The Most Basin (also known as North Bohemian Basin; cs, Mostecká pánev, german: Nordböhmisches Becken) is a tectonic depression and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is named after the city of Most. It forms the southwestern and central parts of the

Ústí nad Labem Region Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region ( cs, Ústecký kraj, , ), is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad La ...

. It is among the richest European deposits of lignite, which has been extracted here since the second half of 19th century, mostly by extensive

surface mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whi ...

Geomorphology

The Most Basin is a mesoregion of the Podkrušnohorská Macroregion within the Bohemian Massif. It is further subdivided into the microregions of Žatec Basin and Chomutov-Teplice Basin. A flat landscape without peaks is typical for the Most Basin. The highest point of the territory is a

contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional gra ...

near Libouchec, at above sea level. There are several low hills with an elevation of 350–380 in the southwestern part of the basin.

Adjacent landscapes

The basin lies between the Central and Eastern Ore Mountains to the north and the Rakovník Uplands to the south. To the east the basin borders on the Central Bohemian Uplands and the foothills of Elbe Sandstone Mountains as well as in the southeast on the geomorphological region of the

Lower Eger Table Lower may refer to: * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни ...

. In the west it reaches the Doupov Mountains.

Geology

The Most Basin is a depression filled with

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non- avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

sediments. Its main filling is of

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recent" ...

age and they are mainly

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcan ...

s, pyroclastic sediments,

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

s and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a soil texture, textur ...

s together with important deposits of lignite and ceramic clays.

Geography

The Most Basin has an area of and an average elevation of . The territory has an elongated shape from the southwest to the northeast. There are several significant watercourses in the area. The largest rivers are

Ohře The Ohře () or, slightly less commonly in English sources, the Eger (, Czech also: ''Oharka'' or ''Ohara'', Celtic: ''Agara'', pl, Ohrza), is a 316 km river in Germany (50 km) and the Czech Republic (266 km), left tributary of ...

and Bílina. The are is rich on reservoirs and artificial lakes as a consequence of

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclam ...

after coal mining. The largest bodies of water are lakes Milada, Most and Matylda, and the Nechranice Reservoir. Natural conditions have given rise to larger settlements in the area. The largest cities and towns in the Most Basin are

Chomutov Chomutov (; german: Komotau) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. There are almost 80,000 inhabitants in the city's wider metropolitan area. The city centre is well preserved and is protec ...

, Litvínov, Jirkov, Žatec and Krupka. Partly located in the territory are

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (, , ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of its eponymous region and district. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway ju ...

, Most,

Teplice Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The hi ...

Kadaň Kadaň (; german: Kaaden) is a town in Chomutov District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the banks of the river Ohře. Kadaň is a tourist centre with highlights being the Francis ...

and Bílina.

Economy

The basin is known for lignite mining. 30–40 thousand tonnes of coal are mined here every year. The region is largely agricultural. The area around Žatec is well known for

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant '' Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to wh ...

cultivation. Saaz hops or Žatec hops is a

protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

Gallery

Nordböhmisches becken near Most.jpg, Infilling a mine near Most. In the foreground: the site of the old town North bohemian basin2 - cz..jpg, The Most Basin between Ústí nad Labem (right) with view of the escarpment of the Ore Mountain fault-block

References

External links

Information about the North Bohemian lignite field
{{authority control Ústí nad Labem Region Coal mining regions in the Czech Republic Drainage basins of the Czech Republic