Mountain soils derived from massive rocks were studied in the northwestern Wedel Jarlsberg Land. Main soil properties were examined for collected samples. Soils were classified as lithosols with common loamy and silty composition, and small amount of colloidal fraction. Soils were mostly alkaline due to high content of CaCO3. Much more organic substance occurred at westerly- than easterly-exposed hills and located close to a sea. Examined soils contained much soluble forms of Ca, Mg and occasionally Na, little of P and K. Density of plant cover corresponded to contents of organic substance.

Along the paper the new method called Invertebrate Bankfull Assessment method (IBA method) of determination of bankfull discharge is presented. The investigation of bankfull discharge using IBA were performed within one Polish Carpathian stream in the mountain region: the Ochotnica Stream. As an index of bankfull the existence of certain species of invertebrates was used which are present and resistant to specific water discharge conditions. The borders within a cross section of the mountain stream with a gravel bed were defined where characteristic invertebrates are present which are recognized as bankfull borders. Finally three invertebrates benches (IB-ms) were recognized which are characterized by very specific invertebrate species. Bankfull discharge was calculated up to this IB-ms and corelated using Canonical Correspondence Analysis with other values of bankfull calculated for a cross section using different bankfull.

The Brzanka Mountain Range in the Ciężkowickie Foothills has a dense river network. Unfortunately the contemporary maps contain only the names of some main rivers of the Brzanka Mountain Range. Local communities use the same set of names of rivers as cartographers, while studies in the historical geography of the Brzanka Mountain Range reveal a wealth of local hydronyms that have seemingly been forgotten. The article attempts both to reconstruct a set of hydronyms of the Brzanka Mountain Range and to explain their etymology. It shows that hydronyms change over time and that studies on local hydronyms can help restore the collection of the names of rivers in the Brzanka Mountain Range and provide interesting information related to the past of this region. Moreover, they reveal contemporary unknown facts related to the natural environment and settlement processes in the Middle Ages. A visual summary of the article is a map showing the Brzanka Mountain Range with its river network and associated hydronyms.

Forest stand decomposition of the Silesian Beskids which is followed by the tree cutting has been observed since the beginning of the 21st century. Changes in forest management due to the introduction of heavy machines for forest work mainly for skidding have been observed in the Silesian Beskids for the last decade. The paper presents results of a three-year investigation of erosion gullies forming in mountain forest after the skidding performed with use of heavy equipment. In the Wilczy Potok catchment comprising an area of above 100 ha 40 gullies were identified. The measurement of the length and depth of gullies showed that the total volume of soil and rock material removed from the catchment area due to erosion accelerated by skidding exceeded 9 000 m3. The year erosion rate for deep gullies was found to be 10%. The presented results show that necessary protective actions and preventive measures should be taken to mitigate the soil degradation processes.

Our survey of data collected in the Chromosome Number Database for Polish angiosperms indicated that the 1,498 species with chromosome counts represent 40% of the total angiosperms (3,719) occurring in Poland, including 1,205 native species (53% of native species) and 194 anthropophytes (56% of anthropophytes). The chromosome numbers are known for all native species occurring in Poland within 298 genera and 46 families, and for all anthropophytes from 79 genera and 11 families. The remaining angiosperm groups are less explored: chromosome counts from Poland are known for 9% of cultivated species and 5% of ephemerophytes. According to generic basic chromosome numbers, 46.44% of Polish angiosperms have been classified as polyploid. By three different threshold methods, the contribution of polyploid plants to the Polish flora is 64.64%, 50.89% or 42.89%. Polyploidy is more common among indigenous than non-indigenous plants, and the ploidy distribution among plants from the Polish Tatras does not differ significantly from that observed in the rest of native Polish plants.

Arctic glaciers depend on supply of moisture, mostly from the Atlantic. The snowline is remarkably high in northeast Siberia, remote from this source. Because of differential solar radiation receipt, local glaciers have a northward−facing tendency throughout the Arctic. This is weaker than in dry mid−latitudes but low sun angles enhance the effects of shading, compensating for the broader range of aspects ( i.e. slope directions) illuminated in summer. Statistics from the World Glacier Inventory and other sources show that mass balance differences between slopes of different aspects give both more glaciers, and lower glaciers, facing the favoured direction: usually North. This is clear, for example, for local glaciers (and for all small glaciers) in central Spitsbergen and in Axel Heiberg Island. Wind effects (drifting snow to leeward slopes) are much less important, except in northwest Europe from Norway to Novaya Zemlya which is under the strong influence of westerly winds, greatest in the Polar and Sub−polar Urals. A thorough analysis is provided of aspect data for local glaciers within and near the Arctic Circle, and of variation in glacier mid−altitude with aspect and position. There is consistency between mean glacier aspect (in terms of numbers) and aspect with lowest glaciers, everywhere except in Wrangel Island.

The aim of the article is to analyse Michel Bernanos’ fantastic series The Other Side of the Mountain from an ecocritical perspective (among others, the literary text as L. Buell’s “green script”). The series first published in the sixties, constitutes an integral part of the well-known Angoisse collection edited by the publishing house Fleuve Noir, and its author is one of the most prominent figures of the "Fleuve Noir school of the fantastic". The innovative character of The Other Side of the Mountain consists of merging emblematic fantastic elements with protoecological ideas, which were, however, popularised by deep ecology only in the nineties.

The aim of the study was to compare the serum protein profile of Bernese Mountain Dogs (BMDs) reacting positive for Bb in snap testing with the serum protein profile of dogs of other breeds (healthy and with clinical borreliosis) using the MALDI time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) technique. The observations included five groups of dogs. BMDs reacting positively to Bb in snap serological testing and showing symptoms of borreliosis (group 1), BMDs for which no borreliosis symptoms were determined but with seropositivity for Bb determined with snap serological tests (group 2), clinically healthy BMDs with no antibodies for Bb found in the serum (group 3), five dogs of different breeds, reacting positively in serological testing, in which borreliosis symptoms were observed (group 4), clinically healthy dogs of different breeds with negative reaction in tests towards Bb (group 5). A proteomic analysis demonstrated the presence of five identical protein fractions among all five groups. An additional two protein fractions of approximately 7.630 and 15.260 kDa were found in all the serum samples obtained from the dogs positive for borrelia in a snap test, both in those exhibiting symptoms of borreliosis, and seropositive BMDs not presenting symptoms of the disease. These two additional protein fractions may be used to differentiate between seropositive and seronegative B. burgdorferi dogs and may be considered a seropositivity marker, however, it cannot be used to differentiate between animals with the clinical form of the disease and those that are only seropositive.

The article presents the project and realization of Ivigna (in Merano, Italy) aerial cable car project designed by architect Roland Baldi. The boxed form has been boldly and confidently introduced into the surrounding mountains, despite distancing itself from standard references to genius loci of the natural landscape. This project presents an avant-garde, innovative and reliable approach to the composition of architecture in the context of a mountain landscape. Despite the severity of forms, a kind of architectural rhythm and lightness of shaping the object introduced in the context of an open space can be sense here. It is essential to seek new forms and technologies for communing with nature and culture, in order to shape interesting modernist architecture, entering the twenty-first century.

One of the most significant global climatic events in the Cenozoic was the transition from greenhouse to icehouse conditions in Antarctica. Tectonic evolution of the region and gradual cooling at the end of Eocene led to the first appearance of ice sheets at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary (ca. 34 Ma). Here we report geological record of mountain glaciers that preceded major ice sheet formation in Antarctica. A terrestrial, valley-type tillite up to 65 metres thick was revealed between two basaltic lava sequences in the Eocene– Oligocene Point Thomas Formation at Hervé Cove – Breccia Crag in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. K-Ar dating of the lavas suggests the age of the glaciation at 45–41 Ma (Middle Eocene). It is the oldest Cenozoic record of alpine glaciers in West Antarctica, providing insight into the onset of glaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands.

The study was conducted on the Biała Lądecka River which is a mountain river. It is similar to many European mountain rivers in terms of hydromorphology and catchment management. The aim of this study was to determine the bioconcentration factors of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Ni, Cr, Cu and Zn) in Ranunculus aquatile (L.) Dumort., Fontinalis antipyretica (L. ex Hedw.), and Lemanea fluviatilis (L.) C.Ag. The content of metals in water, sediment, and submerged plants was determined. The metal concentrations in plants can be arranged as follows: Hg < Cd < Cr < Ni < Cu < Pb <Zn. The highest concentrations of Hg, Ni, Cr, and Cu were observed in F. antipyretica, but the highest concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Zn were in R. aquatile. L. fluviatilis always contained the least amounts of heavy metals. Bioconcentration factors (BCFs) were lowest in L. fluviatilis and highest in F. antipyretica. Among the analyzed metals, plants accumulated the highest amount of Zn, and the least of Hg. The BCFs for Zn were from 24111 (in L. fluviatilis) to 97574 (in R. aquatile), and BCFs for Hg were from 29 (in L. fluviatilis) to 226 (in F. antipyretica).

The authors draw on their experience and past mountain landscape studies to describe an emerging collaborative research project designed to conduct advanced field studies and generate (and test) archaeological landscape models of past hunter-gatherer populations as well as pastoralist and early farming community seasonal transhumance migrations between lowland river valleys of Poland’s Podhale Basin and high altitude forests and meadows its adjacent High Tatra Mountains.

At the end of 2018, when the Hučivá Cave (Hučivá diera, Rausch Keller) was explored in Tatranská Lomnica, profile deposits in rear areas of the cave were found disturbed by an amateur excavation. One stone artefact was first found in back-dirt clay-layer material at the excavation pit, later joined by four more specimens from the cleaned pit profile. The Typological analysis of the artefacts shows, that their closest parallels are found in inventories of the Magdalenian culture. Hučivá is the only cave in the whole Tatras with documented prehistoric settlement and the only Slovak cave with evidence of the Magdalenian culture. The discovery provides new information concerning subsistence strategies of late Pleistocene hunters in High Tatra Mountain landscapes. In light of this discovery, the possibility of seasonal movements along the northern slopes of this mountains range to the east and then south, through the mountain passes to the upper Spiš region should now be considered.

The Sudety Mountains are located close to industrial areas of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic and are the most polluted Polish mountains, Among air pollutants such as SO2 NO,, fly ashes from local and transboundary power plants emission have a significant input. In determination of soil pollutants, magnetic susceptibility measurements find application. The use otmagnetic measurements as a proxy lor chemical methods is possible because air pollutants and magnetic particles arc interrelated. The major sources or air pollution in the Sudety Mountains arc fly ashes from burning process of fossil fuels. This paper presents content and distribution of heavy metals in soil profiles, depending on their natural or industrial origin and the results of magnetic susceptibility measurements.

Cam Mountain in An Giang Province, Vietnam, is a granite peak that is severely fractured and eroded on its slopes and summit. Trees cover the top of the mountain and around the side of the mountain. The roads are the primary means of transportation for indigenous people and tourists daily. Recently, there has been a phenomenon of large-sized boulders rolling down from the top of the mountain, causing an accident and killing tourists. To investigate the internal causes of landslides on a 2.3 km road stretch, geophysical profiles using GPR and seismic refraction methods were conducted to clarify the current status of geological structures beneath the road surface. The refractive seismic data analysis revealed four distinct layers based on elastic wave propagation velocity. Velocity values range from 1000 to 3000 m/s for the 2 upper layers corresponding to the weathered, broken, and highly fractured rock layers and in the lower 2 layers from 3000 to more than 4500 m/s, respectively corresponding to less fractured rock on the depth of more than 50 m. According to GPR data, the structural cross-section to an average depth of 30 m is a more complex picture. Detected 6 layers with different degrees of fracture cracking and showing different structural zones. In a few places are the drainage creeks from the mountain. These places need to be monitored regularly to have a basis for predicting landslides and rockfalls in the area of Cam Mountain. Landslides occur in geological rocks which are of different ages: claystone, mudstone, siltstone, shale, or marlstone. The rock-falls occur in more compact rocks: metamorphic or igneous rocks.

There is a cascade of hydroelectric power plants built on the Váh River. From a water-management point of view, the natural channel is used to drain extreme discharges. During most of the year, discharges are regulated by water-management structures. These discharges are not used for energy-related purposes; therefore, it is important to determine the optimal discharge that will not negatively affect the ecosystem of the stream. The minimum balance discharge (hydro-ecological discharge) was determined based on the instream flow incremental methodology (IFIM) using the riverine habi-tat simulation system (RHABSIM). Input data were obtained from direct measurements on three reference reaches in the area between the cities Piešťany and Nové Mesto nad Váhom. Hydraulic flow characteristics were derived from three measurements at different water levels. Habitat quality was represented by ichthyofauna. Data to determine the habitat suit-ability curves of fish were obtained using a diving technique to collect video footage. The modelling resulted in the quanti-fication of the effect of discharge on ichthyofauna as a bio-indicator of habitat quality, which implied the need of 20 m3∙s–1 for a minimum balance discharge in summer.

The study covered water resources of two mountain streams in the Polish Carpathians. These were the Biała Woda and Czarna Woda streams, the catchments of which are adjacent to each other. Water flows in both streams were measured during the hydrological years from 2006 to 2020. Next, water outflows from the catchments were calculated. The study aimed to determine differences in the water resources of those catchments in a very small mountainous area. The study showed quantitative similarity in water resources in the entire multi-annual period but at the same time large differences in shorter periods. Instantaneous and daily outflows showed the largest differences, but differences in annual outflows of up to 20% were also recorded. Therefore, hydrological data from operational cross-sections to assess water resources of neighbouring uncontrolled watercourses should cover multi-annual mean values. It was found that during periods of increased runoff (from melting snow or precipitation), the outflow from the Biała Woda catchment was much larger, while during rain-free periods, the outflow from the Czarna Woda catchment prevailed. All short- term flood like outflows were at least several tens of per cent higher in the Biała Woda catchment. The higher retention capacity of the Czarna Woda catchment can be attributed to the land use (mainly forest areas). The results can be used for modelling catchments of similar parameters and determining their retention capacity.

The aim of this study was to reconstruct the location mechanism of a Triassic sandstone wedge within folded Palaeozoic rocks. A vertically oriented Buntsandstein succession (Lower Triassic) from Józefka Quarry (Holy Cross Mountains, central Poland), steeply wedged within folded Devonian carbonates, is recognised as an effect of normal faulting within a releasing stepover. The sandstone succession, corresponding to the Zagnańsk Formation in the local lithostratigraphic scheme, is represented by two complexes, interpreted as deposits of a sand-dominated alluvial plain (older complex), and coarse-grained sands and gravels of a braided river system (younger complex). The sandstone complex was primarily formed as the lowermost part of the several kilometres thick Mesozoic cover of the Holy Cross Mountains Fold Belt (HCFB), later eroded as a result of the Late Cretaceous/Paleogene uplift of the area. Tectonic analysis of the present-day position of the deformed sandstone succession shows that it is fault-bounded by a system of strike-slip and normal faults, which we interpret as a releasing stepover. Accordingly, the formation of the stepover in the central part of the late Palaeozoic HCFB is evidence of a significant role of strike-slip faulting within this tectonic unit during Late Cretaceous/Paleogene times. The faulting was probably triggered by reactivation of the terminal Palaeozoic strike-slip fault pattern along the western border of the Teisseyre–Tornquist Zone.

Herein are presented the results of detailed bio- (calcareous dinocysts, calpionellids, foraminifers, saccocomids) and chemostratigraphic (δ13C) studies combined with high-resolution microfacies, rock magnetic and gamma-ray spectrometry (GRS) investigations performed on the upper Kimmeridgian–upper Valanginian carbonates of the Giewont succession (Tatricum, Giewont and Mały Giewont sections, Western Tatra Mountains, Poland). The interval studied covers the contact between the Raptawicka Turnia Limestone (RTL) Fm. and the Wysoka Turnia Limestone (WTL) Fm. Their sedimentary sequence is composed of micrites, pseudonodular limestones, cyanoid packstones, lithoclastic packstone and encrinites. A precise correlation with the previously published Mały Giewont section is ensured by biostratigraphy, rock magnetic and GRS logs. The methodology adopted has enabled the recognition of two stratigraphic discontinuities, approximated here as corresponding to the latest Tithonian–early (late?) Berriasian and the early Valanginian. The hiatuses are evidenced by biostratigraphic data and the microfacies succession as well as by perturbations in isotopic compositions and rock magnetic logs; they are thought to result from a conjunction of tectonic activity and eustatic changes. A modified lithostratigraphic scheme for the Giewont and the Osobita High-Tatric successions is proposed. The top of the RTL Fm. falls in the upper Tithonian, where cyanoid packstones disappear. At the base of the WTL Fm. a new Giewont Member is defined as consisting of a basal lithoclastic packstone and following encrinites.

In order to obtain the change rule of surrounding rock structure displacement and supporting structure internal force with time during the construction of the low mountain ridge tunnel, this paper relies on the Xishan Tunnel Project as the background. During tunneling, the displacement around the tunnel, the subsidence of the surface, the internal force of the steel arch and the pressure between the two layers of support are monitored dynamically. According to the above monitoring and measurement data, and the monitoring data analysis and nonlinear regression fitting, the predicted trend curve is obtained, the displacement change rules and characteristics of various surrounding rocks of the tunnel are obtained, to ensure the construction safety and stability requirements of supporting structure, and to provide a reasonable opportunity for the construction of secondary lining.

The article presents the first pioneering attempt to shape the architectural form in the mountains on the basis of traditional architecture and its further evolution to neoregional modern form. Important here is capitalizing on the tradition and the search for new meeting methods of mountain architecture. This evolution should take place at different levels of development - from research on the forms of the original, by drawing on traditional solutions and prospecting for new solutions. In this methodology became famous Cracow design school in the landscape under the direction of Prof. Włodzimierz Gruszczyński and generations of his students, who in later years, despite the difficulties emphasized the seriousness of the debate on items subject.

According to the current state of research five sand-gravel accumulation levels of Quaternary age are visible in the morphology of the western part of the Holy Cross Mountains, within the Wierna Rzeka, Hutka and Bobrza river valley systems and the lower stretches of the Biała Nida and Czarna Nida river valleys. Two upper levels (V and IV) correspond to valleys formed during the Odranian Glaciation-Saalian, MIS6 and its reccesional phases under the influence of proglacial and extraglacial waters beyond the extent (to the east) of the maximal ice-sheet limit of this glaciation, reaching to the present-day Leśnica-Gnieździska-Łopuszno line. Two lower levels (III and II) are terraces that were typically formed during the climatic conditions thatprevailed during Vistulian stadials. Sands and gravels of the three upper levels (V−III) contain numerous debris flow deposits and cryoturbation structures documenting periglacial conditions during their accumulation. The lowermost level (I) is a typical Holocene floodplain.

Climate deterioration of the Little Ice Age was manifested in the most spectacular way in the glaciated high mountains, but it should also be analysed in term of a climatic concept. Spatial variation in LIA climate is illustrated also in non-glaciated areas of the Northern Hemisphere in a broader contex. Extreme climatic events were forcing factors for mountain slope deformation by geomorphic processes in the High Tatra Mountains. The old chronicles, lichenometric dating of landforms and lacustrine sediments are used to determine the beginning of "Little Ice Age - type events" (about AD 1400) and its end (about AD 1920). During this time span the set of climatic conditions responsible for triggering high-energy geomorphic processes was recognised. The catastrophic hydrometeorological events were concentrated in certain periods. Clustering of weather anomalies and natural disasters resulting from them are discussed in the paper.