Nederland - Oudemirdumerklif

The Oudemirdumerklif is a nature reserve in Gaasterland, a hilly region in the southwest of the Dutch province of Friesland. Gaasterland derives its name from the word gaast, which refers to the sandy heights formed here during the last two ice ages

The Oudemirdumerklif - one of the three cliffs in this region - is a remnant of a glacier tongue from the “Saale ice age”, between 200.000 and about 120.000 years ago. During this ice age, moraines of boulder clay, a tough loamy mass with scattered larger stones and gravel, were formed. The cliffs in Gaasterland were created because erosion took place where the waves of the former Zuiderzee reached these boulder mounds. Wave erosion swept away boulder clay at the bottom of the cliff.

Because of the constant crumbling under the influence of the sea, the slopes remained bare before the Zuiderzee was closed off in 1932. After the Zuiderzee became IJsselmeer, the water level remained constant. The steep sides became more slanted due to crumbling and erosion by water. Due to the saturation of the water, the cliff - with a height of about 6 meters - and the beach became overgrown with trees, bushes and plants. Because of the salt which remained in the soil, salt-loving plants continue to grow there to this day.

Because of its scientific value, the Oudemirdumerklif was one of the first acquisitions of Natuurmonumenten (a Dutch society for nature conservation) in the 1920s. You can reach the Oudemirdumerklif via the Minne Minnespad.There you walk between so-called garden walls: walls of stacked grass sod meant to keep the cattle in the meadow. These walls are unique in the world, as there are only two other locations in the Netherlands.