Waasland Scheldt Polders

The low position of the Waasland Scheldt polders arises during the Pleistocene, when an eastern tributary of the Flemish valley cuts into the Neogene sediments. This valley is filled with sandy deposits of a river during the last ice age. Wind brings a new layer of cover sand on top of this, but low cover sand ridges and dunes are also formed. Today, these cover sand ridges still loom in Kieldrecht and Verrebroek. As it got warmer, the permafrost in the sandy soil thawed and small pools formed in the lows, creating a tundra-like landscape. This landscape was later re-covered by wind-blown sand. Limited sediment deposition during the Early Holocene leads to landscape stabilization and soil formation on ridges along a slow-flowing, vanished tributary of the meandering Scheldt River.

However, the clearing and drainage of the peat caused the surface to decrease, making the region more vulnerable to flooding. Initially, these floods are of natural origin, but during the Eighty Years' War, dike breaches are also used as a weapon during the Siege of Antwerp. As a result, the entire region drowns, except for the slightly higher Doelpolder and villages on a sand ridge. From the 17th century, the gradual and definitive reclamation of the region and the formation of the final polder landscape begins. This process is repeated successively. From the 1960s and 1970s, the port of Antwerp also continues to grow on the left bank of the Scheldt. Over the past decades, part of the polders have been transformed into tidal areas by the creation of nature reserves, to compensate for lost natural values and to absorb current and future flood risks.