Geomorphological significance of the palaeodrainage network on a karst plateau: The Una-Korana plateau, Dinaric karst, Croatia

- The palaeodrainage network on a karst plateau of the Dinarides was reconstructed
- Reconstructed drainage network consists of active, dry and relict valleys.
- The relict valleys dominate with 78% of the total length.
- Drainage network has similar parameters as the network in non-karst areas.
- Doline density is the highest in the area of relict valleys.

Karst plateaus often have a complex geological and geomorphological history. It is widely accepted that their development requires a long period of karst denudation. This study reconstructs the palaeodrainage network of a karst plateau, analyses its properties and establishes its geomorphological significance. The main purpose of this research was to deepen our understanding of a key stage in the evolution of karst plateaus - the transition from a fluvial land surface to one dominated by karst surface processes. The study was conducted on a large part of the Una-Korana plateau, the largest plateau in the Dinaric karst. The majority of the plateau is made of carbonate rocks of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous age that set the conditions for the development of the karst. We have reconstructed the palaeodrainage network based on 1:25,000 topographic maps with 10 m contours. The transition of the surface drainage network to the underground karst drainage network is still in progress, so, depending on the degree of karstification, the drainage network was divided into three categories: active, dry and relict. It was found that 90.5% of the pre-existing drainage network has undergone some degree of karstification. The active surface drainage network gradually shifted to a dry network, then to a relict network. The surface drainage network is gradually replaced by a dense network of dolines. Today, the flat and karstified inter-fluvial area is drained underground towards the main watercourses and these drain the entire region over the surface towards the Pannonian basin. This is the largest known karst palaeodrainage network in the Dinaric karst that has been reconstructed in this way.