develop. Due to the significant influence of water from rivers, fens generally have a neutral or slightly alkaline pH value.

In contrast, bogs are more acidic and contain only few dissolved minerals. Consequently, the flora that can be found on bogs is rather limited in height and consists mainly of mosses and small shrubs such as Calluna vulgaris etc.

The soils of fens consist of dead plant material that could not be completely decomposed due to the lack of oxygen resulting from the shallow groundwater level in the Schwentine valley. This leads to the formation of peat layers that can reach quite extensive thicknesses.

Question 1: What is the maximum thickness of the peat layers in the Schwentine valley?

In the Schwentine valley, there are different kinds of fens.

Question 2: What types of fens are there and what are the differences between them?

The flora of the meadows of the Schwentine valley consists of a unique species composition. Among them are several endangered species. The character of the meadows is preserved by regular mowing. Furthermore, the adjacent meadows of the Schwentine valley are grazed by cattle throughout the year.

However, at the site you are visiting, you will also find plants that are not typical in this kind of ecosystem. There is a pronounced example right next to the information source near the coordinates.

Question 3: What kind of tree is this?

The coordinates of this cache lead you to a location that gives you a spectacular overview of the fens of the Schwentine valley.

In order to log this earth cache as a find, you need to fulfill two tasks:

1. Send me an eMail message that contains the answers to the three questions above. Please do NOT mention the answers in your log.

2. Take a photo of yourselves at the coordinates and upload it together with your log (optional).

Please go ahead and log this cache once you have sent me your answers. I will get back to you if there is something wrong with your answers.

Enjoy your visit to the Schwentine valley!