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Volume XII |

Consequences of the River Bank Erosion in the Southern Part of the Pannonian Basin: Case Study – Serbia and the Republic of Srpska

Abstract: Bank erosion is one of the dominant geomorphological processes in the southern part of the Pannonian Basin. The consequences of bank erosion on the territory of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska were analysed including landscape degradation (lateral migration), socio-economic (land loss, land use changes, eco­no­mi­cal losses) and geopolitical consequences. The analysis covered the Danube River and the Drina River as the international river border, the Bosna River as a boundary watercourse along the administrative border and the Kolubara River with dominantly antropogenic impacts on the rate of bank erosion . The total amount of lateral migration of the Kolubara riverbed for the period 1925-2010 is 155 m and the Bosna riverbed for the period 1958-2012 is 352.2 m. Lateral migration has caused serious problems through loss of arable land (approximately 40 ha) and land use changes in both basins, but also economic loss due to the reduction of agricultural production. For the pro­te­ction of the Bosna River banks it is necessary to invest 7.91 million Euros, while in the case of the Kolubara River for their recovery 2.54 million Euros were needed. The geopolitical consequences due to the bank erosion acting and lateral migration of the river course were analysed on three paradigmatic examples: the Danube River (the border between Serbia and Croatia), Drina River (the border between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Bosna River (the border between the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of B&H). The results of this investigation are applicable in the field of water and soil resources management, hydro-technical works, geopolitical studies, as well as in different aspects of the environmental protection.

Volume XII |

The impact of the drought on the main crops cultivated in Northeastern Bulgaria

Abstract: Drought is one of the consequences of a reduction of rainfall over a long period of time. Often a number of meteorological elements as high temperatures, strong winds and low relative humidity occurs in conjunction with the drought. These facts make drought very strongly expressed. The present paper aims to analyze the intensity and the seasonal differences of meteorological drought in Northeastern Bulgaria and to characterize the drought impact on the main crops cultivated in the study area. The tendencies of the seasonal and the annual air temperatures and precipitation are investigated. Drought periods are revealed on the base of precipitation anomalies and the drought indices as Standartized Precipitation Index (SPI) and De Martonne Index. The driest years for the period 1961 – 2011 have been established. The production of the main crops in the study area is analyzed on the background of climate change. The information from climate models is used in order to describe future climate and to make the recommendations for crop cultivation in relation to climate impact.

Volume XII |

New Techniques for the Analysis of the Limno-morpho-bathymetric Parameters in the Lacustrine Basins. Case Study: Red Lake in the Hăşmaş Mountains (Romania)

Abstract: Red Lake in the Hăşmaş (Curmăturii) Mountains was formed by the natural barrage of the Bicaz brook in 1837. The north-western slope of the Ghilcoş Mountain, covered with gravel, slide as a result of the alteration layer water saturation following the abundant rains in that period. The lake has an „L” shape, or the shape of a leg with the foot oriented towards north. Red Lake is supplied by several brooks with permanent character: Oii, Ghilcoş, Vereşcheu, Suhard. As a result of the measurements we made in the summer of 2009, using Leica Total Station and sonar, the following data were obtained: area 12.01 hectares; perimeter 2905.79 m; maximum length 1361.72 m; maximum width 160.24 m; maximum altitude upstream in the south 965.199 m; maximum altitude upstream in the north 966.041 m; maximum depth 10.50 m etc. The greatest depths, of 10.5 m, are recorded in the central sector, close to the outlet of the two arteries. In a transversal profile, the western bank is steeper and hard (lithologically), and the eastern bank is mild and crumbly (landslide diluvium). In the same way the submerse slopes are maintained as well. New techniques of analysing the hydro-morphological parameters for a lacustrine basin have been used. Methods specific to land geomorphology (slope inclination, slope orientation etc) have also been used. The cartographic representation, as a new thing in the field, is suggestive, and helps in elaborating an interdisciplinary interpretation, of a limno-ecological nature.

Volume XII |

The vulnerability of the European Road 85 to blizzard, on the road section between Urziceni and Buzău

Abstract: The blizzard phenomenon is the climate risk that has the greatest impact on the road-ways in the South-Eastern part of Romania. The E85 section between Urziceni and Buzău has a great vulnerability to blizzard. Its vulnerability was proved during the 26th of January – the 14th of February 2012, when the road-way was blocked for 10 days. In order to establish the vulnerability level for E85 road, the section between Urziceni and Buzău, the Roads Vulnerability to Blizzard Index (RVBI) has been calculated and spatially modelled by using the GIS techniques. This index integrates several factors, such as: road sections orientation, buildings density in the vicinity of the road, width of the villages that are crossed by E85, the snow drift potential, within built-up areaʼs orientation to E85, the negative relief forms along the road section. The calculation of the RVBI points out that 74% of total length of the road present high and very high vulnerability during blizzard phenomenon. The road sections with high and very high vulnerability need protective measures, such as: forest belts plantation, using bigger snow fences, increasing the snow fences density and achieving more equipment for snow moving off by the local authorities.

Volume XII |

Landscape Quality Assessment in Almăj Land Rural System from the Mountainous Banat (Romania), during the 1990-2010 period

Abstract: Almăj Land represents one of the “land” types of territorial entities from Romania and the only one of this type from the Mountainous Banat. It is a purely rural regional system where the hierarchy and the centrality are the two defining attributes for the 31 villages that represent the region’s habitat component. The geographic location of Almăj Land constitutes the main element of restrictiveness regarding the region’s development and the setting of the interrelations with the neighboring regional systems, aspect that has recorded the region in the category of the mountainous rural landscape. For this reason, the economic practices are not very diversified, being based only on the revaluation of the local resources (especially forests and agricultural resources). This has accelerated the anthropogenic impact on its landscape and components, causing transformations in the typology of the rural landscapes. The changes occurred were identified following the calculation of several indicators of landscape quality assessment for a period of 20 years, choosing 2010 as the reference year.. The results obtained (the naturality index 0.56, population density 15.1 inhabitant/km², the human pressure through agricultural – 2.84 ha/inhabitant, non-agricultural lands – 4.54 ha/inhabitant and forests – 4.35 ha/inhabitant, the environmental transformation indicator 1.5) present the current state of the environment, practically emphasizing the more and more obvious anthropization of the mountainous rural landscape after the change of the political regime and the transition to the market economy, especially through massive deforestation. The evaluation of the current condition of the landscape quality and of the changes in the landscape of the study area, should have a very important role for the mountainous rural community, in order to identify several protection measures of the ecosystems for the assurance of the sustainable development process, especially of the forest ecosystems, which are the most affected and the most important for maintaining ecological balance.