Anita BERNATEK
Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University ul. Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland, anita.bernatek@uj.edu.pl

THE INFLUENCE OF PIPING ON MID-MOUNTAIN RELIEF: A CASE STUDY FROM THE POLISH BIESZCZADY MTS. (EASTERN CARPATHIANS)

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The influence of piping on the mid-mountain areas mantled with Cambisols under a temperate climate is very important. The detailed geomorphological mapping was conducted in four selected catchments from the Polish Bieszczady Mts. of Eastern Carpathians. A number of 451 piping forms and 136 related features (pipe inlets and outlets) were mapped in the field. It allows coming to a modified classification of piping forms and related features together with detailed morphometric characteristics. Usually, the pipes develop up to 0.77 m depth and at the outlet their mean width is 0.30-0.40 m and height is 0.30-0.50 m. On the land surface closed depressions and sinkholes indicate piping activity. The evolution of these forms result in blind gullies formation. Moreover, piping causes the formation of depositional forms, such as piping fans. All these forms develop both on the grassland and forest on slopes with an average gradient of 12°. The role of piping as a morphogenetic process in the study area it is reflected in the formation and developing of the new and existing gullies. Pipes also occur in gullies subjected to landslides, and this is the result of adjustment to new runoff conditions. The overall results indicate that piping is included among the geomorphological processes in a mountainous region with Cambisols, not previously thought of as a piping-prone type of soils.