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[SPRINGER] Landscapes and Landforms of Slovakia

Lehotský, M., Boltižiar, M. (eds.)
LANDSCAPES AND LANDFORMS OF SLOVAKIA
Springer 2022, 467 s.

A book LANDSCAPES AND LANDFORMS OF SLOVAKIA has been published in recent days.
The book “Landscapes and Landforms of Slovakia” is the first publication published in a world-renowned publishing house providing a view of the landscape units of Slovakia in terms of their characteristic landforms. Relying on current geomorphological research and using knowledge gained in the past, it presents a wealth of geomorphological aspects of the Slovak landscapes. In addition to the presentation of scientific knowledge, the monograph is richly illustrated with pictures, diagrams and graphs, which also allows the reader “non-expert” to get a picture of the geomorphological scenery of Slovakia. The book is the result of the cooperation of geomorphologists, geologists, speleologists and climatologists. The monograph was attended by 43 authors from 14 research centres, including the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak and foreign universities and government institutes under the leadership of the main editor RNDr. Milan Lehotský, PhD., an employee of the Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

The introductory chapter is devoted to the history of research on the relief of Slovakia and its division. The other chapters (21) are divided into three parts:

  • The first part presents the background of the geomorphological diversity of Slovakia, i.e. geological and tectonic development, past and present climatic aspects, and geomorphological development of the Slovak landscape.
  • The second part contains 16 chapters, of which 14 chapters present the morphological specifics of geomorphological units, from the glacier-formed Tatras, the ridge-spur relief of the Low Tatras with a wealth of karst phenomena, through the horst of the Little Carpathians with its planation surfaces, through relict volcanoes and klippen belt landforms and the morphologically diverse Záhorská and Východoslovenská lowlands, the Danube plain as the plain of the inland Danube and Váh Rivers delta, to the unique braided river system and fluvial transformation of the flysch valleys as well as the relief of the intramountain basins and Slovak Karst karst landforms. The last two chapters of the second part deal with relatively small morphological forms – gullies and landslides as natural hazards, which are widespread in the landscape and complement its geomorphological character.
  • The third part presents the main aspects of geoheritage, geoprotection and geotourism in Slovakia. Its chapters present the history of landscape protection, the main protected areas and legislation on the protection of geodiversity and geoheritage, as well as aspects of tourism focused on landscape geomorphology.

As the monograph is offered on the websites of renowned book domains, we assume that it will appeal not only in our country but also in many countries of the world not only geomorphologists, geographers, geologists, climatologists but also scientists and students in environmental studies, ecology, spatial planning, tourism, archaeology and other scientific disciplines as well as the general professional public.

Information about the book and its individual chapters is available at on the publisher’s website.