Krzysztof Parzóch

Abstract While 70 forms created by debris flows have been mapped for the Polish part of the Karkonosze Mountains, only 14 of these have a known time of origin and have been described in available literature. The oldest registered and described flows occurred in 1964, as followed by further events in 1994, 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2006. In 2011-2012 and 2014. Lichenometric measurements were carried out for the forms created by debris flows in the Karkonosze Mountains, i.e. the Great Snowy Cirque, the Black Cirque of Jagniątków, the Small Tarn Cirque, the Łomniczka Cirque and the White Jar nivation niche, in order to investigate levels of activity over the past 150 years. The lichenometric dating was based around lichens of the Rhizocarpon group. A major obstacle proved to be the limited amounts of lichens, or even their total absence in the case of the youngest forms created by debris flows. An exception was the Łomniczka Cirque. On the basis of the lichenometric dating it proved possible to identify three phases to the activity of Karkonosze debris flows. The first of these was characterised by a high intensity of the processes studied, and was associated with the Little Ice Age. As in the Tatra Mountains, this phase was seen to end in the 1920s, and was followed by a period of relative calm, interspersed with a small number of debris flows in the 1930s and 40s, and then in 1964. The next phase of increased activity as regards the transport of rock material within the forms created by flows (and including new debris flows), began in the 1980s, and has continued through to the present day. The debris flows in the Polish part of the Karkonosze Mountains are thus characterised by a course of activity similar to that noted in the Tatra Mountains.

Keywords: cyrki polodowcowe, spływy gruzowe, datowania lichenometryczne, Karkonosze

Stanisław Kędzia [kedzia@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland

Citation

APA: Kędzia, S., & Parzóch, K. (2016). Aktywność spływów gruzowych w polskiej części Karkonoszy w świetle badań lichenometrycznych. Przegląd Geograficzny, 88(3), 401-416. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2016.3.0
MLA: Kędzia, Stanisław, and Parzóch, Krzysztof. "Aktywność spływów gruzowych w polskiej części Karkonoszy w świetle badań lichenometrycznych". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 88, no. 3, 2016, pp. 401-416. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2016.3.0
Chicago: Kędzia, Stanisław, and Parzóch, Krzysztof. "Aktywność spływów gruzowych w polskiej części Karkonoszy w świetle badań lichenometrycznych". Przegląd Geograficzny 88, no. 3 (2016): 401-416. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2016.3.0
Harvard: Kędzia, S., & Parzóch, K. 2016. "Aktywność spływów gruzowych w polskiej części Karkonoszy w świetle badań lichenometrycznych". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 88, no. 3, pp. 401-416. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2016.3.0