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4
Geomorphological History of Slovak
Landscape
Milan Lehotský and MilošRusnák
Abstract
The territory Slovakia of reveals exceptionally high
diversity of landforms. Geomorphological history of the
Western Carpathians can be traced back to the
Early/Middle Miocene (10 and 20 Ma) and of the
Panonian Basin to the Late Miocene, respectively. The
development the Western Carpathians went on in phases,
through interaction of tectonic movements and subaerial
factors. Tectonic movements manifested themselves in
the shape of a general uplift of the Western Carpathians
and through differentiated movements of individual
blocks within the dome-like structure, which are reflected
in the basic internal division of the West Carpathians into
two contrasting groups of macroforms: individual moun-
tain ranges and intermountain basins. Terminal Miocene
uplift of the Carpathians isolated the Pannonian region
from the rest of Paratethys, which allowed for the
emergence of the Pannonian Lake. Its extinction at the
end of the Pliocene gave the birth to the Slovak lowlands.
During the Pleistocene, spatially variable subaerial pro-
cesses took place epicyclically under the strong influence
of tectonic movements and lithologic-structural proper-
ties. The variability of processes in space and time led, on
the one hand, to re-modelling of macroforms into new
patterns of landforms (U-shaped valleys, ridges, mor-
aines, terraces, plateaus, alluvial fans, etc.), and on the
other one, to infilling and flattening of subsiding areas to
form basins occupied by plains and floodplains. Human
impact during the Holocene and Little Ice Age periods is
mentioned in brief, too.
Keywords
Slovakia Landscape Geomorphological History
Drainage basins Glaciation River terraces
Periglacial phenomena Human impact
4.1 Introduction—Turning Points
of Geomorphological Evolution
The territory of Slovakia (49,035 km
2
) is part of the Alpine–
Himalayan mountain system. Its northern and central parts
belong to the subsystem of the Carpathians (more than 74%
of the area of Slovakia) and its south-western and
south-eastern parts to the subsystem of the Pannonian Basin.
The predominant section of the Slovak Carpathians (88%)
forms the province of the Western Carpathians, the rest is in
the Eastern Carpathians. The Western Carpathians are also
higher and culminate in the Gerlach in the Tatra Mts.
(2,655 m a.s.l.). The highest mountain of the Eastern
Carpathians, built mostly of Paleogene flysch and Neogene
volcanic complexes, is Kremenec (1,221 m a.s.l.) in the
Bukovskévrchy Mountains.
The landforms of Slovakia are a product of complex
tectonic evolution and climate changes during the Cenozoic,
lithological diversity and also human impact in the Holo-
cene. So, in the geomorphological history of Slovakia, five
chronological turning points can be recognized: (1) Mio-
cene–Quaternary uplift and creation of the recent Western
Carpathian domal mega-morphostructure, the Pannonian
basin and intermountain drainage basins Uplift started in the
Early/Middle Miocene (the Styrian neotectonic phase)
between 10 and 20 Ma (Kráľ1977), continued by the Val-
lachian phase in the Late Pliocene (4–6 Ma) and the Pasa-
dene phase in the Middle Pleistocene; (2) volcanic activity in
the Eocene–Pleistocene time span, generating numerous
neovolcanic terrains (Fig. 4.1); (3) Pleistocene
glaciation/deglaciation and periglacial weathering creating
M. Lehotský(&)M. Rusnák
Department of Physical Geography, Geomorphology and Natural
Hazards, Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Štefánikova 49, 814 73 Bratislava, Slovakia
e-mail: geogleho@savba.sk
M. Rusnák
e-mail: geogmilo@savba.sk
©Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
M. Lehotskýand M. Boltižiar (eds.), Landscapes and Landforms of Slovakia, World Geomorphological Landscapes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89293-7_4
45
glacial features typical for high mountains as well as systems
of terraces/fans and alluvial plains; (4) Little Ice Age
(LIA) climatic changes followed by changes in runoff,
gravitational and fluvial processes and medieval and early
modern age deforestation, miming and settlement develop-
ment; and (5) recent human intervention in the operation of
geomorphic processes. Active and passive morphostructures,
which originated during these stages, were sculptured under
diverse climatic conditions, involving predominantly humid
tropical and subtropical climates in tertiary, cold periglacial
and temperate conditions during the Pleistocene as well as
temperate climate in the Holocene (Fig. 4.2). The territory of
Slovakia also shows a long (>8 ka) history of human
activity, which has significantly modified its landforms and
landscapes mainly during Anthropocene. Since some chap-
ters of this book are dealing with the Pleistocene glaciation,
mainly in the High Tatra Mts. (Chap. 5), volcanic landforms
(Chap. 8) and gullies (Chap. 19) in details, in this chapter,
we summarize general features of the geomorphological
history of the Slovak Republic, i.e. the pre-Pleistocene birth
of the Western Carpathians and their drainage basins, briefly
Pleistocene development, geomorphic response to Little Ice
Age and recent human impact on landscape.
Fig. 4.1 The summit of Sninský
kameň(1006 m a.s.l.) in the
volcanic Vihorlat Mts., which
dominate above the eastern
Slovakia. The lake below is
dammed by landslide (photo
J. Lacika)
Fig. 4.2 Spatial distribution of
depositional landforms of
Quaternary age in Slovakia
(modified from Maglay and
Pristaš2014)
46 M. Lehotský and M. Rusnák
4.2 Pre-Pleistocene Development
4.2.1 Western Carpathians Dome and The
Emergence of the Pannonian Basin
The Western Carpathians represent a morphostructural
megaform: a relatively flat elliptical dome, comprising
multiple morphostructures of lower hierarchical levels.
Mazúr(1965) attributed its rise to repeated vertical move-
ments conditioned probably by sub-crustal magma move-
ment or lateral pressure, in combination with an isostatic
response. Along its entire periphery, this elevated dome is
bordered by depressions of the Pannonian basin systems and
the Vienna basin, the Carpathian Foredeep and the Tran-
scarpathian depression. The surface of the Western Car-
pathian megaform is irregular, but a mosaic of discrete
mountains (mainly horst and dome structures, (Fig. 4.3) and
basins (mainly graben and flexure-bounded troughs,
Fig. 4.4) creates distinctive patterns. The compactness of the
megaform decreases from the NE to SW and, in the same
direction, the area occupied by depressions also increases.
The SW margin is open to the Pannonian Basin where the
extent of the elliptical morphostructure is only indicated by
spurs of narrow, low mountain ranges and slightly elevated
hilly lands in the Pannonian Basin. The average altitude of
the megaform ranges from 300 to 1500 m, with the highest
ranges located near the NE focus of the ellipse. In contrast,
the altitudinal minimum lies near the SW focus on the gra-
dational boundary with the Pannonian Basin. However,
various geological and geomorphological markers indicate
the crucial role of Late Miocene, Pliocene and even
Quaternary tectonic events conditioned the morphostructural
pattern (Minár et al. 2011).
Fission track and radiometric data confirm the very young
(post-Middle Miocene) denudational history of many indi-
vidual mountain ranges (e.g. Kováčet al. 1994; Struzik et al.
2002;Bíl et al. 2004; Danišík et al. 2004,2008).
The explanation for the dome-like character of the Wes-
tern Carpathians supra-region with its very young features
was mentioned only briefly in older literature. However, the
reasons for this phenomenon were either not dealt with or
the tectonic explanation was limited by the level of knowl-
edge at that time (c.f. Mazúr1965; Klimaszewski 1981).
The neotectonic rise of the Western Carpathians dome
clearly and continuously deforms the initial planation sur-
face of the “Mid-mountain level”(Lukniš1962, Mazúr
1963, Fig. 4.5) and uplift should, therefore, be younger. In
contrast, exhumation ages derived from fission-track data are
very variable within some regions (e.g. Kováčet al. 1994;
Kováč2000; Baumgart-Kotarba and Kráľ2002; Struzik
et al. 2002; Danišík et al. 2004,2008). This indicates that the
detected exhumation history is older than the development
of the dome (Minár et al. 2011).
The youngest fission-track data from about 10 Ma
determine the maximum age of the “Mid-mountain level”
that itself requires a few million years to form. Generally,
fine-grained Late Pannonian and Pontian correlative sedi-
ments in the Pannonian Basin and intermountain basins of
the Western Carpathians are also indicative of the formation
of the “Mid-mountain level”planation surface. The general
character of sedimentation demonstrably changed in the
Pliocene, with coarse sediments replacing fine sediments.
Fig. 4.3 The Western
Carpathians “dome”culminates
in the High Tatra Mts at the
highest mount (Mt. Gerlach -
2655 m a.s.l.) of the Carpathians
(photo M. Lehotský)
4 Geomorphological History of Slovak Landscape 47
Consequently, the dome probably first rose sometime during
the last 4–6 million years. However, while the altitude of the
“Mid-mountain level”corresponds with the mean altitudes
of the Western Carpathians morphostructural regions, the
younger “River Level”planation surface (Upper Pliocene–
Early Quaternary pediment after Mazúr(1963)) and Qua-
ternary river terraces differ far less between individual
regions. This indicates that the main stage of dome
formation occurred in the Pliocene and that both the “River
level”and the river terraces were formed within the existing
dome (Minár et al. 2011).
The projection of the older structural boundaries into new
morphostructural regions and the increased abundance of
young morpholineament systems (N–S and W–E directions)
could be an indication of the gradual spreading of the
Western Carpathians into the periphery—surrounding
Fig. 4.4 The Liptov basin—one
of intra-Carpathians basins. The
Chočskévrchy Mts. in the
background and the Western
Tatra Mts. are on the right (photo
M. Lehotský)
Fig. 4.5 Mid-mountain level”
planation surface—the Sihla
plateau in the Veporskévrchy
Mts. (photo J. Lacika)
48 M. Lehotský and M. Rusnák
lowlands during the Late Miocene–Quaternary uplift. The
abundance of young morpholineaments found frequently in
the youngest Neogene sediments in the south, increasing
river downcutting since the Middle Pleistocene (based on the
height of the river terraces) and possibly also young elevated
(Fig. 4.6) and subsided structures of the Outer Western
Carpathians (c.f. Zuchiewicz 1998), could indicate that the
most recent and more active stage of the morphotectonic
development of the Western Carpathians started in the
Middle Pleistocene (Minár et al. 2011).
4.2.2 Drainage Basin Development
The main impetus of the transformation of the landscape
pattern in the territory of the Slovak Carpathians is mor-
photectonics. Replacement of older valley and ridge systems
by the new ones took place under the direction of mor-
phostructural influences of different hierarchy (Fig. 4.7).
Formation of the West Carpathian dome and the tectonic
deformation of fault character, both of local and regional
importance, played their role as well. Asymmetrical position
Fig. 4.6 Elevated structure of
the Outer Western Carpathians in
north Slovakia—the Mt. Babia
hora towers above the Oravské
Beskydy Mts. belonging to the
Carpathian Flysch Belt (photo
J. Lacika)
Fig. 4.7 Main drainage basins of
Slovakia and their barrier effects
showing sites of real or potential
piracy (P) (Lacika 2004)
4 Geomorphological History of Slovak Landscape 49
of the top of the dome differentiates morphostructural
dynamics of the territory. The basins on the larger western
side of the dome and in the centre (the upper Váh, Hron,
Poprad and IpeľRivers) develop mostly regressively. Pro-
gressively developing partial basins, for instance, in the area
of central Považie or in the Hornád basins are affected by the
local fault tectonics or are within the reach of large subsi-
dence centres of the Podunajskáand Východoslovenská
nížina lowlands. The development of basins of the southern
and south-eastern wings of the dome of the Western
Carpathians is distinctly progressive. They are parts of
morphostructurally very dynamic environments between the
dome centre and subsiding lowlands in the Hungary.
In the chapter, we show the evolution of geomorphologic
networks of two largest basins in the Slovak Carpathians—
the Váh and Hron Rivers basins (Lacika 2004).
4.2.2.1 Váh River Basin
The river basin of the Váh River is the largest in Slovakia. It
integrates the valleys within an area of 15,755 square kilo-
metres in the territory of the Western Carpathians and the
Western Pannonian basin (Podunajskánížina lowland). The
Váh traces the longest side of the West Carpathian dome and
leaves behind its centre after the longest route. In the Neo-
gene, the Váh mouth followed the regressing lake in the
Western Pannonian basin. It responded to uplift of the
transversal horsts (the VeľkáFatra and MaláFatra Mts.) by
generation of antecedent gorge-like valleys. The general
direction of the Váh valley changes beyond the town of
Žilina. Deviation toward the south-west direction can be
interpreted as a certain response to the distinct sinking of the
Podunajskánížina lowland. Moreover, its course in this
reach is linked to the erosion–denudation furrow along the
klippen belt, which relatively sank in the Neogene. The Váh
connected into the sea in the Late Miocene, which trans-
gressed from the Viennese basin as far as the present terri-
tory of PovažskáBystrica. In the Pliocene, the Váh
prolonged as far as the Ilavskáand Trečín basins, where it
flowed through freshwater lakes. The lower reach of the Váh
flows through the Podunajskánížina lowland. It is its
youngest reach as it followed the diminishing Pontian Lake.
The aggrading river prevents joining of the lateral streams
and the basins taper into the narrow belt of alluvial plain.
Aggradation is caused by the young (Quaternary) sinking of
the lowland bay between the towns of NovéMesto nad
Váhom and Sereď. It is near Sereď, where the Váh changes
its course again, in this case in the south-eastern direction
and maintains it as far as its mouth into Dunaj River near
Komárno.
4.2.2.2 Hron River Basin
The Hron River can be referred to as the “small Váh”. The
ground plan of its river basin is similar: nib-like texture of
tributaries and deviation of the lowermost part of the basin in
the southerly direction. From its spring as far as the town of
BanskáBystrica, the Hron follows, as Lukniš(in Lukniš
1972) asserted, the post-Palaeogene megasynclinal riverbed
between the Low Tatra Mts. and the SlovenskéRudohorie
Mts. The whole upper reach of the Hron is morphologically
delimited by the very distinct watershed formed by massive
mountain ranges. The comparatively narrow valley widens
only in the tectonic Breznianska kotlina basin, with rectan-
gular valley texture. The middle reach of the Hron developed
under the strong influence of intensive volcanic activity in
the area of the Slovenskéstredohorie Mts. In the Badenian
the Hron probably entered into the bay of the Neogene Sea,
which later retreated to the south, while its course was
influenced by volcano-tectonic events. It is difficult to
reconstruct the form of the Hron valley in the area of
erupting stratovolcanoes and large volcano-tectonic depres-
sions. The dynamic and complicated development of the
middle Hron River took place until the Pliocene when three
contemporary intra-mountain basins of the Slovenskéstre-
dohorie individualized. The Zvolenskáand Žiarska kotlina
basins were filled by the Pliocene lakes, which were then
probably connected by the Hron. Its existence is testified to
by the occurrence of the Hron gravel formation (Halouzka
1998), which skirts the present valley of the Hron from the
lower Horehronie up to the Žiarska kotlina basin. The pre-
sent valley of the Hron between Žarnovica and Kozárovce
follows the distinct fault system, which further in north
separates the mountain range of the Vtáčnik Mts. from the
Žiarska kotlina basin. Before the Hron mouths into the
Podunajskánížina lowland, it passes through the Slovenská
brána gorge and overcomes the south-eastern protuberance
of the Štiavnickévrchy Mts. (Kozmálovskévŕšky hills). In
the Pliocene, it debouched into the lake and deposited its
delta there. The occurrence of the Lower Pleistocene fluvial
sediments on the ridges of the northern part of the Hronská
pahorkatina hilly-land testifies to the fact that after regres-
sion of the Pliocene lake the Hron probably flowed in the
south-westerly direction, to the area of what is today the
valley of the Žitava River. It created its typical bent to south
during the Early Pleistocene. Since then the lower reach of
Hron heads to the existing valley between the Hronskáand
Ipeľskápahorkatina hill lands. The asymmetry of its terrace
staircase points to the gradual migration of the riverbed to
the east, probably as the result of tectonic tilting of this area
(Lacika 2004).
4.2.3 Antecedent and Epigenetic Valleys
Large rivers of the Western Carpathians are older than the
Miocene morphostructures and hence, during the Miocene–
Pleistocene phase of uplift the rivers incised their channels
50 M. Lehotský and M. Rusnák
into the rising mountains and so created antecedent valleys.
The most famous are the antecedent reaches of the Váh
River valley (Kraľovany, Strečno (Fig. 4.8), Nosice gorges);
the Orava River valley (the Orava gorge upstream from the
confluence with the Váh River); the Hornád River gorge
(upstream the city of Košice). The Hron River also connects
his wider valley segments by an antecedent valley reach and
the Kvačianska and Prosiecka valleys in the ChočMts. are
also of antecedent origin. In addition to the antecedent val-
leys, epigenetic or epigenetic-antecedent valley reaches have
been developed. The Hornád River at the Slovenskýraj Mts.
(Fig. 4.9), the Dunajec River in the Pieniny Mts., the Nitra
River at the edge of the TribečMts. close to the town of
Nitra and Brezovskýpotok near Brezovápod Bradlom
through the marginal part of the Little Carpathians Mts.
Fig. 4.8 The Váh River incised
meander (the Domašin meander)
in the Strečno gorge as the
example of an antecedent valley,
passing through the Fatra Mts
range (photo J. Lacika)
Fig. 4.9 The Hornád River
epigenetic reach cuts a part of the
Slovenskýraj Mts. (photo
J. Lacika)
4 Geomorphological History of Slovak Landscape 51
4.2.4 Karst Landscape
Slovakia has karst landscape which covers more than 2700
km
2
(5.5% of the whole area) and the country is well known
for an abundance of caves (Fig. 4.10). The first references
about them go back to the thirteenth century. Cave maps
have been produced since the eighteenth century. The evo-
lution of a platform-like karst (plateau karst) dates back to
the Mesozoic (the Cretaceous), whereas the mountain karst
is younger (Quaternary up to the Recent). The total number
of caves currently known is more than 6000 (Bella et al.
2007). Most of them are small, and only seven caves are
longer than 10 km and two of them are longer than 30 km.
The cave system of Demänováis the longest (35.358 km).
Regarding the cave depth, there are 11 caves deeper than
200 m, while the deepest one reaches 495 m (Hipman`s
caves). Sixteen caves are accessible to the public and these
are administered by the Slovak Caves Administration
(SSJ) seated in the LiptovskýMikuláštown and governed by
the State Nature Protection Office (ŠOP). Four caves are
under private ownership or owned by a museum. Hochmuth
(2008) worked out the most recent regionalization of the
karst areas in Slovakia and a list of caves and cave holes was
published by Bella et al. (2007), which uses the cadastral
area as the main locator of the karst phenomena.
4.3 Pleistocene/Early Holocene Imprints
on Landscape
4.3.1 Glaciers, Glacio-Fluvial Fans and Tarns
During the Pleistocene, the territory of Slovakia was located
between two large ice masses, namely an ice sheet that
stretched across the northern European lowlands from
Scandinavia to the northern foothills of the Carpathians and
an ice cap that covered the Alps and reached the Danube
River. In this period, the snow line on the southern slopes of
the Slovak mountains was about 1,400–1,600 m a.s.l. The
traces of the last three glacials (Mindel, Riss and Würm
according to Alpine chronology) are evident (Fig. 4.11).
Zasadni and Kłapyta (2014) inferred that the coalescence of
the Tichýand Kôprovýpre-Last Glacial Maximum glaciers
in the Tatra Mts. created probably the largest Pleistocene
glacier system (ca. 50 km
2
) in Slovakia. The largest mor-
aines have been preserved at the southern foot of the Tatras,
in front of the valley outlets and are up to 100 m high. The
exposure ages (Engel et al. 2015; Makos et al. 2014) for the
terminal moraine below the Veľkástudenáand Velická
valleys confirm that the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) oc-
curred no later than 21.5 ka. Braided rivers flowing out of
the glaciated Tatra, associated with glacial meltwater, have
deposited several generations of glacio-fluvial fans in the
Fig. 4.10 The Demänovka
underground stream as the main
factor influencing the
development of the cave system
in the Demänovskádolina valley.
In the picture, the Demänovka
brook in the Demänovska cave of
Liberty (photo M. Lehotský)
52 M. Lehotský and M. Rusnák
forefield. In total, the altitude of the Tatra was hypothesized
to be reduced by glacial activity by about 300 m (Lukniš
1972). The remnants of glacial landforms are also found in
the Low Tatra, where 11 glaciers and 31 glacial cirques were
expected to occur. Traces of glacial relief can also be found
in Mala Fatra, and smaller glacial cirques have also formed
on the northern slope of the Babia Hora and Pilsko Mts., on
the Slovak–Polish border. In addition to picturesque glacial
relief, the Tatra and the Low Tatra Mts. are rich in
moraine-dammed lakes and tarns (Fig. 4.12).
Fig. 4.11 The High Tatra Mts
landscape with landforms of
glacial origin (photo M.
Lehotský)
Fig. 4.12 Tarns in glacial
cirques are typical phenomena in
the glacially shaped High Tatra
Mts. (photo M. Lehotský)
4 Geomorphological History of Slovak Landscape 53
4.3.2 River Terraces
By alternating aggradation, lateral migration of channels and
deepening of the valleys terrace staircases were created
along Slovak rivers in the Quaternary. Generally, the Slovak
larger rivers created 4–7 terraces. Their heights above the
present floodplain level vary depending on the local tectonic
movements. The highest remnants of terraces are located at
heights of 100–130 m above the contemporary water level.
At the entrance of the Danube River into Slovakia in the
Devín Gate seven terraces occur (Mahr and Šajgalík1979).
Three terrace systems of the Hron, Žitava and Danube
Rivers were identified in the eastern part of the Danube
Basin, different in geometry, layout of the terraces and pet-
rography of the sediment. The Hron terrace system consists
of six wide north–south-oriented levels retreating to the east,
while terraces of the Žitava are only erosive remnants of four
levels retreating to the north-west. Two levels of the Danube
terrace system are oriented in west–east direction. Accu-
mulation of the terraces started at the Pliocene–Pleistocene
boundary, as indicated by fossil mammals found in the
highest terrace levels (Šujan and Rybár2014). The six levels
of Pleistocene terraces of the Hron River can be found in its
upper reaches (Škvarček 1973) and four ones in the Žiarska
basin (Holec et al. 2015). The Váh River left 13 terraces in
the Liptov basin (Vitovičand Minár2018), 8 in the incised
meander of Domašín (Ondrášik and Gajdoš2011) and 7 in
the Žilina basin (Mazúr1963). Lukniš(1972) and Mazúrova
(1978) documented 5 terraces of the IpeľRiver in the
LučeneckáBasin and 6 ones of the SlanáRiver in the
RimavskáBasin. The same number is registered along the
Dunajec River (Lukniš1972) and the Topľa River (Harčár
1995).
4.3.3 Sackungen and Pseudokarst Caves
As in many paraglacial environments, also in the Slovak
mountains formed by crystalline rocks (the Tatra and the
Low Tatra Mts., Maláand VeľkáFatra Mts.) the sackungen
landforms (Fig 4.13) can be found (Nemčok 1972; Mahr and
Baliak 1973; Mahr 1977; Ondrášik 2002), although they
origin is not directly connected with climatic changes. There
are two examples provided below. Dating of these typical
linear landform assemblages involving primarily expressive
uphill-facing scarps and double-crested ridges in the Tatra
Mts. revealed that the sackungen occurred between *7.5
and 4.2 ka BP, representing a 4 ka time lag after the dis-
appearance of glaciers (Pánek et al. 2015). Radiocarbon ages
of the sackungen occuring in the Low Tatra Mts. indicate a
displacement event of four studied trenches in the late
Holocene (shortly after 1,410–1,860 cal yrs. BP) and the
longest well-dated record in a single trench contained four
inferred displacement events in the past 6 ka, yielding a
long-term average recurrence of ca. 1.5 ka (McCalpin et al.
2019). Pseudokarst caves in flysch sandstones and neovol-
canic rocks and their morphometric characteristics are briefly
mentioned by Gaál(2003) and Hochmuth (2008). Hochmuth
Fig. 4.13 Occurrence of
sackungen along the rounded
ridge of the Western Tatra Mts.
The dissected relief of the High
Tatra Mts. in the background
(photo J. Lacika)
54 M. Lehotský and M. Rusnák
pointed out that even though pseudokarst does not create any
“pseudokarst areas”there are still large regions of increased
concentration of these landforms. Based on the basic struc-
tural differences of the rocks, as well as patterns of spatial
occurrence, he recognized five regions with pseudokarst
phenomena in Slovakia.
4.3.4 Sand Dunes, Loess Tables and Other
Periglacial Landforms
Another phenomena linked with the Pleistocene climate in
Slovakia are aeolian landforms and loess plateaus. The lar-
gest continuous area with different types of sand dunes, up to
20 m high, extends in the Záhorskálowland. In addition to
it, longitudinal sand dunes are located in the south-eastern
part of the Danube lowland. They are several kilometres
long, following NW–SE direction of the prevailing winds
during sand deposition. Barchan type of sand dunes occur in
the southern part of the East Slovak lowland. Their height is
usually 5–10 m. Generally, sands are non-calcareous and are
dated to MIS2 (Fordinál et al. 2013).
Loess in Slovakia covers an area of ca. 7 000 km
2
by a
15–20 m thick layer (Košťálik, 1997). Originally, loess has
been horizontally deposited in the form of sheets in MIS2
and MIS3 (Ďurža and Dlapa 2009;Hošek et al. 2017),
levelling the undulated relief beneath. However, such flat
relief was dissected into separate plateaus due to tectonics
and fluvial erosion during the Holocene (Fig. 4.14). So, the
loess plateaus in the Podunajskáand Východoslovenská
nížina lowlands represent dominant landforms in lowland
hilly lands.
The response of the Slovak landscape to the alternation of
freezing and thawing periods, typical for periglacial climate,
was the development of block-fields, frost-riven cliffs,
periglacial nivation cirques/hollows and patterned ground.
These landforms frequently occur at higher elevations as in
the Tatra and Low Tatra Mts., the Babia hora and Pilsko
Mts., and in the MaláFatra Mts. Besides, these landforms
can be locally found also in the mountains of lower altitude.
4.4 Holocene History
The first significant human interventions in the Carpathian
landscape can be dated to what is referred to as the Great
Colonization period in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
(Stankoviansky and Barka 2007). Towns were founded and
central Slovakia even became the land of mining and met-
allurgy. Another important intervention in the Carpathian
landscape was the Wallachian shepherd colonization, which
reached the territory of the today’s Slovakia in the fifteenth
century and peaked in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies. The following shepherd and so-called “kopanitse”
colonization took place in the seventeenth and the first half
of the nineteenth centuries. Thus, between the thirteenth and
nineteenth centuries, during the above-described coloniza-
tion waves, gradual deforestation was followed by
Fig. 4.14 The Hron River
undercuts the Hronskáloess
tableland at Bíňa village. In the
12 m high bluff, several layers of
different Würm ages are visible
(photo M. Lehotský)
4 Geomorphological History of Slovak Landscape 55
exploitation of the acquired plots, bringing about an
important increase of open areas, affected by accelerated
geomorphic processes at a scale incomparable with the entire
preceding the Holocene period. In the subalpine belt, the
removal of dwarf pine cover, lowering of the present tim-
berline by 280 m and locally even as much as 350–400 m,
and overgrazing has led to the higher frequency of snow
avalanches, shallow landslides and the occurrence of
cryonival processes since the Wallachian colonization.
Not only colonization and land use changes but also climatic
changes influenced the operation of geomorphic processes and
landform development. The Little Ice Age (LIA) occurred
between in 1550 and 1850 and was characterized by an
increased frequency of extreme meteorological–hydrological
events (Stankoviansky and Pišút2011;Pišút2002).
The year 1662 was a memorable one in the series of
extreme flood events. During these floods, the village
Chmelnica was destroyed by the Poprad River and the
channel was shifted by 800 m (Horváthová2003; Pekárová
et al. 2011). Heavy damage was inflicted to the towns of
Kežmarok, Levoča and several villages in Spišcountry
(Réthly 1962). A major flood of the Danube at the turn of
November 1787 was possibly the second largest one of the
last millennium, with a character of 200–500 yr flood and
estimated peak discharge of at least 11,800 m
3
.s
–1
in Bra-
tislava (Pišút2011). Downstream of Bratislava, channel
adjustments eventually resulted in a dramatic planform
change, from actively meandering to braid in the 1780s,
when a series of large meanders were cut-off (Pišút1995).
Instead, numerous non-vegetated bars appeared as a sign of
channel over-enrichment with coarse material, that caused
bilateral channel widening and related damage to dikes
(Földes 1896;Pišút2006). Major floods of this period were
also responsible for massive gravel accumulations dated to
the 1790s–1820s (Pišút and Timár2007). In the case of the
Váh River, the most conspicuous geomorphic fluvial effects
were undoubtedly linked to the most catastrophic flood on
record in Slovakia, with a character of 500–1000 yr flood on
August 23–26, 1813. This flood claimed at least 243 victims,
heavily damaged or even obliterated more than 50 villages,
pulled down bridges, destroyed and/or damaged important
public buildings and initiated many landslides. New bars and
alluvial islands appeared in the Váh River channel, whereas
extensive areas of the floodplain (fields, meadows, orchards)
were covered by gravel and sand. Within this period, con-
spicuous changes of the Váh channel occurred along its
middle and lower reach (Arcanum 2006a,b,2007). For
example, at Trenčín the channel seems to have transformed
from an actively meandering one in the 1770s to a wan-
dering channel pattern of the early nineteenth century. Along
the lower stretch at Leopoldov, the river changed from an
actively meandering, high-sinuosity river in 1775 into a
low-sinuosity river, oversaturated with bedload due to the
March 1830 flood (Arcanum 2006b). A major flood in the
Hron River occurred also on May 8, 1853 (Munkáči and
Rigo 1998). Not much lesser in scope than the flood of 1813
was a Váh River flood in August 1854 (Bitara 1998), which
destroyed almost all bridges across this river in the Liptov
county. It also hit the basins of the Poprad, Hnilec and
Torysa rivers (Horváthová2003). In addition to floods,
Kotarba (2004) considered the debris flow event of 1813
among the most intensive ones in the Zelenépleso Valley in
the High Tatra Mts. Within the period of the LIA large
debris flows occurred not only in the Tatra Mts. Perhaps the
most known has been the event in the MaláFatra Mts in
1848, which destroyed the village of Štefanováunder Veľký
Rozsutec Mt (1,610 m a.s.l.).
After the World War Two, the most unfortunate terrain
adjustment during vast collectivization of agriculture was the
levelling of former cultivation terraces. The increased
intensity of runoff processes after collectivization is also
confirmed by the vertical accretion of colluvium, as well as
aggradation in the valley bottoms, reaching approximately
1 m (Stankoviansky 2003). Soil erosion on large agricultural
blocks, intensified due to extreme hydro-meteorological
events, is frequently accompanied by muddy floods and flash
floods. Perhaps the most terrifying event so far was that of
May 1, 1996, in the village of Ivanka pri Nitre, where 175
houses were flooded by mud including four that crushed
down seriously threatening human lives (Stankoviansky
2002). In 1998, a flash flood on the MaláSvinka Brook
killed 44 people in the village of Jarovnice (the Flysch
Carpathians) due to bank erosion and houses destruction.
Another problem linked with soil erosion in agricultural land
generating large amount of suspended load is intensive
reservoir silting, mainly in the middle and upper dammed
reaches of the Váh River. Considerable amounts of hillslope
material are transported by uprooting of trees mostly during
wind calamities (in 1941, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1964 and 1976,
2004, Fig. 4.15). According Hreško et al. (2005), there has
also been a rise in the frequency of gravitational processes
and snow avalanche intensity since the winter of 2000,
particularly in the forest belt (Fig. 4.16). At present, the
significance of anti-erosion function of woodlands is often
weakened by large-scale clear-cuts, inappropriate technol-
ogy of log skidding, construction of unmetalled roads, ski
tracks, ski lifts, etc. Concerning recent fluvial processes,
erosion prevails over accumulation as the forested slopes do
not release sufficient material so as to reduce the erosive
activity of streams. Geomorphologically efficient fluvial
processes take place only under high water levels, caused
either by heavy rainfalls or snowmelt, with the resulting
continuous channel incision and narrowing (c.f. Kidováet al.
2016; Rusnák and Lehotský2014).
Significant anthropogenic landforms are heaps of tailings.
As a result of coal mining, they arose in the vicinity of towns
56 M. Lehotský and M. Rusnák
of VeľkýKrtíš, Handlováand Novák. Another occurrence of
heaps is related to the extraction of asbestos (Dobšiná) and
magnesite (Jelšava and Lubeník). Many heaps have wit-
nessed ore mining in the past (environs of BanskáŠtiavnica,
Špania dolina, Rožňava, NižnáSlaná, Smolník, Švábovce).
The largest and newest heaps were created next to large
metallurgical factories, especially near towns Žiar nad Hro-
nom and Sereď. Many areas were changed by large quarries
for limestone and other solid rocks. Limestone quarries are
located mainly in the core mountains and karst areas
Fig. 4.15 The consequence of
wind disaster in the High Tatra
Mts. in 2014 was 2.7 million
m
3
of destroyed trees. Since that
time several not so serious events
occurred (photo M. Lehotský)
Fig. 4.16 In June 2014, the
Vrátna valley and Terchová
village in the north part of the
MaláFatra Mts. were affected by
heavy rain, which generated
landslides in the subalpine zone.
These in turn triggered several
debris flows. The valley-station of
the cableway at the head of the
valley was destroyed and covered
by about 3 m thick layer of
debris. The village situated at the
end of the valley suffered from a
large flood (photo M. Lehotský)
4 Geomorphological History of Slovak Landscape 57
(Devínska Kobyle, Rohožník, Trstín, NovéMesto nad
Váhom, HornéSrnie, LietavskáLúčka, Včeláre, Plešivc).
Many large gravel extraction pits, flooded by groundwater,
arose at localities rich in gravels and sands and are used for
recreational purposes (Zlatépiesky, Rusovce, Štrkovec,
Seneckéjazerá, Zelenávoda near NovéMesto nad Váhom).
4.5 Conclusions
Geomorphological history of two major geotectonic domains
of Slovakia, the Western Carpathians and the Pannonian
basin can be traced back to the Miocene. Their landscape
features are mainly the result of several phases of tectonic
movements and subaerial factors. The Western Carpathians
and the Slovak lowlands as parts of Pannonian Basin were
significantly reshaped by processes conditioned by a highly
fluctuating climate pattern in the Quaternary. Mountain
glaciation affected most of Slovak mountains and periglacial
processes in the extraglacial zone became significantly
imprinted in the topography of Slovakia. Human impact on
landscape can be found mainly in old and contemporary
mining areas as heaps of tailings, along water courses
(damming and training), along motorway constructions and
slopes suitable for skiing (ski pists), as well as in arable land
(large plots affected by soil erosion) and in suburbanized
areas due to house and road construction (trenches, surface
levelling, etc.). The geodiversity of Slovakia demonstrates
that glacial landforms, karst phenomena, remnants of vol-
canic landforms as well as rocky relief of the Klippen Belt,
can serve as an interesting point accessible to tourists as well
as for further scientific research. As far as geomorphological
research of the Slovak landscape is concerned, it seems that
it is time to apply modern research supported by LiDAR and
geochronological data more widely. Such research strategy
can bring new insights into several geomorphic problems,
including the assessment of age and origin of glaciofluvial
fans, valley bottoms development, recent and contemporary
tectonic movements, river behaviour and planation surfaces.
Acknowledgements he research was supported by Science Grant
Agency (VEGA) of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic
and the Slovak Academy of Sciences; 02/0086/21. The authors wish to
thank Dr. Ján Lacika for providing photos.
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Milan Lehotskýis a physical geographer and fluvial geomorphologist at the
Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He was many
years head of the Department of Physical Geography, Geomorphology and
Natural Hazards. His research topics are responses of fluvial systems to
environmental changes, sedimentological connectivity, evolution trajecto-
ries, hydromorphology and GIS and remote sensing applications in rivers
and landforms research. He is also working as an external lecturer at the
Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology, the Faculty of Natural
Sciences of the Comenius University in Bratislava.
MilošRusnákis a fluvial geomorphologist at the Institute of Geography of
the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Department of Physical Geography,
Geomorphology and Natural Hazards). His research topics are fluvial geo-
morphology, spatial data processing in GIS, UAV data acquisition and
processing, fluvial processes and sediment connections in gravel-bed rivers
and remote sensing applications in rivers and landforms research. He is the
author and co-author of several papers dealing with fluvial system evolution
in the Outer Western Carpathians.
60 M. Lehotský and M. Rusnák
