page_title: Požega Valley
section_title: Geology
hierarchical_section_title: Požega Valley / Geology
caption_attribution_description: English: Papuk Mountain
context_page_description: The Požega Valley is a geographic microregion of Croatia, located in central Slavonia, encompassing the eastern part of the Požega-Slavonia County. It is located in the Pannonian Basin, bounded by Psunj, Papuk and Krndija mountains from west and north, and Požeška Gora and Dilj from south and east, as the Pannonian plain is interspersed by horst and graben structures. The largest settlement in the region is the city of Požega, followed by Pleternica and Kutjevo. The main watercourse in the region is Orljava River. The region covers 1,249 square kilometres and has a population of 60,599.
  The Požega Valley was first inhabited in the prehistoric era, with archaeological finds spanning the Neolithic to classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, the period to which the oldest surviving historical records of the region date. Between the 13th and the 16th centuries, the region was organized as the centre of the Požega County and a royal estate. Ottoman rule in the region lasted for about 150 years—from the 1530s to the 1680s. During that time, the area was the centre of Sanjak of Pojega.
context_section_description: The Požega Valley is entirely located in the Pannonian Basin, one of three major geomorphological parts of Croatia. The Pannonian Basin took shape through Miocenian thinning and the subsidence of crust structures formed during Late Paleozoic Variscan orogeny. The Paleozoic and Mesozoic structures are visible in the mountains and hills surrounding the valley. The processes also led to the formation of a stratovolcanic chain in the basin 17 – 12 Mya (million years ago) and intensified subsidence observed until 5 Mya as well as flood basalts about 7.5 Mya. 
  Contemporary uplift of the Carpathian Mountains prevented water flowing to the Black Sea, and the Pannonian Sea formed in the basin. Sediments were transported to the basin from the uplifting of the Carpathian and Dinaric mountains, with particularly deep fluvial sediments deposited during the Pleistocene with the uplift of the Transdanubian Mountains. Ultimately, up to 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) of the sediment was deposited in the basin, and the Pannonian Sea eventually drained through the Iron Gate gorge. In the southern Pannonian Basin, the Neogene to Quaternary sediment depth is normally lower, averaging 500 to 1,500 metres (1,600 to 4,900 feet).
  The results of those processes are large plains in eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Syrmia, as well as in river valleys. The plains are interspersed by horst and graben structures, which are believed to have broken the Pannonian Sea surface as islands.  Psunj, Papuk and Krndija consist mostly of Paleozoic rocks that  are 350 – 300 million years old. Požeška Gora and Dilj consist of much more recent Neogene rocks, but Požeška Gora also contains Upper Cretaceous sediments and igneous rocks forming the main 30-kilometre (19 mi) ridge of the hill and representing the largest igneous landform in Croatia. A smaller igneous landform is also present on Papuk, near Voćin. The two mountains are possible remnants of a volcanic arc related to Alpine orogeny—uplifting of the Dinaric Alps.
caption: Papuk flanks the Požega Valley from the north
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