Šalek Valley
Encyclopedia
The Šalek Valley is a valley or basin in northern Slovenia
in the northeastern pre-alpine foothills. It is named after Šalek Castle near the town of Velenje
. The Šalek Valley lies between the Kamnik-Savinja Alps to the west, the Pohorje
Mountain Range to the east, and the Sava Hills
to the south. The valley has a northwest-southeast orientation and is approximately 8 km long and 2 km wide. It is separated from the Upper Savinja Valley and Lower Savinja Valley by the Golte Plateau, the Skorno Hills, peaks along the Paka River including Mount Oljka, and the Ponikva Plateau
.
Especially on the north, the valley is closed in by a chain of high mountains, from northeast to northwest: Paški Kozjak
and Basališče (1273 m) and Špik
(1063 m), Smodivnik (923 m), Stropnica (860 m), Vodemlja (780 m), Lubela
(778 m), Mount Graška , the Krištan Mountain Pasture (654 m), Big Peak and Stakne Peak ; the highest peaks rise beyond these: Mount Ursula and Mount Smrekovec (1569 m). The northern border of the valley meets the Karavanke mountain range, and this northern area of the valley therefore has the fewest road connections.
The southern part of the valley is less mountainous, and is surrounded by lower mountains and hills such as Wine Mountain to the northeast. The southern edge along the Ložnica Hills arose along the geologically important Šoštanj Fault, allowing the valley road access towards the east. The town of Velenje
is also located at the end of this eastern opening.
The valley contains a number of rivers and lakes. The Paka River runs through Velenje, with a number of tributaries from the northwest: the Trebušnica, Veriželj, and Slatina
. The Paka itself eventually flows into the Savinja
River.
Because of mining
in the vicinity of Velenje, subsidence
results in water flooding the resulting basins and creating lakes. The largest lake is Lake Velenje and nearby Lake Družmirje and Lake Škale , approaching the Paka River to the south at the western end of the valley, where the town of Šoštanj
is located.
The Šalek Valley formed in the late Cenozoic
era, during the Pliocene
epoch of the Tertiary
period. Faults started to appear at this time due to epeirogenic movement
, vertically lifting and lowering the surface. Ridges formed and the ground sank, and lignite
deposits started to form between the sand and loam. These brown coal deposits represent the great majority of the mineral wealth of this area. Alongside the Ljubljana Marshes , the Šalek Valley is one of the tectonically youngest basins in Slovenia.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
in the northeastern pre-alpine foothills. It is named after Šalek Castle near the town of Velenje
Velenje
Velenje is a town and municipality in northern Slovenia. The municipality has 33.331 inhabitants. Staro Velenje is first mentioned in written doucments dating to 1264 and 1374 as small market town and was a center of handicraft and trade...
. The Šalek Valley lies between the Kamnik-Savinja Alps to the west, the Pohorje
Pohorje
Pohorje is a mountain range in northern Slovenia, near the towns of Dravograd and Maribor. Made of metamorphic rock, it is geologically part of the Central Eastern Alps, though due to its location south of the Drava River it is commonly regarded as a Southern Limestone Alps range.-Peaks:The most...
Mountain Range to the east, and the Sava Hills
Sava Hills
The Sava Hills lie to the north and south of the Sava River in Slovenia, extending from Ljubljana to the Sotla River....
to the south. The valley has a northwest-southeast orientation and is approximately 8 km long and 2 km wide. It is separated from the Upper Savinja Valley and Lower Savinja Valley by the Golte Plateau, the Skorno Hills, peaks along the Paka River including Mount Oljka, and the Ponikva Plateau
Ponikva pri Žalcu
Ponikva pri Žalcu is a village in the Žalec municipality in east-central Slovenia. It lies in the Ložničko gričevje hills to the northwest of Žalec. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Styria...
.
Especially on the north, the valley is closed in by a chain of high mountains, from northeast to northwest: Paški Kozjak
Paški Kozjak
Paški Kozjak is a settlement in the Velenje municipality in northern Slovenia. It lies in the hills to the east of the town of Velenje. The area was traditionally part of Styria...
and Basališče (1273 m) and Špik
Špik
Špik is a mountain in Slovenian Julian Alps. Its summit is at 2,472 m above sea level. The mountain's name is a cognate of the English "spike," derived from its pointed shape....
(1063 m), Smodivnik (923 m), Stropnica (860 m), Vodemlja (780 m), Lubela
Lubela
Ľubeľa is a village and municipality in Liptovský Mikuláš District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.- Geography :The municipality lies at an altitude of 612 metres and covers an area of 17.457 km². It has a population of about 1088 people....
(778 m), Mount Graška , the Krištan Mountain Pasture (654 m), Big Peak and Stakne Peak ; the highest peaks rise beyond these: Mount Ursula and Mount Smrekovec (1569 m). The northern border of the valley meets the Karavanke mountain range, and this northern area of the valley therefore has the fewest road connections.
The southern part of the valley is less mountainous, and is surrounded by lower mountains and hills such as Wine Mountain to the northeast. The southern edge along the Ložnica Hills arose along the geologically important Šoštanj Fault, allowing the valley road access towards the east. The town of Velenje
Velenje
Velenje is a town and municipality in northern Slovenia. The municipality has 33.331 inhabitants. Staro Velenje is first mentioned in written doucments dating to 1264 and 1374 as small market town and was a center of handicraft and trade...
is also located at the end of this eastern opening.
The valley contains a number of rivers and lakes. The Paka River runs through Velenje, with a number of tributaries from the northwest: the Trebušnica, Veriželj, and Slatina
Slatina
Slatina refers to a number of geographical objects in Europe:In Albania:* another name for Slatine and for SllatinaIn Antarctica* Slatina Peak...
. The Paka itself eventually flows into the Savinja
Savinja
The Savinja is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja valley and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps . It flows into Sava River at the town of Zidani Most. It has often flooded, such as in the 1960s,...
River.
Because of mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in the vicinity of Velenje, subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
results in water flooding the resulting basins and creating lakes. The largest lake is Lake Velenje and nearby Lake Družmirje and Lake Škale , approaching the Paka River to the south at the western end of the valley, where the town of Šoštanj
Šoštanj
Šoštanj is a town and municipality in northern Slovenia. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to around 1200 as Schönstein in relation to its castle. As a market town it was first mentioned in 1348. It was given town status in 1919 and until the 1960s was the center of the Šalek...
is located.
The Šalek Valley formed in the late Cenozoic
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
era, during the Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
epoch of the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
period. Faults started to appear at this time due to epeirogenic movement
Epeirogenic movement
In geology, epeirogenic movement refers to upheavals or depressions of land exhibiting long wavelengths and little folding apart from broad undulations. The broad central parts of continents are called cratons, and are subject to epeirogeny. The movement may be one of subsidence toward, or of...
, vertically lifting and lowering the surface. Ridges formed and the ground sank, and lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
deposits started to form between the sand and loam. These brown coal deposits represent the great majority of the mineral wealth of this area. Alongside the Ljubljana Marshes , the Šalek Valley is one of the tectonically youngest basins in Slovenia.