A vast intertidal wetland along the North Sea coast of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, the Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world, sheltered by a chain of barrier islands and threaded by tidal channels, salt marshes and estuaries. It began taking its present shape only around 8,000 BC, as Holocene sea-level rise drowned the lower reaches of rivers such as the Elbe, Weser and Ems into tidal basins, with wind- and tide-driven sediment then building the barrier islands and mudflats that followed. The site supports roughly 2,700 marine species and at least 5,000 semi-terrestrial and terrestrial species, and serves as a critical stopover for 10 to 12 million migratory birds each year. UNESCO inscribed the Wadden Sea as a World Heritage Site in 2009 under natural criteria (viii), (ix) and (x).
Facts
Disputed
Length (km)Approximate coastal length as commonly reported for the trilateral World Heritage system; sources vary in whether they measure the outer barrier-island chain or the inner tidal-flat coastline, and the atlas has not yet read a single authoritative figure covering both conventions. Area (sq km) Connections
Associated With
The Wadden Sea lies along the North Sea coast of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Scandinavia, Regions Why this is disputed. Denmark, one of the three Wadden Sea nations, is conventionally grouped as Scandinavian/Nordic, though the Danish Wadden Sea coast itself lies on the Jutland peninsula rather than in the Scandinavian core; the atlas records this as an approximate regional association, not a precise containment claim.
Source Wadden Sea Quality Status Report
Borders
Source Wadden Sea (Wikipedia)
Source Wadden Sea (Wikipedia)
Source Wadden Sea (Wikipedia)
Demonstrates
The Wadden Sea is a tidal-flat and barrier-island system built and continually reworked by coastal erosion, transport and deposition.
Shaped By
Source Wadden Sea (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Same As
Also in Nature Atlas: the same subject.
Sources
1. Wadden Sea (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOpening section
a total area of about 10,000 km2 (3,900 mi2)
Borders: Netherlands, Infobox, Location field
North Sea in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands
Borders: Germany, Infobox, Location field
North Sea in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands
Borders: Denmark, Infobox, Location field
North Sea in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands
Shaped By: Coastal Processes, Formation statement for target 268234
The landscape has been formed for a great part by storm tides in the 10th to 14th centuries, overflowing and carrying away former peat land behind the coastal dunes.
View the Source 2. Wadden Sea Quality Status Report
Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands)Reports: Geomorphology
From 8000 BC onwards the lower parts of Pleistocene valleys of rivers, such as Elbe, Weser and Ems were inundated and changed into tidal basins.
- On Continent: Europe
- Associated With: Scandinavia
View the Source IUCN World Heritage Outlook
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)Wadden Sea site assessmentQuote, Wadden Sea site assessment
the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world
National Park Vadehavet
National Park Vadehavet (Danish national park authority)Homepage titleQuote, Homepage title
Welcome to the Wadden Sea National Park of Denmark - National Park Vadehavet
Wikidata: Wadden Sea
Encyclopaedia Britannica
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