Central Croatia: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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[[File:Medvednica.jpg|thumb|[[Sava]] River in [[Zagreb]], with [[Medvednica]] in the background]]

{{see also|Pannonian Basin|Dinaric Alps}}

Central Croatia straddles the boundary between the [[Dinaric Alps]] and the [[Pannonian Basin]], two of three major [[Geomorphology|geomorphological]] parts of Croatia.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning (Croatia)]]|url=http://klima.mzopu.hr/UserDocsImages/Nacionalno_izv_KLIMA_23022007.pdf|format=PDF|title=Drugo, trece i cetvrto nacionalno izvješće Republike Hrvatske prema Okvirnoj konvenciji Ujedinjenih naroda o promjeni klime (UNFCCC)|trans_title=The second, third and fourth national report of the Republic of Croatia pursuant to the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC)|language=Croatian|year=2006|month=November|accessdate=2 March 2012}}</ref> The boundary runs from the {{convert|1181|m|adj=on}} Žumberak range to the Banovina area, along the [[Sava]] River.<ref>{{cite book|page=195|url=http://books.google.hr/books?id=aH3ymyEURHoC|title=Encyclopedia of Caves|editor1-first=William B|editor1-last=White|editor2-first=David C|editor2-last=Culver|isbn=9780123838339|publisher=Academic Press|year=2012|accessdate=3 March 2012}}</ref> The Dinaric Alps are linked to a [[fold and thrust belt]] active from the Late [[Jurassic]] to recent times, and is itself part of the [[Alpine orogeny|Alpine]] [[orogeny]] that extends southeast from the southern [[Alps]].<ref name="EGU">{{cite journal|journal=EGU Stephan Mueller Special Publication Series|publisher=[[Copernicus Publications]]|title=Evolution of the northern and western Dinarides: a tectonostratigraphic approach|first=Vlasta|last=Tari-Kovačić|year=2002|pages=223–236|issn=1868-4556|accessdate=3 March 2012|url=http://www.stephan-mueller-spec-publ-ser.net/1/223/2002/smsps-1-223-2002.pdf|format=PDF|issue=1}}</ref> [[Karst]] topography is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geografija.hr/clanci/1011/rasirenost-krsa-u-hrvatskoj|title=Raširenost krša u Hrvatskoj|trans_title=Presence of Karst in Croatia|language=Croatian|publisher=Croatian Geographic Society|date=18 December 2006|firstauthor=Mate|last= Matas|accessdate=18 October 2011|work=geografija.hr|archivedate=8 August 2012|deadurl=no|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/69lbXToZS}}</ref>

The Pannonian Basin took shape through [[Miocene|Miocenian]] thinning and [[subsidence]] of crust structures formed during the Late [[Paleozoic]] [[Variscan orogeny]]. Paleozoic and [[Mesozoic]] structures are visible in [[Papuk]] and other Slavonian mountains. The processes also led to the formation of a [[Stratovolcano|stratovolcanic]] chain in the basin 12–17&nbsp;[[Mya (unit)|Mya]]; intensified subsidence was observed until 5&nbsp;Mya as well as [[flood basalt]]s at about 7.5&nbsp;Mya. The contemporary [[tectonic uplift]] of the [[Carpathian Mountains]] cut off the flow of water to the [[Black Sea]], and the [[Pannonian Sea]] formed in the basin. [[Sedimentation#Geology|Sediments]] were transported to the basin from the uplifting Carpathian and Dinaric mountains, with particularly deep [[fluvial]] sediments being deposited in the [[Pleistocene]] epoch during the formation of the [[Transdanubian Mountains]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.hr/books?id=GClF-4rtvoIC|title=Recent Landform Evolution: The Carpatho-Balkan-Dinaric Region|isbn=9789400724471|publisher=Springer|year=2012|accessdate=2 March 2012|pages=14–18|first1=Milos|last1=Stankoviansky|first2=Adam|last2=Kotarba}}</ref> Ultimately up to {{convert|3000|m}} of sediment was deposited in the basin, and the sea eventually drained through the [[Iron Gate (Danube)|Iron Gate]] gorge.<ref>{{cite book|page=16|url=http://books.google.hr/books?id=NJNODA_0IOgC|title=The Nature Guide to the Hortobagy and Tisza River Floodplain, Hungary|first=Dirk|last=Hilbers|publisher=Crossbill Guides Foundation|year=2008|isbn=9789050112765|accessdate=2 March 2012}}</ref> The result is large plains, particularly in river valleys, and especially along the Sava, [[Drava]], and [[Kupa]] rivers. The plains are interspersed with [[Horst (geology)|horst]] and [[graben]] structures, believed to have broken the Pannonian Sea's surface as [[Pannonian island mountains|islands]].<ref>{{cite book|title=New Frontiers in Tectonic Research: At the Midst of Plate Convergence|chapter=Neogene Tectonics in Croatian Part of the Pannonian Basin and Reflectance in Hydrocarbon Accumulations|editor-first=Uri|editor-last=Schattner|publisher=InTech|first1=Tomislav |last1=Malvić|first2=Josipa|last2=Velić|year=2011|pages=215–238|isbn=9789533075945|format=PDF|url=http://www.intechopen.com/source/pdfs/17665/InTech-Neogene_tectonics_in_croatian_part_of_the_pannonian_basin_and_reflectance_in_hydrocarbon_accumulations.pdf|accessdate=2 March 2012}}</ref> The tallest among these landforms are {{convert|1059|m|adj=on}} [[Ivanšćica]] and {{convert|1035|m|adj=on}} [[Medvednica]], north of [[Zagreb#Surroundings|Zagreb]].<ref name="DZS-Stat2010"/> Parts of {{convert|489|m|adj=on}} [[Moslavačka gora]], along with [[igneous rocks|igneous]] [[landforms]] on [[Papuk]] and [[Požeška gora]] mountains in Slavonia to the east, are possibly remnants of a [[volcanic arc]] from the same [[plate tectonics|tectonic plate]] collision that caused the Dinaric Alps.<ref name="EGU"/><ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Papuk Geopark]]|url=http://www.papukgeopark.com/publikacije/geo_vodic1_30.pdf|format=PDF|title=Geološki vodič kroz park prirode Papuk|language=Croatian|trans_title=Geological guide to the Papuk Nature Park|accessdate=2 March 2012|first1=Jakob|last1=Pamić|first2=Goran|last2=Radonić|first3=Goran|last3=Pavić}}</ref>