2026-05-09T11:22:26.782Z http://ezaposleni.singidunum.ac.rs/rest/sciNaucniRezultati/oai

ezaposleni.singidunum.ac.rs/rest/sciNaucniRezultati/oai:2:6974 2019-05-28T15:51:18Z 2

GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE SITES IN THE CATCHMENT OF THE VISOČICA RIVER 2017 55 http://ezaposleni.singidunum.ac.rs/rest/sciNaucniRezultati/oai/record/2/6974 http://www.nbpi.org.rs/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Violeta-Gaji%C4%87-i-sar.-Objekti-geolo%C5%A1ke-ba%C5%A1tine-u-slivu-reke-Viso%C4%8Dice.pdf V. Gajić D. Milovanović V. Ristić Vakanjac B. Vakanjac M. Mandić Stara Planina (a.k.a. the Balkan mountain range) extends across four municipalities in Serbia: Pirot, Dimitrovgrad, Knjaževac and Zaječar. It is a designated nature park and was declared a category I nature monument of extraordinary significance in 1997. Its surface area is 114,332 ha, of which 3,680 is in the first, 20,159 ha in the second and the remainder (90,493 ha) in the third protection zone. The mountain itself is a witness of times long gone and of geological processes that lasted for hundreds of millions of years. The research addresses four selected sites, situated in the catchment of the Visočica River: (I) Pakleštica, with limestones born in the Tethys Ocean in the Jurassic period, some 150 million years ago, at the time when dinosaurs began to dominate our planet’s continents. These rocks have conserved fossils that trace their movement, roaming and enjoyment of the shallow emerald waters of that enormous ocean. (II) The canyon of the Rosomačka River, created by the breakup and dislocation of existing rocks due to powerful earthquakes, when several million years ago large parts of the ground were torn off and shifted as much as several kilometers. The water then patiently sculpted and created a harmony of forms that render the area its unique beauty. (III) Cross-bedding of the canyon of the Temštica River in Permian/Early Triassic conglomerates and sandstones that date back some 250 million years. The climate at that time was tropical, water was abundant and large rivers fashioned this unique geological phenomenon of cross-bedding. (IV) A ponor near the village of Dojkinci, an extraordinary geological phenomenon where water “disappears” (sinks) and then re-emerges several kilometers downstream. All of these sites are part of Stara Planina’s rich geoheritage that we should get acquainted with and which should be studied and conserved. article 10.5937/pirotzbor1742209G 42 209 224 0554-1956 Pirotski zbornik