RONDE HOEP

1100 - 2050 Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Present. Sinking land

Future. Solutions

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Present. Sinking land

Future. Solutions

New land from the sea in the Netherlands Before 1300 1300-1600 1600-1900 After 1900

DYNAMIC NETHER LANDS Nobody has more expercience in water managment than the Dutch in the Netherlands. Their land has changed through the time because of their capability in extracting water from the soil and winning land from the sea. The Dutch have been creating dry land with dikes and polder systems for more than 900 years. The highest point in the Netherlands is 323 m, right on the border with Germany and Belgium. The lowest point is 6.76m below sea level. In total 40% of the land area lies below sea level.

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Present. Sinking land

Future. Solutions

AMSTEL RIVER

Oudekerck aan de Amstel

NORD HOLLAND

CONTEXT Ronde Hoep is a polder and silence area in the southeast of the Dutch province of North Holland, west of Amsterdam to the southeast and east of the Amstel and belongs to the municipality of Ouder-Amstel.

The polder has a size of 1266 hectares, 900 of which are pastures.

The Rondehoep forms a boundary between the provinces of Noord-Holland and Utrecht on a part of the ring dike.

Ness aan de Amstel

UTRECHT

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Present. Sinking land

Future. Solutions

1800

1850

1950

2018

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Future. Solutions

LEAF STRUCTURE The creeks have a strange pattern. During the Middel age, when peat started to drain the water, the canals were dug along the river. Eventually they found tombs in the middle and It resulted in a star pattern. The dehydration meant that the land it was created under the river water level. Then later the water was pumped to the rivers with help of the windmills. It’s clear that Rondehoep has always been a rich meadow, also perfect for prairie birds.

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Future. Solutions

BIODIVERSITY IN THE SWAMP

WATER LEVEL WET PEAT

SEDIMENTS

Before 1300. SWAMPS Dutch landscape is caracterized by how it can be transformed, which made it a dynamic landscape.

Before the Dutch started pumping water from the land, this land was invaded by the water in there areas lower than the sea level. Soil could be peat, clay, loess or sand, and full of water so the land mantained moist.

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Present. Sinking land

Future. Solutions

Dutch ride Bicicly landscape throughinversion the history in of

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Future. Solutions

PUMPING WATER OUT OF THE POLDER

DYKE

NEW WATER LEVEL

SEA LEVEL

DRY PEAT

WET PEAT / CLAY

After 1300. Middle Age NEW LAND After the year 1300 the Dutch started building dikes around pieces of land in order to get the soil dry. The polder Ronde Hoep was created between the years 1100 and 1300 and after pumping the water out of the new dikes the polder became a new dry land profitable to agriculture and animal breeding.

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Future. Solutions

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Landscape inversion

Future. Solutions

PROFITABLE LAND USE

BIODIVERSITY OUT OF THE POLDER

DRAINAGE CANAL

DYKE

SEA LEVEL

NEW WATER LEVEL IN THE POLDER

WET PEAT / CLAY

LAND USE While the swamp didn’t allow the land to produce food, now, the polder system lets the land be productive. That’s why this system covers at least 40% of the Netherlands, which make this country the second agriculturual products exporter of the world after the United States of America.

Ronde Hoep is one of the most important polders of North Holland, and nowadays is a profitable area for agriculture and animal breeding.

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Landscape inversion

Future. Solutions

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Landscape inversion

Future. Solutions

PROFITABLE LAND USE

SUBSIDENCE OF THE LAND

OXIDATION OF THE DRY PEAT SEA LEVEL

CO2 DRAINAGE CANAL

WATER LEVEL IN THE POLDER

OXIDATION PROCESS The main soil component in this area was peat. The peat is composed of organic material which is actually burned mostly to extract energy from it. Furthermore peat oxides when it is in contact with the oxigen producing CO2 to the atmosphere. This natural process of oxidation produces a reduction of its volume. This results in the consequent subsidence. Then ground water level gets closer to the surface and this water is pumped out to have a dry ground.

DRAINAGE CANAL

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Landscape inversion

Future. Solutions

Dutch landscape inversion in

CREATION OF CREEK RIDGES

RONDE HOEP CREEK

Context and history PEAT

1100. Swamps

SEDIMENTATION

1800. New land

PEAT SAND

1950. Oxidation of the peat

Landscape inversion

CREEK RIDGE

Future. Solutions PEAT

CLAY SAND

DRAINAGE CANAL

DRAINAGE CANAL

WATER LEVEL IN THE POLDER

CREEK RIDGES FORMATIONS

CREEK RIDGES FORMATIONS SINKING PEAT

WATER LEVEL IN THE POLDER

LANDSCAPE INVERSION The drainage system in the Netherlands was made by creeks that canalize the water. Those creeks also transport sand sediments that slowly are acumulated on the peat base. This process takes years but it makes the landscape invert, causing the peat to sink at the same time that creek ridges are created. This is a natural process that speeds up the sinking of the peat in these areas.

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Landscape inversion

Future. Solutions

NEW AQUA-AGRICULTURAL LAND

BIODIVERSITY IN THE SWAMP

GROWING OF NEW PEAT WATER LEVEL IN THE POLDER

NEW LEVEL OF THE PEAT

FUTURE Ronde Hoep is an historical polder in the same situation of sinking that is happening around the Netherlands. That’s why the polder needs to be dry and the water is pumped out everytime. Nowadays the new vision of sustainability in the Netherlands is focus on restoring the capability of the land to keep water and finding an alternative for the agricultural land and its production.

SEA LEVEL

Dutch landscape inversion in

RONDE HOEP Context and history

1100. Swamps

1800. New land 1950. Oxidation of the peat

Landscape inversion

Future. Solutions