Cone Karst - Continuous areas in Slovenia

Cone karst is a distinctive karst landscape characterized by isolated conical hills, groups of conical hills, and uvalas. Conical hills are up to a few dozen meters high, long, and wide, usually with a rounded shape. They can appear individually or in groups, where multiple hills share the same base. Uvalas are depressions between conical hills, up to a few dozen meters deep and a few hundred meters long and wide, featuring gradual transitions into the surrounding terrain.

In this study, cone karst landforms in Slovenia were detected using a semi-automated method based on the Topographic Openness Index (TOI). The cone hills were delineated by the last closed contour line within the concave parts of the surface, identified using the Topographic Openness Index (TOI). Uvalas occur in concave parts of the surface also identified using TOI. We delineated uvalas based on the last closed contour line. Using density-based clustering, we identified contiguous areas of cone karst in Slovenia.

A total of 4,765 individual conical hills, 387 groups of conical hills, and 851 uvalas were identified, leading to the classification of 29 contiguous cone karst areas. Most individual conical hills have an area between 13,000 m² and 53,000 m², heights between 14 m and 30 m, and slopes of 11° to 17°. Groups of conical hills are larger, with areas ranging from 18,000 m² to 77,000 m² and heights of 30 m to 50 m. Uvalas vary in size, covering between 26,000 m² and 100,000 m², with depths of 15 m to 30 m. All three landforms predominantly align in the NW-SE direction.

The largest Continuous cone karst area is located in the Dinaric Karst, encompassing Banjšice, Trnovski gozd, Hrušica, and Nanos. Other significant areas include Postojnska gmajna, Javorniki, Snežnik.

Aknowledgements:

Mazej, T., 2024. Geomorfološke značilnosti kopastega krasa v Sloveniji. Magistrsko delo. Ljubljana, Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za geografijo. URL: https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=161117&lang=slv