Macroseismic practice in Slovenia

In 1986, a project was started concerning the improvement of macroseismic data management in Slovenia. It was decided to establish a network of collaborators all over Slovenia (20 251 km², approx. 2 million inhabitants), dense enough to allow the use of the MSK scale. Since the uniform spatial distribution with desired density of collaborators is hard to achieve, several methods are being used to obtain new collaborators. At present we have approximately 4100 collaborators in our computer supported database.When an earthquake is felt in Slovenia, the seismologist decides to what areas the questionnaires are to be sent. The prospective observers can be chosen by two criteria: density and quality marks. The density mark allows us to choose a number of observers in the same town or village, based mostly on the quality of answers and demographic conditions. The quality mark is computed, combined with the previous marks, and updated every time a completed questionnaire is returned.The average number of shocks for which the questionnaires are being sent is about 25 per year during the normal seismic activity. The average number of questionnaires is approximately 300 per event. The percentage of the returned questionnaires is above 66%. A user-friendly, interactive program has been developed to manage the database with information about collaborators, to select an area, density and quality threshold of inquiry, and to print addresses onto questionnaires.     

Agrarian economy in Slovenia

Agrarian economy on the territory of a new European state, ie Slovenia (the NW part of former Yugoslavia) has undergone substantial transformations over the past 150 years. The changes were particularly intense after World War II when the Yugoslav Communist Party came to power in former Yugoslavia. Under its influence an extensive redistribution of property (ie expropriations) was carried out, as well as reorientation of production and a thorough social transformation. After the independent state of Slovenia was established in 1991 (Slovenia, 1992) and the capitalist system was reintroduced, the agrarian economy of this area has had to face certain far-reaching problems which are crucial for the future development of the new state.     

Industrialization of Slovenia

A new European state, the Republic of Slovenia, was constituted in 1991. It used to be considered the most industrialized and economically developed federal unit of the former Yugoslavia. There were (in 1990) 362,732 workers employed in manufactur industry, which meant 46% of all employees in Slovenia. The industrialization occurred in two waves: the first one before the Great War, and the second one, imposed and conducted by the communist regime, in the 1960's and 1970's. The latter promoted the establishing of factories all over Slovenia, particularly in the less developed regions. This process was prolonged, and the result of universal industrialization of Slovenia was that 464 Slovenian settlements had one or more industrial plants. The willful industrialization caused the substantial transformation of society, and left its traces in geographic features of Slovenia as well. The intended incorporation of Slovenia into the international market will cause considerable dilemmas and a crisis in this type of industrialization.     

Thermal and mineral waters in north-eastern Slovenia

 The Mura basin in north-eastern Slovenia is made up of two depressions, developed during the Late Neogene and Early Pliocene all within a widespread system of Pannonian basins. Both depressions are characterized by the occurrence of thermal waters of somewhat different hydrogeochemical character. Radgona depression is in the northern part of the basin and reaches depths of about 2 km. Thermal waters are generally dominated by sodium-bicarbonate, not related to the age of an aquifer, its wallrock composition, the type of porosity or total concentration of dissolved solids. Locally, sulphate-rich waters are encountered, and they are related to the presence of gypsum in the rocks of pre-Tertiary basement. The adjacent Ljutomer depression is over 4 km deep and comprises compartments with stagnant or semi-stagnant aquifers. Herein saline waters predominate, even in the aquifers of carbonate composition and abundant CO₂ gas. In shallower, unconsolidated, intergranular aquifers sodium-bicarbonate waters predominate. Thermal aquifers of this type are very important to the economy of the region, but they are also subjected to overexploitation which is reflected in time-dependent changes of dynamic pressures, temperature, conductance, salinity, pH and concentration of major ions, trace elements, dissolved gasses, and total organic carbon. Mineral waters occur in shallow aquifers or springs in marginal areas of the Radgona depression. Bicarbonate waters are dominated by calcium, or both calcium and sodium. Some mineral waters are formed mainly by penetration of CO₂ gas into shallow aquifers and consequent water–rock interaction. Composition of some mineral waters indicate their possible evolution from thermal waters which have risen from central parts of the Radgona depression along deep-seated faults, and have been modified by cooling and mixing processes. Received: 30 November 1998 · Accepted: 22 March 1999     

Rainfall thresholds for rainfall-induced landslides in Slovenia

In Slovenia, rainfall-induced landslides lead to considerable damages, even causing human losses. In order to reduce the impact of this kind of landslide, several researchers analyzed rainfall-induced landslides in this country, but to date, no rainfall thresholds have been developed for a landslide warning system at national scale. In this paper, the definition of rainfall thresholds for rainfall-induced landslides in Slovenia is presented. The thresholds have been calculated by collecting approximately 900 landslide data and the relative rainfall amounts, which have been collected from 41 rain gauges. To define the thresholds, an existing procedure characterized by a high degree of objectiveness has been used. This approach is based on a software that was developed for a test site with very different characteristics (Tuscany, central Italy). At first, a single national threshold has been defined; subsequently, the country was divided into four zones, on the basis of the major river basins. The effectiveness of the thresholds has been verified by the use of several statistical parameters and it resulted in quite good performances, even if with some uncertainties, probably due to the quality of the available data. Besides the setting of a threshold system, usable for civil protection purposes at national scale, an additional outcome of this work was the possibility of applying, with good results, a methodology defined for another region, therefore testing its degree of exportability in different settings.     

The transport system of Slovenia

The article presents the global and regional transport-geographic position of Slovenian territory, the role and importance of individual modes of transport, and degree of motorization and its spatial impact.     

Rainfall patterns for shallow landsliding in perialpine Slovenia

This paper presents two types of analysis: an antecedent rainfall analysis based on daily rainfall and an intensity-duration analysis of rainfall events based on hourly data in perialpine Slovenia in the ?kofjelo?ko Cerkljansko hills. For this purpose, eight rainfall events that are known to have caused landslides in the period from 1990 to 2010 were studied. Over the observed period, approximately 400 records of landslides were collected. Rainfall data were obtained from three rain gauges. The daily rainfall from the 30 days before landslide events was investigated based on the type of landslides and their geo-environmental setting, the dates of confirmed landslide activity and different consecutive rainfall periods. The analysis revealed that the rainfall events triggering slope failure can be divided into two groups according to the different antecedent periods. The first group of landslides typically occurred after short-duration rainstorms with high intensity, when the daily rainfall exceeded the antecedent rainfall. The second group comprises the rainfall events with a longer antecedent period of at least 7 days. A comparison of the plotted peak and mean intensities indicates that the rainfall patterns that govern slope failure are similar but do not necessarily reflect the rainfall intensity at the time of shallow landslides in the Dav?a or Poljane areas, where the majority of the landslides occurred. Because of several limitations, the suggested threshold cannot be compared and evaluated with other thresholds.     

Soils as a basis of farming in Slovenia

The great variety of natural factors of landforms, lithology, climate, water, and vegetation in Slovenia has also resulted in great variety of its pedosphere. During the pedogenetic process, 19 groups of soils have developed which in connection with other natural and social factors, influence the use of land for farming in Slovenia. The most significant for the agrarian activity are eutric and dystric cambisols on fluvial sediments on the bottoms of the basins and lowlands in central and eastern Slovenia. Meadows and pastures were arranged on rendzinas on calcocambisols in central and SW Slovenia. Orchards and vineyards are located on eutric cambisol on marl and flysch on the hills of NE and SW Slovenia. Meanwhile the distribution of forests which grow on rendzinas, calcocambisols, and dystric cambisols is influenced more by the landforms and higher altitudes, the inclination of slopes, and lithologic composition than by the soil.     

Karst features discovered during motorway construction in Slovenia

 Major motorway construction is taking place in Slovenia. Almost half the country is karst and many of the new roads are in such terrain. Karst specialists are involved in road design. They explore underground karst systems and suggest how best to preserve the most important ones. These experts also provide advice on ways of protecting karst groundwater and on aspects of road construction in karst. The karst features encountered during construction provide valuable information about the development of karst systems. Received: 8 April 1996 · Accepted: 4 February 1997     

Indoor radon concentrations in relation to geology in Slovenia

For this study 330 instantaneous indoor radon concentrations were selected from the database assembled during the Slovenian National Radon Programme. A relationship was found between indoor radon concentrations, rock type, tectonic faults and age of buildings. Indoor radon concentrations were elevated in buildings that were older than 50 years and in those with a fault under foundations. When these data were eliminated, elevated indoor radon levels were found only in buildings built on limestone. Our conclusions were confirmed by using the machine learning methods: clustering and multiple regression.     

Preliminary seismic hazard maps of Slovenia

The preparation of the preliminary seismic hazard maps of the territory of Slovenia has been based on an expansion of the basic approach laid out by Cornell in 1968. Three seismic source models were prepared. Two of them are based mainly on the earthquake catalogue using the Poissonian probability model. A map of seismic energy release and a map of earthquake epicenter density are used to delineate seismic sources in these models. The geometry of the third model which is based on a rough estimate of seismotectonic setting is taken from the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of a nuclear power plant in Slovenia. Published ground motion attenuation models based on strong motion records of recent strong earthquakes in Italy are used. Test maps for variable and uniform b-values are presented. The computer program, Seisrisk III, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey is used.     

Military training area in Kras (Slovenia)

 Slovenia's main military training area at Poček is located in the mountainous Javorniki Watershed. This is a karstic district without surface drainage or river valleys. The typical landscapes are conical hills and plateaus with many dolines. The lithology, tectonic structure and speleological data indicate a typical karst aquifer with underground water moving rapidly through fissures and conduits. Little attenuation occurs in such conditions and as a result there is a high risk of pollution. Tracer tests have shown that a significant proportion of the water recharging the Malni and Vipava springs comes from the vicinity of the military training area. As a result any polluting activities taking place within the military training area are likely to affect the two springs. This is a very serious matter as the springs have been developed to provide the water supply for the population of south-western Slovenia. Received: 20 April 1998 · Accepted: 24 August 1998     

地理信息系统GIS在地籍、地形测量中的运用

本文利用地理信息系统(GIS)对测绘地形、地籍以及生成土地证、房产证等一些图件进行说明,并作相应的转换处理,满足了地籍管理工作的需要。     

Geography in Australian education

Geography in Australia has a heritage that is strongly British, but more recently has been influenced from other parts of the world, such as North America and New Zealand. Its popularity has fluctuated and it is now under threat as a separate subject in the compulsory years of schooling. In higher education, geography has retrieved lost ground to be a popular area of study, but not a research area in the current national priorities. Geography plays a focal role in the general education of Australians. It is a medium for education involving the education of people, about, in, and for the society and environment in which they live. Through education, geography will enable people to explore their life-roles as learners, social beings, recreators, producers, consumers and citizens. It will develop in people distinctive knowledge, thinking processes, attitudes and values, and encourage participation in social and environmental actions. Teachers in secondary and higher education have differing and distinctive roles. Being a geographer in Australia does have benefits including: working in an identifiable area of knowledge maintaining a bridge across the physical and social sciences; the promotion of inquiry approaches and as a focus for the various adjectival educations that have emerged. These are tempered by challenges such as: threats from emerging disciplines, current national research priorities and the movement to social science education. Therefore, promotion of geography in Australia needs to be much more forceful than it has until now. The work of groups such as the Institute of Australian Geographers and the Australian Geography Teachers' Association needs to be co-ordinated more closely to develop a strong lobby for geography in Australian education.