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The article discusses avalanche occurrence in the Slovenian Alps (SE Alps) in the context of climate change. It analyses the relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation and maximum snow depth over the last two centuries, and the relationships between maximum snow depth and avalanches over the last three decades. We argue that higher temperatures lead to precipitation in the form of rain at higher elevations even in winter, so that major wet avalanches occur already in winter rather than in early spring, as was more common in the past. A case study of extreme avalanches in January 2021 is presented to support the hypothesis.

Boundary stones are physical markers that identify land borders and above all changes thereto. They are often placed in particularly visible places and inscribed with various kinds of relevant information. They are used for marking borders between countries or between various levels of administrative units within countries as well as for delimiting private landholdings. In the territory of the former Habsburg Monarchy, one can locate many boundary stones that, for example, marked the boundaries of seigniorial, dominical, and church estates as well as administrative and provincial borders. This contribution presents the latter, that is, boundary stones that marked the “Slovenian” section of the border which separated the Duchy of Styria and the Kingdom of Hungary until the end of the First World War, with a particular focus on the wider area of the Municipality of Ljutomer. Although these boundary stones no longer serve their original purpose, in some areas they still coincide with municipal and cadastral boundaries.

The Soča River is an important water source, and its water potential was used early for transport and energy production, in the last century especially for electricity. For this reason, the Soča Valley is (was) a permanent »testing ground« for large hydropower plans. Several hydropower plants were built in its middle and lower reaches, generating over 1,100 GWh of electricity per year, and the potential of the Soča River is estimated at 1,800 GWh. In the period from the Second World War until Slovenia’s independence, ambitious plans for the construction of hydropower plants appeared every decade. The chronology of events and the changing arguments »for« and »against« construction are presented, and the development of the discussions is also placed in the context of the development of the idea of nature conservation and participation.

Subglacial carbonate deposits have been exposed on the lee sides of small protuberances on a bare polished and striated limestone bedrock surface in the immediate vicinity of the disappearing small glaciers in the south-eastern Alps (N Slovenia and NE Italy). The uranium-thorium dating of these carbonates indicates that they were deposited during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Younger Dryas (YD). The small glaciers in the Slovenian Alps (i.e., the Triglav and Skuta glaciers) are generally considered relicts of the Little Ice Age that were not continuously present due to the warm Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO). If these glaciers had completely melted during the HCO, the the subglacial carbonates of the LGM and YD would have been exposed to frost weathering and would have had little chance of being preserved to the present day. While it has been postulated that subglacial carbonates are not very resistant to such weathering, no direct data have been available to date. Therefore, the objective of our study was to determine the rate of freeze-thaw weathering of subglacial carbonate deposits. Freeze-thaw analysis was performed in a controlled freeze-thaw chamber under dry and wet conditions. Preliminary results after 56 freeze-thaw cycles indicate an average mass loss of 2.13%. According to the high-altitude meteorological station adjacent to the Triglav Glacier, there is an average of 19 freeze and thaw cycles per year when there is no snow cover, indicating an average mass loss of 0.73% per year and a total mass loss in about 2000 years. These laboratory results suggest that the subglacial carbonates would likely have weathered in the absence of glaciers during the HCO and thus can be considered indicative of the recently exposed ice- or glacier-free surface for the first time since their deposition.

The retreat of ice shelves and glaciers over the last century provides unequivocal evidence of recent global warming. Glacierets (miniature glaciers) and ice patches are important components of the cryosphere that highlight the global retreat of glaciers, but knowledge of their behaviour prior to the Little Ice Age is lacking. Here, we report the uranium–thorium age of subglacial carbonate deposits from a recently exposed surface previously occupied by the disappearing Triglav Glacier (southeastern European Alps) that may elucidate the glacier's presence throughout the entire Holocene. The ages suggest the deposits' possible preservation since the Last Glacial Maximum and Younger Dryas. These thin deposits, formed by regelation, are easily eroded if exposed during previous Holocene climatic optima. The age data indicate the glacier's present unprecedented level of retreat since the Last Glacial Maximum and the potential of subglacial carbonates as additional proxies to highlight the extraordinary nature of the current global climatic changes.

Various ice bodies are an important source of paleoenvironmental data, and their study improves the understanding of present and future environmental conditions. Their changes are an important indicator of climate change. This special issue of Acta geographica Slovenica draws attention to the changing and disappearing cryosphere across the globe, with an emphasis on the southeastern Alps, and the necessity to conduct research in this field before the ice disappears forever. This paper briefly summarizes the current body of knowledge on glaciers, permafrost, cave ice, lake and river ice, and snow in the southeastern Alps, and it presents the contribution of Acta geographica Slovenica to this research and the main highlights of all five papers included in this special issue.

The Triglav Glacier in the Julian Alps and the Skuta Glacier in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps are among the south-easternmost glaciers in the Alps. Historical data show that ice masses are undergoing mass loss as the overall climate warms. Glacier ice and cave ice contain a wealth of paleoclimatic information, and rapid sampling is needed if any such information is to be saved before the ice is completely melted. We present the first comprehensive geochemical and water isotope data from glacier ice, meltwater, spring water, and cave ice in the Mount Triglav area and glacier ice from the Skuta Glacier. The samples primarily reflect the initial precipitation signal that has been greatly modified by the input of local CaCO3-rich dust with lesser amounts of marine aerosol and vegetation debris.

Various geodetic and lidar measurements performed on the Triglav Glacier (Julian Alps, Slovenia) make it possible to study not only the extent of the glacier but also changes in its thickness and volume. These measurements also make it possible to calculate the geodetic mass balance of the glacier. Thickness and volume changes were calculated using glacier area measurements from 1952, 1975, and 1992, and annually between 1999 and 2016. The mean thickness decreased from 39.2m in 1952 to 2.45m in 2012. The maximum thickness decreased from 48.3 m in 1952 to 5.2 m in 2007. The mean specific mass balance was calculated for the area of 1 hectare that the glacier covered in 2016. From 1952 to 2016, the annual specific mass balance was −0.45m w.e.a−1.

The accuracy and uncertainty of paleoclimate interpretations of geochemical and isotopic proxies from stalagmites depend critically on how accurately isotopic signals are transmitted through the vadose zone of the aquifer and how the elemental composition of the groundwater feeding the stalagmite changes as it passes through the aquifer.Results of the first year (2021) of drip-water monitoring at 15 drip sites in the Jama v Dovčku Cave in SE Slovenia are presented. Cumulative monthly samples were analysed for δ18O of water, δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), elemental composition of drip-water and concentration and δ13C of CO2 in the cave atmosphere. While the seasonal variability of δ18O of precipitation in 2021 at the nearest meteorological station exceeded 10 ‰ (from –15.42 ‰ in January to –5.28 in June), the intra-annual variability of δ18O of drip-water was reduced to 0.18–1.28 ‰ and showed no correlation with the thickness of the roof, which varied between >1 and 49 m. A discernible annual cyclicity was observed at some drip sites, with the highest δ18O values determined in winter and the lowest in late summer. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) δ13C values exhibited a wide range (between –15.5 and –5.0 ‰), and drip sites could be divided into two groups: some drip sites exhibited large seasonal variability (up to 9.9 %) with low values in the warmer season, while the others varied within 2 concentration in the cave atmosphere was significantly higher from May to October, about 4000 to 8000 ppm, while it fluctuated between 700 and 1500 ppm in the colder part of the year. The δ13C values of CO2 varied between –23.8 and –15.2 ‰ and decreased exponentially with CO2 concentration. Similar to CO2, the δ13C values of DIC also decreased exponentially with increasing DIC concentration. The δ13C value of “added” CO2 in the atmosphere obtained from the δ13C x (C/C0-1) vs. (C/C0-1) plot (Sayles &% Curry, 1988) was –23.4 ± 2.6 ‰, which is almost identical to the CO2 added to the drip-water estimated from DIC concentration and δ13C values of DIC (–23.9 ± 3.4 ‰, considering the isotopic fractionation factor between CO2(g) and HCO3- from Mook et al. 1974). Chemical analysis showed that drip sites with a large seasonality of δ13C values have significantly lower saturation indices with respect to calcite in the warmer part of the year and that earlier calcite precipitation is most likely to occur at drip sites with lower drip rates. Reference:Mook et al., 1974, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 22,169–186.Sayles & Curry, 1988, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 52, 2963–2978. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: We acknowledge the financial support of Slovenian Research Agency (J1-2478).

The soil organic carbon (SOC) was determined in soils of enclosed karst depressions (dolines) (NW Dinaric Mts.) to define their potential for organic carbon sequestration. SOC was measured in the forest, succession (scrubland), and grassland plots at the bottom of dolines at four depths (0–40 cm) and for 40 cm soil layer SOC stock was calculated. We demonstrated that the prevailing fine soil fractions, the C/N ratio and soil thickness play a positive role in the storage capacity of SOC in dolines regardless land use type. Grasslands have the lowest SOC storage capacity (106 t/ha/40 cm), while the highest SOC storage capacity is in succession plots (130 t/ha/40 cm). The last are covered by shrub communities dominated by Prunus spinosa, forming dense communities, and are typical of abandoned croplands or meadows that have been impacted by high levels of nutrients during cultivation phase. At this stage, there is no additional nutrient input in studied plots, which lowers the nutrient content and increases the C/N ratio. C/N ratio is the highest in the forest, where SOC stock capacity is 116 t/ha/40 cm. Given the trend towards the abandonment of agricultural land at Kras Plateau (SW Slovenia), we can expect more overgrowth of dolines, and thus an increase in carbon stocks and stabilization of organic carbon in forest soils. In contrary, we noticed the alarming decrease in grasslands and increase in urban land. The SOC storage in 2020 was for 12,538 t/ha/40 cm lower than in 2002. Although grasslands showed the lowest SOC storage, their contribution to total SOC storage in dolines is very important. Since there is a lack of studies on carbon stocks in doline soils, our research is of great importance and a novelty and gives an important background for further research on SOC stock in karst landscapes worldwide. Bibliografija: str. 9-10. Abstract.

This article presents a Geographic Information System (GIS) assessment of Landslide Susceptibility Zonation (LSZ) in North Macedonia. Because of the weak landslide inventory, statistical method (frequency ratio) is combined with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). In this study, lithology, slope, plan curvature, precipitations, land cover, distance from streams, and distance from roads were selected as precondition factors for landslide occurrence. There are two advantages of the approach used. The first is the possibility of comparing of the results and cross-validation between the statistical and expert based methods with an indication of the advantages and drawbacks of each of them. The second is the possibility of better weighting of precondition factors for landslide occurrence, which can be useful in cases of weak landslide inventory. The final result shows that in the case of weak landslide inventory, LSZmap created with the combination of both models provide better overall results than each model separately.

A boundary stone, boundary marker, border marker or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies a land boundary, especially a change in the direction of a boundary. Usually, it is a stone. Natural stone was used for boundary stones, which were later made of concrete or other materials. They were usually placed in a particularly visible spot. Many boundary stones feature information, such as an abbreviation identifying the holder of the border and a date. Boundary stones separating countries usually include abbreviations of countries they are separating, as well as the date when the border was delineated. We focused on boundary stones in the territory of modern-day Slovenia, which in the Habsburg Monarchy, before World War I, divided the Duchy of Styria and the Kingdom of Hungary and, in the interwar period, the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. These boundary stones no longer serve their original purpose; however, as markers of the past, they are historical witnesses. They represent an administrative legacy that is today mostly hidden in the cognitive perception of these boundaries.

Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009–2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we pres ent a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action “Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society” funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wild land fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence.

Članek prinaša pregled glavnih tipov, temeljnih lastnosti in učinkov negradbenih protipoplavnih ukrepov. Ugotavljajmo, da uporaba negradbenih ukrepov izhaja iz geografskih raziskav in da so v zadnjih desetletjih vse pomembnejši tudi v drugih strokah, ki se ukvarjajo s poplavami. Izkazalo se je namreč, da samo gradbeni protipoplavni ukrepi ne zadoščajo več za tako kompleksno sodobno družbo, ki jo sicer zaznamujejo tehnizacija, individualizacija in informacijske tehnologije, po drugi strani pa pogrešamo poznavanje nevarnih naravnih procesov, kot so poplave. Negradbeni ukrepi obsegajo širok spekter dejavnosti, ki segajo vse od ukrepov upravljanja porečij in coniranja oziroma vzpostavitve evidenc poplavne ogroženosti, do monitoringa poplav in opozarjanja pred njimi ter ozaveščanja in nenazadnje tudi gospodarskih dejavnosti, kot je zavarovalništvo. Izziv ostaja, kako voditi in povezati negradbene ukrepe, da bi dolgoročno prispevali k poplavni varnosti – kot najbolj učinkovita se je izkazala kombinacija različnih vrst ukrepov, kjer nekateri vplivajo dolgoročno, drugi pa prispevajo kratkoročno. The article provides an overview of the main types, basic properties and effects of non-structural flood protection measures. The authors note that the use of non-structural measures stems from geographical research and that they have become increasingly important in other flood-dealing disciplines in recent decades. It turned out that structural flood protection measures alone are no longer enough for a complex modern society, which is characterized by technicalization, individualization and information technology, but on the other hand we lack knowledge of natural hazards, such as floods. Non-structural measures cover a wide range of activities, ranging from river basin management and zoning measures or the establishment of flood risk records to flood monitoring and warning, as well as awareness-raising and, last but not least, economic activities such as insurance. The challenge remains how to manage and integrate non-structural measures to contribute to flood safety in the long term – a combination of different types of measures has proven to be most effective, with some having long-term effects and others contribute to short-term effects.

Acta geographica Slovenica je znanstvena revija za vsa področja geografije in sorodnih ved. Izdaja jo Geografski inštitut Antona Melika ZRC SAZU, zalaga Založba ZRC in sozalaga Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti. Med letoma 1952 in 1976 je revija izhajala občasno, nato enkrat letno, od leta 2003 dvakrat letno, od leta 2019 pa izhaja trikrat letno. Od leta 1995 revija izhaja tudi na spletu. Od leta 1981 je revija vključena v Scopus, od leta 2003 pa v Web of Science. Je med najbolj citiranimi slovenskimi znanstvenimi revijami v tujini. Leta 2020 je izšel njen šestdeseti letnik in tej obletnici je posvečen ta prispevek. // Acta geographica Slovenica is a scientific journal for papers covering all fields of geography and related disciplines. It is issued by the ZRC SAZU Anton Melik Geographical Institute, published by Založba ZRC, and co-published by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. From 1952 to 1976, the journal was published periodically, then once a year, twice a year from 2003, and three times a year since 2019. The online version of the journal has been available since 1995. The journal has been included in Scopus since 1981 and in Web of Science since 2003. It is one of the Slovenian scholarly journals most cited abroad. The 60th volume was published in 2020 and this article is dedicated to the milestone anniversary.

The concept of connectivity, especially hydrological connectivity, is used in Earth and environmental sciences as a term and as a conceptual framework for addressing spatial and temporal variability in runoff and sediment transport. Hydrological connectivity can be defined as the transfer of water and sediment through a fluvial system or a dynamic linkage between surface and subsurface waters flowing through a landscape. Five forms of hydrological connectivity may be distinguished: stream-hillslope connectivity, river-floodplain connectivity, stream-lake connectivity, longitudinal or upstream-downstream connectivity, and stream-groundwater connectivity. All of them are interconnected. Hydrological connections are not only unidirectional but cover multiple dimensions and operate across different temporal scales. As a framework, connectivity is useful for understanding spatial variations in runoff. // Pojem povezljivosti, zlasti hidrološke povezljivosti, se v vedah o Zemlji in okolju uporablja kot strokovni izraz in kot konceptualni okvir za obravnavo prostorske ter časovne spremenljivosti v pretoku vode in prenosu gradiva. Hidrološko povezljivost lahko opredelimo kot prenašanje vode in sedimentov skozi rečni sistem ali kot dinamično povezavo med nadzemnimi in podzemnimi vodami, ki tečejo skozi pokrajino. Razlikujemo lahko pet oblik hidrološke povezljivosti: povezljivost med vodotokom in pobočjem, povezljivost med vodotokom in njegovim poplavnim območjem, povezljivost med vodotokom in jezerom, vzdolžno povezljivost med vodotokovim povirnim in izlivnim delom ter povezljivost med vodotokom in podzemno vodo. Vse so med sabo povezane. Vodne povezave niso samo enosmerne, ampak imajo več razsežnosti glede na prostor in čas. Kot okvir je povezljivost koristna za razumevanje prostorskih razlik pri odtoku.

V knjigi je stirinajst poglavij s podrocja naravnih nesrec. V poglavjih so opisana raziskovalna spoznanja ter primeri uporabe sodobnih tehnologij v primeru naravnih nesrec, s poudarkom na domacih odzivih na globalne izzive. Knjiga vsebuje razlicne teme, kot so na primer potresi, suse, vrocinski valovi, poplave, snežni plazovi ter odzivanje in komuniciranje v primeru naravnih nesrec.