Landform is often the most important factor in distinguishing between regions and an important element of geographic classification, typification, and regionalization; this is why morphological ...classification has had a long tradition in Slovenia and abroad. One of the best-known classifications was developed by the American geographer Edwin H. Hammond, who classified the landforms of the United States in great detail. Later on, his method was applied several times using a geographic information system and digital elevation model. Computer land-surface classification became more objective, whereas the selection of classification elements and their classes remained subjective. Hammond’s method of determining landform units is known throughout the world and this is why it has also been tested in Slovenia. First, the original classification elements were taken into account and only thirteen units of the twenty-one landform units specified by Hammond were selected. Due to weaknesses that were revealed, Hammond’s original method was suitably adapted: the form and size of the basic window and the boundaries between classification element classes were changed. Nineteen landform units were thus identified in Slovenia using the adapted method.
Common land is land with an ancient form of ownership. At one time it was economically important, but now its importance lies in the preservation of cultural landscapes and ecological balance. This ...article uses the geographic information system to analyze selected landscape indicators with respect to various types of agricultural land and determine whether and to what extent the assertion holds true that in Slovenia common agricultural land is preserved primarily in areas with poorer natural conditions for agriculture.
The retention of surface runoff and the preservation of soil moisture are among the most important water-related ecosystem services. In addition to field monitoring, advanced remote sensing ...techniques have been devised to reveal soil moisture dynamics on agricultural land. In our study we compare two soil moisture indices, TWI and SAVI, in three agricultural areas with different land use types. The SAVI has been found suitable to point out spatial variation on the moisture conditions of the vadose zone.
Studying relief and landscapes, we often employ digital elevation models. Their applicability is primarily linked to their accuracy. In this paper, we compare the older 100-meter digital elevation ...model of Slovenia and the more recent 25-meter digital elevation model. We assess applicability relative to differences in surface heights, surface slopes, and surface aspects for all of Slovenia and for four areas with different relief. We compare the frequency of distribution, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, range, and the coefficient of variation. The statistical analysis of the two digital elevation models of Slovenia indicates that the smallest differences exist relative to surface heights, there are larger differences relative to surface aspects, and the largest differences exist relative to surface slopes.
The retreat of ice shelves and glaciers over the last century provides unequivocal evidence of recent global warming. Glacierets (miniature glaciers) and ice patches are important components of the ...cryosphere that highlight the global retreat of glaciers, but knowledge of their behaviour prior to the Little Ice Age is lacking. Here, we report the uranium–thorium age of subglacial carbonate deposits from a recently exposed surface previously occupied by the disappearing Triglav Glacier (southeastern European Alps) that may elucidate the glacier's presence throughout the entire Holocene. The ages suggest the deposits' possible preservation since the Last Glacial Maximum and Younger Dryas. These thin deposits, formed by regelation, are easily eroded if exposed during previous Holocene climatic optima. The age data indicate the glacier's present unprecedented level of retreat since the Last Glacial Maximum and the potential of subglacial carbonates as additional proxies to highlight the extraordinary nature of the current global climatic changes.
In this article we determine the potential erosion risk of sites with respect to surface morphology and how it is related to the distribution of individual types of land use. We investigated the ...relationship between relief factors affecting erosion risk (elevation, slope, and aspect of the surface) and types of land use (arable land, vineyards, orchards, grassland, woodland, and built-up and other areas) in six 24 km super(2) sectors in Tertiary low hill areas in Slovenia: Koprska brda, Brkini, Goriska brda, Haloze, Slovenske gorice and Goricko. The areas selected are of particular interest due to the prevalence of rock substrates which are susceptible to erosion. The potential erosion risk was determined by the stream power index. In the Haloze sector, land use was most closely correlated with the aspect of the surface, in Slovenske gorice sector with the surface height, and in the remaining sectors with the potential erosion risk.
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