Poljes are distinctive features of Mediterranean karst landscapes, but their Pleistocene sedimentary fills have not been widely investigated. Most previous research has focused on their formation and hydrology. Many Mediterranean poljes are situated downstream of high mountains that were glaciated during the cold stages of the Pleistocene, so that meltwater streams delivered glacially derived sediment into these basins. This study examines the Pleistocene alluvial records in karst poljes surrounding Mount Orjen in western Montenegro and explores their wider significance. There is a record of at least four glaciations preserved on Mount Orjen—two from the Middle Pleistocene (marine isotope stages [MIS] 12 and 6) and two from the last cold stage (MIS 5d-2), including the Younger Dryas. Detailed sedimentological analysis and uranium-series dating indicate that the Orjen poljes were filled with thick deposits of coarse- and fine-grained alluvium prior to 350 ka, during the major glacial phase of MIS 12. During the cold stages that followed MIS 12, ice was less extensive and limited to the Orjen plateau, and there is little evidence of outwash deposition during these later glaciations. Surface runoff and sediment supply were greatly reduced after MIS 12 and largely channeled into the subterranean karst network. The poljes around Orjen contain some of the best-preserved records of Middle Pleistocene glacial outwash in the Mediterranean, representing an important legacy of an extensive Middle Pleistocene glaciation for which wider impacts have not been fully appreciated.

Movement of the Adria microplate is one of the main elements for understanding crustal deformations in the central Mediterranean and central Europe. To study present-day tectonics in Adria and the nature of its boundary relative to those of the Africa and Eurasia plates, three GPS (Global Positioning System) campaigns involving 41 stations were carried out within CRODYN (the Croatian and Slovene Geodynamic Network). Movement of stations derived in the International Terrestrial Reference Frame 1996 (ITRF96) with respect to the permanent ITRF/IGS (International GPS Service) station GRAZ in Austria, located north of the network, and values of the principal strain rates determined on the basis of analytical surface deformation theory suggest that Adria is divided into three different deformation zones (northern, central, and southern). The domain of northeastern Italy moves 5 mm/yr in an east-northeast direction. The stations in southwestern Slovenia move 3–7 mm/yr in a north-northwest direction, whereas those in southern and northeastern Istria move 4–5 mm/yr in a more easterly direction. The greatest movement (8–10 mm/yr) occurs in central Adria between the Gargano zone and the central Dinarides; there, the movement is northeast-oriented. A fragmentation of Adria into subblocks linking the Gragano zone to the central Dinarides cannot be clearly demonstrated. The southeastern part of Adria, along the coastline of Albania, moves 5–7 mm/yr in an almost east-west direction, and eastern Albania moves 6 mm/yr in an east-southeast direction. The permanent ITRF/IGS stations POTS and WTZR in Germany, BOR1 in Poland, and PENC in Hungary demonstrate no significant movement. The movement of the stations discussed here differs very clearly from the known north-west motion of the Africa plate and suggests that Adria is an independent microplate.