Relief /Lithuania

Relief of Lithuania

 

Underlying rock structures are of little significance for the contemporary Lithuanian terrain, which basically is a low-lying plain scraped by Ice Age glaciers that left behind thick, ridgelike terminal deposits known as moraines. The Baltic coastal area is fringed by a region characterized by geographers as the maritime depression, which rises gradually eastward. Sand dunes line an attractive coast; the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršiu Marios), almost cut off from the sea by the Curonian Spit, a thin 60-mile (100-km) sandspit, forms a distinctive feature. It is bounded by the Žemaičiai Upland to the east, which gives way to the flat expanses of the Middle Lithuanian Lowland.  

 

  The lowland, consisting of glacial lake clays and boulder-studded loams, stretches in a wide band across the country from north to south; some portions of it are heavily waterlogged. The elevated Baltic Highlands, adjacent to the central lowland, thrust into the eastern and southeastern portions of the country; their rumpled glacial relief includes a host of small hills and numerous small lakes. The Švenčioniai and the Ašmena highlands—the latter containing Mount Juozapinė, at 957 feet (292 metres) above sea level the highest point in Lithuania—are located in the extreme east and southeast.

Čepkeliai marsh (Lithuanian: Čepkelių raistas) is the largest swamp in Lithuania, in the territory of Dzūkija National Park. The area of the swamp is protected as a natural rezerve. In Lithuania there are 34 swamps – natural rezeves 

 Lithuania counts around 29 thousand watercourses, longer than 0.25km. The total length of all these watercourses would be around 65,000km

There are about 6,000 lakes in Lithuania,

covering 950km², or 1.5% of the territory of Lithuania