Glacial and periglacial relief on the southern slopes of the Western Tatra Mts. (Slovakia) - the results of the first detailed geomorphological mapping of the Žiarska, Jamnicka, Račkova and Bystra Valleys

The article presents the results of the first detailed geomorphological mapping of the Žiarska, Jamnicka, Raekova, and Bystra Valleys, situated on the southern slope of the Western Tatra Mountains. The field work was supplemented by digital topographic as well as statistical analysis of rock glaciers distribution. The author focused on the distribution and morphological features of moraines and rock glaciers. Variability of both sets of deposits strongly reflects topographic influences on debris and snow accumulation. The main factor controlling the geometry of landforms was solar irradiance modified by the influence of the local cirque topography. Two generations of the rock glaciers indicate distinct phases of periglacial conditions during the Late Glacial period

An attempt to assess the modern and the Little Ice Age climatic snowline altitude in the Tatra Mountains

An empirical glacio-climatic relation (Ohmura et al., 1992) and meteorological data (temperature and precipitation) are employed to provide the elevation in the Tatra Mts. climate model, where conditions are suitable for hypothetical glacierisation (temperature-precipitation ELA). During the Little Ice Age (LIA) it is to have been 1.5 centigrade colder than during the warmest decades of the 20th century (Niedźwiedź, 2004); however, some scenarios are used to define precipitation amounts related to the vertical distribution in climate model and temporal variability. The results indicate that during both considered periods - the warmest decades of the 20th century and the coolest period of LIA - the climatic snowline (cSL) was placed in most cases above the highest Tatra Mts. summits and crests. However, its spatial arrangement was unequal. In the vicinity of Kasprowy Wierch, the modern cSL is assessed to be at ca. 2,450-2,650 m a.s.l. and that during LIA at ca. 2,300-2,450 m a.s.l. In the case of Lomnicky Štit (2,634 m) it was at the level of ca. 2,700–2,800 m a.s.l. (modern times) and ca. 2,600–2,700 m a.s.l. (LIA). The discrepancies in the cSL altitude between these two locations can be explained in part by exposition to the prevailing moisture transport and orographically-induced precipitation