Red Lake () is a
sinkhole
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...
containing a
karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
lake near the city of
Imotski
Imotski () is a small town on the northeastern side of the Biokovo massif in the Dalmatian Hinterland of southern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The town has a generally mild Mediterranean climate which makes it a popular ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
. It is known for its numerous
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
s and high cliffs, reaching over above normal water level and continuing below the water level. The total explored depth of this sinkhole is approximately with a volume of roughly 25–30 million cubic metres,
thus it is the third
largest sinkhole in the world,
and the deepest known case of a
collapse doline containing a lake. Water drains out of the basin through underground waterways that descend below the level of the lake floor. The deepest known point of the lake is below sea level.
The sinkhole is named after the reddish-brown colour of the surrounding cliffs,
coloured by iron oxides.
Like the nearby
Blue Lake
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term ''blue'' generally descr ...
, it is presumed that the lake emerged when the ceiling of a large cave hall collapsed.
[
The lake is inhabited with endemic and endangered spotted minnow ('' Delminichthys adspersus'') and Imotski ]spined loach
The spined loach (''Cobitis taenia'') is a common freshwater fish in Europe. It is sometimes known as spotted weather loach, not to be confused with the "typical" weather loaches of the genus '' Misgurnus''. This is the type species of the spiny ...
(''Cobitis illyrica
''Cobitis'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Cobitidae from temperate and subtropical Eurasia. It contains the "typical spiny loaches", including the well-known Cobitis taenia, spined loach of Europe. Similar sp ...
''). In the dry period of the year, this fish can be occasionally seen in surrounding springs, rivers and lakes, suggesting that there is an underground connection between Red Lake and other water bodies.[
At the 13th International Congress of Speleology in 2001, new findings were revealed. An inflow cave-shaped canal that measured approximately 30 × 30 metres was discovered in the eastern part of the lake at a depth of .]
History
It has been studied by , Artur Gavazzi
Artur Gavazzi (14 October 1861 – 12 March 1944) was a geographer and cartographer.
Gavazzi was born in Split (then in the Austrian Empire) and died in Zagreb (then in the Independent State of Croatia).
Gavazzi was the first professor of geo ...
, J. Daneš, Otto Oppitz, A. Ujević, and others.
Gallery
Red Lake Imotski 002.jpg, Red reflection
Crveno jezero pobliz Imotska - az 300 m hluboka zatopena pro.jpg, Clear reflection
Red Lake near Imotski, Croatia.JPG, From the south
See also
* List of deepest Dinaric caves
This is a list of the deepest caves in the Dinaric Alps. Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia each had national lists of deepest caves in Yugoslav times, during which they were often compared. A continuously updated list is available for Slovenia. For ...
* List of Dinaric caves
This is an incomplete list of caves in the Dinaric Alps.
Biokovo
Bjelašnica
Bočko pogorje
Brač
Bukovica
Cesarsko brdo
Cetina
Cres and Lošinj
Crnopac
Ćićarija and Učka
Dinara
Drvodevnik
Usually seen as p ...
* List of longest Dinaric caves
This is a list of the longest caves in the Dinaric Alps. This region is known for its deep caves more than its long caves, in part because of the slow progress of cave exploration and in part because the recency and severity of the uplift is l ...
References
Sources
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Literature
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Biology
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Ecology
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History
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External links
*{{Commons category-inline, Red Lake, Croatia
Stamp by Croatian post
Lakes of Croatia
Sinkholes of Europe
Karst formations of Croatia
Landforms of Split-Dalmatia County
Caves of Croatia
Imotski