Łukasz WIEJACZKA & Małgorzata KIJOWSKA-STRUGAŁA
¹Polish Academy of Sciences,Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Department of Geoenvironmental Research, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Cracow, Poland, phone/fax: +48124224085, e-mail: wieja@zg.pan.krakow.pl
²Polish Academy of Sciences,Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Research Station in Szymbark
38-311 Szymbark 430, Poland, phone/fax: +48183513170, e-mail: mkijowska@zg.pan.krakow.pl

DYNAMICS OF THE CHANNEL BEDS LEVEL IN MOUNTAIN RIVERS IN THE LIGHT OF THE MINIMUM WATER STAGES ANALYSIS

Full text

Changing the position of the river channel bed is one of the more visible morphological processes in mountain areas. The analysis of the dynamics of the position of river channel beds (rivers: Ropa, Zdynia, Wisłok) located in the Polish Carpathians is presented. The different indicators relating to the course of long-term daily water stages (1997-2014) were used: daily, minimum monthly, average minimum monthly and average minimum annual. The analysis conducted using the above-mentioned indicators showed similar results on both direction and scale of changes of river channel beds in a multi-year period. In the alluvial Zdynia River channel deepening was a dominant process (2.2 to 2.4 cm/year). In the alluvial Ropa River channel the raising of the level channel bed was observed (0.3 to 1.3 cm/year). In the case of the Wisłok River the greatest rock bed level stability was noticed (deepening 0.3 cm/year). Two main factors determine changes in the position of the river channel beds: natural and anthropogenic.