The Use of Remote-Sensing Methods for Assessing Military Exercise Areas from the Viewpoint of Environmental Geology

Seen as a whole, the landscape of the Colbitz-Letzlingen Heath area is part of the Altmark. Like the Flaming area further eastward, the Colbitz-Letzlingen Heath is mainly a sandy highland area formed during glacial times (see also Wagenbreth & Steiner 1982). Its present appearance is characterized by a succession of three NW-SE trending terminal moraines. These are the Planken terminal moraine in the southern part of the heath, and the Letzlingen and the Neuendorf-Brunkau terminal moraines as well as several outwash fans. Although all glacial forms of this older moraine landscape were considerably modified locally during the post-Saalian Ice Age, the moraines are still clearly visible as ridges. They are cut by numerous wide drainage channels. The Magdeburg Börde, a loess zone, adjoins them in the south. The military exercise area covers the whole series of glacial landscapes.