!!!Wiener Becken

Vienna Basin, Vienna/Lower Austria/Burgenland, in a narrower sense it 
comprises the triangular basin area south of the River Danube 
(southern Vienna basin), in a broader sense it is a trench failure 
system stretching 200 km in length from Gloggnitz in the south to 
Moravia in the north. Its flanks spread farthest in the middle 
(55 km in length from Vienna to the Small Carpathian Mountains). 
The Austrian part of the Vienna basin therefore includes the  
Marchfeld Plain and the eastern  Weinviertel Region as well as the 
southern Vienna basin. At the beginning of the Upper Tertiary it 
emerged as a depression area between the Alps and the Carpathian 
Mountains, in which the sea subsequently deposited up to 5,500 m 
of sedimentary rock (formation of petroleum deposits). Littoral 
deposits abundant in fossils can be found on the shores of the former 
sea (e.g.  Leitha Limestone). Earth tremors and various curative 
springs on the fault line (e.g. Baden, Bad Voeslau and Bad 
Deutsch-Altenburg) show that geological changes are still occurring. 
The southern Vienna basin, which forms a depression from southwest to 
northeast, extends to a width of 60 km between the  Wiener Pforte 
Gap and the Hainburger Pforte Gap and is also limited by the  Vienna 
Woods,  Thermenlinie,  Semmering Pass,  Bucklige Welt,  
Rosaliengebirge Mountains,  Leithagebirge Mountains and the  
Hundsheimer Berge Hills; The Vienna basin is connected with the area 
around Lake Neusiedl via the  Wiener Neustaedter Pforte Gap and the 
Brucker Pforte Gap. It is influenced by the Pannonian climate. The 
Vienna basin can be divided into 4 smaller areas: 1) Hills and 
tableland can be found to the south of the River Danube; the 
loess-covered gravel plates are fertile soil used for agriculture, and 
the gravel hills are either wooded or used for wine growing (e.g. 
Rauchenwarther Platte and Ellender Wald area); after Vienna, Schwechat 
(Vienna Airport) and Bruck an der Leitha are the most important 
municipalities. 2) The "Wet Plain" (area of intensive farming, fruit 
growing and horticulture) ranges from the southern edge of the gravel 
plates to the Ebreichsdorf area. Municipalities: Ebreichsdorf and 
Mitterndorf an der Fischa (Mitterndorfer Senke Depression). 3) In the 
west, the "Wet Plain" fades into a fringe zone characterised by wine 
growing, situated alongside the Thermenlinie fault line. 
Municipalities: Perchtoldsdorf, Brunn am Gebirge, Maria Enzersdorf am 
Gebirge, Moedling, Gumpoldskirchen, Pfaffstaetten, Baden and Bad 
Voeslau (health resorts with thermal springs). 4) In the southeast, 
the "Wet Plain" is followed by the Steinfeld area, a region with thin, 
low-quality soil which was reafforested with pine trees in the 
18%%sup th/%  century; principal town: Wiener Neustadt. The main 
waters of the Vienna basin are the rivers Schwarza, Pitten, Leitha, 
Fischa, Piesting, Triesting and Schwechat as well as the Wiener 
Neustadt Canal. The Vienna basin is one of the most important 
industrial areas in Austria, boasting industries such as chemical and 
plastics (refinery in Schwechat), metal processing, textile and 
clothing, quarry and pit, glass, food and paper as well as related 
services and retail trade ( Shopping-City Sued). There are important 
research institutions in Laxenburg (International Institute for 
Applied Systems Analysis) and Seibersdorf (Forschungszentrum 
Seibersdorf GmbH). Some parts of the Vienna basin are among the most 
densely populated regions in Austria: The population density in 
permanently inhabited areas amounts to a number of 500-1000 or 1000 
and more inhabitants per km%%sup 2/% next to the main traffic artery. 
The western edge of the Vienna basin is made accessible through the 
Sued-Autobahn motorway (A 2), the Triester Strasse Road, the 
Southern Railway and the Schnellbahn suburban service, which 
terminates at Wiener Neustadt; Baden can be reached via the Badner 
Bahn suburban service. The part of the Vienna basin next to the Danube 
is accessible via a branch line of the Eastern Railway, the 
Schnellbahn suburban service to Wolfsthal and the A 4 motorway 
towards Bruck an der Leitha. Eisenstadt can be reached on the A 3 
motorway and the Federal Road 16; there are also a number of 
short-distance railway lines and roads in the Vienna basin.


%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Wiener_Becken|class='wikipage austrian']
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]