The Dovžan Gorge ( or ''Dolžanova soteska'') is a gorge in Slovenia that was carved by the

Tržič Bistrica The Tržič Bistrica () is a river in Upper Carniola, Slovenia. The river is in length. It starts in the Karawanks, runs through the Dovžan Gorge and the town of Tržič, and joins the Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central ...

River. The river flows through unique waterfalls over large rounded blocks of white quartz conglomerate. These large blocks tumbled into the river from Pine Cliff () above the right bank, named after the

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...

that overgrows its steep slopes. The gorge is picturesque because of the six high stone pillars known as the Kušpergar Towers (), where a climbing area has been set up. A geological trail, the Dovžan Gorge forest nature trail, a mountain trail, a scenic trail, and a trail to a

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

underground press run through the gorge. In the small settlement of Čadovlje is the Jamenšnik farm with a flax drying oven () with the year 1766 carved on it; it is an example of unique

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 ...

architecture and ethnographic heritage. The gorge has been declared a natural monument of Slovenia and lies north of

Tržič Tržič (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Slovenia, town in northern Slovenia, close to the Austrian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Tržič. Geography The town is located within the historic Upper Carniola region on the Tr ...

, along the road from Tržič to Jelendol.

Natural monument

The Dovžan Gorge was protected as a natural monument in 1988 due to its status as a unique site of plant and animal fossils in rocks from the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

. Numerous species of brachiopods and the

foraminifer Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...

''Schwagerina carniolica'' were first found and described in the gorge. The picturesque gorge was formed by the Tržič Bistrica River cutting through various conglomerates, limestones, sandstones, and clays. The gorge contains the largest series of barrier waterfalls in Slovenia, formed from quartz conglomerate. Pine Cliff (), which is overgrown with a

forest, is also composed of quartz conglomerate.

Rock

Sandstone

Sandstone is the youngest stone represented in the gorge. It formed during the

Lower Permian The Cisuralian, also known as the Early Permian, is the first series/epoch of the Permian. The Cisuralian was preceded by the Pennsylvanian and followed by the Guadalupian. The Cisuralian Epoch is named after the western slopes of the Ural Mount ...

and is therefore about 250 million years old. During this period, which had a desert climate characterized by large temperature differences between day and night and little precipitation, large rocks under the influence of weather conditions disintegrated into small pieces or sand. However, when this area was flooded by the shallow sea, these particles, together with silt and clay, were consolidated into new rock.

Tarvisio breccia

Tarvisio breccia takes its name from

Tarvisio Tarvisio ( German and ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional Decentralization Entity of Udine, in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Geography The town is in the Canal Valley (''Val Canale'') between the Carnic Alps and Ka ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, where the rock was first observed. It was later found that the Dovžan Gorge had large quantities of the same rock. It is slightly older than sandstone, about 260 million years old. It was formed when large areas of limestone rose above sea level. Due to strong tectonic forces, this rock was broken up and crushed. Smaller pieces accumulated in large quantities on steep banks. Due to gravity, this gravelly material repeatedly slid into the shallow sea, into which inland waters carried silt, sand, and clay. This fine material mixed with the limestone gravel to create Tarvisio breccia.

Limestone

Limestone is the only fossil-bearing rock in the Dovžan Gorge. The most typical fossils in the gorge are

crinoid Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...

s, and

fusulinids The Fusulinida is an extinct Order (biology), order within the Foraminifera in which the Foraminifera test, tests are traditionally considered to have been composed of wikt:microgranular, microgranular calcite. Like all forams, they were single- ...

Quartz conglomerate

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

is the strongest and oldest rock in the Dovžan Gorge. Like all rocks in the gorge, this is also a

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

. It was formed in a similar manner to Tarvisio breccia. Almost 300 million years ago, the

were under a shallow sea, and rivers carried gravel, sand, and clay from the land, which later formed conglomerate. The pebbles are well rounded, indicating their long journey. They are closely packed together, and the intermediate binder is crushed quartz sand.

References

External links

*
The Dovžan Gorge
at Visit Tržič {{DEFAULTSORT:Dovzan Gorge Canyons and gorges of Slovenia Climbing areas of Slovenia