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Geological square

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The Vistula river valley, along with its terraces and plateaus falling in a steep escarpment towards the river, constitute basic geo-morphological elements of Warsaw's environment. The photo shows the highest terrace, called the dune terrace. The original dunes reached heights of over a dozen meters. Today, the dune fields are mostly built over or forested. The oldest traces of settlement have been found on the right bank of the Vistula, in the region of Otwock and Karczew.