Editing Neckar (section)

=== Natural landscape ===
Narrow and widening valleys alternate along the Neckar's course. The narrows are mostly deepenings into the Muschelkalk plateau and the [[Buntsandstein]] below. Widenings developed in the area of morphologically soft clay and marl. Wide valley meadows also developed through the strong backfilling with Aue clay since the start of settlement in the [[Neolithic]] and the accompanying [[deforestation]] and [[soil erosion]]. In the area of the narrows the [[meander]] and [[Meander cutoff|cut-off meander spurs]] stand out. The meanders were formed through the primal Neckar, which sluggishly flowed through the almost even [[Muschelkalk]] plateau, forming the basic structures during the deepening phases and cutting into the hard Muschelkalk. The best known cut-off meander spur is the one at [[Lauffen am Neckar|Lauffen]]; it cut through in historical times and created a waterfall (historic: ''Laufen''). At the cutbanks one can find rocks, formed by the limestone of the upper Muschelkalk. For example, the rock gardens at [[Hessigheim]]. They lie on the marls and clays of the middle Muschelkalks and can sag in whole stone packages, so-called ''Schollen'', down towards the Neckar. In the Odenwald narrow [[ravine]]s and [[Canyon|gorges]] lead into the Neckar from both sides, as for example, the Wolfschlucht and the Margarethenschlucht.