The Lower Sava Valley (, also ''Spodnje Posavje'' and ''Posavska regija'') is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in southeastern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

on the border with

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 has three major urban centres: Brežice, Krško, and Sevnica. Its borders are almost identical with those of the

Lower Sava Statistical Region The Lower Sava Statistical Region (; until December 31, 2014 ) is a Statistical regions of Slovenia, statistical region in Slovenia. It has good traffic accessibility and is located in the Sava and Krka Valleys, with hilly areas with vineyards and ...

. It extends along the lower part of the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

River, from the town of Krško downstream to the international border. With an area of 885 km² (4.4% of Slovenia) and a 2003 population of 70,262 (79 inhabitants per km² in 409 settlements), it is Slovenia's second-smallest region and one of its least densely populated ones. The neighbouring regions are the

Savinja The Savinja () is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja Valley () and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps (Sln. ''Savinjske Alpe''). It flows into ...

region to the north, the

Central Sava Valley The Central Sava Valley () is a valley in the Sava Hills and a geographic region along the Sava in central Slovenia, now constituting the Central Sava Statistical Region. The region consists of three municipalities: Zagorje ob Savi, Trbovlje, an ...

() to the west, and

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

to the south. The constituent municipalities are Krško, Brežice, Sevnica, Kostanjevica na Krki, Radeče, and Bistrica ob Sotli. The Lower Sava Valley is a popular tourist destination, prized for its rich cultural heritage, thermal spas, high-quality wines, and well-developed network of walking and riding trails, golf courses, and health resorts.

Physiography and geology

Slovenia's Lower Sava Valley falls within the easternmost part of the Krško–Samobor Plain, the western segment of the broader Sava Plain physico-geographical unit. The Sava Plain is divided by two major tectonic constrictions—the Podsused Gate near

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and the Brod Gate near

Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (, ), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod is the 7th lar ...

—into three sub-regions: the Krško–Samobor Plain, the Upper Sava Plain, and the Lower Sava Plain. The Krško–Samobor Plain extends from Krško downstream to the Podsused Gate and is underlain exclusively by

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

alluvial (

fluvial A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

)

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

s deposited by a gently meandering river. Its flat relief results from repeated sedimentation and is bounded by fault-controlled uplands to the north and south. Relief in this part of the valley reflects a Holocene evolution dominated by neotectonic movements, fluvial processes (sedimentation and channel migration), local slope processes, and minor aeolian activity. The plain's surface roughness coefficients, as mapped via

QGIS QGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) software that is free and open-source. QGIS supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. It supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data in a range of data formats. Its name comes from ...

"Roughness" analysis, fall below 5 m/m, confirming a very low-relief

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

environment.

Palaeogeography

During the middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

(about 11.6–4.5 Ma), this segment of the Sava Valley lay beneath Lake Paludina, a remnant of the Pannonian Sea, before shifting to a fluvio-deltaic environment in the late Miocene to

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

(about 2.6–0.1 Ma), the modern Sava River system had fully incised its course, draining

headwater The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

s from the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

and

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

and carrying sediments derived from central Bosnian

ultramafic Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are usua ...

sources. These palaeogeographic phases are recorded in alternations of Pleistocene alluvial, Pleistocene eolian, and Holocene fluvial deposits across the plain.

References

External links

Posavje.info - najbolj brane novice iz Posavja

Posavje - novice, informacije, dogodki (in Slovene only)
{{coord, 45, 57, 0, N, 15, 29, 0, E, region:SI, display=title Historical regions in Slovenia