Tufa at the river Zrmanja as an under-researched and under-valorized geomorphological phenomenon

Rijeka Zrmanja pripada skupini sedotvornih tekućica dinarskog krša. Dosadašnja istraživanja pokazala su postojanje povoljnih uvjeta za taloženje posebno u srednjem dijelu toka između ušća pritoke Krupe i Berberovog buka. Cilj ovoga rada je isticanje vrijednosti sedrenih naslaga čime bi se pridonijelo njihovoj dodatnoj zaštiti kao važnih geolokaliteta. Osim prirodnih uvjeta, nagli razvoj turizma kao i nekontrolirano korištenje prirodnih resursa opasno mogu narušiti ovaj vrlo osjetljivi sedrotvorni okoliš. Nužnost zaštite odnosi se i na očuvanje kakvoće vode rijeke Zrmanje, važnoga preduvjeta procesa sedrenja i opstanka sedrenih tvorbi kao elemenata geobaštine i staništa.. U tome smislu potrebno je vrednovati i inventarizirati odabrani geomorfološki prostor, a kroz geoedukaciju predstaviti ovaj prirodni fenomen stvaranja jedinstvenog krajobraza u svrhu očuvanja njegove georaznolikosti.The River Zrmanja belongs to the category of freshwater streams where the process of tufa formation occurs. The research done so far indicates conditions there are indeed favourable for formation of such deposits. The most elaborate and the most sizable deposit formations, tufa waterfalls (known as “buk”) are found in the middle reach of Zrmanja, downstream from the mouth of the River Krupa. The purpose and the aim of this paper is to underline the value of tufa formations, and thus contribute to advancing the conservation efforts invested in these valuable geological localities. Apart from the natural conditions, rapid development of geo-tourism, in addition to unregulated use of natural resources, poses a danger to this extremely sensitive tufa-forming environment. Furthermore, additional effort needs to be invested in preserving the water quality of Zrmanja River, as it is an important prerequisite for tufa formation process and, hence, the preservation of waterfalls as habitats of many different species. What is necessary in this regard is to estimate the value and conduct the inventory of the selected geomorphological area. Another necessary measure would be to provide education on the geological value of this natural phenomenon which results in the formation of a unique landscape the geological diversity of which should be preserved