Topography of Croatia

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Topographic map of Croatia

Topography of

Karst topography
makes up about half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps, as well as throughout the coastal areas and the islands.

Geomorphological units

The largest part of Croatia consists of lowlands, with elevations of less than 200 metres (660 feet) above sea level recorded in 53.42% of the country. Bulk of the lowlands are found in the northern regions of the country, especially in Slavonia, representing a part of the Pannonian Basin. Territory with elevations of 200 to 500 metres (660 to 1,640 feet) above sea level encompasses 25.61% of Croatia's territory, and the areas between 500 and 1,000 metres (1,600 and 3,300 feet) above sea level cover the 17.11% of the country. Further 3.71% of the land is situated at 1,000 to 1,500 metres (3,300 to 4,900 feet) above sea level, and only 0.15% of Croatia's territory lies at elevations greater than 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) above sea level.[1] The greatest concentration of ground at relatively high elevations is found in Lika and Gorski Kotar areas in the Dinaric Alps, but such areas are found in all regions of Croatia to some extent.[2] The Pannonian Basin and the Dinaric Alps, along with the Adriatic Basin represent major geomorphological parts of Croatia.[3]

Adriatic Basin

See also: Adriatic Sea and List of islands of Croatia
Kornati national park

Croatia's Adriatic Sea mainland coast is 1,777.3 kilometres (1,104.4 miles) long, while its 1,246 islands and islets encompass further 4,058 kilometres (2,522 miles) of coastline. The distance between the extreme points of Croatia's coastline is 526 kilometres (327 miles).[4] The number of islands includes all islands, islets, and rocks of all sizes, including ones emerging at ebb tide only.[5] The islands include the largest ones in the Adriatic—Cres and Krk, each covering 405.78 square kilometres (156.67 square miles), and the tallest—Brač, whose peak reaches 780 metres (2,560 feet) above sea level. The islands include 48 permanently inhabited ones, the most populous among them being Krk and Korčula.[1]

The shore is the most indented coastline in the Mediterranean.

Dinarides in the Oligocene and the Miocene, when carbonate deposits were exposed to atmospheric effects, extending to the level of 120 metres (390 feet) below present sea level, exposed during the Last Glacial Maximum. It is estimated that some karst formations are related to earlier immersions, most notably the Messinian salinity crisis.[7] The largest part of the eastern coast consists of carbonate rocks, while flysch is significantly represented in the Gulf of Trieste coast, on the Kvarner Gulf coast opposite Krk, and in Dalmatia north of Split.[8] There are comparably small alluvial areas of the Adriatic coast in Croatia—most notably the Neretva Delta.[9] The western Istria is gradually subsiding, having sunk about 1.5 metres (4 feet 11 inches) in the past two thousand years.[10] In the Middle Adriatic Basin, there is evidence of Permian volcanism observed in area of Komiža on the island of Vis and as volcanic islands of Jabuka and Brusnik.[11]

Dinaric Alps

Main articles: Dinaric Alps and List of mountains in Croatia
Dinara seen from Knin

Formation of the

Snježnik.[1]

Karst topography makes up about half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps.[14] There are numerous caves in Croatia, 49 of which deeper than 250 metres (820.21 feet), 14 deeper than 500 metres (1,640.42 feet) and three deeper than 1,000 metres (3,280.84 feet).[15] The longest cave in Croatia, Kita Gaćešina, is at the same time the longest cave in the Dinaric Alps at 37,389 metres (122,667 feet).[16]

Highest mountain peaks of Croatia[1]
Mountain Peak Elevation Coordinates
Dinara Dinara 1,831 m (6,007 ft) 44°3′N 16°23′E / 44.050°N 16.383°E / 44.050; 16.383
Biokovo Sveti Jure 1,762 m (5,781 ft) 43°20′N 17°03′E / 43.333°N 17.050°E / 43.333; 17.050
Velebit Vaganski vrh 1,757 m (5,764 ft) 44°32′N 15°14′E / 44.533°N 15.233°E / 44.533; 15.233
Plješivica Ozeblin 1,657 m (5,436 ft) 44°47′N 15°45′E / 44.783°N 15.750°E / 44.783; 15.750
Velika Kapela
Bjelolasica
 – Kula		 1,533 m (5,030 ft) 45°16′N 14°58′E / 45.267°N 14.967°E / 45.267; 14.967
Risnjak Risnjak 1,528 m (5,013 ft) 45°25′N 14°45′E / 45.417°N 14.750°E / 45.417; 14.750
Svilaja Svilaja 1,508 m (4,948 ft) 43°49′N 16°27′E / 43.817°N 16.450°E / 43.817; 16.450
Snježnik
 Snježnik 1,506 m (4,941 ft) 45°26′N 14°35′E / 45.433°N 14.583°E / 45.433; 14.583

Pannonian Basin

Main article: Pannonian Basin
A plain in Slavonia

The

Iron Gate gorge.[18]

The results of those processes are large plains in the eastern Slavonia,

igneous rocks forming the main, 30-kilometre (19 mi) ridge of the hill and representing the largest igneous landform in Croatia. A smaller igneous landform is also present on Papuk, near Voćin.[19] The two, as well as Moslavačka gora are possible remnants of a volcanic arc related to uplifting of the Dinaric Alps.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 1333-3305
    . Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Land use - State and impacts (Croatia)". European Environment Agency. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  3. Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning (Croatia)
    . November 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  4. ISBN 978-1-897643-22-8
    . Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  5. ^ Josip Faričić; Vera Graovac; Anica Čuka (June 2010). "Croatian small islands – residential and/or leisure area". Geoadria. 15 (1). University of Zadar: 145–185. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4020-0888-7
    .
  7. ISSN 1331-2294
    . Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  8. ISBN 978-1-86239-252-6
    .
  9. PMC 2121601
    .
  10. ISSN 0277-3791
    .
  11. ^ Branimir Vukosav (30 April 2011). "Ostaci prastarog vulkana u Jadranu" [Remains of an ancient volcano in the Adriatic Sea]. Zadarski list (in Croatian). Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  12. ^
    ISSN 1868-4556
    .
  13. ISBN 978-0-12-383833-9
    . Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  14. ^ Mate Matas (18 December 2006). "Raširenost krša u Hrvatskoj" [Presence of Karst in Croatia]. geografija.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  15. ^ "The best national parks of Europe". BBC. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  16. ^ "Postojna više nije najdulja jama u Dinaridima: Rekord drži hrvatska Kita Gaćešina" [Postojna is no longer the longest cave in the Dinarides: The record is held by Croatia's Kita Gaćešina] (in Croatian). index.hr. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  17. ISBN 978-94-007-2447-1
    . Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  18. ISBN 978-90-5011-276-5
    .
  19. Papuk Geopark
    . Retrieved 2 March 2012.
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