Current state of knowledge and turning points in geomorphologic studies on the present-day evolution of the Tatra Mountains

Studies on the dynamics of geomorphologic processes occurring in the Tatras began in the 1950s and continue to pique the interest of researchers. The history of the study of Tatra relief morphodynamic changes is marked by certain breakthrough stages associated with the emergence of key works yielding multiplier effects. These works identified new directions and sparked new trends in geomorphologic research as well as inspired deeper analysis of the study area. A significant acceleration of geomorphologic research in the Tatras has occurred in the most recent decade. This resulted mostly from the use of complex monitoring of key dynamic geomorphologic processes and the use of lichenometric and dendrogeomorphologic methods, which enable the identification of complete event chronologies. The present study reviews the most important quantitative studies on the evolution and rate of contemporary geomorphologic processes in the Tatras as well as novel research data produced in the last several years. The authors note principal research directions and the discuss relevant works on the identification of contemporary and relict periglacial relief along with papers on the dynamics of slope and fluvial processes and anthropogenic erosion. The paper also describes certain tendencies observed recently in the realm of morphogenetic processes associated with ongoing climate change.

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Opracowanie rekordu w ramach umowy 509/P-DUN/2018 ze środków MNiSWprzeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (2019).