The Šalek Valley (; , ) or the Velenje Basin (; ) is a basin in northern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in the northeastern pre-alpine foothills. It is named after Šalek Castle near the town of

Velenje Velenje (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 272.) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, sixth-largest city of Slovenia, and t ...

. The valley lies between the

Kamnik–Savinja Alps The Kamnik–Savinja Alps () are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps. They lie in northern Slovenia, except for the northernmost part, which lies in Austria. The western part of the range was named the Kamnik Alps () in 1778 by the sc ...

to the west, the

Pohorje Pohorje (), also known as the Pohorje Massif or the Pohorje Mountains (, ''Bacherngebirge'' or often simply ''Bachern''), is a mostly wooded, medium-high mountain range south of the Drava River in northeastern Slovenia. According to the traditio ...

Mountain Range to the east, and the

Sava Hills The Sava Hills () are the eastern part of the Slovene Prealps. They are oriented in the east-west direction and are located to the north and south of the Sava River in central and eastern Slovenia, among the Ljubljana Basin to the west, the Ce ...

to the south. It has a northwest-southeast orientation and is approximately 8 km long and 2 km wide. It contains a number of rivers and lakes. The Paka River runs through Velenje, with a number of tributaries from the northwest: Trebušnica Creek, Veriželj Creek and Slatina Creek. The Paka itself eventually flows into the

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 (Sln. ''Savinjske Alpe''). It flows into ...

River. The valley is separated from the Upper Savinja Valley () and

Lower Savinja Valley Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

() by the Golte Plateau, the Skorno Hills (, peaks along the Paka including

Mount Oljka Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, and the Ponikva Plateau (). Especially on the north, the valley is closed in by a chain of high mountains, from northeast to northwest: Paka Mount Kozjak with its peaks Basališče (1272 m) and Špik (1108 m), Smodivnik (923 m), Stropnica (880 m), Vodemlja (780 m), Ljubela (779 m), Mount Graška (, 825 m), the Krištan Pasture () (654 m), Big Peak (), and Stakne Peak (, 1258 m). The highest peaks rise beyond these: Mount St. Ursula (, 1,699 m; also named ''Plešivec''), and Smrekovec (1,577 m). The northern border of the valley meets the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

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. Because of

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

in the vicinity of Velenje,

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

results in water flooding the resulting basins and creating lakes. The largest lake is

Lake Velenje A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

() and nearby

Lake Družmirje A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

() and

Lake Škale A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

(), approaching the Paka to the south at the western end of the valley, where the town of

Šoštanj Šoštanj (; ) is a town in northern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Šoštanj. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The entire municipality is now included in the Savinja Statistical Region. History Šoštanj w ...

is located. The Šalek Valley formed in the late

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

era, during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

period. Faults started to appear at this time due to

epeirogenic movement In geology, epeirogenic movement (from Greek ''epeiros'', land, and ''genesis'', birth) is upheavals or depressions of land exhibiting long wavelengths and little folding apart from broad undulations. The broad central parts of continents ar ...

, vertically lifting and lowering the surface. Ridges formed and the ground sank, and

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

deposits started to form between the sand and loam.''Geografski obzornik: časopis za šolsko geografijo'' 42, p. 16 These brown coal deposits represent the great majority of the mineral wealth of this area. Besides the

Ljubljana Marsh The Ljubljana Marsh (), located south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, is the largest marsh in the country. It covers or 0.8% of the Slovene territory. It is administered by the municipalities of Borovnica, Brezovica, Ljubljana, Ig, Log ...

, the Šalek Valley is one of the tectonically youngest basins in Slovenia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salek Valley Structural basins of Slovenia Sedimentary basins of Europe Depressions (geology) Landforms of Styria (Slovenia)