Further flooding by the sea in the succeeding Tertiary era created large areas of bog in the Helmstedt Basin that were transformed under sub-tropical climatic conditions into massive brown coal deposits.
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The only settlements are the Helmstedt hamlet of Bad Helmstedt and the Harbke sector of Autobahn in the south, and the installations of the old airbase of Mariental in the north.
Lappwald |
The Elm-Lappwald Nature Park has since become part of the UNESCO and European Geopark of Harz–Brunswick Land–Eastphalia.
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It is dominated by the forested hill ranges of the Elm, Lappwald and Dorm as well as the region known as the Helmstedt Bowl (Helmstedter Mulde).