Mini Blog - 2

Coastal and Karst Landscapes

Croatia occupies most of the Eastern Adriatic Sea with over 1,100 miles of coastline. Most of this coastline is made up of folded rock formations descending straight to the sea and forming high plunging cliffs or low-lying limestone. (Kennedy, 105) The Northern coastline is more dominated by the limestone formations. This rough coastal landscape is broken up periodically with portions of beaches that are either sandy or rocky with little pebbles and were created by currents. These beaches are considered the back shore of the littoral zone during a low tide. 

The waves of the sea are constantly eroding the rocky cliffs. They are mostly gentile spilling breaker waves. 

This photo shows evidence of coastal straightening along the coast of Slanica Island, Croatia. The bay of sand is surrounded by the tall limestone headlands. 

Image 1: Coastal straightening. 

This is an example of a notched cliff which forms part of the wall of Dubrovnik. 

Image 2: Notched cliff. 

Here's an example of a sea arch on Lopud Island, Croatia. 

Image 3: Sea Arch.

Here's a cave called Brbiscica in Dugi Otok, Croatia. 

Image 4: Sea Cave Brbiscia. 

The Istrian Peninsula in the north has the steepest part of the coastline and is periodically broken up by inlets where there are drowned valleys. (Kennedy, 106).

All along the coast, there is a submerged notch. Notches are best formed in limestone (Juracic, 21). Notches develop parallel to the sea level by a combination of physical and biological abrasion and by chemical and biological dissolution. (Juracic, 22) Here is an example of one formed in the Cretaceous rudist limestones on the northeastern coast of Rijeka Bay.

Image 5: Tidal notch in Rijeka Bay. 

Back in 2008, University of Arizona professor, Richard Bennett, lead a research team involving Croatian geologists to discover a new fault in the region (UA). This fault is actively building more islands and mountains. Bennett said, "the leading edge of the Eurasian plate is scraping and sliding its way over a former piece of the African plate called the South Adria microplate"(UA). This would be an example of a convergent plate boundary. This fault runs for about 124 miles under the sea floor and heads in a northwest direction.

Map 1: Convergent plate boundary in Croatia.

References

Dr. Casey D. Allen, Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Environmental Sciences, 

     University of  Colorado Denver. Geographic Concepts such as littoral zone, headlands, back 

     shore, spilling breaker waves, notched cliff, and convergent plate boundary. These come from 

     lectures on " Coastal Landscapes," and "Plate Tectonics."

Jensen, Mari N., "Newly Discovered Active Fault Building New Islands Off Croatian Coast,"
     University of Arizona News, UAnews, 22 Jan., 2008, Web. 23 March, 2017.
https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/newly-discovered-active-fault-building-new-islands-croatian-coast

Juracic, Mladen, Cedomir Benac, and Tatjana Bakran-Petricioli, "Submerged tidal notches in the
     Rijeka Bay NE Adriatic Sea," Marine Geology, International Journal of Marine Geology,
     Geochemistry and Geophysics. 20 July, 2004. Web. 25, 2017. PDF.
     http://rgn.hr/~bruntom/nids_bruntom/PDF%20Strukturna%20geomorfologija/Benac%20et%20al-
     MGeol-2004.pdf

Kennedy, D.M., W.J. Stephenson, and L.A.. Naylor, "Rock Coast Geomorphology: A Global   

      Synthesis," The Geological Society. The Geological Society, Memoir No. 40. 2014, Web 22, 

      2017. 

     https://books.google.com/books?     

     id=iIROBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=croatia&f=false

Image References

Image 1: Pero. Dalmatia Nudist Beaches. n.a. Photograph. Split Croatia Travel Guide. Web. 27 Mar.

     2017. photo: http://split.gg/dalmatia-nudist-beaches/

Image 2: Lorentz, Mario. May 2017. Photograph. I took this photo.

Image 3: Trip Advisor, Islands of Sipan. 12 July. 2016. Photograph. Trip Advisor. Web. 26 Mar.
      2017. Photo: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g295371-d4371037-i98910860-Outdoor_Croatia_Sea_Kayaking-Dubrovnik_Dubrovnik_Neretva_County_Dalmatia.html

Image 4: Dugi Otok Tourist board. Cave Brbiscica. Photograph. Pinterest. n.a. Web. 25, Mar. 2017.
      https://www.pinterest.com/pin/292452569523018944/

Image 5: Frka, D. Rijeka Bay Notch. Sept. 1998. Photograph. Marine Geology 212 (2004), page 31.
     Web. 26, 2017. PDF.  
      http://rgn.hr/~bruntom/nids_bruntom/PDF%20Strukturna%20geomorfologija/Benac%20et%20al-
     MGeol-2004.pdf

Map 1: Tectonic Map, Mediterranean. Go Hvar. Gohvarblog.com. 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Arpil, 2017. 

     https://gohvarblog.com/2012/11/26/the-adriatic-on-a-plate/

Mini Blog -1

Temperatures, Winds, and Precipitation along the Croatian Coast. 

Temperatures

The mean annual temperature along the coast ranges from 53 degrees F to 64 degrees F. (Croatian Bureau of Statistics,36) The coast is hot, dry, and sunny in the summer and mild as well as wet in the winter. The average temperatures in the summer are 77 F - 86 F in the summer and can get into the low to mid-90's. The lowest it will go in the winter is about 41 F. There is less fluctuation along the coast than there is inland because of the Marine climate over the Adriatic Sea versus the continentality effect over the land. (Climate and Weather in Croatia).

Figure 1: Shows less the temperature fluctuation for Dubrovnik, a coastal city.

Figure 2; Shows the fluctuation in termperature of Zagreb, an interior city.

Winds

The winter months have more powerful winds on the coast and the most well-known of these are the Bora winds which are a north-easterly wind that can reach dangerous speeds of over 100 miles per hour(Climate and Weather in Croatia). The Bora is a Katabatic wind that blows down from the mountain ranges like the Dinaric mountain range which forms a natural boundary between the Mediterranean and continental climates. Behind these mountains high up on a snow-covered plateau is where a high-pressure polar front is planted. Out on the Adriatic sits a low-pressure warm front. The air cools down at night on that plateau and moves closer to the dew point (Meteo Europe). It then begins to sink while warming adiabatically. Frontal lifting occurs with this. Also, Croatia is situated between 42 and 46 degrees latitude, so it's usually in the path of the westerly winds.

Image 1: Photo of Mount Dinara in Croatia.  

Video 1: Shows bora winds blowing down from the mountains.

Video 2: Shows more Bora winds.

Dark Bora Winds	LIght Bora Winds
Cyclonic pattern / Low pressure center	Anticyclonic
Southern Adriatic Sea	Most intense to the north
Cloudy and rainy (low clouds)	Clear skies
Less gusty winds than white bora	Gale force winds
Substantial amounts of rain or snow	No precipitation

Table 1: Shows the characteristics of the two types of bora winds.

Image 2: Shows a dark bora wind blowing on the Croatian Coast. 

Precipitation

The lowest precipitation amounts of about 700 mm per year are on the outer islands and the amounts increase further into the interior where there are up to four times as much precipitation. The reason for this is similar to the "lake effect." The following charts show the contrasts between coastal rainfall and that of the interior. 

Coastal City

Chart 1: Shows the annual average rainfall for Dubrovnik.

Interior City

Chart 2: Shows the average annual rainfall for Zagreb.

References

 "Bura winds affect the Adriatic, an explanation." Meteo Europe. Meteo Europe, 17 Jan. 2017. Web. 

     March 2017.

     https://www.meteoeurope.eu/bura-winds-affect-the-adriatic-an-explanation/

"Climate and Weather in Croatia." Visit Croatia. Visit Croatia, n.a.. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

     http://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/index.php/information-on-croatia/climate-weather-in-croatia/

Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2011 Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Croatia. Zagreb: Croatian 

     Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Dec. 2011. Web. 27 Feb 2017.

     http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv_Eng/ljetopis/2011/SLJH2011.pdf

Dr. Casey D. Allen, Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Environmental Sciences,
     University of Colorado Denver: Geographic concepts such as marine climate, continentality, high
     pressure polar front, low pressure warm front, dew point, adiabatically, frontal lifting, westerly
     winds, and lake effect. These come from lecture on "Weather, Adiabatic Processe, and Storms!",
     "Earth's Temperature, Concepts, and Patterns", "Water, Atmoshperic Moisture, and Clouds", and
     "Earth's circulation."

Figure, Charts, Images, and Table References

Figure 1: "Average Monthly Weather In Durbrovnik, Croatia." Graph. Weather and     Climate. N.A.
     Web. 1 Mar. 2017.

     https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-      Sunshine,dubrovnik,Croatia

     

Figure 2: "Average Monthly Weather In Zagreb, Croatia." Graph. Weather and Climate. N.A. Web. 1

      Mar. 2017. 

     https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Zagreb,Croatia

Image 1: Inatan. Dinara Central. 14 Jan. 2017. Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 28 Feb. 

     2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dinara_central.jpg

Video 1: Famous Croatian Bora Wind. Soulwindsurf. Youtube, 16 May 2011. Video. Web. 28 Feb.
     2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y6KSGy2e_Q

Video 2: 200 km/hr Bora (Bura) in Croatia. Marco Kaschuba. Youtube. 24 March 2016. Web. 28
     Feb. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2lpFhB_cqE#t=13.391313

Table 1: Lorentz, Mario. "Bora Winds." Table. ( I created this table with information from the 

     following website: http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wind/The-Bora.htm). 

     "Bora." Weather online. Web. 1 March 2017. 

Image 2: Spanic, Lucijan. "Dark Bora." 17 Jan. 2017. Photograph. Meteo Europe. Web. 2 March 

     2017. https://www.meteoeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/img_8337-1.jpg

Chart 1: Dubrovnik. Chart. Holiday Weather Charts. Holidayweather.com. n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

     http://www.holiday-weather.com/dubrovnik/averages/

Chart 2: Zagreb. Chart. Holiday Weather Charts. Holidayweather.com. n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

     http://www.holiday-weather.com/zagreb/averages/

     

Introduction

Hello everyone,
   My name is Mario Lorentz and I grew up in Colorado Springs, but I have lived up here in Denver for the last 7 years. I love to ride my road bike as well as go to the gym. I also like following the stock market which is why I am majoring in Finance and this is my final semester here at UCD.
   I have chosen to do my research on the Croatian Coastline because it is so unique with over 1,000 islands along its coast with about 47 of them inhabited. I have been there and was just fascinated by it. I arrived by train to the coastal town of Split and then took a bus down along the coast to the most popular town in Croatia, Dubrovnik. I then took a boat ride to a few islands which was amazing.
   For those of you who are not familiar with Croatia, it is located across the Adriatic Sea from Italy and was once part of the former Yugoslavia which broke up in the early 1990's.
   I hope by the end of the semester to persuade at least one of you to put Croatia on your travel list.