:Geology of Serbia

File:Kanjon Rosomače.jpg in Rosomače Canyon]]

The Sava Zone (named after the river Sava) is an oceanic suture that strikes roughly NNW to SSE through Serbia and is mostly covered in the north by the sediments of the Pannonian Basin. Outcrops can be found in the Fruška Gora (Fruška mountains). Here the unit is composed of blueschists and ophiolites. In the south outcrops of the Sava Zone occur in the Balkan and Rhodope Mountains. This includes the Senonian Flysch and the rocks cropping out in the Jastrebac Window.

The Jadar-Kopaonik Thrust Sheet is a NW-SE striking unit in the southern footwall of the Sava Zone and the northern hangingwall of the Drina-Ivanjica Thrust Sheet. Most of the outcrops are ophiolites from the Western Vardar ocean, but there are some windows into the underlying basement. The Jadar unit in western Serbia (Jadar Region) is the largest window into the underlying Adriatic units of the Jadar-Kopaonik Thrust Sheet. Two smaller windows crop out farther to the south. The Studenica unit lies in the west and the Kopaonik unit in the east of the thrust sheet.{{cite book|last=Vasković|first=Nada|title=Ophiolites of the Vardar Zone and the Dinarides:Central and West Serbia|year=2010|isbn=978-963-306-056-8|author2=Vesna Matović}}

The Supragetic nappes form a N-S striking belt in eastern Serbia, where they crop out in the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina). They are part of the paleogeographic realm of Dacia. The Supragetic is subdivided into the Ranovac and Vlasina unit.

The Drina-Ivanjica thrust sheet forms a NNW to SSE striking thrust sheet through southwestern Serbia. It is composed of a Paleozoic basement and Mesozoic cover. On top of this lies the obducted Zlatibor ophiolite (Zlatibor Mountains), a remnant of the Western Vardar ocean.

Serbia is prone to moderate to strong seismic activity, especially in the central belts of Vardar Zone and Serbian Massif.{{cite web|url=http://www.wbseismicmaps.org/Documents/Serbia_Ig.pdf |title=Seismic Activity on the Territory Of Serbia --Overview Of Relevant Data |publisher=First Workshop for the NATO Science For Peace Project |date=7 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728171704/http://www.wbseismicmaps.org/Documents/Serbia_Ig.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2011 }} Major earthquakes in the 20th century ranged between 5.0 from 6.0 (Lazarevac 1922) Richter scale. The last major earthquake at 5.4 occurred near Kraljevo on 3 November 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2010&mm=11&dd=03&nav_id=469657 |title=Snažan zemljotres za ove prostore |publisher=B92 |date=3 November 2010}}

List of major earthquakes in the 20th and 21st centuries:{{cite web|url=http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Srbija/789356/Dve+%C5%BErtve+zemljotresa+Kraljeva.html |title=Dve žrtve zemljotresa u Kraljevu |publisher=RTS |date=11 March 2010}}{{cite journal|title=Neotectonics and seismicity of the southern margin of the Pannonian basin in Serbia |author=M. Marović |journal=EGU Stephan Mueller Special Publication Series |volume= 3 |pages=277–295 |year=2002 |doi=10.5194/smsps-3-277-2002|display-authors=etal|doi-access=free }}

• 1893. Svilajnac – 5,7 Richter scale
• 1921. Vitina – 5,7
• 1922. Lazarevac – 5,9
• 1927. Rudnik – 5,7
• 1980. Kopaonik – 5,7
• 1983. Kopaonik – 5,3
• 1998. Mionica – 5,7
• 2010. Kraljevo – 5,4

File:Jovan Žujović 2016 Stamp of Serbia.jpg.]]

The Serbian Geologic Society was established by a group of professors and students in Belgrade on 10 February 1891 under the leadership of Jovan Žujović.{{cite web|title=Short History|url=http://www.sgd.rs/eng/index.php/our-history|publisher=Serbian Geologic Society|access-date=21 September 2013}} The geologic survey was founded 29 December 1930.{{cite web|title=Istorijat Geološkog zavoda Srbije|url=http://www.gzs.gov.rs/index.php?page=1|publisher=Geoloski zavod Srbije|access-date=21 September 2013}}

{{also|List of mines in Serbia}}

The economic geology of Serbia was reviewed by Melcher and Reichl in 2017.{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s00501-017-0625-4|title=Economic Geology of the Eastern and South-eastern European (ESEE) Region|year=2017|last1=Melcher|first1=Frank|last2=Reichl|first2=Christian|journal=BHM Berg- und Hüttenmännische Monatshefte|volume=162|issue=7|pages=238–244|s2cid=134480133}}

Serbia is the 18th largest producer of coal (7th in Europe) extracted from large deposits in Kolubara and Kostolac basins; it is also world's 23rd largest (3rd in Europe) producer of copper which is extracted near Majdanpek by Zijin Bor Copper, a large copper mining company with significant gold extraction.{{cite news |title=Mineral deposits and mining districts of Serbia Compilation map and GIS databases |url=http://gras.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/mineral-deposits-and-mining-districts-of-serbia.pdf |publisher=Republic of Serbia - Ministry of Mining and Energy |date=March 2002}}"Mineral resources of Serbia" August 2008 Geologica Carpathica 59(4):345-361{{cite news |title=2015 Minerals Yearbook: Serbia |url=https://prd-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/myb3-2015-rb.pdf |access-date=3 April 2021 |publisher=USGS}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s00501-017-0625-4|title=Economic Geology of the Eastern and South-eastern European (ESEE) Region|year=2017|last1=Melcher|first1=Frank|last2=Reichl|first2=Christian|journal=BHM Berg- und Hüttenmännische Monatshefte|volume=162|issue=7|pages=238–244|s2cid=134480133}} In 2018, it was acquired by the Chinese Zijin Mining, which in April 2021 was ordered by the government to cease activity because of "non-compliance with environmental standards".{{cite news |title=Serbia orders Zijin Mining to cease work at copper mine |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/news/serbia-orders-zijin-mining-to-cease-work-at-copper-mine/ |agency=Mining Technology |publisher=Verdict Media Limited |date=15 April 2021}}

The iron ore deposits of Serbia are insignificant.{{cite journal |last1=ROESLER |first1=MAX |title=THE IRON-ORE RESOURCES OF EUROPE |journal=Bulletin of the USGS |date=1921 |volume=706 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0706/report.pdf |publisher=USGS}}{{cite journal |doi=10.2113/gsecongeo.49.5.451|title=The ore deposits of Jugoslavia and the development of its mining industry|year=1954|last1=Schumacher|first1=Friedrich|journal=Economic Geology|volume=49|issue=5|pages=451–492}} Iron and copper deposits were found at Suva Ruda and Suvo Rudište.Antonijevic I. (1983) Lezista gvozda Srbije [Translated Title: The iron ore deposits of Serbia]. Vesnik, Zavod za Geoloska i Geofizicka Istrazivanja, Serija A: Geologija, 41, p. 5-40.

The largest laterite nickel deposit in Europe is at Mokra Gora, with an estimated 1,000 million tons of ore.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103915|doi-access=free|title=Cobalt resources in Europe and the potential for new discoveries|year=2021|last1=Horn|first1=S.|last2=Gunn|first2=A.G.|last3=Petavratzi|first3=E.|last4=Shaw|first4=R.A.|last5=Eilu|first5=P.|last6=Törmänen|first6=T.|last7=Bjerkgård|first7=T.|last8=Sandstad|first8=J.S.|last9=Jonsson|first9=E.|last10=Kountourelis|first10=S.|last11=Wall|first11=F.|journal=Ore Geology Reviews|volume=130|page=103915}}

The Jadar deposit contains high-grade mineralisation of boron and lithium in a mineral named Jadarite and Rio Tinto Mines has invested $200M to test if it "has the potential to produce both battery-grade lithium carbonate and boric acid." Reports were made in March 2021 that the Jadar mine would begin production in 2026.{{cite news |last1=Ralev |first1=Radomir |title=Rio Tinto to complete construction of Serbia's Jadar lithium mine in 2026 - report |url=https://seenews.com/news/rio-tinto-to-complete-construction-of-serbias-jadar-lithium-mine-in-2026-report-733273 |publisher=SeeNews |date=4 March 2021}}

• Geography of Serbia
• List of caves in Serbia
• List of mountains in Serbia

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Geology of Serbia}}

{{Geology of Europe}}