Post on 27-Feb-2023
Contents
Teresa Wiszniowska (1942-2006) & Marian Pulina (1936-2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Teresa Wiszniowska – list of publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Marian Pulina – list of publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Address of the GLACKIPR President – Adolfo Eraso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Foreword – Andrzej Tyc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Papers
Adolfo Eraso, Carmen Domínguez
Subpolar glaciers network as natural sensors of global warming evolution . . . . . . . . 29
Bulat R. Mavlyudov
Internal drainage systems of glaciers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Jacques Schroeder
Moulins of a subpolar glacier seen as a thermal anomaly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Carmen Domínguez, Adolfo Eraso
Frequent systematic errors in the measure of the glacier discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Carmen Domínguez, Adolfo Eraso
Substantial changes happened during the last years in the icecap
of King George, Insular Antarctica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Adolfo Eraso, Carmen Domínguez
Physicochemical characteristics of the subglacier discharge
in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Ugo Sauro
Forms of mixed origin in the karst environment of the Venetian Prealps . . . . . . . . . . 123
Teddy Auly
Some morphologies of relation karst/glacial in the Pyrenees (France) . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Patrycja Pawłowska-Bielawska
Evolution of Wielka Śnieżna Cave in the light of geomorphologic observations . . . . 155
Radosław Dobrowolski
Model of glaciogenic transformation of the Lublin-Volhynia
chalk karst (Poland SE, Ukraine NW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Jerzy Bieroński, Paweł Socha, Krzysztof Stefaniak
Deposits and fauna of the Sudetic caves – the state of research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Elena V. Trofimova
The new data of the calculations of the karst denudation
for Siberia and the Far East (Russia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Cao Jianhua, Yuan Daoxian, Zhang Cheng, Jiang Zhangcheng
Karst ecosystem of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region constrained
by geological setting: Relationship between carbonate rock exposure
and vegetation coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Agata Smieja, Beata Smieja-Król
Springs with active calcium carbonate precipitation in the Polish
part of the Tatra Mountains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Mario Parise, Maria Addolorata Trisciuzzi
Geomechanical characterization of carbonate rock masses
in underground karst systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Jacek Piasecki, Tymoteusz Sawiński
Acoustic measurements of airflow in speleo-climatological studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Notes and Reports
Olga Kadebskaya
News in monitoring system and recommendations in development
of use and protection of Kungur Ice cave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Olga Mokrushina
Ordinskaya cave as new object of speleoturism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Adolfo Eraso
Agreements of the GLACKIPR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Forms of mixed origin in the karst environment
of the Venetian Prealps
Ugo Sauro
Dipartimento di Geografia dell’Università di Padova, Via del Santo 26, 35123 Padova, Italy
ABSTRACT
Most of the landforms of the middle latitude karst and in particular of the alpine karst are of mixed or
polygenetic origin, which result not only from the karst solution, but also from the cooperation of different
processes.
Between the well known forms of complex origin there are some glaciokarstic features, as some closed
depressions, and limestone pavements. But also some classical karst forms, as the dolines of the middle
latitude karst, have been modified by non karst processes and in particular by different types of periglacial
actions. In the Venetian Prealps there are very nice examples of dolines evolved, during some phases of
Pleistocene, in periglacial conditions. A peculiar type of doline evolving nowadays in periglacial conditions
is represented by the cylindrical dolines of some high mountains plateaux in the Dolomites.
Other peculiar forms of mixed origin, more or less controlled by the lithological and structural setting of the
limestone rock unit, are present in the Venetian Prealps. Between these types of forms are recognizable: a)
the complex niches, b) the dry valleys, c) some limestone pavements evolved as peculiar rock glaciers.
All these types of forms result from a combination or alternation of karst and non karst processes often
influenced by the lithological and structural setting of the limestone sequence.
The analysis of these forms help to understand the evolution of the relief in the context of the geodynamic
and climatic history of the Venetian Prealps.
KEY WORDS: karst, periglacial, landforms of mixed origin, Venetian Prealps, Italy
Most of the landforms of the middle
latitude karst and in particular of the alpine
karst are of mixed or polygenetic origin
resulting not only from the karst solution, but
from the cooperation of different processes.
Between the well known forms of complex
origin there are some glaciokarstic features, as
the glaciokarstic depressions, the limestone
pavements in glaciated areas of the two main
types: Rundhocker karst and Schichttreppen
karst.
Between the classical karst forms, nearly all
the dolines of the middle latitude karst have
been modified by non karst processes and in
particular by different types of periglacial
actions, as the gelifraction, the solifluction, the
piping of the different types of materials
infilling the depression, the loess deposition
(Castiglioni et al., 1990), etc.
In the Venetian Prealps there are very nice
examples of dolines evolved in periglacial
conditions during the Pleistocene. In some
areas, as the Naole Plateau in the Monte Baldo
(Province of Verona) and the Faverghera
plateau in the Prealps of Belluno, both “open
dolines” (forms partly fossilized by deposits
filling the depression up to the rim), and real
dolines (closed depressions) are common
(Benvenuti, Sauro, 1977; Magaldi, Sauro,
1982; Sauro, 1978, 2004). The latter, that often
present flat bottoms and a wide difference
between the maximum and minimum depths,
have evolved through a stage of open doline,
following the reactivation of the swallowing
124 Ugo Sauro
system and a partial evacuation through it of
the filling deposits.
Also relicts of dolines, partly destroyed by
gelifraction, are common in some areas.
A peculiar type of doline evolving
nowadays in periglacial conditions is
represented by the cylindrical dolines of some
high mountains plateaux in the Dolomites (see:
Meneghel, Sauro, 2006).
Aim of this paper is not to analyze the
above mentioned forms, but to describe other
peculiar forms of mixed origin, more or less
controlled by the lithologic and structural
setting of the limestone rock unit. Photo. 1. A doline with a flat bottom and a wide
difference between the maximum and minimum depths in
the Naole area of Monte Baldo. At the end of Pleistocene
the doline was completely full by the fillings made up by
cryoclastic fragments and loess like sediments. Now the
fillings are up to 12 m in depth.
The types of complex forms
The chosen types of forms are: a) the dry
valleys, b) the complex niches, c) limestone
pavements evolved as peculiar rock glaciers.
All these types of forms are relatively
common in the Venetian Prealps. Most of the
examples presented here are of the upper part
of the Lessini Mountains (Sauro, 1973, 2002).
The dry valleys In the Venetian Prealps there are more
types of dry valleys, entrenched in different
limestone formations and originated by several
processes.
The larger forms are canyon like valleys
some hundreds meters deep, with rocky bluffs
and a riverbed reactivated only exceptionally
during very heavy rainfalls. In some valleys
the intervals of inactivity are also longer than
10 years. The evolution of these forms is the
result of a combination of slope, fluvial and
karst processes (Nicod, 1997). Certainly, these
valleys have been much more active during
some phases of the Pleistocene, when the
upper belt of the mountain was hosting local
glaciers and the karst swallowing systems were
partly filled by sediments and partly blocked
by scattered permafrost.
Some medium sized forms consist in trough
shaped dry valleys characterized by wide and
irregular bottoms hosting closed depressions.
In these forms there are no evidences of fluvial
activity. The forms may be interpreted as
inherited forms, starting from a fluvial network
firstly developed inside the less karstifiable
cenozoic sedimentary rock formations, and
later entrenched in the limestone formations of
cretaceous and jurassic age. The bottoms of
these valleys are interested by accelerated
solution because most of the water of the
slopes is conveying in the lower part of the
depression and in this way the valleys continue
to maintain their shapes by “accelerated” karst
processes.
There are also smaller dry valleys with both
trough and V shaped cross profiles. The most
typical are developed in Maiolica – also called
Biancone fr. - (a rock unit similar to the Chalk,
staying above the Rosso Ammonitico), where
those with V shaped cross profile result often
from a rapid downcutting along tectonic
structures, as fault lines. In the bottoms of both
types, sinkholes and fillings of small rocky
fragments may be found, originated by frost
shattering. These forms, very similar to the
Forms of mixed origin in the karst environment of the Venetian Prealps. 125
“chalk dry valleys” described by Stevens in
New Zealand (1957), by Pecsi in Hungary
(1964) and by Mégnien in France, are for some
aspects also resembling to the “Dellen”.
Photo 2. A dry valley in the Maiolica interested by
episodic sheetflooding in the upper part of the Lessini
Mountains.
Photo 3. A dry valley in the Maiolica with development
of small dolines in the bottom (upper part of the Lessini
Mountains).
The processes now operating in these forms
are: a) the solution process, especially
energetic below the valley bottom, where the
water originates a hidden flow both inside the
fillings and the fissured rock, and so there is a
kind of “linear accelerated corrosion”; b) the
fluvial process operating as flash floods, only
during very concentrated rainfall events.
Witnesses of such rare flooding
occurrences have described medium size
dolines, completely filled by water, modified
in their shape after the event. During the cold
phases of the Pleistocene these forms were
probably interested by solifluction phenomena
and by a superficial flow during the snow
melting, also favored by the scattered
permafrost blocking the karst systems.
The complex niches
In the upper part of the slopes of the dry
valleys of the Venetian Prealps hollows and
niches are often present. These forms are
clearly the result of nivation processes and are
therefore classifiable as nivation niches. Most
of these forms are facing to the south, because
the prevailing winterly winds blow from the
north and pile up the snow in thick covers in
these depressions (Sauro, 1974, 2002). The
evolution of such niches is the result of both
periglacial weathering and accelerated karst
solution. In fact here a larger amount of water
is available following the melting of the snow
transported by the wind. The most common
sizes of the niches are: widths of 100-150 m
and depths of 20-40 m.
A common type of niche is clearly located
in a peculiar morphostructural position, i.e.:
entrenched in the slopes of both the rounded
and the nearly tabular ridges, in the transition
zone between the Rosso Ammonitico
formation and the Calcari del Gruppo di San
Vigilio formation. Some of these niches are
hanging laterally above the bottom of a dry
valley, others constitute the dry valley head,
similar to a pocket valley (reculé karstique).
The Rosso Ammonitico is a thin rock unit,
that behaves as a rock very resistant to the
weathering processes, giving origin to
structural terraces or to tabular summits
contoured laterally by ledges on the slopes.
Beside this, Rosso Ammonitico is a
hydrogeological filter, which partly blocks the
underground water circulating dispersedly in
the Maiolica formation, concentrating it along
some main fractures and focalizing the
speleogenesis in the underlying Calcari del
Gruppo di San Vigilio formation. In fact, on
the erosional surfaces cutting these lithological
transitions there is the highest density of
collapse dolines and “roofless caves” of the
upper part of the Lessini plateau.
So, these niches may have been originated
as “open collapse dolines”, or evolved starting
from depressions corresponding to most
karstified rocky volumes, in some cases also
126 Ugo Sauro
interested by a kind of karst sapping favored
by the structural setting of the area. Once
formed a niche may evolve for the nivation
processes combined with the accelerated karst
solution induced by the snow melting water.
Photo 4. A niche of mixed origin (by karst processes,
nivation etc.) near Malga Folignano di Sopra (upper part
of the Lessini Mountains). The nearly flat ridge summit
is a substructural surface inherited by the previous
tabular form in the Rosso Ammonitico.
Fig. 1. Sketch of a complex niche in a typical
morphostructural setting and of the main processes
operating in its evolution.
The limestone pavements evolved as peculiar
rock glaciers
The Rosso Ammonitico Veronese
limestone formation is a very thin rock unit,
only 30 m in depth, but it outcrops on a surface
similar in extent to that of the much thicker
overlying Maiolica. This depends on the slow
denudation to which Rosso Ammonitico is
subjected in comparison with the marly
limestone above. In fact, Rosso Ammonitico
(R.A.) originates giant karren landscapes, of
the “rock city” type, with large monoliths,
often separated by grikes and corridors. In the
Photo 5. A group of blocks of Rosso Ammonitico
detached by the main outcrops, because interested in the
past by a slow downslope movement, a kind of a slow
rockslide probably favorite by the periglacial
environment of the late Pleistocene.
context of sub-structural slopes,
partly controlled by the
bedding planes dipping 6-12°,
it is possible sometimes to
recognize both groups of
blocks and “isles” of R.A.
detached by the main outcrops
because interested in the past
by a slow downslope
movement, a kind of a slow
rockslide (Sauro, 1973, 1976).
Nowadays these forms are
stable and so, on the base of
their characters, it is possible to formulate the
hypothesis that the activity episodes have
taken place during the cold phases of the
Pleistocene, in typical periglacial
environments. In such environments the ice
fillings the grikes and corridors and forming
inside some bedding planes and some
epikarstic features (Tyc, 1997) has favored the
movement, causing the gradual transformation
of some outcrops of Rosso Ammonitico in
special types of rock glaciers. In fact, the more
or less chaotic structure of some Rosso
Ammonitico “isles” in relation with the
Forms of mixed origin in the karst environment of the Venetian Prealps. 127
distance from the detachment niches
confirms the rock glacier character of these
forms.
Photo 6. A “isle” of blocks of Rosso Ammonitico
evolved as a peculiar rock glacier during the late
Pleistocene.
Conclusive Remarks
In the middle latitude karst the operation to
distinguish the forms on the base of simple
genetic processes is often not correct. Most of
the forms are clearly influenced by the
lithological and tectonic characters of the
mountain building and result from the
cooperation several processes, i.e. are
polygenetic in their origin. The climatic and
environmental changes have modified the
morphogenetic role of such processes during
the time.
Acknowledgements
I dedicate this paper to the great friend
Marian Pulina. I am sure that he will like the
chosen subject, aiming to evidence the
complexity of morphogenesis in the karst area.
Marian was always curious to understand karst
in the different environments of the Earth.
I firstly met Marian in 1973, at the
International Speleological Congress of
Olomouc. Second time I met him in the karst
of Provence and of Lessini Mountains in 1975,
during the “Table ronde Franco-Italienne sur le
Karst”.
I have been surprised by his interest not
only for the karst but also for others
geomorphological aspects. I remember that
when we visited the Covolo di Camposilvano
in the Lessini, he observed some periglacial
features in the filling deposits of this large
karst window.
Later I met Marian several times during
karst meetings, fieldtrips. He also comes twice
in Padova staying for a month to learn
karstology to my students. We have made
together fieldtrips in the Venetian Prealps.
I am sure Marian is present and still alive,
even in a different dimension and thank him
for his friendship.
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