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56-606: Geologically, the Treskavica range is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly limestone and dolomite . A number of beautiful mountain lakes are scattered throughout the group, of which Veliko Jezero is the largest. A number of streams source from these mountains: the Bistrica tributary of the Drina river, the Željeznica tributary of

112-543: A mean annual air temperature (MAAT) of −1.5 °C (29.5 °F) will be found at wind exposed sites with little snow cover during winter. Higher up, widespread permafrost may be expected at altitudes with a MAAT of −3.5 °C (25.5 °F), continuous permafrost at altitudes with a MAAT of −6 °C (21 °F). Within the EU-sponsored project PACE (Permafrost and Climate in Europe), a 100 m (330 ft) deep borehole

168-453: A serious threat throughout the area, hiking and tourism have picked up during the last couple of years, and some mountain huts have re-opened (Sustavac, and Turnovi Stan). The main peak of Mala Ćaba is generally known as Đokin Toranj because of a view tower that used to stand on its summit, but has been destroyed and removed during the war. A marked itinerary, leading from Veliko Jezero to the top

224-566: A thin to thick crust transition zone (as are all passive margins). Alternative lines of research have stressed the role of climate in inducing erosion that induces an isostatic compensation ; fluvial and glacial erosion and incision during the Quaternary is thought to have contributed to the uplift of the mountain by forcing an isostatic response . The total amount of uplift produced by this mechanism could be as much as 500 m (1,600 ft). Other geoscientists have implied diapirism in

280-557: Is also implied from the erosion that the nappes of Caledonian rock once reached further east than they do today. The erosion has left remaining massifs of Caledonian rocks and windows of Precambrian rock. While there are some disagreements, geologists generally recognize four units among the nappes: an uppermost, an upper, a middle and a lower unit. The lower unit is made up Ediacaran ( Vendian ), Cambrian , Ordovician and Silurian -aged sedimentary rocks . Pieces of Precambrian shield rocks are in some places also incorporated into

336-609: Is built mostly of Mesozoic limestone and dolomite deposited on top of a huge Bahama-type carbonate platform, while a few kilometers thick carbonate successions have been deformed during the Alpine orogenesis. The main tectonic phase of the Alpine orogenesis in the Dinaric Karst region took place in the Cenozoic Era ( Paleogene ) as a result of the Adriatic microplate (Adria) collision with

392-508: Is communication possible across the Karst, and roads and railways tunnel through precipitous cliffs and traverse narrow ledges above roaring torrents. A number of springs and rivers rise in the Dinaric range, including Jadro Spring noted for having been the source of water for Diocletian's Palace at Split. At the same time, the purity of these rocks is such that the rivers are crystal clear, and there

448-481: Is dotted with glacial cirques usually separated from each other by pre-glacial paleosurfaces . Glacier erosion has been limited in these paleosurfaces which form usually plateaus between valleys. As such the paleosurfaces were subject of diverging and slow ice flow during the glaciations. In contrast valleys concentrated ice flow forming fast glaciers or ice streams . At some locations coalesced cirques form arêtes and pyramidal peaks . Glacial reshaping of valleys

504-472: Is little soil-making residue. Water quality testing of the Jadro River , for example, indicates the low pollutant levels present. Rock faces are often bare of vegetation and glaring white, but what little soil there is may collect in the hollows and support lush lime-tolerant vegetation, or yield narrow strips of cultivation. Ruins of fortresses dot the mountainous landscape, evidence of centuries of war and

560-500: Is more marked in the western part of the mountain chain where drowned glacier-shaped valleys constitute the fjords of Norway. In the eastern part of the mountain chain, glacial reshaping of valleys is weaker. Many mountain tops contain blockfields which escaped glacial erosion either by having been nunataks in the glacial periods or by being protected from erosion under cold-based glacier ice . Karst systems, with their characteristic caves and sinkholes , occur at various places in

616-572: Is the highest peak in mainland Northern Europe , at 2,469 metres (8,100 ft); Kebnekaise is the highest peak on the Swedish side, at 2,104 m (6,903 ft), whereas the slope of Halti is the highest point in Finland, at 1,324 m (4,344 ft), although the peak of Halti is situated in Norway. The Scandinavian montane birch forest and grasslands terrestrial ecoregion is closely associated with

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672-579: Is the most important corrosive force , dissolving the limestone by chemical action of its natural acidity. As it percolates down through cracks in the limestone it opens up fissures and channels, often of considerable depth, so that whole systems of underground drainage develop. During subsequent millennia these work deeper, leaving in their wake enormous waterless caverns , sinkholes and grottoes and forming underground labyrinths of channels and shafts. The roofs of some of these caverns may eventually fall in, to produce great perpendicular-sided gorges, exposing

728-744: The förfjäll (literally 'fore-fell'). Generally the förfjäll do not surpass 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level. As a geomorphic unit the förfjäll extends across Sweden as a 650 km (400 mi) long and 40-to-80 km (25-to-50 mi) broad belt from Dalarna in the south to Norrbotten in the north. While lower than the Scandinavian Mountains proper, the förfjäll 's pronounced relief , its large number of plateaux, and its coherent valley system distinguish it from so-called undulating hilly terrain (Swedish: bergkullsterräng ) and plains with residual hills (Swedish: bergkullslätt ) found further east. The climate of

784-599: The Bosna river , Ljuta and Rakitnica tributaries of the Neretva . Notable peaks are Mala Ćaba (2088 m.), Pašina Planina (2070 m.), Mali Treskač (1950 m.) and Lupoč (1773 m.). During the Bosnian War , the Treskavica mountains were part of the frontline between both ARBiH and VRS , which saw intense combat. Numerous battles were fought within these mountains over the possession of the small town of Trnovo , which would allow access to

840-631: The Fennoscandian Ice Sheet grew out multiple times most likely resembled today's ice fields in Andean Patagonia . During the last glacial maximum (ca. 20 ka BP ) all the Scandinavian Mountains were covered by the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, which extended well beyond the mountains into Denmark, Germany, Poland and the former USSR . As the ice margin started to recede 22–17 ka BP the ice sheet became increasingly concentrated in

896-688: The Goražde enclave and the staging point for the Siege of Sarajevo . Nowadays, the borderline between the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina runs parallel to the former lines diagonally through Treskavica, dividing the south-eastern part of the mountain range towards the territory of the Republika Srpska whereas the north-western part belongs to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Although contamination with land mines and unexploded ordnance still pose

952-802: The Oligocene . The uplift of South Norway has elevated the westernmost extension of the sub-Cambrian peneplain which forms part of what is known as the Paleic surface in Norway. In South Norway, the Scandinavian Mountains had their main uplift phase later ( Neogene ) than in northern Scandinavia which had its main phase of uplift in the Paleogene . For example, the Hardangervidda uplifted from sea level to its present 1,200–1,100 m (3,900–3,600 ft) in Early Pliocene times. The various episodes of uplift of

1008-534: The Ottoman Empire failed to fully subjugate the mountainous areas of Montenegro . In the 20th century, too, the mountains provided favourable terrain for guerrilla warfare , with Yugoslav Partisans organising one of the most successful Allied resistance movements of World War II . The area remains underpopulated, and forestry and mining remain the chief economic activities in the Dinaric Alps. The people of

1064-503: The asthenosphere as being the cause of uplift. One hypothesis states that the early uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains could be indebted to changes in the density of the lithosphere and asthenosphere caused by the Iceland plume when Greenland and Scandinavia rifted apart about 53 million years ago. Many slopes and valleys are straight because they follow tectonic fractures that are more prone to erosion. Another result of tectonics in

1120-544: The Adriatic , is the highest peak and is located in Albania. The Dinaric Alps are one of the most rugged and extensive mountainous areas of Europe, alongside the Caucasus Mountains , Alps , Pyrenees , Carpathian Mountains and Scandinavian Mountains . They are formed largely of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of dolomite , limestone , sandstone and conglomerates formed by seas and lakes that once covered

1176-530: The Balkans. No permanent ice caps existed, and there is little evidence of extensive glaciation . Only the highest summits of Durmitor , Orjen and Prenj have glacial valleys and moraines as low as 600 m (1,969 ft). However, in the Accursed Mountains ( Serbo-Croatian : Prokletije ), a range on the northern Albanian border that runs east to west (thus breaking the general geographic trend of

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1232-464: The Dinaric Alps are on record as being the tallest in the world, with an average male adolescent height of 185.6 cm (6 ft 1.1 in). The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the highest recorded average of any single country, with 183.9 cm average for men and 171.8 cm for women. The main mountain passes of the Dinaric Alps are: Major tunnels transversing the Dinaric Alps include: The famous Belgrade–Bar railway crosses

1288-467: The Dinaric system), there is evidence of major glaciation. One geological feature of great importance to the present-day landscape of the Dinarides must be considered in more detail: that of the limestone mountains, often with their attendant faulting. They are hard and slow to erode, and often persist as steep jagged escarpments, through which steep-sided gorges and canyons are cleft by the rivers draining

1344-583: The Nordic countries is maritime along the coast of Norway, and much more continental in Sweden in the rain shadow of the Scandinavian Mountains. The combination of a northerly location and moisture from the North Atlantic Ocean has caused the formation of many ice fields and glaciers . In the mountains, the air temperature decreases with increasing altitude, and patches of mountain permafrost in regions with

1400-567: The Scandinavian Mountains are Caledonian, which means they were put in place by the Caledonian orogeny . Caledonian rocks overlie rocks of the much older Svecokarelian and Sveconorwegian provinces . The Caledonian rocks actually form large nappes ( Swedish : skollor ) that have been thrust over the older rocks. Much of the Caledonian rocks have been eroded since they were put in place, meaning that they were once thicker and more contiguous. It

1456-464: The Scandinavian Mountains lack "alpine topography", and where present it does not relate to altitude. An example of this is the distribution of cirques in southern Norway that can be found both near sea level and at 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Most cirques are found between 1,000 and 1,500 m (3,300 and 4,900 ft). To the east, the Scandinavian Mountains proper bound with mountains that are lower and less dissected and are known in Swedish as

1512-500: The Scandinavian Mountains were similar in orientation and tilted land surfaces to the east while allowing rivers to incise the landscape. Some of the tilted surfaces constitute the Muddus plains landscape of northern Sweden . The progressive tilt contributed to create the parallel drainage pattern of northern Sweden. Uplift is thought to have been accommodated by coast-parallel normal faults and not by fault-less doming . Therefore,

1568-454: The Scandinavian Mountains, but are more common in the northern parts. Present-day karst systems might have long histories dating back to the Pleistocene or even earlier. Much of the mountain range is mantled by deposits of glacial origin including till blankets, moraines , drumlins and glaciofluvial material in the form of outwash plains and eskers . Bare rock surfaces are more common in

1624-469: The Scandinavian Mountains. Recession of the ice margin led the ice sheet to be concentrated in two parts of the Scandinavian Mountains, one part in South Norway and another in northern Sweden and Norway. These two centres were for a time linked, so that the linkage constituted a major drainage barrier that formed various large ephemeral ice-dammed lakes . About 10 ka BP, the linkage had disappeared and so did

1680-656: The Serbo-Macedonian and Rhodope Massifs, and the process is still active. The Mesozoic limestone forms a very distinctive region of the Balkans , notable for features such as the Karst Plateau , which has given its name to all such terrains of limestone eroded by groundwater. The Dinarides are known for being composed of karst – limestone rocks – as is Dinara , the mountain for which they were named. The Quaternary ice ages had relatively little direct geologic influence on

1736-565: The area. During the Alpine earth movements that occurred 50 to 100 million years ago, immense lateral pressures folded and overthrust the rocks in a great arc around the old rigid block of the northeast. The main tectonic phase of the orogenesis in the area of the Dinaric Karst took place in Cenozoic Era (Paleogene) as a result of the Adriatic Microplate (Adria) collision with Europe, and

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1792-520: The border with the Dalmatian part of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Names of the chain in local languages include Albanian : Alpet Dinarike [alpɛt dinaɾikɛ] or Dinaret ; Italian : Alpi Dinariche [alpi dinarike] ; Serbo-Croatian : Динариди , Dinaridi or Динарско горје Dinarsko gorje [dìnarskòː ɡòːrjeː] ; Slovene : Dinarsko gorstvo [dìnarskòː ɡòːrstvòː] . The Dinaric Karst region

1848-488: The common labelling of the southern Scandinavian Mountains and the northern Scandinavian Mountains as two domes is misleading. There are divided opinions on the relation between the coastal plains of Norway, the strandflat , and the uplift of the mountains. Unlike orogenic mountains , there is no widely accepted geophysical model to explain elevated passive continental margins such as the Scandinavian Mountains. Various mechanisms of uplift have, however, been proposed over

1904-550: The higher slopes. The partially submerged western Dinaric Alps form the numerous islands and harbors along the Croatian coast. The most extensive example of limestone mountains in Europe are those of the Karst of the Dinaric Alps. Here, all the characteristic features are encountered again and again as one travels through this wild and thinly populated country. Limestone is a very porous rock, yet very hard and resistant to erosion . Water

1960-408: The lower limit of permafrost, the mean glacier altitude (or glaciation limit) is related to the amount of precipitation . Thus the snow line , or glacier equilibrium line as the limit between the accumulation zone and ablation zone shows the opposite trend, from 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) in the west ( Jostefonn ) to 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) in the east ( Jotunheimen ). Most of the rocks of

2016-582: The lower nappes. It was during the Silurian and Devonian periods that the Caledonian nappes were stacked upon the older rocks and upon themselves. This occurred in connection with the closure of the Iapetus Ocean as the ancient continents of Laurentia and Baltica collided . This collision produced a Himalayan -sized mountain range named the Caledonian Mountains roughly over the same area as

2072-515: The mountain range contains the highest mountain of Northern Europe, Galdhøpiggen at almost 2,500 m (8,200 ft). This part of the mountain chain is also broader and contains a series of plateaux and gently undulating surfaces that hosts scattered inselbergs . The plateaux and undulating surfaces of the southern Scandinavian Mountains form a series of stepped surfaces. Geomorphologist Karna Lidmar-Bergström and co-workers recognize five widespread stepped surfaces. In eastern Norway, some of

2128-641: The mountain range. In Swedish , the mountain range is called Skandinaviska fjällkedjan , Skanderna (encyclopedic and professional usage), Fjällen ('the Fells ', common in colloquial speech) or Kölen ('the Keel'). In Norwegian , it is called Den skandinaviske fjellkjede , Fjellet , Skandesfjellene , Kjølen ('the Keel') or Nordryggen ('the North Ridge', name coined in 2013). The names Kölen and Kjølen are often preferentially used for

2184-694: The mountains and plateaux found on the opposite side of the North Atlantic in Eastern Greenland or in Australia's Great Dividing Range . The Scandinavian Mountains attained their height by tectonic processes different from orogeny, chiefly in the Cenozoic . A two-stage model of uplift has been proposed for the Scandinavian Mountains in South Norway. A first stage in the Mesozoic and a second stage starting from

2240-613: The mountains. The mountains and plateaus within the Dinarides are found in the following regions: Scandinavian Mountains The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes is a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula . The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the North Sea and Norwegian Sea , forming the fjords of Norway , whereas to the northeast they gradually curve towards Finland . To

2296-567: The north they form the border between Norway and Sweden , reaching 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) high at the Arctic Circle . The mountain range just touches northwesternmost Finland but are scarcely more than hills at their northernmost extension at the North Cape ( Nordkapp ). The mountains are relatively high for a range so young and are very steep in places; Galdhøpiggen in South Norway

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2352-862: The northern part, where the mountains form a narrow range near the border region of Norway and Sweden. In South Norway, there is a broad scatter of mountain regions with individual names, such as Dovrefjell , Hardangervidda , Jotunheimen , and Rondane . The mountain chain's highest summits are mostly concentrated in an area of mean altitude of over 1,000 m (3,300 ft), ) between Stavanger and Trondheim in South Norway, with numerous peaks over 1,300 m (4,300 ft) and some peaks over 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Around Trondheim Fjord , peaks decrease in altitude to about 400–500 m (1,300–1,600 ft), rising again to heights in excess of 1,900 m (6,200 ft) further north in Swedish Lapland and nearby areas of Norway. The southern part of

2408-512: The present-day Scandinavian Mountains. The Caledonian Mountains began a post-orogenic collapse in the Devonian, implying tectonic extension and subsidence. Despite occurring in about the same area, the ancient Caledonian Mountains and the modern Scandinavian Mountains are unrelated. The origin of today's mountain topography is debated by geologists. Geologically, the Scandinavian Mountains are an elevated, passive continental margin similar to

2464-512: The process is still active. The Dinaric Alps were thrown up in more or less parallel ranges, stretching like necklaces from the Julian Alps as far as northern Albania and Kosovo, where the mountainous terrain subsides to make way for the waters of the Drin River and the plains of Kosovo. The Dinarides are named after Mount Dinara (1,831 m), a prominent peak in the center of the mountain range on

2520-552: The refuge the Dinaric Alps have provided to various armed forces. During the Roman period, the Dinarides provided shelter to the Illyrians resisting Roman conquest of the Balkans, which began with the conquest of the eastern Adriatic coast in the 3rd century BC. Rome conquered the whole of Illyria in 168 BC, but these mountains sheltered Illyrian resistance forces for many years until the area's complete subjugation by 14 AD. More recently,

2576-516: The relief is that slopes corresponding to footwalls of normal faults tend to be straight. There is evidence that the drainage divide between the Norwegian Sea and the south-east flowing rivers were once further west. Glacial erosion is thought to have contributed to the shift of the divide, which in some cases ought to have been in excess of 50 km. Much of the Scandinavian Mountains has been sculpted by glacial erosion . The mountain chain

2632-517: The southeast. The Dinaric Alps extend for approximately 645 kilometres (401 mi) along the western Balkan Peninsula from the Julian Alps of the northeast Italy, downwards to the Šar and Korab massif , where their direction changes. The Accursed Mountains are the highest section of the entire Dinaric Alps; this section stretches from Albania to Kosovo and eastern Montenegro . Maja Jezercë , standing at 2,694 metres (8,839 ft) above

2688-427: The southern centre of the ice sheet a thousand years later. The northern centre remained a few hundred years more, and by 9,7 ka BP the eastern Sarek Mountains hosted the last remnant of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. As the ice sheet retreated to the Scandinavian Mountains it was dissimilar to the early mountain glaciation that gave origin to the ice sheet as the ice divide lagged behind as the ice mass concentrated in

2744-413: The stepped surfaces merge into a single surface. Dovre and Jotunheimen are rises from the highest of the stepped surfaces. In south-western Norway, the plateaux and gently undulating surfaces are strongly dissected by fjords and valleys . The mountain chain is present in Sweden from northern Dalarna northwards; south of this point the Scandinavian Mountains lie completely within Norway. Most of

2800-986: The surface to the water once more. The Dinaric rivers carved many canyons characteristic for Dinaric Alps, and in particular karst. Among the largest and most well known are the Neretva , the Rakitnica , the Prača , the Drina , the Sutjeska , the Vrbas , the Ugar , the Piva , the Tara , the Komarnica , the Morača , the Cem/Ciijevna , the Lim , and the Drin . Only along the Dinaric gorges

2856-405: The top of Kebnekaise. In the Scandinavian Mountains, the lower limit of widespread discontinuous permafrost drops from 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) in the west of southern Norway to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) near the border with Sweden, and from 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in northern Norway to 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) in northern, more continental Sweden ( Kebnekaise area). In contrast to

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2912-681: The west. Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia ( prominence greater than 30 m or 98 ft), six are situated in Oppland , Norway. The other four are situated in Sogn og Fjordane , Norway. Chronological history There are 12 peaks in Sweden that reach above 2,000 m high (6,600 ft), or 13 depending on how the peaks are defined. Eight of them are located in Sarek National Park and

2968-481: The western side of the mountain range. Although the ages of these deposits and landforms vary, most of them were formed in connection to the Weichselian glaciation and the subsequent deglaciation . The Cenozoic glaciations that affected Fennoscandia most likely began in the Scandinavian Mountains. It is estimated that during 50% of the last 2.75 million years the Scandinavian Mountains hosted mountain-centered ice caps and ice fields . The ice fields from which

3024-416: The years. A 2012 study argues that the Scandinavian Mountains and other elevated passive continental margins most likely share the same mechanism of uplift and that this mechanism is related to far-field stresses in Earth's lithosphere . The Scandinavian Mountains can according to this view be likened to a giant anticlinal lithospheric fold . Folding could have been caused by horizontal compression acting on

3080-466: Was drilled in bedrock above Tarfala research station at an altitude of 1,540 m (5,050 ft) above sea level. The stable ground temperature at a depth of 100 metres (330 ft) is still −2.75 °C (27.05 °F). The measured geothermal gradient in the drillhole of 1.17 °C /100 m allows to extrapolate a permafrost thickness of 330 metres (1,080 ft), a further proof that continuous permafrost exists in these altitudes and above, up to

3136-515: Was re-established in 2010. This Sarajevo Canton geography article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps ( / d ɪ ˈ n ær ɪ k / ), also Dinarides , are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea . They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Serbia , Montenegro , and Kosovo to Albania in

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