The Ohře River cuts into the Tertiary sediments of the Sokolov Basin and the granites of the Karlovy Vary Granite Massif in the section between Královský Poříčí near Sokolov and Tašovice on the western edge of Karlovy Vary.
The deepening of the Ohře River in this place is very interesting from the point of view of landscape development. The course of the river flow here probably stabilized in the Oligocene, i.e. about 30 million years ago. This is evidenced by the signs of erosion in the older sediments of the Starosedl Formation. The river reacted to the continuing subsidence of the more northerly situated central part of the Ohře Trench by not moving its bed, but only deepening it.
Ohře River. In the background Chlum sv. Máří
From the winding direction it is clear that it did not have it easy and used weakened zones along fault lines.The entire river section is 17 km long and there are interesting geological sites in its vicinity. From the highway bridge, the steep slopes above the river are built up by Starý Sedl sandstones with numerous pseudokarst manifestations, protected as a natural monument of the Ohře Valley. The historical mining of kyze for the production of sulfuric acid is commemorated by the hereditary adit of Jan Křtitel and the defunct mineral plant at Starý Sedl. On the other hand, the current mining of brown coal can be observed from the lookouts at Pískovec. Loket granite with prominent growths of potassium feldspar forms a rock garden right in the courtyard of Loket Castle. The intergrowths of feldspar crystals released from the rock, the so-called Karlovy Vary twins, can still be found between Loket and Hory. The Loket forests hide prominent granite rock formations, whether it is the natural monument of Moučné pytle or the legendary Svatošské skály.
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