engleski

Bizarre karst landforms on Velebit Mt.

Carbonate substrate of the Velebit Mt. karst favoured development of some bizarre landforms. The carbonate rocks exposed on the Velebit Mt. date from Middle Permian age (but exposed only in a small area) to Eocene-Oligocene age. The outcrops reveal varieties of limestones, calcareous dolomites, dolomites and carbonate breccias. The odd-shaped (bizarre) landforms are best developed on carbonate breccias widely known as Jelar-breccia. The Velebit Mt. bizarre karst landforms are mogote (locally called Akukovi@), natural bridges (Aprozorci@ aka Awindows@) and squat-stones (A u avci@). The mogote are stone pillars which may attain the height of up to 100 m, and are exclusively developed on Jelar-breccia. However, the same term is also being used for rock walls which are developed on Cretaceous limestones and attain much larger dimensions (up to 700 m in height). The natural bridges and Awindows@ are developed on Jelar-breccia. The squat-stones are erosional remnants which are best exposed on the southern Velebit Mt., and are characterized by local lithologies, identical to the underlying rocks. However, they commonly resemble erratic blocks (which also occur on the Velebit Mt. slopes), to contribute to the confusion.

Velbit Mt.; karst; relief features

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