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WeichselDuring the last ice age, 100,000 to 10,000 years ago, a large part of the southern North Sea was exposed. The bottom was overgrown with steppe vegetation. Large animals lived in this landscape: the woolly rhinoceros, the woolly mammoth, the steppe lion and the cave bear. All of these animals are now extinct, but their remains are regularly fished up by fishermen in the North Sea. There were also reindeer, horses, hyenas, red deer and musk oxen. |
- Wind-borne sand deposits
- Wind-borne sand deposits (Vatrop), eARTh Works!, Wieringen
Wind-borne sand deposits presently cover large parts of the North Sea floor, the southern and eastern Netherlands and Northern Germany. In the photo you see someone demonstrating the wind-borne sand deposits on Wieringen with soil drills.
- Wind-worn stone
- Wind-worn stone, Smerp (Wieringen), eARTh Works!, Wieringen
The sandstorms scoured and polished the stones lying on the surface, giving them a special form. These stones are called wind-worn stones. With a bit of luck, you may find one on the beach. The wind-worn stone in the photo was found by the hamlet Smerp (Wieringen).
- Plants from the Weichsel
- Alpine flora in Wallis (Switzerland), eARTh Works!, Wieringen
A number of plant species which grew in the Netherlands during the Weichsel are still found in Northern Europe and in the Alps; they moved their territory behind the receding glaciers. Dryas octopetala (white dryas), Saxifraga oppositifolia (purple saxifrage) and Salix retusa (creeping willow) are some examples.
The plant growth on the steppes and tundras from the last ice age was more than sufficient to feed a number of large mammals.
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