The Altopiano delle Murge (Italian for "Murge plateau ") is a karst topographic plateau of rectangular shape in southern Italy. Most of it lies within Apulia and corresponds with the sub- region known as Murgia or Le Murge. The plateau lies mainly in the Metropolitan City of Bari and the province of Barletta-Andria- Trani, but extends into the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto to the south; and into Matera in Basilicata to the west. The name is believed to originate from the Latin murex, meaning "sharp stone ".
Geography and geology
The Murge plateau covers a surface of some 4,000 km², bordered by the Ofanto river and the Tavoliere delle Puglie to the north, the Adriatic Sea to the northeast, and by the Messapic depression, which separates it from the Salento peninsula, to the south. It is usually divided into Alta Murgia (High Murgia), the highest area, with poorer vegetation, and Bassa Murgia (Lower Murgia), with more fertile land, extensively planted with olive- trees for the production of olives.
The plateau is geologically homogeneous to a great extent, and lies mostly on the limestone formations of Calcare di Ban and Calcare di Altamura, with terra rossa deposits present in the sequence. The rocks are mostly Cretacic limestone, so that karst landscapes prevail in the area, with doline fields, some large dolines, sinkholes, and caves. The largest dolines are near Altamura, Gravina, and Molfetta. The large karstic doline of Molfetta is known locally as the “Pulo”) and lies south- west of the town, near the Adriatic coast, taking the form of an oval -shaped depression with a depth of some thirty metres.
