A rift valley is a deep elongated trough bordered by in facing scarps.

The Rhine rift valley is made up of three sections. These are;

The Rhine rift Valley

The Rhine rift valley is approximately 290 km long stretching from Basel in Switzerland to Mainz.

It is between 32-42 km wide with mountains and hills on each side for example the Vosges (in France), and Haardt mountains on the West bank of the rift valley. The forested massifs of the Black forest and Odenwald are on the East Bank of the rift valley.

During the Earth movements at the period when the Alps were formed, great pressures were put against it that were too great and resulted into faults from the North to the South.      

Between the faultlines, the middle portion of land subsided (sank) leaving two block mountains standing: the Vosges to the west and the Black street forest to the East.

The valley walls were steep-sloped. There exists a Gorge between Bingen and Bonn, the former capital city of West Germany which is for a distance of 110 km.

It is narrow and deep, with good communication lines like roads and railways. It is through this valley that the Rhine River originating at St. Gotthard Pass in Switzerland passes before it reaches its mouth at the North Sea. It is navigable from Basel to Rotterdam Sea port.

The rift valley bottom is composed of soft rocks, clays, loam and considerable deposits of alluvium.

Today, the river Rhine has its course very carefully controlled with the uses of concrete and brick sides in order to reduce the risk of flooding and erosion. This region is one of the most agriculturally productive regions in Germany.

 The Rhine Gorge

This is another closely linked feature to the Rhine rift valley. A Gorge is a narrow valley with steep sides. The Rhine Gorge runs from the confluence of Mainland Rhine Mainz to Ardennes forest.

 The Rhine Plain

This is a large stretch of flat land where the river Rhine has its mouth.

 

The picture is two deep gorges (a deep valley within a valley)

 A Section across the Rhine Valley

 

Formation of the Rhine Rift Valley

The Rhine rift valley was formed by two forces (theories). These are compressional and tensional theories. These theories can be explained as below:

Compressional theory

During the earth movements at the time when the Alps were being formed, great pressure was being exerted on the earth's surface. This pressure pushed the earth's strata together leading to the development of reversed faults in the earth's crust running from the north to the south. Continuous pressure caused the outer blocks of the earth strata to thrust the upwards overriding the centre and holding it below as a rift valley. The two block mountains standing on the edges of the rift valley are the Vosges in the West and the Black Forest in the East.

 

 

Tensional theory

The tension theory suggests that the earth crust was made up of layers of hard sedimentary rocks lying in strata form.

Due to tectonic movement, different layers of the earth crust were subjected to tension. The tensional forces pulled the locks of the earth's crust leading to the development of normal faults. Continuous tension on the strata caused the central block between the faultlines to sink under its own weight to form a rift valley while the sides remained up to form a horst or Block Mountain. These theories are illustrated in the diagrams below

Diagrams showing the formation of a rift valley by tension and compression forces.

  The Rhine Course

The Rhine's highest source, the Hinter Rhine, issues from the Rheinwaldhorn Glacier more than 3,353 m above sea level and joins the Vorder Rhine, flowing from Lake Tuma, to form the Rhine proper at Reichenau, South of Chur in Switzerland.

From Chur the river flows North to the Lake of Constance and then West over the 20m Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen (harnessed for hydroelectric power by the Swiss) to Basel, 800 km from the North Sea.

At Basel the Rhine becomes the Upper Rhine of the Germans and turns sharply North to Mainz across the broad-floored Rhine rift valley, a large graben, or down-faulted block, between the Black Forest and the Vosges mts.

Navigation in this section is by way of a lateral canal through France as far as Strasbourg; below Strasbourg the river bed has been improved for navigation.

Below Mainz, at Bingen, Germany, the Rhine leaves the rift valley and flows for (130 km) across the Rhenish Slate Mts. in a steep gorge, famous for its scenery, vineyards and superb wines, castles surviving from times when tolls were levied on the river's traffic, and legendary landmarks such as the Lorelei and the Drachenfeis.

Beyond Bonn the river becomes the Lower Rhine of the Germans and emerges onto the North German Plain as a broad, sluggish, and increasingly polluted river flowing on a bed of ancient deltaic deposits left by ancestors of the modem river. Since the late 1970s efforts have been made to solve the steadily worsening pollution.

 
Rhine River, Germany
The Rhine River is one of the most important waterways in Germany and is linked by canals to other major rivers in Western Europe. Many German manufacturing and industrial cities are located along the Rhine, and the river is important for shipping and transportation.

Just below Emmerich, on the border with the Netherlands, the modem delta begins, and the Rhine breaks up into two major distributaries, the Uk and the Waal. The Lok, which becomes the Nieuwe Maas, continues West to Rotterdam and then by the canalized New Waterway enters the North Sea at Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland).

The Waal, which merges with the waters of the Maas to form the Merwode, also flows west; the Merwede and the Bergsche Maas join to form the Hollandschdlep, an arm of the North Sea SE of Dordrecht.

A third distributary, known as the Crooked Rhine, leads to Utrecht and continues west to the sea as the Old Rhine, it is linked with Amsterdam by the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal and thence by the North Sea Canal to the North Sea.

The Rhine was declared free to international navigation in 1868, and in 1919 navigation of the river between Basel and Krimpen, on the Lek, and Gorinchem, on the Waal, was placed under the authority of the Central Rhine Commission, with headquarters at Strasbourg. Navigation above Basel is controlled jointly by Switzerland and Germany.

The river carries more traffic than any other waterway in the world and is navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as Mannheim. Germany, by river barges to Basel, Switzerland, and by pleasure crane and sightseeing boats on navigable stretches as far as Rheinfelden, Switzerland. Coal, coke, grain, timber, and iron ore are the principal cargoes carried on the river. Rotterdam is the chief outlet to the North Sea, and Duisburg, the outlet for the Ruhr industrial region, is the leading river port.

 

The Rhine-Main-Danube canal, completed in 1992, now allows barge traffic between the North Sea and the Black Sea.

 A sketch map of the Rhine basin

 

Importance of the Rhine

The Rhine is Europe's most important water way; it is in fact, one of the most important in the world. The following are the major geographical reasons making the Rhine river very important:

It is the principal north-south route way across the mountains of Europe.

Its navigability, which enables it to carry large ocean going vessels.

It is ice free, which renders it to be navigable all the year round.

 It serves one of the busiest world regions and flows into the busiest sea in the world.

Historically, it has been a meeting point of differing cultures and an important frontier line.

 Importance of the Rhine River

It has promoted the development of tourism in Germany by providing sports activities like swimming and fishing. It is also bordered by steep escarpments, Block Mountains and the Rift valley in which the river flows and all these are scenic features.

It is tapped for HEP generation which has played an important rare in the industrial development of Germany.

The river Rhine provides an abundant supply of fresh water for urban and industrial use.

It provides fertile though alluvial deposits during the flood season. These soils have facilitated the development of agriculture especially in the Rhine valley.

It has promoted industrialization through transport of raw materials and finished good. Some of the products include textile, agricultural products and machinery.

Development of towns and ports along the river Rhine.

The river Rhine forms a central communication system of inland water ways in Europe through a connection to a number of major rivers like River Meeker, Ems, Wessel. And canals like Dortmund Ems Canal.

It connects areas of Western Europe like Belgium, Germany and Switzerland thus promoting regional co-operation.

Rhine as A Water Route

Germany boasts of a fine network of navigable rivers and canals in west Europe. It has been able to improve on its rivers and canals artificially deepening and widening them so as to accommodate large ocean going ships. In West Germany it was easy to build large deep canals because the land is flat and consists of young soft rock.

The Rhine River together with its tributaries form the most important natural water route, not only in Germany but in the western Europe at large. This river is navigable throughout its course from Basel Northwards by barges towed by tugs. The route is ice-free, the year round with sufficient constant water volume attributed to its tributaries which receive water from the melting snow on mountain tops.

It serves Germany itself, East France, Switzerland and Netherlands. In Germany, this plain is dominated by the Ruhr region, one of the most highly industrialized regions in Western Europe. There is heavier upstream than down stream. The upstream traffic consists mainly of imported raw - materials namely raw cotton-from Egypt U S A, wool-from Australia, palm kernels, palm oils from west Africa, wheat, meat and crude oil and coal, reach the Ruhr and Swiss industrial Towns namely Geneva and Zurich among other towns.

The exports from Germany are electrical and mechanical engineering products, vehicles, watches, textiles, food and confectionery stuffs.

River Mosel, one of the tributaries in eastern France has been canalized and now helps much in bringing iron - ore from the Lorraine district. In turn coking coal is exported to France via the same route.

In the south, R Main is connected to R. Danube by a deep wide canal known as Ludwig canal. This promotes the trade between Austria and Hungary among others while R. Ems is joined to river Elbe in the North by the Mitterland canal. This canal crosses River Wessel to Hanover. It serves central Germany by distributing coal from the Ruhr coalfields to various industrial regions especially to Hanover industrial centre.

 Germany: Water transport and Communication

 

 Factors which have contributed to the development of the Rhine Water Way

The presence of the Rhine river and its tributaries like the Main,

Neckar, Morsel Ruhr and Lahn which are navigable for their great parts  and carry large volumes of water for Ocean going vessels. For example, River Rhine is navigable throughout its course from Basel northwards by barges towed by tugs.

Presence of a large agricultural and industrial hinterland. This means that there is a large volume of imports and exports to be handled by the water way.

The water way is ice-free for most parts of the year. This makes it to be navigable all the year round.

The water way is the best alternative route for the landlocked countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg found in the heart of Europe.

The Rhine River drains into the North Sea thus connecting Europe to the internal ports like Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

High level of technology and skilled manpower for dredging and widening of shallow and narrow parts of the water way and construction of canals to expand areas served by the water way.

Availability of capital provided by the different stake holders to make the water way even better.

The water way is an ideal and cheap mode of transporting bulky goods such as raw materials and finished goods to and from the Rhine lands.

 Importance of the Waterway

The water way has promoted the development of numerous ports such as Basel, Essen, Wuppertal, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg and Frankfurt, among others

The water way has provided a cheap water transport route leading to reduced transport costs especially for landlocked countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg.

The water way has provided employment opportunities on related activities like dams industries, agriculture hence increasing the income and standard of living.

There is an improved foreign relationship between Western Europe countries through a joint water project and the sister partners in trade.

The water way has encouraged infrastructural development both social and economic like roads, railways, canals, schools, hospitals and others.

There has been industrial development such as iron and steel, metallurgical industries, chemical industries, textile industries and others, as the raw materials and finished products are easily transported along the water way.

There has been agricultural development because of the large population in the urban centres that have developed along the way.

Power generation has been promoted leading to convenient power supply for domestic and industrial purpose.

Tourism has been stimulated along the water way on major tourism attractions like the navigable waters of the water way engineering systems on the canals, dams, ports and others. In addition of this, the water way provides cheap transport for tourists.

There is increased foreign exchange earnings through increased exploitation of goods and services by the water.

There is increased revenue through taxation of the employees and assets raising incomes for further investment.

Contribution of the Rhine Valley to the Development of Germany

Production of food for the region ranging from fruits and vegetables to cereals, this food is used to feed the ever-increasing population in the region.

Development of industries most especially those dealing in the production and canning of food stuffs. For example wine making as well as food parking.

The Rhine valley ahs also played a big role in the provision of employment opportunities to the local German population.

The export of agricultural and forest products helps to bring in foreign exchange to the country.

The Rhine valley has promoted tourism, which also brings in foreign exchange and in addition the tourist also provide market to the locally manufactured goods.

Urbanization and growth of towns such as Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Ludwigshafen and Mannheim.

There has been great improvement in peoples standards of living.

There is also development of the infrastructure.

Economy of Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany has for many years benefited from a highly skilled population that enjoys a high standard of living and an extensive social welfare program.

Since her unification however, Germany has faced the economic challenge of transforming the former East Germany from a deteriorating command economy dependent on low-quality heavy industrial products to a technologically advanced market economy.

Unemployment in the east has remained consistently higher than that in the west, and although several target urban centres have begun to revive economically, most East German industrial cities remain depressed.

Since the postwar years, the German economy has emphasized management-labour consensus, which, while generally avoiding labor strife, has also created a relatively inflexible labour environment where employers are reluctant to hire more than the minimum required number of skilled workers, since it is difficult to fire them once they are hired.

Manufacturing and service industries are the dominant economic activities; agriculture accounts for about 1% of the gross national product (GNP) and occupies about 3% of the workforce. Manufactured products include iron and steel, motor vehicles, machinery and machine tools, chemicals, electronics, ships, food and beverages, cement, and textiles. Hard coal and lignite are mined.

Overall, the principal German agricultural products are potatoes, wheat, barley, rye, sugar beets, cabbage, fruit, and dairy products. Large numbers of cattle, hogs, and poultry are raised. Germany is one of the world's largest exporters; it conducts over 50% of its trade with other European Union countries.