GeologyRocksAalsmeer
Nov
25
08:56
This week I am working in Holland, at Aalsmeer, near Amsterdam Airport.
I walked into the office from my hotel, it was cold with some snow left from yesterdays fall, and ice. This whole area is some two or more meters below sea level, and is criss-crossed by canals and waterways. Indeed Aalsmeer means Aals lake. The only geology I could see is in the sides of a newly dug excavation by a building site, the soil is light coloured sandy silt. It was not fully daylight, but there appeared to be shell fragments in the sand/silt.
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Aalsmeer
Thu, 05/14/2009 - 20:22The soil were you refering at are the Holocene Calais deposits (source: General Geological Map of the Netherlands.)
In general the soil at the surface of the Haarlemmermeer polder (17500 hectares) and a certain area around consists of this formation.The shell fragments are the same which you can find on the Dutch beeches today.
The Haarlemmermeer grew bigger and bigger from the middleages to about 1840.This caused by the peat (Hollandpeat) excavation for fuel and the influence of the wind.
In 1852 it was pumped dry by 3 Cornisch beam engines of 350 HP each.
Aalsmeer means indeed Eels lake.On top of the churchtower there is a lion holding an eel in its clauws. In that church I served as church organist from 1967 till 1976.
An interesting fact is that the Glanis siluris is still surviving in the waters round Aalsmeer
In 1976 I left to the south of the Netherlands to study the Namurian of the Geul valley.Your post brought me in memory lane.