NORTH GERMAN PLAIN

lowland region of northern Germany extending from the North and Baltic seas southward to the foreland of the Central German Uplands. It is a portion of the Great European Plain that spreads from the Belgium coast east into the lowlands of central Russia. Nearly the entire North German Plain lies less than 330 feet (100 m) above sea level. The lowland is drained by the north-flowing Rhine, Ems, Weser, Elbe, and Oder rivers; a network of shipping canals and inland waterways connect the rivers from east to west. Glacial action formed the region's landform patterns, which can be divided into three major areas of relief from west to east: the alluvial deposits of the Lower Rhineland, the flat glacial sands and gravels of Lower Saxony west of the Elbe River, and the series of morainic uplands and troughs extending eastward from Schleswig-Holstein along the Baltic Sea. The climate is maritime, characterized by cool summers and mild winters, considerable precipitation, and strong northwesterly winds.