Urstromtal

The meltwaters could therefore only flow for a short distance southwards over the sandurs (outwash plains) before having to find a way to the North Sea basin that was parallel to the ice margin.

As elements of the glacial series, Urstromtäler are intermeshed with sandur areas for long stretches along their northern perimeters.

The bottom and the edges of an Urstromtal may have been significantly altered by more recent processes, especially the thawing of dead ice blocks or the accumulation of sand dunes.

In the post-glacial period, many Urstromtäler became bogs due to their low lying situation and the high water table.

Today Urstromtäler are only partly used by rivers, because the majority have found shorter routes to the sea (like the Oder and Vistula).

Because the land in North America and on the Russian Plain tilts towards the south, the formation of Urstromtäler there during the ice age did not take place.

Examples from the German state of Brandenburg include Berlin, Fürstenwalde, Luckenwalde and Baruth/Mark, and from Lower Saxony the town of Vorsfelde and Wolfsburg Castle.