Geomorphological records of human activity reflected in fluvial sediments in the Carpathians and their foreland

Records of human activity in valleys of the Upper Vistula River catchment and the Upper Dniester River catchment in the area of the Eastern Carpathian Foreland are synchronic and date back to the Neolithic Period. They include alluvia and colluvia in small valleys, linked with local downpours, as well as changes in large valleys, where flooding is reflected in modifications to river channels and an acceleration in the deposition of overbank facies. Among these periods are phases determined climatically (5th–7th centuries AD) and those reflecting human activity (1st–3rd centuries AD), as well as phases recording the coincidence of both factors (middle Neolithic, 10th–11th centuries AD and the Little Ice Age). The most distinct changes leading to transformation in valley slopes and bottoms are linked with the coincidence of humid climatic phases and periods of increased human impact

Chronostratigraphy of alluvia and age of fluvial landforms in the Carpathian Foreland during the Vistulian

A de vel op ment of opin ions on stra tig ra phy of al lu via and age of the Vistulian ter races in the val leys of the Carpathian fore land is pre sented, based mainly on pub li ca tions of Pro fes sor Leszek Starkel. Stud ies of age of flu vial land forms and sed i ments of the Last Cold Stage in the Carpathian fore land have been started more than 100 years ago. Be fore the mod ern sedimentological meth ods and ra dio car bon dat ing were in tro duced, pi o neer stud ies of Pleis to cene river ter - races and sed i ments in the Carpathians were per formed by Mieczys³aw Klimaszewski, and sub se quently, by his student Leszek Starkel who mapped in 1950s a mar gin of the Carpathian Foot hills as well as al lu vial fans of Wis³oka, Wis³ok and San rivers in the Carpathian fore land. In that time a stra tig ra phy of al lu vial in fill ings in the mar ginal moun tain zone was elab o rated for the Late Vistulian and the Ho lo cene. Start ing from 1970s and bas ing on stud ies in key sites in the Wis³oka val ley near Dêbica, fo cused on palynological anal y ses and ra dio car bon dat ing, gen eral strati - graphi cal schemes of al lu vial fills within the Vistulian ter race 15 m high and within the Ho lo cene ter race 8–10 m high have been con structed. A com par i son with the val leys in a periglacial area prowed that the Vistulian ter race 15 m high was in cised be fore the max i mum ex ten sion of the last Scan di na vian ice sheet (i.e. be fore 20 ka BP) and the ter race 11–12 m high (with rel ics of braided river chan nels) was formed at the de cline of the Plenivistulian. A fi nal in ci sion be low the pres ent river bed and aggradation oc curred dur ing the Late Vistulian (13–10 ka BP). The rivers changed their re gime and their chan nel pat tern from braided to large me an ders-type as an ef fect of for est de vel op ment and lower sed i ment load. The Youn ger Dryas cool ing re sulted in in creased bedload and braid ing

Landscape values of the Andes and their use in tourism, an examples of Peru, Chile and Bolivia

W artykule przedstawiono walory krajobrazowe Andów Środkowych. Zachodnie Andy budują w większości nieczynne stożki wulkanów o kulminacjach przekraczających 6500 m n.p.m. Kordyliera Wschodnia pokryta jest w wielu miejscach lodowcami i odwadniana przez rzeki dorzecza Amazonki i La Platy. Porastają ją wilgotne lasy górskie sięgające ponad 3000 m n.p.m., w których przetrwały ruiny budowli inkaskich. W krajobrazie płaskowyżu Altiplano (3600-4500 m n.p.m.) dominują rozległe bezodpływowe równiny pokryte przez roślinność puny. W północnym Altiplano położone jest jezioro Titicaca, natomiast na południu płaskowyżu ze względu na bardzo niskie opady występują solniska. Zachodni pas wybrzeża i przedgórza Andów zajmuje pustynia Atakama. Na terenach o wysokich walorach krajobrazowych i kulturowych utworzono liczne parki narodowe. Rozmiary ruchu turystycznego, ze względu na słabo rozwiniętą infrastrukturę, są niewspółmiernie małe w stosunku do stopnia atrakcyjności turystycznej.The paper presents landscape values of the Middle Andes. The western Andes compose numerous inactive volcanic cones ranging over the 6500 m a.s.l. The Eastern Cordillera are covered by glaciers in many places and drained by rivers of the Amazon and La Plata drainage basins. The basins are covered by humid montane forests reaching an altitude over the 3000 m a.s.l., where the ruins of Inca buildings remain. The landscape of the Altiplano (3600-4500 m a.s.l.) is predominated by vast endorheic plains covered by grass and scrub vegetation (puna). In the northern Altiplano, the Titicaca Lake is located. In the southern Altiplano, due to very little precipitation there are playas with salt crusts .Western belt of coast and foreland of the Andes occupies the Atacama Desert. The national parks were established in the terrains of high landscape and cultural values. Due to the poor infrastructure, tourism development is very low and incomparable to the degree of tourist attractions

Sedymentologiczna interpretacja glifów krewasowych utworzonych w dolinie górnej Wisły podczas katastrofalnej powodzi w 1997 roku

The paper describes scours and crevasse splays formed at the breaks in embankments of the upper Vistula river valley during the summer 1997 flood. The scours cut into the floodplain composed of fining upward channel and overbank deposits. Erosional furrows have developed locally around the scours. In their vicinity, a thin layer of channel-ag gravel was locally laid down. Variously shaped crevasse splays were formed: finger-like, deltoidal and tongue-like. Surface relief, vege-tation and buildings controlled their geometry and sedimentary features. The lower parts of the deposits consist of fine and medium sands with horizontal and low-angle stratification. Higher in the sequences medium and coarse sands with pebbles display planar cross-stratification. Mud balls and black oak trunks redeposited from older alluvia are common. The whole succession represents sheet-flow sediments with partly channelized flow. Locally, at the top, coarse sands, pebbles, mud balls and boulders embedded in silty-sandy matrix occur, representing slurry-flow deposits. Also present were sediments composed of alternating sands and mud pebbles. The vanishing flow phase is marked by occasional ripple marks encountered in the top part of the sequence. Around the flow obstacles (plants, buildings) sand shadows were formed, composed of fine and medium sands with horizontal stratification in the lower parts and ripple cross-lamination along with climbing cross-lamination in the upper parts. The top part included medium and coarse sands with planar cross-stratification. Most of the studied sequences showed coarse-upward grading which is not the effect of changes in the energy of flood waters but originates from the supply of all the time coarser material from the successively deepening scours

Field trip in the semi-arid Gujarat Alluvial Plain : report

This report contains short information about the geomorphological field trip in the Gujarat Alluvial Plain. During the field trip the issues of fluvial landform and alluvial deposits of the rivers were discussed: Sabarmathi River, Mahi River, Narmada River and Karjan River. Particular attention was paid to the relief and geological structure of the Gujarat Alluvial Plain, dissected by the valleys of several rivers. The role of tectonics, sea level fluctuations and climate changes and their influence on the course of fluvial, aeolian and sea accumulation in the lower sections of river valleys was emphasized

Geomorphological effects of the catastrophic drainage of artificial reservoir in the Młynówka valley at Górowo Iławeckie, Poland

The problem concerns the catastrophic flood flow caused by the breaking of the dam of the artificial reservoir in the valley of the small river Młynówka Górowska. Extensive studies were focused on the section just below the broken dam, were the geomorphological effects of that event were most noticeable. A number of erosional and accumulative forms have been distinguished. The structure and grain size of the flood deposits have been studied. The occurrence of deposit sequences characteristic of slurry-flows has been found. The rapid fall of the flood wave was associated with the deposition of the coarser deposit fractions on the sides of the valley and of the finer ones on its floor

Krewasowanie śródlądowej wydmy w dolinie górnej Wisły podczas powodzi w 1998 roku

A relatively small flood in April 1998 inundated stream valleys draining the Tarnów Plateau. The flood water of one of these streams crevassed a dune. An elongated crevasse, an irregular-shaped transport zone and a crevasse splay were formed as a result. The crevasse splay consisted of several lobes, which were separated by crevasse channels. Minor fans formed at the channel outlets. All this forms were the result of rapid processes of erosion and accumulation. The dominant lithofacies in the crevasse splay sediments were fine and medium sand with horizontal (bottomset) and low-angle (topset) stratification. Trough and planar cross-stratified medium- and coarse-grained sands appear in the middle part of the vertical sequence. Most of these sediments were laid down in a high-energy environment of a sheet flow. The phase of vanishing flow left ripple marks, encountered in the highest part of the distal splay

Alluvial deposits and vegetation of the Interpleniglacial period of the Vistulian Glaciation in the Wisłok River valley between Rzeszów and Łańcut (Sub-Carpathian Trough)

The paper presents the results of geomorphological studies and pollen analysis performed for alluvial deposits at 2 sites situated in the Wisłok River valley. The deposits consist of thin layers of organic muds filling palaeochannels or thermo-karst lakes of the Wisłok River, dated at the Interpleniglacial (Grudziądz Interstadial) of the Vistulian Glaciation. These deposits build the lower part of a sand terrace, 8-12 m high, and outliers of this terrace buried by overbank alluvial sediments within a floodplain. The samples for pollen analysis were taken from a natural undercut in the Wisłok River channel and from a sand pit dug to a greater depth. The pollen diagrams prove the existence of trees (forest-steppe) including primarily Pinus sylvestris, Betula t. alba, Pinus cembra and Larix. The diagrams do not show a clear tendency of a plant succession and thus of any distinct climate changes. The sedimentation took place under cool, boreal climate conditions. The occurrence of several layers of organic and sand deposits in the sections does not reflect rhythmic warm/cold climatic oscillations documented in the Interpleniglacial alluvial sequences in Western European rivers, but is a result of vertical channel fluctuations and facies changes

Conditions for the development of load-cast structures in alluvial sedi- ments of the Wisłok River valley near Rzeszów (south-eastern Poland)

The article presents the results of geological and geomorphological research concerning load-cast structures outcropping in the alluvial terrace sediments of theWisłok River in the Fore-Carpathian Erosional Valley. Given the large dimensions of these structures, reaching 1.5 m in some places, as well as their strong accumulation and diversity (i.e. drop-like and pocket-like structures), the authors attempted to establish the environmental factors that had determined the development of the structures in periglacial deposits of the Weichselian Glaciation. The structures were analysed in two accessible outcrops where sediments are represented by flood rhythmite and organic deposits, overlain by channel sands. Sandy load-cast structures occur in flood rhythmite and loamy deposits. The formation of load-cast structures probably started due to earthquakes in the Upper Pleniglacial period. The various shapes of load-cast structures were constrained by the various physical properties of the sediments and the escape of water during the deformation process