The fertile Imotski Field is an
interesting
geological feature of the Geopark Biokovo-Imotski Lakes. Between the Imotski
Field and Biokovo Mountain (1,762 m) there is a vast karstic
area with rolling hills and valleys. The field and the karstic area
in its immediate surroundings are rich water reservoirs. Stretching along the entire
Imotski Field is the Vrljika River – a unique karstic
sinking river which the locals call their "source of sustenance" because
of the potable water springs which provide excellent agricultural conditions.
The upper stretch of the Vrljika River was declared a protected ichthyological reserve in 1971. When speaking
about the geological diversity of the Geopark Biokovo-Imotski Lakes, it is
important to highlight that this diversity of the southern coastal part is rather
more pronounced in comparison to its northern interior part, and this is also one
of the examples of the geological diversity of this entire
area. The hinterland of Geopark
Biokovo-Imotski Lakes is thus a typical Dinaric high karst, a globally known locus typicus of specific karstic
morphology. Its characteristic features are karstic
fields (Imotski Field), lakes (protected Monuments of Nature and the globally important
phenomena the Red and the Blue Lakes, the small lakes of Ričice, Galipovac,
Knezovića and Mamića Lake, Proložac Lake – protected as a significant landscape
in 1971, Lokvičićka lakes, Dva oka, etc.), rivers, canyons (Badnjevice canyon),
hills, springs (Krčevac and Opačac springs), sinkholes, caves (Zovnjača cave)
and pits. Furthermore, as we move southward, closer to the coastal part of the
Geopark Biokovo-Imotski Lakes, we come across the magnificent Biokovo Mountain
which has the status of a nature park. Biokovo Mountain is part of the Dinaric
mountain range and as such stretches in a northwest – southeast direction.
The Eocene flysch bedrock makes up most of the lower parts of the mountain, on
the south side as well as the north face, while the higher elevations
are formed from Mesozoic carbon-rich sediments. The base of the central part of
Biokovo is a gently sloping plateau rising cca 300 meters above sea level, and
it is fertile
and green due to its flysch layers. Extending out from this "green
belt" is the most impressive part of the rock, rising up to 1,000 meters
in height and acting as a screen which separates the coast from the hinterland.
Stretched out along the tops of these rocks is a 3-4 km wide undulating plateau
with abundant karstic features and a gentle and gradual slope towards the hinterland.
Dolines (sinkholes) are the dominant features of this mountain. Some are very
deep, even more than 100 meters. Some are collapsed, while some extend into
deep pits. This specific shape of surface karst landforms is called polygonal or
moonlike karst because it resembles craters on the surface of the Moon. All typical
karst phenomena are also featured on Biokovo – dolines, karrens, tinajitas
(small depressions), caves (Krjava, Baba, Jujnovića cave and many other), ice
caves and pits (Njemica – the deepest pit in Biokovo, 863 meters). The Mokre
noge pit (-831 m) and the Amfora pit (-788 m) are some of the more important
pits of Biokovo.
Geodiversity