The cross-border Geopark Karawanken/ Karavanke was established in 2011 to reflect the diverse geological composition and varied and rich natural and cultural heritage of the area. The wealth of ...geological heritage is reflected in numerous, already existing geosites, exceptional and unique on a global level, as well as in newly determined mineral and fossil sites. An example of the latter is the fossil site with rare Valanginian-Hauterivian heteromorphic ammonites, located in the SE part of the Karawanken/ Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark, near Leše village above Prevalje. It is the first and newly discovered locality of heteromorphic ammonites Himantoceras trinodosum Thieuloy, 1964 and Crioceratites cf. nolani Kilian, 1910 in Slovenia. We explore the importance and potential of good cooperation between the local community, paleontologists and other geoscientists, geoheritage (paleontological heritage) conservation and UNESCO Global Geoparks.
The Brsnina Permian–Triassic nearshore marine sediments were deposited on the Adria carbonate platform in tropical latitudes at the western end of the Neotethys Ocean. Continuous channel samples ...across the boundary show no consistent change in element or element/Al ratios, except that most element/Al ratios increase in the top 0.5 m of the Permian strata. Though there are sporadic higher values of some element/element ratios, such as Ti/Zr, Th/Sc, Zr/Sc, Cr/Ni, Y/Ni, Co/Th, Cu/Zn, and Nb/Ta, La/Sc, the overall geochemistry indicates that the sediments were derived from dominantly silica-rich continental rather than silica-poor sources though with some more silica-poor inputs at times. Sporadic high Ti/Zr ratios indicate periods of increased aridity, but no overall increase across the boundary. Various geochemical redox proxies suggest mainly oxic depositional conditions, with episodes of anoxia, but with little systematic variation across the boundary. Geochemical proxies for productivity indicate little change up the section with values two orders of magnitude less than elsewhere. The lack of consistent element geochemical changes across the boundary accompanied by significant C, S, and other isotopic changes suggests that atmospheric and oceanic chemical variations drove the Permian–Triassic boundary environmental changes at least on the sabkha environments of the tropical Adria platform.
PURPOSE: The management of cross-border natural resources has been the focus of research in different disciplines. Nonetheless, beyond theoretical insights, empirical evidence of successful ...cross-border management or governance of natural resources is still limited, even in the European Union (EU), where a range of instruments are provided to foster cross-border cooperation between its Member States. This is where our paper departs, providing evidence from an example of cross-border cooperation between two Member States of the EU, Austria, and Slovenia, adding to the analytical framework to identify the drivers of successful cross-border cooperation. METHODOLOGY: Drawing from the example of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Geopark Karawanken we evaluate the success factors and limits for transboundary cooperation encompassing different forms of cooperation. Furthermore, based on empirical evidence of workshops with local, regional, and national stakeholders, we investigate the potential of the EGTC organizational framework to provide for the successful cross-border management of water resources within the Geopark area. FINDINGS: Our analysis of project bundles, joint ventures/consortia, and EGTCs as possible forms of transboundary cooperation indicates that EGTCs have various advantages over looser forms of cooperation. Higher operational costs for the organization are contrasted by enhanced governance of transboundary activities, in accordance with legal frameworks and representation on both sides of the border. This increases acceptance and facilitates decision-making. Furthermore, it increases the potential for receiving funds in accordance with planned activities and regional requirements, while decreasing the individual financial risk for partners. The genesis of the Karawanken/Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark (Geopark Karawanken) indicates that looser forms of organization, for instance, project bundles, enable stakeholders to get to know each other without great institutional effort. In the course of increasing integration, the organizational form can be more complex. The experience in developing transboundary, water management instruments shows that even in a more sophisticated form of cooperation like an EGTC, there are remaining obstacles in managing transboundary natural resources. Obstacles result from e.g., national laws and regulations, data standards, monitoring techniques, and soft factors such as language barriers. IMPLICATIONS: The example of the Geopark Karawanken shows that cross-border public authorities can be significantly supported with the introduction of an EGTC. Still, an EGTC tends to exclude private companies or societal actors because they cannot be active members of the Board. Exploring further options for closer integration of the private sector in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) models may be useful to maintain the opportunity to include much-needed private skills and resources. The experience of the Geopark Karawanken suggests that EGTCs can and will be a significant form of organization in Europe for a number of activities, for example, in the field of cross-border resources, cross-border protected areas, or cross-border predicate regions. This will support the achievement of the goals of EU programs to face the climate and biodiversity crises through transnational agreements, e.g., the Green Deal or the Biodiversity Strategy. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This article provides a concise overview on transnational water resource management in the European Union in the context of an EGTC, and raises points for practitioners about potential challenges for the successful introduction of an EGTC. While the analysis of common experiences of various EGTCs could lead to the development of a European standard and guideline for the successful foundation of this territorial cohesion tool, this paper provides the first step, paving the road for future research.
The Periadriatic lineament extends from the Sesia zone in Italyacross southern Austria into Slovenia, in the area of the Karavankemountains. It continues eastwards into the Pannonian basin in ...Hungaryas the Balaton line. The Karavanke mountain range runs fromSlovenia in the east westwards into the Carnian Alps of Austria. Furthereast they extend beneath the Tertiary sediments of the Pannonianbasin into Hungary. The Karavanke mountains represent a boundaryzone between the Eastern Alps to the north and the Julian and Savinja-Kamnik Alps or Southern Alps to the south. The Periadriatic lineamentintersects the eastern part of the Karavanke mountains fromAustria, trending eastwards, dividing this unit into the Northern andSouthern Karavanke.Geologically, the Karavanke mountains consist of Palaeozoic,Mesozoic (moslly Triassic) rocks and Tertiary sediments. In the eastern part of the Karavanke mountains, along the Periadriatic lineament,there is a belt of magmatic rocks, granite in the north andtonalite in the south, with a narrow belt of metamorphic rocks inbetween.The tectonic structure of the aforementioned boundary zone isespecially interesting. New research res ull~ show that both the overallstructure (1I1d individual tectonic units respectively of this zonesleeply deep towards the south beneath the Julian and Savinja (Kamnik)Alps. The Karavanke mountains are on the north thrusted overEastern Alps by horizontal movements along sing le faults. Amongthese faults, the Pe riadriatic lineament. along which he mentionedmagmatic (granitc - tonalite) zone appears, is especially interesting.This paper attempts 10 define the seq uencc o f tectonic movementswhich took place at the end of lhe Alpine geotectonic cycle,and lhe tectonic structure or the Karavanke M1. zone.
We analysed spatial development of traditional and modern settlements on active alluvial fans in the Upper Sava Valley (NW Slovenia), by using old cadastral data from the beginning of the 19th ...century, time series of aerial photographs from the middle of the 20th century and recent building cadastre. The valley is surrounded by the mountainous Julian Alps in the south and the Karavanke Mountains in the north where there is a lack of space for settlements due to steep slopes that are increasing the danger of slope processes, torrential processes and floods. By using a very high-resolution 1m LiDAR digital elevation model, we defined the morphometry of alluvial fans and the characteristics of the drainage system of contributing tributaries. We classified the areas according to the threat posed by the modelled torrents and debris flows. We analysed the resilience of settlement in different periods from this perspective and evaluated the integration of natural processes effects in modern spatial planning projects. We found that geomorphic processes threaten a relatively large proportion of some new and old settlements on alluvial fans and that safe planning of areas of settlement has been successful neither in the past nor in recent decades.
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