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Landform Analysis Founded by Stefan Kozarski
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Landform Analysis Founded by Stefan Kozarski
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J. Jania, A. Kostrzewski, 1997. Editorial. Landform Analysis 1: 6.
Following the intiative of Professor Stefan Kozarski, the Association of Polish Geomorphologists (APG) became functional in 1991. It is a prestigious organisation which, at present, has about 150 members. With the co-operation of various universities, the APG organises various conferences, workshops, seminars and field excursions for young researchers. Occasionally, it publishes monographs and thematic volumes.
The Association has decided to advertise the research results of Polish geomorphologists by publishing a new journal, Landform Analysis, which aims at an international readership and a high standard of production. It is published in association with the University of Silesia, which includes, among its various divisions, the youngest Department of Geomorphology in Poland. The Department has one of the largest groups of active geomorphologists in Poland. Landform Analysis has no scientific equivalent anywhere in Central or Eastern Europe.
Landform Analysis publishes original works which concern all scientific and practical aspects of geomorphology. It is intended that the research methods in these papers should meet the highest international standards. The papers, which concern stratigraphy, lithology, physical and chemical composition of deposits, mathematical terrain models, cartography, geodesy, remote sensing etc. fall within the scope of the journal, provided that they are either associated with studies of landforms or morphogenetic processes or that they describe new research methods in geomorphology. Also, in special cases, works which have already been published in languages other than English will be accepted, provided that they have a wide interest to international readers. It is intended that this journal should disseminate scientific achievements from non-English-speaking countries (e.g. from Central and Eastern Europe). At present, the journal is intended to be an annual publication, although there is every possibility that it could appear with greater frequency in the future. All the papers are refereed by international reviewers, all of whom are outstanding geomorphologists in their own fields.
The first volume contains only the works of Polish geomorphologists. Some of these are of the nature of review articles which attempt to summarise earlier investigations. The Editors invite geomorphologists from other countries to publish the results of their researches in this journal so that the next volume will have a truly international character.
Starkel, L., 1997. The evolution of fluvial systems in the Upper Vistulian and Holocene in the territory of Poland. Landform Analysis 1: 7-18.
Keywords: fluvial system, Upper Vistulian, Holocene
Abstract: The location of Polish territory at the junction of a shield - platform, Hercynian and Alpine Europe creates the possibility of studying a great diversity in the evolution of fluvial systems. As well as the climatic change from periglacial to temperate, an important role was played by the drainage of the whole territory towards the north and by the blocking of valleys by the advances of the Scandinavian ice sheet. Studies of the evolution of fluvial systems started at the end of the 19th century, but detailed investigations initiated in the 1970s provided a good background for stratigraphic and paleogeographic reconstructions. In the territory of Poland, several W-E oriented zones of various sequences and trends of evolution have been distinguished. In the southern and middle parts of extraglacial Poland climatic changes are registered in the erosional and depositional sequences. These are especially well expressed in the valleys of mountain rivers which show changeable flood frequency and different tectonic tendencies. In the upland and lowland zones, there is a very distinct phase of continental climate. In the zone of the last glaciation, systems of ice marginal streamways were developed in association with a new superimposed valley pattern, composed of transversal gaps and young, expanding fluvial systems. The periglacial episode was reflected in the valley floors in the zone of older ice sheet advances. During the Litorina transgression, a wide belt was submerged, but this sea level rise is not reflected in any obvious evolution of the valley reaches upstream.
A. Kostrzewski, M. Mazurek, Z. Zwoliński, 1997. Sources of material supply and character of fluvial transport, the upper Parsęta river, Poland. Landform Analysis 1: 19-31.
Keywords: fluvial transport, source of material, solute load, sediment load, post-glacial catchment
Abstract: Understanding the character and temporal variability of fluvial transport is of fundamental importance for the qualitative and quantitative description of contemporary fluvial systems. In the present study certain features of fluvial transport are regarded as markers which indicate the way the denudation system of a catchment operates. On the basis of mapping carried out along the upper Parsęta channel, only a small part of the catchment was found to take part in the supply of suspended material to the river channel. The occurrence and intensity of processes active in the supply of sediment for transport in the Parsęta channel depends largely on lithology, channel morphology, conditions of water flow, hydrogeological conditions, and vegetation. These factors are modified by the activity of man and animals. Variations in the transport of solutes along the upper Parsęta result from differences in lithological sources, which, in turn, are associated with other environmental factors which determine the rate of water circulation.
The figures for ionic and suspended flows obtained in this research confirm the regularity with which dissolved material is overwhelmingly predominant in the fluvial transport of Pomeranian rivers. The changing meteorological conditions in the catchment, and also the seasonal development of its plant cover, are reflected in the way the river flow is sustained and, in the fluvial regime, is expressed as the amount of material leaving the catchment system. The three periods of denudational activity which have been distinguished on the basis of differences in their fluvial transport regimes, reflect the seasonal efficiency of denudation processes in the catchment. The seasonal variations in the fluvial transport in the upper Parsęta provide an insight into the development of the present-day relief of the young-glacial area of West Pomerania.
H. Maruszczak, 1997. Changes of the river course and development of the flood plain terraces in the border zone of the south-Polish uplands and middle-Polish lowlands in historical times. Landform Analysis 1: 33-39.
Keywords: meandering river, braiding river, Medieval flood plain, modern flood plain, warm Madieval times, Little Ice Age
Abstract: The results of geomorphological research on the terraces of the Vistula valley have been compared with archaeological and historical evidence in this area and also with evidence of climate changes in the area of Poland. In the early Medieval times (the Medieval Warm Period), the river had a narrow channel with well-developed small meanders. This period was divided into two stages: an earlier (6th - 10th centuries) which was relatively dry and a later (11th - 13th centuries) which was relatively wet. In the first stage, the river flooded only occasionally and this favoured flood settlement. In the transitional times (14th - 15th centuries), more frequent floods started to endanger the settlements in this area; however, the meanders of the river were not significantly altered at this time. In the Little Ice Age (from the second part of the 16th to the 19th centuries) the frequency of floods was so great that the river changed its course in some channel sections and the channel itself changed from a meandering into braiding type; its width increased greatly at that time. This trend has increased considerably since the beginning of the 19th century, consequent upon climate changes and the development of agricultural land use of the Vistula catchment. To protect the fields from the floods, special protection embankments were built; the river responded in what is now the flood plain. The relationship of this plain to Medieval flood plains created by meandering river is discussed.
W. Florek, 1997. Climatic and anthropogenic impulses in the Late Vistulian and Holocene development of the river channels and valleys of the Baltic coastal region and Pomerania. Landform Analysis 1: 41-50.
Keywords: Holocene, palaeohydrology, fluvial processes, palaeomeanders
Abstract: Investigations of the postglacial, primarily the Holocene, stage of the development of river channels and valleys in North Pomerania and the Baltic Coastal Region over nearly twenty years have led to the conclusion that the main events in the river channel and valley evolution were conditioned by the climate. It was the Scandinavian glaciations, especially the Vistulian, which determined the fundamental configuration of the sedimentary cover and the topography of this area. Later climatic changes determined both the transformation of the planar channel pattern (braiding, meandering, anastomosing) and the balance between slope and fluvial processes. Changes of thermal conditions and precipitation totals have influenced the nature of the fluvial processes, including the occurrence of floods and the range of formation for the overbank sedimentary covers. It was also found that, until the Middle Ages, the affects of human activity on the environment of river channels and valleys in the Baltic Coastal Region and Pomerania were very limited. The Early Medieval settlement expansion, accompanied by an intensification of deforestation and soil cultivation, was conducive to an increased feeding of the river channels by a fine-grained, fertile load, which affected the extent of overbank cover formation. Yet it was only the 20th century regulation of river channels, the improvement of valley floors, and hydroengineering structures which have brought about significant changes in the hydrology of the North Pomeranian and Baltic Coastal Region rivers and determined the changes in their longitudinal profiles. By incision of channels into the Holocene floodplains, and a basic change in the balance of fluvial processes in individual sections of channels and valley floors, where divided by the hydroengineering structures.
E. Mojski, 1997. Polygenesis of southern Baltic bottom relief. Landform Analysis 1: 51-54.
Keywords: late Pleistocene, Holocene, morphogenesis, marine transgression
Abstract: On the basis of its bathymetry, two plains, one deep, the other shallow, may be recognised on the floor of the Southern Baltic Sea. Since the disappearance of the last Pleistocene ice sheet about 12.2 ka BP in the west and 12.5 ka BP in the east and north, the deep plain has remainded drowned, either by the sea or by lakes. In contrast, the relief of the shallow plain is a reflection of three different monographic environments: (1) glacial and fluvioglacial (in the period 14.2-12.5 ka BP); (2) subaerial (12.5-7.5 ka BP) when weathering and stagnant or dead ice conditions predominated and (3) marine (since 7.5 ka BP), i.e. since the shallow plain was covered by the Littorina transgression. The processes operating during the later evolutionary phases considerably destroyed the older landforms, i.e. those of glacial, fluvioglacial and subaerial origin. This much modiefied relief was then covered by littoral sediment which accumulated when the Baltic attained its present shoreline. The spits, abrasion platforms and steps and cliffs present in the modern landscape have been created by near-bottom and shore currents.
M. Pulina, 1997. Karst areas in Poland and their changes by human impact. Landform Analysis 1: 55-71.
Keywords: cave, karst, human impact
Abstract: The karst areas of Poland occur mainly in the uplands of the southern parts of the country. The karst is evidently polygenetic, with forms produced in the tropical climates of the Tertiary, side by side with those produced in the Pleistocene cold periods. The karstified limestones are often mineralised and they produce large amounts of reliable drinking water and other resources which are extensively exploited (mineral mining, rock quarrying, groundwater abstraction etc.). Many of Poland's karsts lie within or adjacent to the large industrial conurbations; in such regions, the karsts are under constant anthropogenic pressure. This paper discusses the effects of this human impact on the present evolution of the karst systems.
E. Wiśniewski, L. Andrzejewski, P. Molewski, 1997. Fluctuations of the snout of Skeidarárjökull in Iceland in the last 100 years and some of their consequences in the central part of its forefield. Landform Analysis 1: 73-78.
Keywords: Iceland, glacial geomorphology, glaciotectonic
Abstract: In the years 1993, 1995 and 1996 the authors carried out geomorphological research in the forefield of Skeidarárjökull in Iceland. During the research, it became obvious that the causes and consequences of the advance of the glacier into its forefield were little understood. Skeidarárjökull is an outlet glacier from the largest ice cap in Iceland, Vatnajökull. It is about 23 km in length and the width at its snout is also about 23 km. On the basis of aerial photographs taken in 1960, 1965, 1986, 1988 and 1992 and data published in the yearly "Jökull" concerning the changes in the position of its western and eastern parts in the last few dozen years, the authors have analysed the frequency and geomorphological effects of the Skeidarárjökull snout fluctuations on its forefield. From 1932 to 1964, the Skeidarárjökull margin retreated. In 1966, a several-decametre advance of the glacier took place. After phases of recession, subsequent sudden advances took place in the years 1972-1975 and 1983-1986, when the glacier advanced by 450 m. During the next four years, until 1990, the glacier margin retreated. The changes in the glacier extent are presented on Fig. 2. They concern only the western part of the glacier. In the central part of the glacier, where research area is situated, there is evidence of a double advance of the glacier in 1965 and 1992. It advanced about 430 m as compared to 1960. During this surge, the glacier covered the northern part of an existing proglacial lake. Under the pressure and weight of the glacier, glaciolimnic sediments were pushed to a height of about 12 m above lake level; they were squeezed out and displaced. The reason for the frequent changes in the extent of Skeidarárjökull are probably not climatic conditions but relate to the location of the Vatna ice cap in a neo-volcanic area. Therefore, amongst other factors, the sudden surges in Islandic glaciers are attributed to changes in the thermal conditions of subglacial waters and the sole of the glacier, subglacial hydrological conditions, tectonic shocks and the raising or lowering of the subglacial surface as a result of the movements of magma.
Editorial Board, 1997. Obituary - Professor Stefan Kozarski 1930 - 1996. Landform Analysis 1: 79-80.
Professor Stefan Kozarski died suddenly in his office on 19th January 1996. For the whole of his industrious working life, he was associated with the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Here, he gained wide prominence as a scientist, teacher and administrator. Professor Kozarski commenced his geographical studies in 1950. With the submission of a thesis entitled "Recession of the last ice-sheet from the northern part of the Gniezno Pleistocene Plateau and the formation of the ice-marginal valley of the rivers Noteć and Warta", Professor Kozarski was awarded the degree of Doctor of Natural Sciences. He obtained his post-doctoral degree on the basis of a dissertation on "The problem of the outflow way of waters from the western part of the Noteć-Warta Pradolina" (1965). In 1967, Professor Kozarski founded the Department of Geomorphology as part of the Institute of Geography and has been its Head right up to his death. This became the Quaternary Research Institute in 1981. In 1972, Professor Kozarski became assistant professor and in 1978, he became full professor of geographical sciences.
Most of his research concerned the geomorphology of NW Poland and the adjacent area of the former East Germany but, as a participant in various scientific expeditions, he also explored the forelands and marginal zones of the Sidujökull glacier in Iceland and the Hans, Gas and Werenskiold glaciers in Spitsbergen. He investigated the subtropical karst areas of south-east China, where his interests also included glacial and periglacial problems.
A review of Professor Kozarski's scientific work readily shows how diverse his interests were. His greatest achievements were undoubtedly in the analysis of Pleistocene and modern glacial landforms and processes. Among the problems he studied were those of subglacial channels, pradolinas and drainage systems of ice-sheets, kames, the development of ice-cored moraines, deglaciation mechanisms, depositional models of the melting Vistulian ice-sheet and the marginal forms associated with it. He frequently returned to the theme of the genesis of end moraines and, in this work, repeatedly emphasised the role of the ice sheet in the formation of glaciotectonic disturbances.
In respect that glacial problems are closely related to those of the periglacial environment, he was particularly attracted to fossil dunes, periglacial deposits and the geomorphological traces of periglacial processes in young glacial areas. He also investigated the oriented permafrost depressions which are present in the proximal parts of an outwash plain, where syngenetic permafrost depressions had already melted. His explanation of these features was based upon comparative studies of contemporary landforms in Spitsbergen. These ideas were later extended to related phenomena in Great Britain, Denmark and Germany. Professor Kozarski considered that the presence of frost structures and the geomorphological traces of periglacial processes proved the existence of long-term permafrost in the Germano-Polish Lowland as recently as the Late Vistulian.
The main thrust of his investigations into aeolian landforms and deposits was directed towards an understanding of the stratigraphy and chronology of aeolian dunes and cover sands. He was the first in Poland to attempt to determine dune sand age based on palynological analysis of the terrace levels at which aeolian forms occur. He was also the first in Poland to use SEM techniques in quartz grain surface texture analysis. After a period of research aimed at the reconstruction of the outflows of fluvioglacial and fluvioperiglacial water, Professor Kozarski focused then on studies of variations in river drainage patterns. His investigations in the central part of the Warta basin revealed that braided stream systems had changed into meandering forms and that the changes in the planar geometry of the meanders were the result of climatic changes in the Late Vistulian and Holocene. He published a synopsis of the Vistulian of the Wielkopolska Lowland which extended his chronostratigraphic diagram of this cold terrace across the whole of north-western Europe.
One of the most striking features of Professor Kozarski's huge number of publications - 265 works in total - was his interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. He repeatedly emphasised that one could not fully explain events in the geological past without such an approach.
At the Adam Mickiewicz University, Professor Kozarski was an inspiring teacher and was appointed visiting professor at no less than 28 foreign universities. He presented many papers at various conferences both in Poland and abroad. He appreciated the need to present the scholastic achievements of the Poznań geographical community on the international scene and, to this end, he founded, and became Editor of "Quaestiones Geographicae" and "Quaternary Studies in Poland". He often served as member of the editorial boards of several Polish and foreign journals, among others: "Czasopismo Geograficzne" (since 1974), "Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie" (since 1987), "Springer Series in Physical Environment" (since 1986).
The medals awarded by foreign universities are an expression of the recognition of Professor Kozarski's achievements. These include Medal of Université de Liege, Bronze Medal of Martin-Luther Universitat - Halle/Wittenberg and Lajos Loczy Medal of the Hungarian Scientific Society. Professor Kozarski was appointed member of the New York Academy of Sciences (1980), Deutsche Akademie des Naturforscher Leopoldina (1987), Polish Academy of Sciences (1989) and Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994). He had close ties with the Polish Academy of Sciences and served on various committees, including the Committee of Geographical Sciences, the Quaternary Research Committee, the Research Committee on Peace, the Scientific Council of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Development. He was a member of the Poznań Learned Society, Polish Geological Society and Polish Geographical Society. In 1982 he organized the Geomorphology Commission and was its president till 1991. In 1991 Professor Kozarski founded the Association of Polish Geomorphologists and had been its president till his death. He was co-founder of the International Association of Geomorphologists and had been the National Delegate since 1985.
Professor Stefan Kozarski's intense scientific, didactic and organisational activity has been a significant and lasting contribution to the growth of the Poznań geomorphological centre. In him, Polish geomorphology has lost an eminent scientist of world renown. We, his closest associates, have lost a great scientific and moral authority as well as a true, reliable friend.
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