Swiss Plateau

Satellite image of the Swiss Plateau between the Jura and the Alps

TheSwiss PlateauorCentral Plateauis one of the three major landscapes inSwitzerland,lying between theJura Mountainsand theSwiss Alps.It covers about 30% of the Swiss surface area, and is partly flat but mostly hilly. The average height is between 400 metres (1,300 ft) and 700 metres (2,300 ft)AMSL.It is by far the most densely populated region of Switzerland, the center of economy and important transportation.

Geography

View from the Pilatus on the Swiss Plateau near Luzern

In the north and northwest, the Swiss Plateau is sharply delimited geographically andgeologicallyby theJura Mountains.In the south, there is no clear border with theAlps.Usually, the rising of the terrain to altitudes above 1500 metres AMSL (lime Alps, partly sub-alpine molasse), which is very abrupt in certain places, is taken as a criterion for delimitation. Occasionally the regions of the higher Swiss Plateau, especially the hills of thecanton of Fribourg,theNapfregion, theTössregion, the (lower)Toggenburg,and parts of theAppenzellregion are considered to form the Swiss Alpine foreland in a narrow sense. However, if a division into the three main regions Jura Mountains, Swiss Plateau andAlpsis considered, the Alpine foreland belongs clearly to the Swiss Plateau. In the southwest, the Swiss Plateau is confined byLake Geneva,in the northeast, byLake Constanceand theRhine.

Geologically, the Swiss Plateau is part of a larger basin that extends beyond the border of Switzerland. At its southwestern end, inFrance,the plateau, in theGenevois,ends atChambérywhere Jura and Alps meet. On the other side of Lake Constance, the plateau continues in the German and AustrianPre-Alps.

Within Switzerland, the Swiss Plateau has a length of about 300 kilometres (190 mi), and its width increases from the west to the east: In theGenevaregion, it is about 30 kilometres (19 mi), atBernabout 50 kilometres (31 mi) and in eastern Switzerland about 70 kilometres (43 mi).

Manycantons of Switzerlandinclude a part in the Swiss Plateau. Entirely situated within the Swiss Plateau are the cantons ofZürich,ThurgauandGeneva;mostly situated within the Swiss Plateau are the cantons ofLucerne,Aargau,Solothurn,Bern,FribourgandVaud;small portions of the Swiss Plateau are situated in the cantons ofNeuchâtel,Zug,Schwyz,St. GallenandSchaffhausen.

Geology

Geological layers

The geological layers of the Swiss Plateau are relatively well known. The base level iscrystalline basementwhich outcrops in the central crystalline Alps as well as in theBlack Forestand theVosges mountain rangebut forms a deepgeosynclinein the Swiss Plateau and in the Jura (see alsoJurassic). Around 2500 – 3000 metres below the surface, but considerably deeper near the Alps, the drillings have hit the crystalline basement. It is covered by unfoldedstrataofMesozoicsediments,which are part of theHelvetic nappes.Its depth gradually decreases from about 2.5 km in the west to 0.8 km in the east. These layers, like the ones of the Jura Mountains, were deposited in a relatively shallow sea, theTethys Ocean.Above the Mesozoic layers, is theMolasse,consisting ofconglomerate,sandstone,marlandshale.The uppermost layer consists ofgraveland glacial sediments that have been transported by theglaciersof theice ages.

Geologically the most important layer of the Swiss Plateau is the thickmolassesequence that accumulated at the border of the Alps due to the rapiderosionof the concurrently uplifted mountains. The thickness of the molasse increases from west to east (at the same distance from the Alps). The former alpine rivers built hugefansof sediment at the foot of the mountains. The most important examples are theNapffan and theHörnlifan; othersedimentaryfans exist in theRigiregion, in theSchwarzenburgregion and in the region between the eastern lake Geneva and the middle reaches of theSaane/Sarine.

The eroded material has been sorted by grain size. The coarse material was predominantly deposited near the Alps. In the middle of the plateau, there are finer sandstones and near the Jura,claysand marl.

During theTertiaryorogenic uplift,around 60 – 40 million years ago, the area of today's Swiss Plateau was aKarstplateau somewhat inclined to the south. Through processes of rising and lowering that were brought by the folding of the Alps, the area was twice flooded by a sea. The corresponding sediments are distinguished as sea molasse and freshwater molasse, even though the latter consists rather offluvialandeoliansediments (a kind ofmainland molasse).

• Lower sea molasse(around 37 - 30 million years ago): The limestone plateau subsided gradually, and a shallow sea invaded, spreading east to theCarpathian Mountains.The sediments consisted of fine-grained sands, clay and marl. There were no conglomerate fans since the proper Alpine folding began only at the end of that period.
• Lower freshwater molasse(around 30 - 22 million years ago): The sea receded because of uplift, but also because of a worldwide lowering of the mean sea level. The initiation of theAlpine orogenyand subsequent folding and uplift resulted in rapid erosion accompanied by the deposition of the first conglomerate fans.
• Upper sea molasse(around 22 - 16 million years ago): For a second time, a shallow sea invaded. The formation of the conglomerate fans of the Napf and of the Hörnli began.
• Upper freshwater molasse(about 16 - 2 million years ago): The sea receded as the formation of the Napf and Hörnli fans continued (along with other minor fans). At the end of this period, the thickness reached about 1500 meters.

In the following time, especially the western part of the plateau was again significantly risen, so that in this area, the sediments of the upper sweetwater molasse and the upper sea molasse have been largely eroded.

A characteristic of the sea molasses isfossilsnails, shells and shark teeth, whereas in the sweetwater molasse, fossils of typical landmammalsand former subtropical vegetation (for instance palm leaves) are found.

Ice ages

The contemporary landscape of the Swiss Plateau has been shaped by the ice age glaciers. During all the known alpine glaciations (Günz glaciation,Mindel glaciation,Riss glaciationandWürm glaciation), huge glaciers penetrated the Swiss Plateau. During the warm interglacials, the glaciers receded to the high alps (sometimes more than today) and subtropical vegetation spread in the plateau.

TheNapfregion in the higher Swiss Plateau

During the ice ages, theRhôneglacier split into two branches when leaving the Alps, covering the whole western Swiss Plateau and reaching today's regions ofSolothurnandAarau.In the region of Bern, it merged with theAar Glacier.The glaciers of theReuss,theLimmatand theRhineadvanced sometimes as well until the Jura. The glaciers formed the land by erosion, but also by basemoraines(very fine stone meal) often several meters thick, and by the meltwater streams depositing gravel.

Traces of the older Günz and Mindel glaciation are only left in a few places because most have been removed or transferred by the later glaciations. The greatest extension was reached by the glaciers of the Riss glaciation, when the entire Swiss Plateau was covered with ice except for the Napf and Töss regions. Most notable are the traces of the Würm glaciation about 15 000 years ago. The end moraines of different glacial retreats have been conserved.

Glacial landscapes

A look at a map still reveals the directions where the ice age glaciers ran. The farthest expansion of the Rhône Glacier to the northeast is indicated by way the western Swiss Plateau valleys trend: The valleys of theBroyeand theGlâneas well asLake Murten,Lake Neuchâtel,andLake Bielthat trend all northeast, parallel to the Jura and to theAlps.The glaciers of the Reuss and the Limmat have carved the valleys of the central Swiss Plateau that trend northwest (among others including the valleys of theWigger,theSuhre,theSeetal,theReussand theLimmat). The Rhine Glacier has mostly left traces that trend west: The eastern Swiss Plateau of theThurValley and Lake Constance. In certain places, there are characteristicdrumlinsof the base moraine, often clustered, especially in the highlands of Zürich, in theHirzelregion, in the Lake Constance region and between the Reuss Valley and theLake Baldegg.

Another reminder of the glaciation areglacial erraticswhich are found all over the Swiss Plateau. These rocks, sometimes of enormous size, are of alien stones, mostlygraniteandgneissfrom the central crystalline Alps. Taken together, they were one of the clues that led to the substantiation of the glaciation theory in the 19th century since transport by water or by volcanism was physically impossible.

Gravel deposits in the bottoms of the valleys are another testimonial of the glaciation. During the advances and withdrawals of the glaciers, gravel layers were deposited in the valleys, sometimes quite thick, though most of it eroded in the subsequentinterglacials.Therefore, many valleys have characteristic terraces, the lower terraces consisting of Würm glaciation gravel, the higher terraces of Riss glaciation terraces. Sometimes, there is also gravel from older glaciations.

Topography

The Swiss Plateau near Muri (AG)

Even though the Swiss Plateau forms a basin, it is by no means a flat territory, but depending on the region, it has a manifold structure. Important elements are the two big lakes, Lake Geneva and Lake Constance that delimit the Swiss Plateau in the southwest and the northeast. The western plateau is stamped by theGros-de-Vaudplateau (up to 600 meters AMSL) and theJoratmolasse hills (up to 900 meters AMSL) but is sometimes intersected by deep valleys. Only near the Jura, there is an almost continuous dip consisting of theVenogeand theOrbevalleys which are separated by theMormonthill, the main watershed between Rhône and Rhine, at only 500 m AMSL. TheSeeland('lake land'), characterized by the Murten, Neuchâtel and Biel lakes, represents the biggest plain of the Swiss Plateau, though it is also interrupted by isolated molasse ranges. In the east, it is neighboured by various hill countries the height of which decreases to the north. Another major plain is theWasseramtwhere theEmmeruns. In a broad valley alongside the Jura, theAarecollects all the rivers that come down from the Alps.

Central Swiss Plateau near Sursee

The central Swiss Plateau is characterised by a number of ranges and broad valleys, some of them with lakes, that run northwest. The last of them is theAlbisrange, which together with theHeitersbergrange forms a bar from the Alps to the Jura that the major transportations bypass only in a few places, mostly in tunnels.

The eastern Swiss Plateau is structured by the valleys of the Limmat (includingLake Zurich), theGlatt,theTöss,theMurg,theThur,and theSitter.Between them there are hill countries, in thecanton of Thurgaualso the broad molasse ranges ofSeerücken(lit.: 'back of the lake') andOttenbergnorth of the Thur, and the hilly ranges between the Thur and the Murg. This area is colloquially also known asMostindien(lit.: 'Cider India').

Two hill countries get out of line with the mentioned landscapes: TheNapfregion (with 1408 me AMSL the highest point of the Swiss Plateau) and theTössregion (up to 1300 meters AMSL), both of them the remains of Tertiary conglomerate sediment fans. Since they were not glaciated, they have only been eroded by water, resulting in a dense net of deep, narrow valleys.

Climate and vegetation

View from the Rigi on the sea of fog covering the Swiss Plateau

The Swiss Plateau is situated within a transition zone between humid oceanic climate and continental temperate climate. The predominant wind comes from the west. In the lower plateau, the mean annual temperature is about 9 – 10 °C. In January, the Lake Geneva region and the watersides of lake Neuchâtel and Lake Biel have the highest mean temperature of about +1 °C. At the same height as AMSL, the temperature is decreasing towards the east. In the Lake Constance region, the mean temperature of the coldest month is -1 °C. In July, the mean temperature of Geneva is 20 °C, alongside the southern edge of the Jura it is 18 – 20 °C, and in higher regions 16 – 18 °C. With regard to mean sunshine duration, the Lake Geneva region is again advantaged with more than 1900 hours, whereas in the rest of the Swiss Plateau, it is between 1600 (especially in the east) and 1900 hours.

The annual average rainfall is between 800 millimetres near the Jura, 1200 millimetres in the higher regions and 1400 millimetres at the edge of the Alps. The driest regions of the plateau are in the lee of the High Jura betweenMorgesand Neuchâtel. In the warmest regions at the lakes of Geneva and Neuchâtel, there are less than 20 days with a snow cover, whereas, in the rest of the plateau, it is between 20 and 40, depending on the height.

In the winter half-year, the air on the Swiss Plateau can stay still, with little exchange for the rest of the atmosphere, building a lake of cold air on the plateau and often a ceiling of high fog. The clouds look like an ocean of fog when seen from above, (usually around 800m) and hence are called the 'nebelmeer'. This weather is calledinversionbecause the temperature below the fog is lower than the temperature above. Sometimes, it lasts for days or even for weeks, during which the neighbouring regions of the Alps and the Jura can have the brightest sunshine. Typical for the highfogis thebise,a cold wind from the northeast. Since it is channelled by the Swiss Plateau narrowing in the southwest, it reaches its major strength in the Lake Geneva region where wind speeds of 60 km/h with top speeds of more than 100 km/h are usual in typical bise weather. The regions near the Alps of the central and eastern plateau sometimes have temperature rises due to the warmfoehn wind.

The dominating vegetation in the Swiss Plateau is a mixed broadleaf forest withEuropean beechesandsilver firs.Forforestry,there are major plantations ofNorway sprucesin many places, though the Norway spruce naturally only grows in the mountains. In certain favoured spots that are warmer and drier, in the Lake Geneva region, in theSeelandand in the northern plateau between the Aare orifice and Schaffhausen, the predominant trees areoak,tiliaandmaple.

Population

Much of the eastern part of the plateau has become part of theZürich Metropolitan Area.

The densely populated Swiss Plateau: view of Zürich fromWaidberg

History of settlement

Humans began to settle the plateau in theNeolithic,starting with the banks of lakes and rivers. Majoroppidawere built after theCeltsappeared in the 3rd century BC. Urban settlements with stone houses were built during theRoman Empire.The Swiss Plateau became a part of the Roman Empire in 15 BC when the Romans occupied the land of theHelvetiiunder the reign ofAugustus,and it remained Roman until the end of the 3rd century. The most important Roman cities in the Swiss Plateau wereAuenticum(todayAvenches),Vindonissa(todayWindisch),Colonia Iulia Equestrisor, by its Celtic name, andNoviodunum(todayNyon). They were well connected by a net ofRoman roads.After the retreat of the Roman Empire, the romanizedBurgundiansoccupied the western Swiss Plateau, while theAlamannisettled in the central and eastern portions. The language border between French and German dialects originated in this contrast.

During theMiddle Agesmany towns were founded, especially in the climatically more favoured lower plateau. In 1500 there were already 130 towns, connected by a dense road network. With the rise ofindustrialisationin the early 19th century, cities became more and more important. In 1860 a drastic population growth of the cities started which lasted for about 100 years. In the 1970s, however, outmigration from the cities started. The municipalities surrounding the cities grew disproportionately, whereas the cities themselves lost inhabitants. In recent times the outmigration has moved farther away from the cities.

Today

Even though the Swiss Plateau takes only about 30% of the surface of Switzerland, 5 million people live there, which constitutes more than two-thirds of the Swiss population. The population density is 380 people per square kilometre. All the Swiss cities with more than 50 000 inhabitants exceptBaselandLuganoare situated in the plateau, especiallyBern,Geneva,LausanneandZürich.The agglomerations of these cities are the most populous areas. Other densely populated areas are located at the south edge next to the Jura, and the agglomerations ofLucerne,WinterthurandSt. Gallen.Regions of the higher Swiss Plateau like the Jorat region, the Napf region or the Töss region are comparatively scarcely populated with little farming villages and scattered farms.

A majority is German-speaking, though the west is French-speaking. Thelanguage borderhas been stable for many centuries even though it falls neither on a geographical nor on a political delimitation. It passes fromBiel/BienneoverMurtenandFribourgto the Fribourg Alps. The cities of Biel/Bienne, Murten and Fribourg are officially bilingual. Localities along the language border usually use both names, the German and the French one, officially interchangeable.

Economy

LavauxandLake Geneva

Thanks to the favourable climate and fertile grounds, the lower western plateau is the most importantagricultural region of Switzerland.The most important cultures arewheat,barley,maize,sugar beetandpotato;especially in theSeeland,vegetablesare very important, too. Along the northern shores of the lakes ofGeneva,Neuchâtel,Bienne,Morat,as well as in theZürich WeinlandandKlettgau,there isviticulture.Grassland withdairy farmingandbeefproduction is predominant in the eastern plateau and in the higher regions. Especially in the Thurgau,fruit(apples) is important.

The forests in the Swiss Plateau are used in forestry. There are many Norway Spruce forestations, often in monoculture because of their valuable timber.

Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant

With respect toindustry,the plateau is the most important region of Switzerland. The traditional textile industries are situated especially in the central and eastern regions. During the last decades, however, it lost importance. Today's most important industries are the machine industry, the automotive industry, the electrical industry, the fine & micro mechanical, watch & electronic industries, next to the optical and metal construction. The food industry processes domestic as well as foreign produces. Furthermore, wood processing and paper converting are also important.

Like all of Switzerland, there are few mineral resources. Thanks to the Ice Age glaciers, there is plenty of gravel and clay. The gravel digging in the Ice Age gravel terraces all over the Swiss Plateau covers the demands of the construction industry.

Numerous hydroelectric power plants in the rivers produce electricity. All four Swiss nuclear power plants are situated on the plateau.

Transportation

Because of the comparatively easy topography and the dense population, the transport network is highly developed. The most important transversal, so to speak the backbone of the Swiss Plateau, is the A1 motorway that connects all the big cities going from Geneva over Lausanne, Bern, Zürich and Winterthur to St. Gallen. The A2, the Swiss north-south axis, crosses the plateau from Olten to Luzern.

The railway network is very dense. All major cities are connected, and between Olten and Lausanne, there are two main lines: One passing over Bern and Fribourg, the other passing over the edge of the Jura with Solothurn, Biel, Neuchâtel and Yverdon-les-Bains. The train ride from Zürich to Bern takes one hour; crossing the entire Swiss Plateau from St. Gallen to Geneva takes four hours.

The two most important Swiss airports are situated on the plateau,Zurich AirportandGeneva Cointrin Airport.Thede factocapital of Switzerland, Bern, has only a small airport,Bern Belpmoos Airport.

HärkingenrespectivelyNiederbippand Zürich are scheduled as one of the eight hubs of the proposedCargo Sous Terrain,an underground cargo transport system those first phase of about 70 kilometres (43 mi) is planned by the early 2030s.

Tourism

TheRhine Falls

Compared to the Swiss Alps, the plateau, and especially the rural plateau, is less geared towards tourism. It serves as a transit region. Visitors mainly come to see the major towns and cities with their historical sights and attractions, especially the Old Towns of Bern and Lucerne, but also Zürich, Biel/Bienne, St. Gallen, Fribourg, Geneva and Lausanne. An important natural touristic attraction is theRhine Fallnear Schaffhausen. The lakes also attract tourists, and then there are severalspa towns,Baden,Schinznach-Bad,Yverdon-les-BainsandZurzach,thanks to theirhydrothermal vents.

Zürich Wilderness Parkis the largest mixed deciduous and coniferous forest in the plateau, and includes the Sihl forest and Langenberg, the oldest Swiss wildlife park. The park covers approximately 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi).

See also

• Brünig-Napf-Reuss line
• History of Switzerland

Notes

Much of the content of this article comes fromthe equivalent German-language Wikipedia article(retrieved July 26, 2005). The following references are cited by that German-language article:

Literature

• Toni P. Labhart:Geologie der Schweiz.Ott Verlag, Thun, 2004.ISBN3-7225-6762-9.
• François Jeanneret und Franz Auf der Maur:Der grosse Schweizer Atlas.Kümmerly + Frey, Geographischer Verlag, Bern, 1992.ISBN3-259-08850-4.
• Andre Odermatt und Daniel Wachter:Schweiz, eine moderne Geographie.Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich, 2004.ISBN3-03823-097-9.

External links

• MittellandinGerman,FrenchandItalianin the onlineHistorical Dictionary of Switzerland.