West Hesse Depression

[3] The West Hesse Depression runs along the valleys of the Schwalm, Eder, Fulda, Esse and Diemel roughly from Alsfeld in the south to Bad Karlshafen in the north.

Its southern boundary is formed by the northern foothills of the Vogelsberg, which is part of the Hessian Central Uplands within the East Hesse Highlands region.

These caused the rock to fracture along fault lines, which resulted in rift grabens and enabled volcanic magma to reach the surface.

As the Cainozoic era began, the West Hesse Depression emerged as part of a great rift valley from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea; the Mediterranean-Mjøsa Zone.

In the north there are occasional rounded hills (Kuppen) of basalt and this is also where Mesozoic rocks are found at the surface; whereas Tertiary sediments of gravel, sand and clay predominate in Hessengau.

To the northwest it runs along the Nebelbeeke and the Warme which drains into the Diemel, and into the North Habichtswald Foreland with its sub-units of the Westuffeln Depression and the Langenberg and Staufenberg Plateau.

[8] In the West Hesse Depression are:[7] Especially important avifauna regions are found near Borken (Hessen), where the Tagebau Gombeth is a breeding area of national significance.