Rock landforms in the Sokolský hřbet (ridge) and the adjacent Žulovská pahorkatina (hilly land) have been analysed through detailed field mapping at a scale of 1:10,000; subsequently the spatial distribution of these features was analysed using a DEM within a GIS framework. Particular attention was focused upon the shape of the rock landforms, their arrangement, the aspect of their walls, and their topographic position within the two adjacent geomorphological units. Rock landforms in the Sokolský hřbet include frost-riven cliffs, isolated residual rockforms, and blockfields in metamorphic rocks. In contrast, rock landforms in the Žulovská pahorkatina include rock steps and numerous tors exposed from the basal weathering surface. The Sokolský hřbet has been interpreted as a neotectonically uplifted mountainous region; the rock landforms described here are thought to have formed under periglacial conditions during cold periods in the Pleistocene, whilst the extensive granitoid block accumulations developed on marginal fault scarps are thought to result from the exposure of intensively disintegrated rocks due to uplift. Žulovská pahorkatina has been interpreted as a remodelled stripped etch surface, which has been twice glaciated during the Middle Pleistocene. The rock landforms in both units appear to be structurally and lithologically controlled; moreover, various shapes of granite rock landforms are controlled by various types of jointing and parting. The clear differences recognised in both the rock landforms and overall morphology reflects the considerable disparity associated with relief development between two adjacent morphostructural units; such variability provides evidence for a long polygenetic history within the entire study area., Petra Štěpančíková and Matt Rowberry., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Karst landforms can result from a single stage process in which chemical dissolution and mechanical erosion proceed simultaneously or from a two stage process in which chemical dissolution precedes mechanical erosion. During the second of these processes, chemical dissolution leads to the creation of karst features hosting a residual weathering product, here referred to as alterite. An example of one such feature is the enclosed mass of altered rock at Červený Quarry near Klukovice which represents one of the richest localities for exceptionally preserved echinoderm ossicles in the Prague Synform. In this study the processes responsible for the formation of this feature have been investigated. Nineteen samples were obtained from the bioclastic Slivenec Limestone and from these it has been possible to calculate the carbonate volume content, which defines the weathering intensity, and the carbonate rock weathering index, which defines the weathering state. The results demonstrate that carbonate dissolution has not been accompanied by gravitational compaction or the incorporation of mineral inputs. Thin sections analysed under polarised light and under cathodoluminescence emphasise heterogeneous dolomitisation of the limestone. As the weathering grade intensifies, empty rhomboidal pores become increasingly common until, ultimately, the rhomboidal forms are lost due to corrosion and enlargement. In contrast it is rare to find evidence of calcite dissolution and, therefore, the altered mass still hosts almost all of its post dolomitisation micrite, sparite, and bioclasts. Negligible calcite dissolution helps to explain the exceptional nature of the fossil preservation at the site while the dolomite dissolution accounts for the ease with which it is possible to extract the fossils. Further research should focus on better understanding the role of dolomite dissolution in the formation of other important palaeontological localities in the Prague Synform., Matt Rowberry, Caroline Dubois, Olivier Kaufmann, Jean-Marc Baele and Jan Blahůt., and Obsahuje bibliografii