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Triggers of present-day rockfalls in the zone of sporadic permafrost in non-glaciated mountain region: the case study of Turnia Kurczaba (the Tatra Mts., Poland)

Kajdas Joanna, Gądek Bogdan, Rączkowska Zofia, Cebulski Jarosław

Geology, Geophysics and Environment

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2024

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Vol. 50, no. 1

23--38

EN

In recent decades there has been growing evidence of the impact of ongoing climate warming on the frequency of rockfalls. However, these are not adequately documented, especially in non-glaciated, high mountain regions of middle latitude. This study comprehensively documents the Turnia Kurczaba rockfall, one of the most significant rockfalls recorded in recent decades in the Tatra Mountains. The precise projections of the volumes and distribution of rock losses and deposits, the determination of the trajectories, modes and speeds of movement of rock material, as well as information on the geological, morphological, and meteorological conditions behind the Turnia Kurczaba rockfall form a unique dataset. The data documents a spectacular episode in the contemporary development of a complex slope system in the Tatras in an all-encompassing way and can be used to validate and calibrate existing models and improve numerical simulations of other rockfalls, both for hazard and risk assessment and slope evolution studies. Moreover, in the context of archival data, they demonstrate that in the Tatra sporadic permafrost zone, only relatively small rockfalls have been recorded in recent decades. Their cause was not the degradation of permafrost but freeze-thaw processes with the co-participation of rainwater and meltwater. The largest of these occur within densely fractured cataclysites, mylonites, and fault breccias. The impact of rockfalls on the morphodynamics of talus slopes is uneven in the storied arranged rock-talus slope systems. Even colluviums belonging to the same slope system can differ in their development rate and regime, and different thermal and wetness drivers can control their evolution.

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Concept of landscape horizontal belts in the Polish Tatra Mountains

Niedźwiecki J.

Landform Analysis

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2009

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Vol. 10

102-107

EN

The history of changes of geoecological belts in the mountains exerts influence on the structure and functioning of the landscape. In many mountain regions, a convergence of two basic altitudinal lines occurs: the contemporary upper timberline and the cold Pleistocene snow line. The Tatra Mts. are an example of such a situation. These lines constitute the border between the high-mountain landscape and the landscape of mid- and low mountains (according to the Polish classification). However, this convergence also marks out the horizontal border across the profile of the valley, which separates the part with completely established high mountain landform complex (with postglacial cirques)from the remaining part of the valley. The montane belt can be also divided into two parts characterized by different landscape structure, due to existence of the influence of catenal processes from the subsystem of high-mountain belt. On these bases, the author introduces the concept of landscape horizontal belts in the mountain landscape of the Polish Tatra Mts., dividing the latter into three functional belts: the typical high-mountain landscape, the transitional landscape, and the typical landscape of mid- and low mountains.

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Geomorphologic effects of human impact across the Svydovets Massif in the Eastern Carpathians in Ukraine

Kłapyta Piotr, Krzemień Kazimierz, Gorczyca Elżbieta, Krąż Paweł, Dubis Lidia

Studia Geomorphologica Carpatho-Balcanica

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2019/2020

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Vol. 53/54

85--111

EN

Contemporary changes in the natural environment in many mountain areas, especially those occurring above the upper tree line, are related to tourism. The Svydovets Massif, located in the Eastern Carpathians in Ukraine, is a good example of an area that is currently experiencing intense degradation. The highest, NE part of this area is crisscrossed with numerous paths, tourist routes, and ski trails. The strong human impact the area experiences is occurring simultaneously with the activity of natural geomorphologic processes. The processes occur with the greatest intensity above the upper tree line. The development of the discussed area has been occurring gradually since the early 20th century. It started when the region belonged to Austria-Hungary, then Czechoslovakia, and subsequently the USSR. Now that it belongs to independent Ukraine the level of tourism-related development has sharply increased. Comparing it to other mountain areas, such as the Tatras, the Alps, or the Monts Dore Massif in France, the Svydovets Massif is being reshaped much more rapidly due to the damage caused by human impact.