Structural control on morphology of south-western slope of Chornohora Mountains between Mt. Hoverla and Mt. Pop Ivan (Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Ukraine)

The landforms of the Chornohora Mountains and related geomorphological processes are strongly controlled by geological structure. Detailed geomorphological mapping of the Chornohora Range yielded evidence of deep-seated gravitational slope failures on the south-western slopes. These slope deformations were structurally predisposed and linked to the dip of bedrock strata and their resistance to erosion, as well as to cracks and faults within the flysch formations. This paper presents structural factors controlling the morphology of relatively poorly recognized, dip-adjusted south-western slopes of the Chornohora Mts. between Mt. Hoverla (2,061 m a.s.l.) and Mt. Pop Ivan (2,022 m a.s.l.)

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 1.5C^{\circ} 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

Late Pleistocene glaciation in the headwaters of the Ceremuşul Alb valley (Maramureş Mountains, Romania)

The Late Pleistocene Jupania palaeoglacier (area 0.85 km2, 1.7 km long) was reconstructed in the headwaters of the Ceremuşul Alb/Bilyj Cheremosh valley (Maramureş Mountains). The study area represents one of the most inaccessible natural areas in the Romanian part of the Eastern Carpathians where the legacy of the Pleistocene glaciation has recently been discovered. Based on mapping of glacial landforms and deposits, we reconstruct glacier dimension and ice-surface geometry, as well as estimate equilibrium line altitude (ELA) during the maximal ice extent (MIE). Well-preserved terminal moraines mark the extent of glacier front at ~1400 m a.s.l. Sedimentological analysis documents that the lateral moraines are sometimes overbuilt by 1-1.5 m thick colluvial deposits. The ELA for the Jupania palaeoglacier calculated with the Area-Altitude- Balance-Ratio (AABR) 1.6 was 1630 m. However, the gentle-sloping mountain-top could serve as an important snow contribution area to glacier mass balance; therefore, the ELA could potentially exist even higher at 1676 m. The resulting climatic ELA (1630-1676 m) in the south-eastern part of the Maramureş Mountains fits well with the rising trend of ELA towards the southeast observed between Chornohora (ELA = 1516 m) and Rodna Mountains (ELA = 1697 m). The SE rising trend of the ELA corresponds well with the dominant palaeowind direction suggested in the Carpathian region and supports the prevalence of zonal circulation pattern in Central Eastern Europe during the culumination of the last glaciation

Polish geomorphological research in the Eastern Carpathians and the significance of Bieszczady National Park in the protection of inanimate nature

The paper describes Polish geomorphological research in the Eastern Carpathians mainly prior to World War II. Special attention is paid to the work of geomorphologists in the area of glacial relief recognition. The state of geomorphological research in the Bieszczady Mts was presented to a large extent in Volume 19 of the Roczniki Bieszczadzkie. Finally, the paper discusses the tradition of environmental protection in the Eastern Carpathians as well as significance of the Bieszczady National Park in the protection of inanimate nature

Conservation of inanimate nature in interwar Poland (1918-1939) and in south-eastern Poland and western Ukraine today

The first section of the paper describes activities related to the conservation of inanimate nature in pre-war Poland, with a focus on its south-eastern territories. The chapters which follow present examples of the stepwise process of creation of national parks and reserves, while the final part discusses efforts taken to conserve the non-living nature of the study regions within the borders of Poland and Ukraine after the Second World War. The article emphasises that the idea of nature conservation inculcated in the study areas 100 years ago by several generations of naturalists is still being cultivated and developed