Changing human-environment interactions in medium mountains: the Apuseni Mts (Romania) as a case study

The study of human-environment relationships in mountain areas is important for both theoretical and practical reasons, as many mountain areas suffer similar problems, such as depopulation, unemployment and natural hazards. Medium mountains constitute a special case within mountains, because they are more populated but less attractive as tourist destinations than high mountains. In this context, the Apuseni Mts (Romania) are considered as a case study. In this paper, we apply GIS-based, quantitative methods to characterize the strength and dynamics of human-environment interactions, taking into consideration some environmental factors (elevation, relative height, slope, river distance, lithology, land cover, natural attractions) as well as historical population and recent tourism data. We found that population density has strong (r ²>0.8) relationships with all relief factors (elevation, relative height, slope, river distance), and that best-fit functions are nonlinear. We outlined the varying demographic scenarios by elevation zones and interpreted the historically switching sign of population change versus elevation relationship. We demonstrated that lithology also has an impact on the spatial distribution of population, although it is not independent from the relief effect. The land cover of the mainly cultural landscape is very strongly correlated with relief parameters (especially slope), which suggests good adaptation. We pointed out the dominance of karst objects in the natural tourism potential of the Apuseni Mts and also explored further components of real tourism (spas, heritage, towns). Finally, we concluded that the environmental settings investigated do in fact constrain the spatial framework of society, but socio-economic changes in history can be explained from the side of society, which conforms to the theory of cultural possibilism.     

The impact of topography on social factors,a case study of Montenegro

Relationships between environmental and social factors have long been studied by geographers.Nowadays,GIS-aided statistical analysis provides new tools to explore these relationships.In order to detect the impact of topography on social factors,we selected the country of Montenegro as a case example due to its high topographic variability.We compared the spatial pattern of population,settlements and ethnic minorities to physical geographic factors,especially to topography,but lithology and land cover data were also taken into consideration.We found that certain factors are closely correlated,e.g.the settlement density linearly decreases with elevation,while the characteristic settlement area shows an exponential increase upwards.The population density is not related to absolute elevation,but it is in close correlation with height（i.e.elevation relative to the local minimum）.Population change and illiteracy are also topography-related social factors.On the contrary,the variable ethnic pattern of Montenegro is influenced by historical,political and economic effects rather than by environmental factors or topographic features.As a conclusion we state that in the scale of a country or a region,the environment can strongly impact some social factors.     

DEM-based morphometry of large-scale sand dune patterns in the Grand Erg Oriental (Northern Sahara Desert,Africa)

Formerly, sand dune patterns were investigated mostly by aerial and satellite images, but more recently, geomorphometric analysis based on digital elevation models (DEMs) has become an important approach. In this paper, sand dune patterns of the Grand Erg Oriental (Sahara) are studied using the De Ferranti (2014) DEM, which is a blending of SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission), ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) and other elevation datasets. In the Grand Erg Oriental, there are four large-scale dune pattern types with gradual transitions between them and with several subtypes, namely P1, consisting of large, branching linear dunes; P2, a complex pattern including small-size and widely spaced star and dome dunes; P3, a network type created mostly from crescentic dunes; and finally, P4, consisting of large and closely spaced star dunes. The largest dunes with 90–100-m mean height can be found in the southern parts of the Grand Erg Oriental, where P1 and P4 patterns dominate, and these areas are also characterised by the most intensive sand accumulation with 25–30-m equivalent sand thickness. In the present study, we use regression analysis to investigate the functional relationships between sand dune characteristics. Further on, we have elaborated a DEM-based method to delineate dunes and calculate sand volumes and dune orientations. Comparing wind rose data and sand dune axis rose diagrams, it is concluded that in some parts of the Grand Erg Oriental, the present dune types and patterns are in agreement with the actual wind regime, but in other cases, the present dune patterns are at least partially the results of former wind regimes.     

Late-stage volcano geomorphic evolution of the Pleistocene San Francisco Mountain, Arizona (USA), based on high-resolution DEM analysis and 40Ar/39Ar chronology

The cone-building volcanic activity and subsequent erosion of San Francisco Mountain, AZ, USA, were studied by using high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) analysis and new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating. By defining remnants or planèzes of the volcano flanks in DEM-derived images, the original edifice can be reconstructed. We propose a two-cone model with adjacent summit vents which were active in different times. The reconstructed cones were 4,460 and 4,350 m high a.s.l., corresponding to ∼2,160 and 2,050 m relative height, respectively. New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data allow us to decipher the chronological details of the cone-building activity. We dated the Older and Younger Andesites of the volcano that, according to previous mapping, built the stage 2 and stage 3 stratocones, respectively. The new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages yielded 589–556 ka for the Older and 514–505 ka for the Younger Andesites, supporting their distinct nature with a possible dormant period between. The obtained ages imply an intense final (≤100 ka long) cone-building activity, terminating ∼100 ka earlier than indicated by previous K-Ar ages. Moreover, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating constrains the formation of the Inner Basin, an elliptical depression in the center of the volcano initially created by flank collapse. A 530 ka age (with a ±58.4 ka 2σ error) for a post-depression dacite suggests that the collapse event is geochronologically indistinguishable from the termination of the andesitic cone-building activity. According to our DEM analysis, the original cone of San Francisco Mountain had a volume of about 80 km³. Of this volume, ∼7.5 km³ was removed by the flank collapse and subsequent glacial erosion, creating the present-day enlarged Inner Basin, and ∼2 km³ was removed from the outer valleys by erosion. Based on volumetric analysis and previous and new radiometric ages, the average long-term eruption rate of San Francisco Mountain was ∼0.2 km³/ka, which is a medium rate for long-lived stratovolcanoes. However, according to the new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates for the last ≤100 ka period, the final stratovolcanic activity was characterized by a greater ∼0.3 km³/ka rate.     

Regional Flood Frequency Analysis Based on L-Moment Approach (Case Study Tisza River Basin)

Water Resources - Floods are one of the most common natural hazards and as such, they are causing a great loss of human life as well as great economic damages. Flood frequency analysis (FFA) is...     

Discrimination of fluvial, eolian and neotectonic features in a low hilly landscape: A DEM-based morphotectonic analysis in the Central Pannonian Basin, Hungary

The Gödöllő Hills, a low-relief terrain within the Central Pannonian Basin in Hungary, is characterised by moderate tectonic deformation rates. Although typical tectonic landforms are not clearly recognisable in the study area, this paper succeeded in discriminating between tectonically controlled landforms and features shaped by fluvial erosion or deflation with no tectonic control.DEM-based morphometric parameters including elevation, slope and surface roughness, enabled the delineation of two NW–SE trending spearhead-shaped ridges separated by a wide rectilinear valley of the same strike. Although directional statistics suggested possible tectonic control of NW–SE striking landforms, precise morphometry completed with an analysis of subsurface structures rejected their tectonic preformation. Deflation plays a significant role in shaping the area, and the presence of two large-scale yardangs separated by a wind channel is proposed. In temperate-continental areas of Europe, no deflational landforms of such scale have been described so far, suggesting that Pleistocene wind power in periglacial areas was more significant than it was previously thought.Characteristic drainage patterns and longitudinal valley profiles enabled the recognition of areas probably affected by neotectonic deformation. A good agreement was observed between locations of Quaternary warping predicted by the morphometric study and subsurface structures revealed by the tectonic analysis. Zones of surface uplift and subsidence corresponded to anticlinal and synclinal hinges of fault-related folds. In low-relief and slowly-deforming areas, where exogenous forces may override tectonic deformation, only the integrated application of morphometric and subsurface-structural indications could assure correct interpretation of the origin of various landforms, while a morphometric study alone could have led to misinterpretation of some morphometric indices apparently suggesting tectonic preformation. On the other hand, the described morphological expression of subsurface structures could verify Quaternary age of the deformation.