- Pek River
The Pek (Serbian
Cyrillic : Пек), is a river in easternSerbia . It is a 129 km long right tributary of theDanube , flowing through the regions ofHomolje ,Zvižd andBraničevo .Homolje region
The Pek originates from two major headwaters, "Veliki Pek" and "Mali Pek" (Cyrillic: "Велики Пек" and "Мали Пек"; "Great Pek" and "Little Pek").
The Mali Pek comes down from the northern slopes of the
Liškovac mountain, flows to the southwest through the city ofMajdanpek , one of the major mining centers of Serbia (city's name itself, "Majdan-pek", means "Mine on the Pek"). After a short course, the Pek reaches the western side of theHomolje mountains and flows in into the river "Lipa" at the village of Debeli Lug. Measured from the Lipa source, Pek is 129 km long, measured from its own, 110 km.Near the confluence of the two rivers is the reservoir of
Veliki Zaton (or Valja Fundata), artificial body of water used as a tailing pond for the near-by mines. Highly polluted, it is a big threat for the ecology of the region and the Pek itself.The Lipa (or Veliki Pek) springs out on the western side of the
Veliki Krš mountain, near the village of Lipa. It flows straight to the north, following the western side of theMali Krš mountain, next to the villages of Vlaole, Jasikovo (where it receives the left tributary "Jagnjilo/Јагњило") and Leskovo before it meets the Pek.Shotly after the confluence of Lipa and Mali Pek, the river receives the small stream of "Todorov" (Cyrillic: "Тодоров") from the left, and "Železnik" (Cyrillic: "Желеѕник") from the right. The Pek continues to the north, curves between the mountains of Homolje and
Severni Kučaj , next to the villages of Blagojev Kamen and receives the rivers "Brodica" from the right and "Komša" and "Kisela Voda" from the left.Zvižd region
This section of the river course both begins and ends with a gorge. At the village of Rečica, the Pek enters the "Kučevska klisura" (Cyrillic: "Кучевска клисура"; "Gorge of Kučevo"). The river receives from the left the stream "Gložana" (Cyrillic: "Гложана") and from the right the "Dajša" (Cyrillic: "Дајша"), makes an elbow turn to the north at the village of
Neresnica , leaves the gorge and enters the "Kučevska kotlina" (Cyrillic: Кучевска котлина; "Depression of Kučevo") where the regional centerKučevo is located. The Pek continues to the north through the "Kaonska klisura" (Cyrillic: "Каонска клисура"; "Gorge of Kaona"), between the villages of Kaona and Turija. The river makes another elbow turn, next to the villages of Sena, Lješnica and Mišljenovac and enters Braničevo.Braničevo region
In the final section, the Peck gently makes a big curve to the east. Braničevo is the lowest part of the Pek valley, so the river spills in several arms and passes next to many villages (Zelenik, Klenje, Mrčkovac, Miljević, Šuvajić, Donja Kruševica, Tribrode, Braničevo, Kusiće, before it empties into the Danube east of the town of
Veliko Gradište . In this section, important left tributary is the "Češljebarska reka" (Cyrillic: "Чешљебарска река").Characteristics
The Pek drains an area of 1,230 km² and belongs to the
Black Sea drainage basin . It is not navigable.The river's course is characterized by many elbow turns, similar to the Danube's on this same section (most notably, the
Đerdap ), but on a much lesser scale. Average discharge is 8.5 m³/s and the river's mouth is known for the Danube's inverse flow (during high levels, water from the Danube flows up the Pek).The areas surrounding the Pek's course are rich in a variety of ores and minerals, like copper, iron, pyrite, zinc, wolfram and coal ("Rakova Bara" coalmine), but the river is famous for the gold which it brings from the mountains around Majdanpek in small amounts, so from time to time, a media coverage of the gold findings (more often used as a publicity stunts) provoke
gold rush in the region. For this, the river is nicknamed "Zlatni Pek" (Cyrillic: "Златни Пек"; "Golden Pek").References
* "Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija", Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
* Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): "Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije"; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6
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