Čepićko Polje and the Entire Učka Mountain Range in Eastern Istra/Istria; Kršan municipality, Istarska Županija, Hrvatska
27-march-2023
The Čepić basin/polje, unlike the Učka mountain range (see notes), mainly composed of porous limestone, like most of the northern Dinaric reliefs, has an impermeable sedimentary soil base (Flysch).
It is (partially) an inclined plane that leans towards the mountain range, which, until the beginning of the 1900s, housed a vast marshy lake, which was reclaimed in that period under the Italian administration to make this vast area (with rich soil) cultivable.
In reality, without the lake, the micro-climate of the basin has developed more markedly continental characteristics with strong temperature inversions at night and considerable overheating during the day, for which reason various crops are not possible.
This microclimate, due to being closed to the typical eastern Istrian breezes coming from Kvarner, causes strong daily temperature ranges, although the altitude close to sea level and the compact terrain avoid lows below zero in late spring, as instead frequent in karstic basins with calcareous soil and located at higher altitudes; on the other hand, the summer overheating of the area favors a marked altimetric thermal gradient with the rise of strong hot currents, further aided by the mountain range, and, therefore, sometimes, the formation of very intense heat thunderstorms, often accompanied by hail.
Učka, Vojak summit, 1401m a.s.l., which overlaps on the left of the photo, is the highest mountain in Istria and has a very interesting micro-climatology especially in reference to rainfall which increases (considerably!) with altitude, as you approach at the top, almost coinciding with the altimetric contour lines.
It deserves an in-depth analysis in its own right in the next photos taken right from its partially snow-covered peak.
Čepićko Polje and the Entire Učka Mountain Range in Eastern Istra/Istria; Kršan municipality, Istarska Županija, Hrvatska
27-march-2023
The Čepić basin/polje, unlike the Učka mountain range (see notes), mainly composed of porous limestone, like most of the northern Dinaric reliefs, has an impermeable sedimentary soil base (Flysch).
It is (partially) an inclined plane that leans towards the mountain range, which, until the beginning of the 1900s, housed a vast marshy lake, which was reclaimed in that period under the Italian administration to make this vast area (with rich soil) cultivable.
In reality, without the lake, the micro-climate of the basin has developed more markedly continental characteristics with strong temperature inversions at night and considerable overheating during the day, for which reason various crops are not possible.
This microclimate, due to being closed to the typical eastern Istrian breezes coming from Kvarner, causes strong daily temperature ranges, although the altitude close to sea level and the compact terrain avoid lows below zero in late spring, as instead frequent in karstic basins with calcareous soil and located at higher altitudes; on the other hand, the summer overheating of the area favors a marked altimetric thermal gradient with the rise of strong hot currents, further aided by the mountain range, and, therefore, sometimes, the formation of very intense heat thunderstorms, often accompanied by hail.
Učka, Vojak summit, 1401m a.s.l., which overlaps on the left of the photo, is the highest mountain in Istria and has a very interesting micro-climatology especially in reference to rainfall which increases (considerably!) with altitude, as you approach at the top, almost coinciding with the altimetric contour lines.
It deserves an in-depth analysis in its own right in the next photos taken right from its partially snow-covered peak.