Ostalo
Šverda – Speleological Explorations of the Rječina Spring Hinterland
Lovel Kukuljan
orcid.org/0000-0001-5321-8335
; Speleološka udruga Estavela, Kastav
Sažetak
Šverda is well-known among the speleologists as a mountainous karst area located at the northwestern-most
part of Gorski kotar county. The area stretches along the Slovenian–Croatian border in between the Snežnik and
Risnjak mountains and for the most part, its elevation is above 1000 m a.s.l. It is one of the areas in Croatia with
the greatest average annual rainfall and lowest average annual air temperature. The terrain is highly karstified,
which is evident by multiple surface and underground karst forms. Caves are characterized by vertical morphologies
and are often filled with snow and ice during most of the year. This area constitutes a drainage basin
for some of the most abundant springs in the northern Adriatic — Rječina, Zvir and Kupa springs — by which it
bears a role of strategic importance for long-term water supply. Systematic speleological explorations were not
conducted until recent, while publications covering this area are very rare.
Caving society „Estavela“ began systematic speleological exploration of Šverda in 2005. Over the following 13
years, 10 speleological expeditions were organized with more than 150 participants from 19 speleological organizations,
often from abroad. 156 caves were explored, among which three of those are on the list of the 55
deepest caves in Croatia. The deepest cave is 310 m deep, but the depth-potential of the area has not been reached
considering that across the border there is more than 600 m deep cave where exploration is still ongoing.
The primary goal of this publication is the presentation of the natural characteristics of this area and collection
of all the results of speleological explorations achieved so far. The area is presented geographically, climatologically,
geologically, hydrologically, glaciologically, and with descriptions of the flora. An historical review of
speleological explorations, explorations in Slovenia near Snežnik mountain, and the results of biospeleological
research are also given. The core of the publication is cave cadastre, where every cave is presented by basic
data, vectorized map, and photography of the entrance.
Ključne riječi
speleology; speleological explorations; cave cadastre; Gorski kotar; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
216179
URI
Datum izdavanja:
21.11.2018.
Posjeta: 837 *