Schlatt (topography)
Encyclopedia
Schlatt or Flatt is the Lower Saxon
name for a heathland pond, an undrained body of water usually shallow, that is fed by surface water
and is largely unaffected by ground water. The water is impounded by a water-retentive layer. Most Schlatts can dry out from time to time.
Schlatts are characteristic of the nutrient-poor geest
ridges of the North German Plain
. Most of them were formed as wind-blown hollows in the periglacial
region of the last ice age. The term is of Lower Saxon origin and is used mainly for the ponds in that part of Germany.
In the district of Diepholz (Lower Saxony
) the Conservation Foundation (Stiftung Naturschutz) has taken upon itself the preservation of Schlatts as part of a Schlatt programme. Using volunteers working with the land owners and farmers over 300 small ponds and Schlatts have been cleaned up and maintained in order to preserve them as habitats for threatened animal and plant species.
Georg Müller: "Was ist ein Schlatt", Entstehung-Entwicklung-Zustand und rechtliche Hinweise. Broschüre 16 Seiten, Ganderkesee 2009 www.wallhecke.de
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
name for a heathland pond, an undrained body of water usually shallow, that is fed by surface water
Surface water
Surface water is water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean; it is related to water collecting as groundwater or atmospheric water....
and is largely unaffected by ground water. The water is impounded by a water-retentive layer. Most Schlatts can dry out from time to time.
Schlatts are characteristic of the nutrient-poor geest
Geest (topography)
Geest is a type of slightly raised landscape that occurs in the plains of in Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils, usually mantled by a heathland vegetation, comprising glacial deposits left behind after the last ice age during the...
ridges of the North German Plain
North German plain
The North German Plain or Northern Lowland is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain...
. Most of them were formed as wind-blown hollows in the periglacial
Periglacial
Periglacial is an adjective originally referring to places in the edges of glacial areas, but it has later been widely used in geomorphology to describe any place where geomorphic processes related to freezing of water occur...
region of the last ice age. The term is of Lower Saxon origin and is used mainly for the ponds in that part of Germany.
In the district of Diepholz (Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
) the Conservation Foundation (Stiftung Naturschutz) has taken upon itself the preservation of Schlatts as part of a Schlatt programme. Using volunteers working with the land owners and farmers over 300 small ponds and Schlatts have been cleaned up and maintained in order to preserve them as habitats for threatened animal and plant species.
Literature
Jan Höper: Flora und Vegetation von Kleingewässern in landwirtschaftlich genutzten Bereichen des Landkreises Diepholz. Diplomarbeit, Göttingen 1999, 129 S.Georg Müller: "Was ist ein Schlatt", Entstehung-Entwicklung-Zustand und rechtliche Hinweise. Broschüre 16 Seiten, Ganderkesee 2009 www.wallhecke.de