Morphological evolution of through gorges in the stripe karst of the ridge Dževrinska greda: North-eastern Serbia

Abstract

The paper presents the main characteristics of the limestone ridge Dževrinska Greda in north-eastern Serbia, which is a typical example of stripe karst (sub-type of contact karst). Dimensions and elongated shape of the limestone outcrop, as well as its position in relation to the surface drainage network, have led to formation of a number of short through gorges. The conditions of their formation and certain morphological features pointing to phases of their development are discussed in the paper. One of the indicators was the analysis of cave passages positions, which in most cases points to cave development in phreatic conditions. This means that the incision of through gorges is more recent than speleogenesis.