• calcite, main constituent of limestone rocks
  
• dolina, this is a local (South-Slavic) and also a scientific term for valley; also a depression in the surface of limestone formed by running water dissolving the rock carrying soluble calcium carbonate away and leaving insoluble material as a clay-like deposit. Sink-holes or swallow-holes are smaller, and polje larger similar phenomena.
  
• karst, distinctive type of landscape developed on and within limestone. The name derives from the Karst regions
• limestone, sedimentary rock, consisting mainly of mineral calcite (calcium carbonates), usually of marine organism deposited on ocean flors, the secretions, shells or skeletons of plants and animals. It makes up approximately 10 percent of the total volume of all sedimentary rocks.
  
• limestone color, pure limestones are white or almost white. Because of impurities, such as clay, sand, organic remains, iron oxide and other materials, many limestones exhibit different colors, especially on weathered surfaces.
  secondary calcite, mineral calcite, deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters (groundwater that precipitates the material in caves). This produces speleothems such as stalagmites and stalactites.
• polje, a local (South-Slavic) word for a field; as a scientific term also large flat-floored depressions in limestone areas.
• sinkhole, fairly small hollows found in limestone areas.
• travertine banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly where there are waterfalls and around hot or cold springs. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the water leaves a solution that is supersaturated with chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls.
  
• marl, clay deposit, rich in calcium carbonate, often formed as glacial deposit or resulting from the weathering of impure limestones.
• pothole, usually funnel-shaped vertical shafts formed in limestone. Underground they may be interconnected by, frequently water-filled passages
  
  Sources used on Karst chapter: Encycl.opentopia, Baedeker“s ; Yugoslav Encyclopedia, 1966; Mountains of Slovenia, Cankarjeva zalozba, 1989.

Climate

High mountains of Maritime zone and parts of the Highest Dinaric Alps are strong barrier for Mediterranean influences to penetrate further inland. On some places on the coast the influence of the Mediterranean climate is restricted to just few kms into inland, or less, because of the height of coastal mountain barrier - Velebit mountain, especially. In other areas, like river valleys (Neretva, Zeta) or lower mountain passes, warmer Mediterranean air penetrates further inland, away from the coast, and reaches the first rows of mountains in the Central Dinaric Belt. The best example is relatively warmer climate of Lower Herzegovina all the way to the city of Mostar (some 40 km away from the coast) and the warm Mediterranean and cold Mountain and Continental climates crash very often over the mountains of High Herzegovina, north of Mostar (like Prenj mt.), which is know for its unpredictable weather conditions. The most of the Dinaric Alps area has classical mountainous or Alpine climate with large rainfalls, short and cool summers and long winters with abundant snowfalls. In winter time the cold air descends from surrounding mountains into lower laying mountain fields and valleys. Those areas have lower winter temperatures than the mountains surrounding them. In summer-time the process is reverse, the bottom parts and the slopes warm up much faster than surrounding mountains. The lowest temperatures in the Dinarics, were measured not only on the highest mountain tops, but on some of the highlands in the area, especially those situated further away into land mass (so called mrazista= frosty locations, like Pester highland (Pesterska visija/visoravan, orig.), Igman plateau, Gorski kotar plateau, with record temperatures measured at -40 degrees C and lower. Mountains on the northern edge of the Dinaric Alps and the lower laying areas of the North-Eastern chain have a mixture of mountain and continental climates (of Central-European or Balkan types), sometimes this climate is called moderate-continental and mountainous. Those areas have warm summers but also cold winters. Divisions of the Dinaric Alps Principles of structuring Dinaric Alps The main idea of forming a mountain group is the fact that there are mountains that share the same or similar characteristics. The geomorphology is probably the most important factor in most of the cases, the one that obviously, or just physically, separates a cluster of mountains from another one. There are other important factors too, one of them a traditional folk's perception of a group. And there is a practical reason too, and that is a need to organize large fields of activities into smaller fragments which are then easier to work or cope with. This is an idea that mostly worked in case of dividing the European Alps into groups and subgroups. But what to do in a case where geomorphology and relief is so complex and so different than "the classical one" found in the European Alps (where mountain groups are often separated by deep rivers, glacial valleys or by distinctive mountain passes, and folk tradition, too)? Namely, trying to set up the structure of the Dinaric Alps, that would be based on real terrain situation and also practical enough for understanding the structure of the Dinaric Alps, I was faced with following problems: Dinaric Alps abound in different morphological structures. Although they all make one unique chain and share other similarities, by traveling from NW to SE throughout Dinaric Alps you could witness lots of varieties among the mountains and groups. The literature and data sources on many & many mountains in the Dinaric Alps are very scarce, and it is difficult to find them. The most of the mountains don't have a serious mountaineering/tourist guide or even anything similar. People from one side of the mountain have different names and different group structuring, than those from the other side. The same morphological massif was divided by historical state or national borders and through history two separated parts got different names, while no common name exists today. Most of the times no single name exist for some mountain massifs but instead of it people gave the name after the region where they are situated (f.e. high plateaus of Notranjska in SE Slovenia and Gorski kotar region in W Croatia, which are in fact one huge mountain mass). Although, to group mountains in Dinaric Alps according to the state where they are situated, could be the easiest way to do it, in many cases political borders would limit the perception of a mountain and a group as a whole. Because of this, my intention was to try to structure the Dinaric Alps by obeying both natural and cultural tradition, trying to achieve the most logical results. After much reconsideration and use of numerous sources, the principles to put up a structure of Dinaric Alps are following: First step - Dinaric Alps“ division into major morphological units - usually Dinaric Alps are divided into 3 parallel belts (they are, in fact, elongated chains consisting of more mountain ranges and massifs). These are: Maritime (South-Western), Central and Norht-Eastern Belt (see Map 3.). Second - recognition of distinctive geographical mountainous areas which consist of more mountain groups. Next, to recognize individual morphological and tectonic mountain groups. And in the Dinaric Alps the most common formations that would make a mountain group would be one those: a large massif, a larger cluster of mountains and summits with common features or very common one, a mountain range. Further step would be to recognize more sub-ranges and sub-groups inside individual mountain groups (enough work for group maintainers). Some major mountains and mountain massifs are being treated as individual mountain groups (which in fact they are because of theirs“ complexity; these refers mostly to mountains like Velebit, Prenj, Durmitor). The last stage would be naming the morphological zones, geographical regions, mountain groups and other sub-ranges and sub-groups, primarily trying to obey traditional names, where (and if) such name exist. For easier use on SP, in case the previously mentioned principle was difficult to apply, I have named the group after dominant mountain or other logical and relevant factor. Structuring the Dinaric Alps IMPORTANT! ALL MOUNTAIN AREAS, GROUPS AND UNITS PRESENTED IN REGIONAL OVERVIEW AND ALL OTHER SECTIONS BELOW, ARE STRUCTURED AND DESCRIBED UPON GEO-MORPHOLOGICAL FACTORS, AND IN NO CASE DO THEY REFER TO POSSIBLE (OR IN-MAKING) SP GROUPS! So, according to their morphology and their structure the Dinaric Alps are being divided into 3 elongated, almost parallel belts (the term zone or chain could be also used) and the next geographical regions: I. Southwestern or Maritime Belt or Maritime Dinaric Alps is characterized by predominance of limestone (from Cretaceous period) and flysch soils (from Eocene) which mostly fills tectonic depressions. Geographical (mountainous) regions in Southwestern Belt are: Mountains of the Northern Adriatic Mountains of Dalmatia Mountains of Maritime and Central Montenegro (Deep Karst Area) Mountains of Lower Herzegovina Map 4. Maritime Belt of Dinaric Alps (click to enlarge) MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN ADRIATIC I-01 Mountains of Istria and Kras I-02 Islands of Northern Adriatic MOUNTAINS OF DALMATIA I-03 Central Dalmatian Range I-04 Dalmatian Maritime Range I-05 Southern Dalmatian-Herzegovian range I-06 Islands of Central and S Adriatic MOUNTAINS OF MARITIME AND CENTRAL MONTENEGRO (DEEP KARST AREA) I-07 Montenegrin Maritime Mountains I-08 Garac Group I-09 Njegos Group MOUNTAINS OF LOWER HERZEGOVINA I-10 Lower Herzegovina Group II. Central Belt or High Dinaric Alps is dominantly built of Mesozoic limestone (on surface from Creatceous, and in deep from Triassic periods) and dolomites, with basins made of lakes sediments from later Tertiary. Geographical (mountainous) regions in Central Belt or High Dinarics are: Mountains of High Karstic Plateaus of Slovenia and Croatia Mountains of Lika Region in Croatia Mountains of Western Bosnia and Dinara Mountains of High Herzegovina Central Bosnian/Herzegovian mountains Povrsi and Brda (High Mountains and Plateaus Region in Montenegro) and Prokletije Map 5. Central Belt or High Dinaric Alps (click to enlarge) HIGH KARSTIC PLATEAUS OF SLOVENIA AND CROATIA II-01 Trnovski gozd Group II-02 Sneznik - Risnjak Group II-03 Large Notranjska - Dolenjska plateau II-04 Velika Kapela Group MOUNTAINS OF LIKA REGION IN CROATIA II-05 Velebit II-06 Mala Kapela and Central Lika Range (Mid-Range) II-07 Licka Pljesevica massif MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN BOSNIA AND DINARA II-08 Dinara massif II-09 Sator Range II-10 Cincar Group II-11 Klekovaca Group II-12 Radusa Group MOUNTAINS OF HIGH HERZEGOVINA II-13 Cvrsnica Group (Western High Herzegovina) II-14 Prenj massif II-15 Velez Group II-16 Crvanj-Lebrsnik Range CENTRAL BOSNIAN-HERZEGOVIAN AREA II-17 Vranica Group II-18 Bjelasnica Group (Southern Sarajevo mountains) II-19 Zelengora Group II-20 Maglic Group POVRSI AND BRDA (HIGH MOUNTAINS AND PLATEAUS REGION IN MONTENEGRO) AND PROKLETIJE II-21 Vojnik-Golija Group II-22 Prekornica Group II-23 Durmitor massif II-24 Sinjajevina massif II-25 Moraca Mountains II-26 Ljubisnja Group II-27 Bjelasica massif II-28 Komovi Group II-29 Visitor Group II-30 Kucka krajina Mountains II-31 Prokletije Range / Bjeshet e Nemuna III. Northeastern Belt with the mountains of more complex structure. The most of them are built of paleosoic layers and different eruptive rocks. The older layers on northern edge of this zone are covered by sediments of old Pannonian sea. This is the area of nonporous layers with normal waterflows. On the northernmost part of this zone Dinaric Alps meet the Pannonian/Hungarian plain, and this is the area of low green mountains and hills build of later tertiary sediments. Geographical (mountainous) regions in Northeastern Belt are: Mountains of Slovenian Dolenjska Region and NW Croatia Mountains of Central and Eastern Bosnia Mountains of Stari Vlah and Raska Mountains of North-Western Serbia Other Peri-Pannonian of Pre-Dinaric Mountains Map 6. Northeastern Belt of Dinaric Alps (click to enlarge) MOUNTAINS OF SLOVENIAN DOLENJSKA REGION AND NW CROATIA III-01 Kocevski rog Group III-02 Zumberak/Gorjanci Group MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN BOSNIA III-03 Vlasic Group III-04 Central Bosnian Group III-05 Eastern Bosnian Group III-06 Jahorina massif MOUNTAINS OF STARI VLAH AND RAŠKA/SANDŽAK III-07 Raška/Sandžak Mountains - Kovač Group III-08 Raška/Sandžak Mountains - Zlatar Range III-09 Stari Vlah Mountains MOUNTAINS OF NORTH-WESTERN SERBIA III-10 Podrinje-Valjevo Mountains OTHER PERI-PANONIAN OR PRE-DINARIC MOUNTAINS III-11 Peri-pannonian and Pre-Dinaric Mountains Furthermore, each of mentioned geographical regions embodies more mountain groups (ranges, massifs, clusters of mountains or summits) Even further, inside each individual mountain groups more separate sub-ranges (with mountain summits and ridges) could be recognized. Other divisions of Dinaric Alps From geological viewpoint it is usually said that the Dinarics are separated into two zones: The southwestern one, known as External Dinarides of High Karst Area - in fact a thick limestone belt, which is dominated by karstic relief features and with rare surface waterflows, and the Northeastern area, so called Internal Dinarides with normal relief and rich network of surface waterflows. The line that separates two geological zones goes approximately over Gacko, town - Konjic, town - Vitorog mt. line. Regional Overview Here presented in text, and tables is a description of Dinaric Alps mountain chain, also an attempt to list all the major mountains and the structure of this Chain. This modell is based upon relevant geographical literature, with links to existing SP pages and other main groups, subgroups and mountains that do not exist on SP, yet. This modell tries to be the most logical, practical and based on real data on geomorphology and other relevant factors, scientific, natural, historical, sociological and even harmonised (as much as possible) with existing pages created by other SP members. South-Western or Maritime Belt The Maritime Belt of the Dinaric Alps runs in NW-SE direction between the Central Dinaric Belt (High Dinaric Alps) and the Adriatic Sea, parallel to both. The groups and mountains of this Belt belong to four different geographical areas: Mountains of the Northern Adriatic, Mountains of Dalmatia, Mountains of Montenegrin Deep Karst (in fact Maritime and Central Montenegro) and Mountains of Lower Herzegovina - all stretching from Italy and Slovenia, through Croatia, Montenegro, Herzegovina (part of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina), until they finally reach Albania - in a small section of Rumija mountain, NW of the city of Shkoder/Skadar. TABLE 1. Mountains of SW or Maritime Belt MOUNTAIN GROUP HIGHEST SUMMIT (mountain) MAJOR MOUNTAINS (summits) in the group Geographical Region: Mountains of Northern Adriatic Mountains of Istria and Kras Vojak 1,369 m (Učka) Kras Ćićarija-Cicceria (incl. Slavnik) (1,272 m) Učka (1,369 m) Islands of the Northern Adriatic Sis 639 m (Cres island) Islands“ heights: Krk isl. - Lošinj isl. (Osoršćica) - Rab isl. - Cres isl. - Pag isl. (Sveti Vid, Stogaj) Mountains of Dalmatia Central Dalmatian Range Svilaja (Bat) 1,508 m (Svilaja mt.) Promina (1,147 m) Kozjak (Kijevo) (1,207 m) Svilaja: Svilaja (Bat) (1,509 m) - Rozgin Umac (1,485 m) - Kita (1,413 m) - Turjača (1,340 m) Moseć (843 m) Dalmatian Maritime Range Sveti Jure 1,762 m (Biokovo mt.) Coastal Range Boraja (675 m) Vilaja (739 m) Kozjak (779 m) Mosor: - Western Part: Debelo brdo (1,044 m) - Plišivac (1,053 m) - Central Part: Ljubljan (1,262 m) - Vickov stup (1,325 m) - Kabal (1,339 m) - Eastern Part: Botajna (1,196 m) - Kozik-Sveti Jure (1,319 m) - Kupinovac (1,002 m) - Lišnica (950 m) Omiška Dinara (Kula, 863 m) Biokovo massif: - Hinterland (Sveti Jure) Ridge: Lipa glava (1,525 m) - Sveti Jure (1,762 m) - Veliki Troglav (1,658 m) - Runjeva glava (1,429 m) - Debeli brig (1,414 m) - Kimet (1,536 m) - Vitrenik (1,471 m) - Stegoša (1,058 m) - Maritime Ridge: Motika (1,413 m) - Šibenik (1,457 m) - Štropac (1,457 m) - Vošac (1,422 m) - Sinjal (1,335 m) - Zavodi (1,293 m) - V. Čelišnik (1,082 m) - Northwestern (Sveti Ilija) Ridge: Kuranik (1,550 m) - Sveti Ilija (1,640 m) - Šćirovac (1,618 m) Rilić (920 m) Rujnica (736 m) Hinterland Range (Vrgorac Group) Sv. Mihovil (1,247 m) Veliki Šibenik (1,314 m) Matokit (1,062 m) Islands of Central and Southern Adriatic Sveti Ilija 961 m (Peljesac) Islands“ heights: Brač isl., Hvar isl., Korčula isl., Pelješac (961 m), Mljet isl. Southern Dalmatian-Herzegovian Range Sniježnica 1,234 m (Sniježnica mt.) Žaba (953 m) Ilijino brdo (987 m) Sniježnica (1,234 m) Mountains of Montenegrin Deep Karst Area (Maritime and Central Montenegro) Montenegrin Maritime Range Zubački kabao 1,894 m (Orjen mt.) Orjen massif - 1st (Dobrostica) Ridge: Dobroštica (1,570 m) - Radostak (1,446 m) - Snježnica (1,110 m) - 2nd (Main Ridge): Svitavac (1,528 m) - Štirovnik (1,650 m) - Buganja greda (1,845 m) - Orjen (1,895 m) - Crljena greda (1,479 m) - Subra (1,680 m) - and more parallel ridges: Borovik (1,778 m) - Goliševac (1,721 m) - Jarčeva kosa (1,541 m) - 3rd Ridge (Jasterbica and Reovacka greda): Kabao (1,531 m) - Gubar (1,679 m) - Kršljev mramor (1,760 m) - Vučji zub (1,805 m) - Pazua (1,745 m) - 4th area: Bijela gora Lovćen (1,749 m) Vrsuta (1,183 m) Lonac (1,183 m) Sutorman (1,185 m) Pastrovačka gora (881 m) Rasovatac (1,029 m) Lisinj (1,353 m) Mozura (622 m) Rumija (1,595 m)