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Volume XVI |

The influence of contributing area parameters on the size of rock glaciers in the Southern Carpathian Mountains

Abstract: The paper aims to determine to what extent the size of the rock glaciers (RG) in the Southern Carpathians (Romania) is influenced by their contributing area (CA) parameters. Simple linear regression (LR) and generalized linear models (GLM) were used to meet this goal, considering as independent variables the main morphometric characteristics of the contributing area. The LR coefficients revealed that the most influential variables were the width (R2=0.57) and the size of the CA (R2=0.51). Based on the best GLM results the size of the rock glaciers can be statistically explained quite well  (R2=0.58) by a combination of three variables: CA length, CA width, and the minimum altitude of the CA. Rock glaciers are thus complex landforms resulting from a combination of many variables (climatic, topographic and geologic) including contributing area parameters. Both LR and GLM analysis revealed that the size of the rock glaciers can only be partly explained by the characteristics of the CA. The study revealed that GLM are powerful analytical tools which give reasonable results when analysing the role of rock glaciers developmental controls.

Volume XIV |

Near surface thermal characteristics of alpine steep rockwalls in the Retezat Mountains

Abstract: The characteristics of the near surface thermal regime of two rockwalls with different aspect in the Retezat Mountains were investigated using two miniature thermistors. Three one-year (2012-2013; 2013-2014 and 2014-2015) rock surface temperature time series were available for the north facing rockwall, whereas only two seasons were analyzed for the south facing rockwall. The mean annual rock surface temperature (MARST) values were with 1.5-2°C colder on the northern rockwall compared with the southern steep bedrock face. Due to long daily exposure to sunshine, the south facing rockwall experienced more diurnal freeze-thaw cycles during the cold season compared to the north facing rockwall. Overall, the thermistor with a southern aspect recorded 40 and 55 more freeze-thaw cycles than the northern one. A greater number of effective freeze-thaw cycles were measured on the south facing rockwall. The maximum daily amplitude on the southern rockwall is three times higher than on the north-facing location (39.1°C compared to 13.6°C). Based on our findings it seems that the MARST values recorded on the shaded face of the steep bedrock suggest a quite likely absence of permafrost, whereas the MARST values at TPR indicate a quite certain absence of permafrost.

Volume VIII |

The Semiautomated Identification of the Planation Surfaces on the Basis of the Digital Terrain Model. Case Study: The Mehedinti Mountains (Southern Carpathians)

Abstract: The paper presents a method for the semiautomated classification of the planation surfaces, using the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and the object-oriented analysis. The effort undergone for developing such a method has a number of motivations. The first one is that these landforms are very important for decoding the geomorphologic evolution of the relief units. The second motivation concerns the fact that their identification and mapping, by using classical means, represents a difficult demarche, which requires a lot of time. Finally, the already-known limits of the relief analysis using the DTM at pixel level impose the testing of an object-oriented analysis, in which the area under study is divided into objects of various dimensions, as homogenous as possible from the viewpoint of one or more properties. The method that we propose supposes the following steps: the realisation of the slope model and of the flow model, starting from the DTM; the division, by segmentation into objects that are as homogenous as possible from the viewpoint of the slope; the classification of the objects into landforms (planation surfaces) by using the fuzzy functions and taking into account more factors simultaneously (the average slope value, the minimum slope value, the flow coefficient and the altitude), and the selection and grouping of the identified surfaces into sculptural complexes. The first stages represent the automated part of the method, while the last one requires a detailed geomorphologic analysis of the area, as well as the validation of the results on the field. The method was firstly developed for the Godeanu Mountains, the map of the levelled surfaces (Niculescu, 1965) being used for the identification of the parameters included in the algorithm, as well as for testing the results obtained in the view of the improvement of the method. Due to the good results thus obtained, the same method was also used for mapping the levelled surfaces in the Mehedinţi Mountains, and, along with the field observations, there was realised the planation surfaces map for this relief unit.