Zavoj Lake
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Zavoj Lake (
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...
: Завојско језеро, ''Zavojsko jezero'') is an artificial lake in eastern
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, on the Visočica River. It was created in 1963 after a major landslide which dammed the river and the natural dam was later replaced with a
hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
"Zavoj".


Location

Lake Zavoj is located in eastern Serbia, in the northern part of the
Visok Visok (Cyrillic: Висок) is a region in eastern Serbia and westernmost Bulgaria that lies between the main ranges of the Balkan Mountains and Vidlič Mountain. It is located from Pirot, and about from Belgrade. Geography The Visok regi ...
region, close to the Serbian-
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n border. Lake is in the valley of the Visočica River which is both its major
tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
and
outflow Outflow may refer to: *Capital outflow, the capital leaving a particular economy *Bipolar outflow, in astronomy, two continuous flows of gas from the poles of a star *Outflow (hydrology), the discharge of a lake or other reservoir system * Outflow ...
, between the mountains of
Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...
on the north and Vidlič on the south. Lake is located north of the town of
Pirot Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative area ...
, close to the Visočica mouth into the
Temštica Temštica ( sr, Темштица) or Temska is a river in Serbia, a right tributary of the river Nišava. The Temštica itself is not very long (23 km), but receives a much longer tributary, the Visočica (Височица), flowing from Bulg ...
river and is not well connected with the rest of Serbia. Settlements in the vicinity of the lake, which is among the least populated in the entire Serbia, include Novi Zavoj,
Velika Lukanja Velika Lukanja is a village in the municipality of Pirot, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern a ...
and Pakleštica.


History

On February 25, 1963 a huge landslide from the sunny side of the Stara Planina rushed into the valley of the Visočica River and dammed a river creating a natural earth dam which was long and high. Reservoir was created behind the dam, flooding the village of Zavoj. This original natural lake was dried, the natural dam was consolidated and the artificial lake was recreated, this time as a reservoir for the hydroelectric power plant "Zavoj". The village of Novi Zavoj was built on the higher ground instead of the flooded old village of Zavoj. Immediately after the dam was finished, Serbian government began a project of conducting waters from Temštica's upper course (''Toplodolska reka'') into the lake. Project was continued in the early 2000s but the local population in the watershed of Temštica protested claiming that over 80% of the water was already taken out of their river and that further catchment of the water from it would result in an ecological catastrophe, especially in the canyon of Temštica popularly called "Little Colorado". As a result of this, municipality of Pirot officially opposed the government's decision in 2004 and 2006, but the government insisted on continuing the project. In protest, population of the village of
Temska Temska is a village in the Pirot municipality, in south-eastern Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads o ...
boycotted the Serbian parliamentary elections in January 2007.


Paleontological site

The site, located at an elevation of , has been discovered in 2004 and the preliminary research began in 2005 with the help of German paleobiologists from Freiburg. In the
Upper Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. Th ...
, 230 to 200 million years ago, the area was a shallow, ending part of the large tropical sea, the
Tethys Ocean The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...
. The mud and sediments petrified in the form of plates which are rich in remains of
mollusk shell The mollusc (or molluskOften spelled mollusk shell in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" are preferred by ) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which ...
s (which have been found on the slopes of the Stara Planina at over ), sea worms, snails and other marine animals (sea crocodiles, sharks, giant mollusks) with indications that fossils of the dinosaurs can be found also. In some sections, Triassic sediments are over deep.


Gallery

Zavojsko jezero 02.jpg, Zavoj lake (meanders of the Visocica river) seen from the Kozji kamen viewpoint. Zavojsko jezero 03.jpg, Zavoj lake (meanders of the Visocica river) seen from the Kozji kamen viewpoint. Zavojsko jezero 07.jpg, Zavoj lake (meanders of the Visocica river) seen from the Kozji kamen viewpoint. Zavojsko jezero 15.jpg, Zavoj lake (meanders of the Visocica river) seen from the Kozji kamen viewpoint. Zavojsko jezero 16.jpg, Zavoj lake (meanders of the Visocica river) seen from the Kozji kamen viewpoint.


See also

*
List of lakes in Serbia Most lakes of Serbia are artificial, created by damming numerous rivers of Serbia for the purpose of obtaining hydroelectric power or as water reservoirs. Natural lakes in the Pannonian Plain are shallow, occurred as river arms or bogs, or by aeol ...
* Visočica River


References


External links

{{commons category, Zavoj Lake
Photos of Lake Zavoj
Zavoj Triassic System of Europe Landslide-dammed lakes Pirot