Environmental Science Stephanie Melodini

Period 6 October 24, 1999

Western European Rivers

Introduction

There are millions of rivers and streams in Europe. Some of the legendary rivers in western Europe are the Seine, the Rhône, the Rhine, and the Danube. The Seine River rises on the Plateau de Langres. The river meanders more than 485 miles northwest passing through Paris to the English Channel. The Rhône supplied by the great glaciers, rises in the Saint Gothard mountains. It is 504 miles long. The river flows between the Swiss Alps and the Massif Central. The delta of the river starts at the Arles and continues south until it reaches the Mediterranean Sea.

With its 820 miles, the Rhine is one of the most important navigable rivers in all of western Europe. The river flows through many countries including: Switzerland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. It rises in Switzerland by the joining of two springs in the Saint Gothard and Adula Mountains. Crossing Lake Constance and the Jura before reaching Basel, the river divides into three branches to join the North Sea. It connects with the Danube river by a canal through the main valley. Rising in the Black Forest the Danube river is the second largest river in Europe extending to 1,770 miles. The river crosses through Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine before entering the Black Sea through a very wide delta.

The Seine river

The Seine, the second largest river in France, rises on the Plateau de Langres. The 485 mile river flows through Paris before it empties into the English Channel. The river, from its source 18 miles northwest of Dijon, becomes a tentacled network that drains one sixth of France and carries most of the country's inland water traffic. The major tributaries of the river are the Aube, Yonne, Marne, and Oise. These three tributaries cut the Seine's basin into three distinct regions.

The basin is formed by permeable rocks that absorb water and help in preventing floods. In the upper course of the river, it passes the town of Romilly where it is then joined by the Aube. In its middle course it bears to the west to skirt the Île-de-France in a wide valley to Montereau, where it receives the Yonne on its left bank. The river than turns northwest and crosses the Île-de-France toward Paris and continues across the limestone plateau, receiving the Marne above Paris and the Oise below Paris. In the lower course the river widens and can accommodate barges and seagoing ships. The Seine, especially below Paris, is one of France's major waterways. The primary cargoes are petroleum products and building materials. Rouen is a major port for large ships. LeHavre has a large deepwater harbor and is France's chief Atlantic port.

The Rhône River

The Rhône river that is one of Europe's most picturesque and significant streams, flows from the Swiss Alps westward and southward, draining the eastern quarter of France into the Mediterranean Sea. The valleys of the lower Rhône and its principal tributary, the Saône, have provided routes for the movement of people and goods between the Mediterranean Sea and northern Europe since prehistoric times. Some parts of the Rhône are unnavigable. Beginning in the Alps of Southern Switzerland, the Rhône river springs from the bottom of a glacier that is nearly 6,000 feet above sea level.

The Rhône is swollen by many mountain streams and descends rapidly through wild gorges which then flows southwest through a wide valley between the Bernese Alps to the north and the Pennines to the south. After the river turns abruptly to the northwest at Martigny, the river pours into Lake Geneva located in western Switzerland. The Arve then joins the Rhône one mile from Lake Geneva. The Mont Blanc Range glaciers empties silt in the river. The Saône joins the river just below Lyon. The now broadened and doubled in volume river turns and flows south. The Isère, the Drôme and the Durance rivers bring melted snow from the Alps and join the river from the east. From the west the Ardèche river is the only significant tributary of the Rhône. Approximately 25 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two main branches and discharges its waters into the sea. The Grand Rhône runs southeast and the Petit Rhône goes southwest. The Rhône-Marseilles Canal is one of the main outlets for the river of commerce of France.

The Rhine River

The Rhine river has played a major role in shaping European history both physically and culturally. The river is also the busiest waterway in all of Europe. From its source high in the Swiss Alps, the river flows 820 miles through a varied terrain from east-central Switzerland northwestward to its North Sea outlet in the Netherlands. The Rhine flows through the most populated parts of Europe. Its steamers and barges carry a steady flow of cargoes. The river begins in east-central Switzerland at the juncture of two small mountain streams near Chur, the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein. Their combined flow curves north to form the western boundaries of Liechtenstein and part of Austria. The river then turns west through Lake Constance, to the north to form part of the boundary between France and Germany, and then continues west through the Netherlands.

At the Netherlands it branches into many arms that form a wide flat delta on the coast of the North Sea. Beginning in the Alpine headwaters, the river moves through a narrow valley to Cologne and through a great plain to the North Sea. The part of this plain that is German is loaded with industrial cities. A few of the major cities are Schaffhausen, Basel, Mannheim, Worms, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and in the Netherlands, Rotterdam. The largest tributaries, on the right bank are Neckar, Main, and Ruhr. On the left bank the largest ones are the Aare, Moselle, and Erft. Many canals link the Rhine with navigable rivers such as the Rhône, the Marne, the Danube, and the Ems. These canals provide transportation and an extensive river trade to ports in Germany, France, Belgium, and The Netherlands. Many barges sail from various North Sea ports to Basel, the head of navigation on the Rhine.

Barges carry raw materials that the Swiss use in manufacturing as well as coal, iron, ore, petroleum, and grain from the Ruhr valley. Some smaller barges can sail up the Rhine as far as Cologne. Magnificent falls near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, generate electricity that powers a large aluminum plant.The river has carved a beutiful 90 mile gorge from Bingen to Bonn. Many legends were inspired by the river's wooded banks such as "the Lorelei" and "Song of the Nibelungs". The splendid castles on the rocky heights attract many visitors. The Rhine has been a path of conquest and trade ever since the earliest times. Prehistoric man was thought to have followed the rivers course and it later became the frontier of the Roman Empire. Then it became the gateway for the onrushing Germanic tribes. In the middle ages the Rhine was the route for the profitable overland trade between Central Europe, Italy, and the Far East. In World War II the river served as a major line of German defense.

The Danube River

The Danube river, which is the most important river of central and southeastern Europe, rises in the Black Forest mountains of southwest Germany near the little town of Donaueschingen. It flows about 1,770 miles to the Black Sea. The Danube gathers the waters of more than 300 tributaries and drains one twelfth of Europe. The Europa Canal, which is 106 miles long, joins the Danube with the Rhine river, by connecting its tributary the Altmühl, with the Main River. The headwaters of the Rhine and the Danube are extremely close. Ever since early history the Danube has been a great water highway. It was once, like the Rhine, a Roman frontier. Through the centuries it has been the highway of of westward-moving Huns, Slavs, and Magyars.

The river has been a barrier and a goal for Russian, Austrian, German, Bulgarian, Turkish, and Romanian armies. It has also been the channel of east and south flowing German Culture and influence. In a pleasant little valley of the Black Forest, a northern spur of the Alps, a tiny stream tumbles down the rocks. Gathering volume and strength from many springs and brook, it cuts a channel across the slopes and spreading hayfields of southern Germany. This little stream, the Breg, with its twin, the Brigach, is the source of the Danube. In its course across Germany the Danube river is not yet the "beautiful blue Danube" of song. It is a rushing stream hurrying along wooded hills and fertile meadows past picturesque Bavarian cities.

At Regensburg, at its northernmost point, the Danube is filled with towboats, barges, and rafts carrying products from grain-growing Bavaria. Then the Bohemian hills deflect its course southeast to Vienna, Austria. To the east 30 miles is bratislava and the edge of the rich plain of Hungary, alive with growing crops. In fertile valleys stand whitewalled villages among fields of ripening grain. The people there are generally dark skinned, suggesting a warmer sun, a longer summer, and a habitual outdoor life. After passing through Bratislava, the Danube flows almost 100 miles east to Hungary. Then the river makes a great bend and begins its 500 mile journey into the south. In Budapest imposing bridges span the river's course. Below the city there are tree-shaded villages at the foot of vineyard covered slopes. Numerous canals contribute to their burden of huge cargoes of grain and lumber from the Hungarian plains.

Just past the junction of the river with the eastward flowing Drava and Sava rivers and the great southward flowing Tisza river is Belgrade, Serbia's capital. Here the river, heading east, spreads out like a wide lake. A 100 miles later the Danube narrows to 480 feet. A long gash in the face of the rock walls shows where the Roman Emperor Trajan's warriors built a road in the 2nd century on the way to discover the colony of Dacia, which is now called Romania. Just below, the river gathers allof tis force. It batters its way between the Balkan and Carpathian ranges through the historic gorge known as the Iron Gate. The commercial importance of the Danube necessitated the blasting of a channel deep enough to allow river steamers to pass the 1 _ miles of rapids during all seasons. The Danube from Orsova on winds sleepily Through a peaceful countryside, seperating Romania from Bulgaria.

The river's monotony is broken only the occasional fishing hamlet or straggling part-Turk, part-Bulgarian, or part-Romanian town. Beyond Silistra the river abrubtly turns to the north to the important ports of Braila and Galati. Here, 125 miles from its mouth, is the head of navigation for seagoing vessels. These cities with docks and grain elevators are the shipping centers for agricultural Romania and other Danube regions. Forty- five miles below Galati, the river divides into three arms that wander across the delta.

The Danube serves as a channel for local trade among nations along its banks. It is also the main route by which cereals, ores, and petroleum or southeastern Europe are exchanged for manufactured products. The right to enjoy free commerce on the river is vital to the economy of every country in the Danube Valley. Europe recognized this in the Treaty of Paris in 1856, which declared that Danube navigation would be free to all nations. Two international commisions governed the river until the years 1938t 1940, when Germany won control. After World War II the Allies agreed to internationalize the river, but the nations of southeastern Europe gained control of the section that flows eastward from Austria into Hungary and beyond.