The Upper course of the River Rhine
The beginning of the River Rhine starts when preticipation on the Swiss Alps takes place, forming a stream flowing downhill.
The southern half of the Upper Rhine forms the border between France (Alsace) and Germany (Baden-Württemberg). The northern part forms the border between the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate in the West on the one hand, and Baden-Württemberg and Hesseon the other hand, in the east and north.
The Upper Rhine was a significant cultural landscape in Central Europe already in antiquity and during the Middle Ages. Today, the Upper Rhine area hosts many important manufacturing and service industries, particularly in the centers Basel, Strasbourg and Mannheim-Ludwigshafen. Strasbourg is the seat of the European Parliament, and so one of the three European capitals is located on the Upper Rhine.
Glossary:
Rhine falls-
is the largest plain waterfall in Europe.
Rhine gorge-
The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the River Rhine between Koblenz andBingen in Germany.
Odenwald-
Is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse
Rift valley-
A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault.
Sedimentation-
is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier.
Rhine knee-
In Basel, the Rhine changes its westerly direction of flow in an angle of 90 degrees to a northerly direction, along the borders of France andGermany, to flow to the North Sea.
High rhine-
(Hochrhein) is the name used in Germany for the part of the Rhine River that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel.
Meander-
A meander, in general, is a bend in a sinuous watercourse or river. A meander forms when moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley, and the inner part of the river has less energy and deposits silt.