Plitvice Lakes National Park

布里特威斯湖国家公园

🇮🇹 Croatia📅 1979 Inscribed

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The waters flowing over the limestone and chalk have, over thousands of years, deposited travertine barriers, creating natural dams which in turn have created a series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls. These geological processes continue today. The forests in the park are home to bears, wolves and many rare bird species.

Insight I

Composed of 16 interconnected lakes, including 12 upper lakes formed on Dolomites and 4 lower lakes formed on Limestone.

The official website’s animation explains how Tufa barriers are formed through interactions between inorganic matter and organisms. 📺 From water drop to tufa barrier - Plitvice Lakes National Park

The Tufa barriers demonstrate a unified geological and biochemical system among the 16 lakes, and this process is still ongoing.

Insight II

There may be misuse of the terms “Tufa” and “Travertine” on both the UNESCO and Wikipedia pages.