The Křižanov Highlands ( cs, Křižanovská vrchovina, german: Krischanauer Bergland) is a

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located mostly in the

Vysočina Region The Vysočina Region (; cs, Kraj Vysočina "Highlands Region", , ) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located partly in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia and partly in the south-west of the his ...

Geomorphology

The Křižanov Highlands is a mesoregion of the

Bohemian-Moravian Highlands The Bohemian-Moravian Highlands ( cs, Českomoravská vrchovina or ''Vysočina''; german: Böhmisch-Mährische Höhe) is a geomorphological macroregion and mountain range in the Czech Republic. Its highest peaks are the Javořice at and Devět ...

within the

Bohemian Massif The Bohemian Massif ( cs, Česká vysočina or ''Český masiv'', german: Böhmische Masse or ''Böhmisches Massiv'') is a geomorphological province in Central Europe. It is a large massif stretching over most of the Czech Republic, eastern Ger ...

. It borders other mesoregions of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. The highest peaks are Harusův kopec at above sea level, Špičák at , Mařenka at , Ještěnice at , Havlína at , and Kyjov at .

Geology

The

s, together with the

Upper Svratka Highlands The Upper Svratka Highlands ( cs, Hornosvratecká vrchovina, german: Hohe Schwarza Bergeland) is a mountain range in Moravia, Czech Republic. The Highlands, together with the Křižanov Highlands threshold, form the Western-Moravian part of Moldan ...

and Jevišovice Uplands threshold, form the Western-Moravian part of Moldanubian Zone.

Pedology

The primary composition of the range is

migmatite Migmatite is a composite rock found in medium and high-grade metamorphic environments, commonly within Precambrian cratonic blocks. It consists of two or more constituents often layered repetitively: one layer is an older metamorphic rock th ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and

gneis Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

. Soil horizon is mainly

fluvisol A fluvisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a genetically young soil in alluvial deposits . Apart from river sediments, they also occur in lacustrine and marine deposits. Fluvisols correlate with fluvents and fluvaquents ...

and

cambisol A Cambisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a soil in the beginning of soil formation. The horizon differentiation is weak. This is evident from weak, mostly brownish discolouration and/or structure formation in the soil pr ...

Geography

The area has a horseshoe shape that extends from

Tišnov Tišnov (; german: Tischnowitz) is a town in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,200 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Hajánky, Hájek, Jamné and Pejškov are administrative parts ...

in the east, to

Žďár nad Sázavou Žďár nad Sázavou (; german: Saar) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a major rail link between Prague and Brno. The town both industrial and tourist centre. It is known ...

in the northwest and Jemnice in the southwest. The highlands have an area of and an average height of . The rivers that originates here include

Jihlava Jihlava (; german: Iglau) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 50,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihlava ...

Oslava The Oslava is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Jihlava River. It originates in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands at an elevation of 567 m and flows to Ivančice, where it enters the Jihlava River. It is 99.2 km long, and ...

, and

Thaya The Thaya ( cs, Dyje ) is a river in Central Europe, the longest tributary to the river Morava. Its drainage basin is . It is ( with its longest source river German Thaya) long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower Au ...

. The most populated settlements in the territory are

(smaller part),

Velké Meziříčí Velké Meziříčí (; german: Groß Meseritsch) is a town in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is p ...

Nové Město na Moravě Nové Město na Moravě (; german: Neustadt in Mähren) is a town in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,800 inhabitants. It is known as a winter sports resort. The historic town centre is we ...

Dačice Dačice (; german: Datschitz) is a town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,100 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. It i ...

Třešť Třešť (; german: Triesch) is a town in Jihlava District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,600 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrat ...

, and Velká Bíteš.

Vegetation

The mountain range is 47% forested, plantations only – spruces,

limes Limes may refer to: * the plural form of lime (disambiguation) Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

s, birches.

Gallery

Cizkrajov, Monstserrat 01.jpg, Monserrat nearby Cizkrajov Overview of Bítešská vrchovina from Harusův kopec in Nové Město na Moravě, Žďár nad Sázavou District.jpg, View from Harusův kopec Hlinné 06.JPG, Hlinné Hlinné 08.JPG, Hlinné pond Měřín, Pustina, Balinka river.jpg, Balinka stream Jihlava pod Templštejnem.JPG, Jihlava river PR Velká skála06272.JPG, Middle Jihlava canyon Pravý břeh06293.JPG, Middle Jihlava canyon (Velká skála)

References

* Geografický místopisný slovník, Academia, Praha, 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Krizanov Highlands Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic Geography of the Vysočina Region Moravia Bohemia Highlands