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The Campine Plateau

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Landscapes and Landforms of Belgium and Luxembourg

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

Once occupied by shallow and wide braided channels of the Meuse and Rhine rivers around the Early to Middle Pleistocene transition, transporting and depositing debris from southern origin, the Campine Plateau became a positive relief as the combined result of uplift, the protective role of the sedimentary cover, and presumably also base level fluctuations. The escarpments bordering the Campine Plateau are tectonic or erosional in origin, showing characteristics of both a fault footwall in a graben system, a fluvial terrace, and a pediment. The intensive post-depositional evolution is attested by numerous traces of chemical and physical weathering during (warm) interglacials and glacials respectively. The unique interplay between tectonics, climate, and geomorphological processes led to the preservation of economically valuable natural resources, such as gravel, construction sand, and glass sand. Conversely, their extraction opened new windows onto the geological and geomorphological evolution of the Campine Plateau adding to the geoheritage potential of the first Belgian national park, the National Park Hoge Kempen. In this chapter, the origin and evolution of this particular landscape is explained and illustrated by several remarkable geomorphological highlights.

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Acknowledgements

Michiel Dusar is gratefully thanked for critically reading a late draft of the chapter and helping improve the text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineered and Geosystems Analysis, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400, Mol, Belgium

    Koen Beerten

  2. Geological Survey of Belgium, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Jennerstraat 13, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Roland Dreesen

  3. Werkgroep Geologie, LIKONA (Limburgse Koepel Voor Natuurstudie), Provinciaal Natuurcentrum, Craenevenne 86, 3600, Genk, Belgium

    Jos Janssen & Dany Van Uytven

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  1. Koen Beerten
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  2. Roland Dreesen
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  3. Jos Janssen
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  4. Dany Van Uytven
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Correspondence to Koen Beerten .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Alain Demoulin

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Beerten, K., Dreesen, R., Janssen, J., Van Uytven, D. (2018). The Campine Plateau. In: Demoulin, A. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Belgium and Luxembourg. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58239-9_12

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