The analysis of the flysch badlands inventory in central Istria, Croatia

Abstract

The south-western part of Croatia, i.e. the area of central Istria, comprises the research area, (approximately 500 km 2 ). It is characterized by a fl ysch complex with a great number of isolated relief landforms, termed badlands. The importance of badlands (areas with sparse or no vegetation) lies in the fact that sediment production from these areas is 8000 times higher than from areas with vegetation. Here, the badland inventory presents 5568 distinguishable badlands (polygons) with a total badland area of 10.7 km 2 . Spatial analysis of the badland inventory showed that erosive channel fl ow at the steep slope foot is the most important factor in badland formation and development for the area of central Istria.

Influence of Carbonate-Flysch Contact and Groundwater Dynamics on the Occurrence of Geohazards in Istria, Croatia

“…When the water table rises, the flow of water through the cover derives the hydrodynamic forces, leading to an increase in pore pressure and subsequently a decrease in shear strength and sliding. Heavy and short rainfall, on the other hand, has an erosive effect and does not usually influence the sliding event [12,41]. However, it can influence the small, shallow landslides.…”

Weathering Influence on Properties of Siltstones from Istria, Croatia

“…Many small-scale landslides in flysch slopes, primarily rotational and translational slides, tend to occur along slip surfaces that are located at the contact between the surficial deposits and the flysch bedrock, within the colluvial surficial deposits (Figure 3(a)) [23], within the flysch rock mass (Figure 3(b)) [24], or as debris flows (Figure 3(c)) [21]. Intense erosion processes are also observed in the flysch deposits in the study area ( Figure 3(d)) [25,26]. These geomorphological processes occur due to the significant influence of weathering in the flysch deposits and especially in the siltstone component, which has low durability and high susceptibility to weathering.…”

Sediment production in flysch badlands: A case study from Slovenian Istria

“…Extremely well suited for studying geomorphic systems at small spatial and time scales (Wainwright and Brazier 2011) are badlands, where geomorphic processes are intense and landform changes are rapid, allowing effective use of direct observation and measurement methods (Campbell 1997;Gulam et al 2014). General overviews of badlands and badland-forming processes have been provided by various authors (e.g., Scheidegger et al 1968;Bryan and Yair 1982;Howard 1994;1997;Campbell 1997;Saunders and Young 1983;Torri et al 2000;Gallart et al 2002;Harvey 2004).…”

“…Badlands can be defined as landforms with or without sparse vegetation, with steep slopes, a dense network of erosion rills and gullies, and few or no eluvial deposits produced in loose or poorly consolidated, impermeable, or poorly permeable rocks, usually with a significant share of clay (Gulam et al 2014). In badlands, rocks are directly exposed to weathering processes, the effects of raindrops, runoff, and wind erosion (Zorn 2008a;.…”

“…This results in the formation of taluses under steep rockfaces (Jurak and Fabić 2000;Zorn 2009;. Badland formation is influenced by various factors, with geological and climate factors being the predominant ones (Bryan and Yair 1982;Gulam et al 2014). An important factor for their preservation is the absence of vegetation or sparse vegetation cover, which is also disappearing in some places due to human impact (Harvey 2004;Nadal-Romero and Regüés 2010;Gulam et al 2014).…”