European Watershed

The European watershed, also Large European watershed or European continental watershed, the inlets separates the open Atlantic, the North Sea and Baltic Sea from those for the Mediterranean and Black Sea between Gibraltar and Moscow. Other major watersheds of Europe separate these two major regions of the hydrographic basins of the Caspian Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

  • 2.1 Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Caspian Sea
  • 2.2 Baltic Sea - Caspian Sea - Arctic Ocean

Sections

Watershed between the Mediterranean - Atlantic

The Great European watershed runs from Gibraltar through south-eastern Spain, then north along the Guadalquivir, Guadiana, Tagus and Duero to the Atlantic Ocean, to the headwaters of the Ebro in the Basque Country ( the Mediterranean) to the vicinity of the Bay of Biscay. Then it follows the main ridge of the Pyrenees to Andorra.

From there it runs in France, the Garonne ( Bay of Biscay ) to the west, to the summit level of the Canal du Midi near Carcassonne and continues through the Cevennes. It limits the catchment area of ​​the Rhône ( the Gulf of Lions, western Mediterranean Sea, to the east ) from the Cevennes, runs between the sources of Allier (Loire) and the Ardèche ( Rhône), in the Monts du Vivarais, the Monts du Lyonnais and the Monts du Charolais between Loire ( the Atlantic ) and Rhône to the north. In the Côte- d'Or between Autun and Dijon the watershed Atlantic branches - from the English Channel (47 ° 59 ' 31 " N, 5 ° 55' 37 " O47.9925.927 ), the Plateau de Langres between Marne ( Seine on the channel), Meuse (Maas ) and the sources of the Saône ( Rhône to ) the divide between the channel and the North Sea (47 ° 51 '11 " N, 5 ° 45' 22" O47.8535.756 ). In this area, the Canal de Bourgogne and the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne cross (both with tunnel ). In the further course it leads on the Ballon d'Alsace in the southern part of the Vosges, turns southward through the Belfort Gap in the Jura mountains of Switzerland, and then runs south of Lake Neuchâtel (Canal Entreroches ) to the northern shores of Lake Geneva, which they almost touched.

The main watershed reaches the Alps at the Mont Pelerin above Vevey and performs on the ridges of the Bernese Alps to the St. Gotthard, where about 10 km east on Witenwasserenstock (46 ° 31 ' 39 " N, 8 ° 28' 41 " O46.5276018.478141 ) with the Rhone / Po watershed watershed Adriatic Western Mediterranean ( later in the border of Italy to Switzerland and France, then Italian main watershed ) branched. Next she goes to the Grisons Alps, located west of the Maloja Pass at Piz Lunghin (46 ° 25 '11 "N, 9 ° 39' 50 " O46.4198139.663849 ) cleaves the watershed between the Mediterranean -Black Sea to the Danube catchment area concerning ( the Dinara leads to the Bosporus ).

Watershed Atlantic - Black Sea

The watershed Atlantic - Black Sea runs from Maloja Pass to the Julier Pass, between Davos and Zernez about Piz Buin by Austria and to the Arlberg, in the Western Allgäu Alps to Germany, and changes in Adelegg near Kempten in the foothills of the Alps.

Outside the Alps it proceeds north from Lake Constance in Germany north-east to the source of Schussen, then southwest and west to the Black Forest to the sources of Brigach and Breg around, over the Swabian Alb, the Swabian-Franconian Forest mountains of Franconia, by the peak height of the Main- Danube Canal and the Fichtelgebirge in the Bohemian Forest, now on the border of the Danube and Elbe.

In addition to the Upper Austria it runs in Austria through the forest district, and in the Czech Republic on the Czech- Moravian Highlands in Śnieżnik Mountains ( 50 ° 12 '10 " N, 16 ° 50 ' 7 " O50.20289116.8352 where the Glatzer Schneeberg the watershed North Sea / Baltic splits ) to the border with Poland. Then she sits on the Jeseníky ( dies ) continues in northern Oder and Wisla ( Vistula ) to the Baltic Sea, through the Moravian Gate Talwasserscheide in the Beskydy Mountains (Carpathians) in the border with Ukraine.

South of Lviv to orbit the Dniester ( the Black Sea ) in the headwaters of the bow and includes the catchment area of ​​Pripyat ( about Dnieper to the Black Sea ), where it is cut from the Dnieper-Bug Canal. Then follows the western Russian land back through Belarus and Russia, where they then end Nemunas ( Memel ) and Daugava ( Western Dvina, both to the Baltic Sea ) separates and Dnieper ( the Black Sea ) in the Smolensk heights 200 km west of Moscow.

Irregularities

However, there's also irregularities: So flows, for example, due to the Donauversickerung a part of the Danube water at Immendingen in the Aachtopf and from there into the Rhine and replaced as the underground side to the European watershed ( Flussanzapfung ). In addition, the human large channels Rhone- Rhine, Main -Danube and Dnieper-Bug, but also a number of hydroelectric power plants has created which tap water areas by the main watershed.

The main European watershed points

Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Caspian Sea

At the first major watershed point (55 ° 30 '0 "N, 33 ° 29' 24 " O55.533.49 ), in the Smolensk hills west of Moscow, between the sources of the Dnieper River, upper Volga and the headwaters of the Dvina ( Daugava ), meet the catchment areas of the Baltic Sea (Atlantic Ocean), black Sea and Caspian Sea. The latter is one of the great endorheischen area of Central Asia, which stretches from here to Mongolia, and not the dewatered in an ocean. The point is located near the village of Botscharowo ( Бочарово ) in the Belyer heights ( Бельская возвышенность ) near Bely, just a few kilometers from the Dneprquelle, which is a protected area. From here Obscha drained by Mesha - Dvina River to the north, and tributaries of the Volga Wasusa to the southeast.

The one main watershed (Black Sea and Caspian Sea ) runs from here to the south over the central Russian drive to south of Orel ( Orel ), includes the Don and then follows the Volga threshold, on the Volga - Don Canal - the main piercing through this sheath - in Jergeni the hill, crosses the Manytsch lowland and leaves - depending on the convention of the borders of Europe - Europe there, or on the main ridge of the Caucasus Elbrus, which then is considered Europe's highest mountain. The other turns north.

Baltic Sea - Caspian Sea - Arctic Ocean

The Atlantic watershed runs north, includes the headwaters of the Volga River in the Valdai Hills, and is broken by the White Sea - Baltic Canal. About 300 kilometers to the northeast of the first point, east of the Onega lake in the far north of the Vologda Oblast, near the border point to the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast, is the second major watershed point of Europe (61 ° 28 '0 "N, 37 ° 46 ' 0 " O61.46666666666737.766666666667 ), between the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

The watershed of the Atlantic catchment area further extends between Lake Onega and the White Sea, and further along the Karelian Maanselkä by Finland to the Norwegian border. Because from the North Pole to Spitzbergen - for purely large geographical order - the demarcation between the European North Sea is seen as a marginal sea of ​​the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea counted for, one could draw the watershed through the Finnmark to the North Cape. From hydrographic significance of this polyline would not. Primary here is the divide between the North Sea and Baltic Sea, which turns in the Scandinavian highlands south again.

The Arctic Ocean - Caspian vagina follows as part of the Eurasian main watershed to the Arctic Ocean - also soon crosses it from the southern branch of the Volga-Baltic channel between the Rybinsk Reservoir and the White Sea - the northern Russian land back, between the large catchment area of ​​the Volga, and the White Sea influent Onega and Dvina and Pechora ( the Barents Sea ). You reached Asia in the Northern Urals in the triangle of the Republic of Komi, the Perm region and the Sverdlovsk Oblast (61 ° 39 ' 49 "N, 59 ° 20' 7" O61.6635159.335195 ). From there it follows the Ural main ridge to the south, between Kama ( with Belaya and Ufa to the Volga ) and Ob ( the Kara Sea, Irtysh and Tobol with ). In this course it is part of Strahlenberg 's inner border of Eurasia. To what extent they can still apply Miass south as "European" from the headwaters of the Urals, is another question.

  • Limnology
  • Hydrology
  • Geography ( Europe)
Guadiana River Douro Basque Country (autonomous community) Cévennes Allier (river) Marne (river) Meuse (river) Vosges Mountains Malojapass Julierpass Breg (river) Fichtel Mountains Śnieżnik Mountains Králický Sněžník Beskids Carpathian Mountains Dnieper–Bug Canal Danube Sinkhole Endorheic basin Bely, Tver Oblast Vazuza River Oryol Don River (Russia) Volga–Don Canal Caucasus Mountains Mount Elbrus Onega River Pechora River Komi Republic Kama River Belaya River (Kama) Ufa River Tobol River
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