The Trnovo Forest Plateau ( sl, Trnovski gozd) is a

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

that constitutes the extreme northwest end of the

Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...

.Perko, Drago, & Milan Orožen Adamič. 1998. ''Slovenija: pokrajine in ljudje''. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 324. The Trnovo Forest Plateau has a karst character, without surface watercourses and broken up by closed valleys, outcroppings, hills, caves, shafts, and smaller karst features: solution pans, rills, karrens, and other features. Significant karst features include

ice cave An ice cave is any type of natural cave (most commonly lava tubes or limestone caves) that contains significant amounts of perennial (year-round) ice. At least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 °C (32 °F) all ye ...

s. The vegetation inversion at Big Paradana Ice Cave ( sl, Velika ledena jama v Paradani) in the eastern part of the plateau, measuring by , is a ''locus classicus'' and in the past ice was harvested from it and exported via Gorizia and Trieste to Egypt. The Trnovo Forest Plateau has three nature reserves: * Big Paradana Ice Cave * Golak Peaks () and Spruce Valley ( sl, Smrekova draga, a karst depression) * The Smrečje forest reserve The southern ridge of the Trnovo Forest Plateau is Čaven.

Terrain

The influence of tectonic activity is very evident in the area. There are many depressions, solution valleys, small karst poljes, and the remains of former river valleys. During the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

limestone and dolomite over younger

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

flysch. Two-thirds of the surface is covered by limestone, one-fourth by dolomite, and the remainder is flysch and loose material.

Mountains

The highest summit is Big Mount Golak (''Veliki Golak'', ). On the northern side, some other panoramic and frequently visited summits are Little Mount Golak (''Mali Golak'', ), Mount Poldanovec (), and Pointed Peak (Špičasti vrh ), and on the southern side Big Mount Modrasovec (''Veliki Modrasovec'', ), Mount Kucelj (), Blue Peak (''Sinji vrh'', ), and Kovk Hill ().

Natural landmarks

* Skozno natural rock window (above Šmihel) * Otlica natural rock window (above

Ajdovščina Ajdovščina (; it, Aidussina,trilingual name "Haidenschaft, Aidussina, Ajdovščina" inGemeindelexikon, der im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche und Länder. Bearbeit auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Herausgege ...

) * Hubelj karst spring (above Ajdovščina) * Vipava springs (near Vipava) * Lijak karst spring *

Wild Lake Wild Lake ( sl, Divje jezero) is a lake near Idrija in western Slovenia and a karst spring of the Vauclusian type. The lake is the source of the Jezernica River, a tributary of the Idrijca and, at long, the shortest river in Slovenia. Water flow ...

(a Vauclusian spring and small lake with a deep unexplored siphon) * Paradana Cave (a deep cave, with ice that was harvested and sold in the past)

Climate

The climate of the Trnovo Forest Plateau is defined by its elevation and orientation. The Trnovo Forest Plateau lies in a continental temperature zone. It receives an average of of precipitation per year. Differences in the quantity of precipitation differ little on a monthly basis. The greatest precipitation is in November () and the least in February (). The majority of winter precipitation is in the form of snow, especially at higher elevations. The bora wind is a typical weather phenomenon, blowing down from the plateau towards the sea with gusts often exceeding . The bora can cause considerable damage in the area, uprooting trees and tearing the roofs off of houses.

Water

Despite the abundant precipitation, karst plateaus have almost no water. The drainage divide is unclear because of the karst surface. The largest spring is that of the Hubelj River near

Vegetation

The Trnovo Forest Plateau is covered by mixed beech and fir forest (''Abieti-fagetum dinaricum''). The highest vegetation is on Little Mount Golak (), which is bare at the summit, below which grow dwarf willow (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

sp.'') and

mountain pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as bog pine, creeping pine, dwarf mountain pine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Sou ...

(''Pinus mugo''). Protected flora grows in the rocky crevices, including the Carniolan primrose (''Primula carniolica''). The share of forest is 75.5%, but this is increasing because of the afforestation of abandoned farmland. Poor accessibility has resulted in relatively good preservation of the landscape features. The highest peaks are overgrown with mountain pine or grass. Dinaric beech and fir forest grow at elevations between and . At lower elevations this transitions into Dinaric submontane beech forest. There is relatively little

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

Soil

Chromic

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 ...

and

rendzina Rendzina (or ''rendsina'') is a soil type recognized in various soil classification systems, including those of Britain and Germany as well as some obsolete systems. They are humus-rich shallow soils that are usually formed from carbonate- or occ ...

have developed on Cretaceous and Jurassic limestone and on Triassic dolomite. More acidic soils are found only on limestone with

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

. Due to karstification, the depth of

regolith Regolith () is a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock. It includes dust, broken rocks, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestria ...

is very uneven. The substantial precipitation quickly erodes the soil, and it is also carried away by the bora wind in exposed locations.

Population

The plateau had a population of 4,534 in the 1991 census, and the population density was only , making the area one of the most sparsely populated in Slovenia. Only the western part is inhabited. The settlements were formed through more recent high-elevation colonization, and the dominant patterns are clustered villages and isolated farms. The age profile of the population is unfavorable.

Economy

In addition to forestry, farming is also an important economic activity. The basic farming activity is animal husbandry, especially raising cattle. The share of the farming population is 14.4%. Tourism is becoming increasingly important: the steep slopes of the plateau attract hikers, and some karst features also attract visitors, especially ice caves and sinkholes because of the vegetation associated with them.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Trnovo Forest Plateau at Geopedia
Karst plateaus of Slovenia Landscape parks in Slovenia Plateaus in the Slovene Littoral