Language: English
The volume consists of 12 papers which address different issues related to the geomorphology of sandstone terrains.
Although we decided not to formally divide the content into sections, there is a logic behind the order of papers. The volume begins with an invited overview paper by Robert Young and Robert Wray who emphasize the need to look closely into the properties of the sandstone itself if the evolution of sandstone landforms is to be better understood. As editors we believe that the papers contained in this volume already show that this lesson is well learnt. The next paper by Peng Hua et al. is also of a review character and introduces the magnificent Danxia landscapes of China, in the formation of which sandstones play a very important part. Considerable research on this subject has been carried out in China, but it is poorly known outside China and this paper, summarizing decades of work, aims to bridge the gap and show where we are.
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Then we move to smaller and smaller spatial scales. Jan Urban presents the variety of sandstone tor shapes in the Central Polish uplands and highlights the role of gravity-driven processes in tor degradation. Decay of an iconic sandstone landform is also the subject of the paper by Zuzana Vařilová et al. who analyze the rock slope stability issues of the largest sandstone arch in Europe, Pravčická brána in the northern Czech Republic. In the next paper, Krzysztof Parzóch and Piotr Migoń explain the origin of unusual sandstone boulder trains in the Stołowe Mountains of south-west Poland and suggest an extreme longevity of residual sandstone boulders. The next two papers concern microforms developed in sandstone. Jiří Adamovič et al. offer a new perspective on the origin of cavernous hollows which frequently dot sandstone rock faces, whilst Václav Cílek et al. describe a rare case of columnar jointing in sandstone – a phenomenon typically associated with volcanic rather than sedimentary clastic rocks.
After that we move underground, into caves developed in sandstones. Peng Hua et al. demonstrate how rock properties influence the evolution of bedding caves in Danxiashan, China, whereas Jan Urban et al. present a comprehensive study of speleothem dating in sandstone caves, discussing various methodological aspects involved in sampling and data interpretation. Interactions between sandstone bedrock, slope processes and soil evolution are the subject of the next two papers, by Jarosław Waroszewski et al. from the Stołowe Mountains and by Andrzej Kacprzak et al. from the Outer Carpathians, both in Poland.
The last paper by Marek Kasprzak and Piotr Migoń introduces to an international readership the geomorphology of the area where the Sandstone Landscapes 2012 conference was held – the Stołowe (Table) Mountains in south-west Poland. Using a high-resolution digital elevation model, they characterize the main geomorphic features and use this evidence to re-assess the validity of previous models of sandstone landscape evolution.
Sandstone Geomorphology
Migon, Piotr; Viles, Heather A. p. 1-2
Rock control in sandstone geomorphology: a tribute to Eiju Yatsu with some Australian examples
Young, Robert W.; Wray, Robert A.L. p. 3-17
A review of Danxia landforms in China
Hua, Peng; Fang, Ren; Zhixin, Pan p. 19-33
The role of gravitational processes in shaping sandstone rock landforms in low mountains: Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains, central Poland
Urban, Jan p. 35-79
Factors and processes in deterioration of a sandstone rock form (Pravcická brána Arch, Bohemian Switzerland NP, Czech Republic)
Varilová, Zuzana; Prikryl, Richard; Zvelebil, Jirí p. 81-101
Deciphering the origin of allochthonous sandstone boulder trains within a mudstone escarpment, Stolowe Mountains, SW Poland
Parzóch, Krzysztof; Migon, Piotr p. 103-122
Spherical and ellipsoidal cavities in European sandstones: a product of sinking carbonate dissolution front
Adamovic, Jirí; Mikuláš, Radek; Navrátil, Tomáš p. 123-149
Sandstone columns of the 3rd Nile Cataract (Nubia, Northern Sudan)
Cílek, Václav; Adamovic, Jirí; Suková, Lenka p. 151-163
Weathering pattern and development process of bedding-controlled caves at Mt. Danxiashan, China
Hua, Peng; Zhixin, Pan; Zhuowei, Qiu p. 165-182
Dating of speleothems in non-karst caves - methodological aspects and practical application, Polish Outer Carpathians case study
Urban, Jan; Margielewski, Wlodzimierz; Hercman, Helena; Žák, Karel; Zernitska, Valentina; Pawlak, Jacek; Schejbal-Chwastek, Marzena p. 183-208
Relief-induced soil differentiation at the sandstone-mudstone contact in the Stolowe Mountains, SW Poland
Waroszewski, Jaroslaw; Kabala, Cezary; Jezierski, Pawel p. 209-224
The role of flysch sandstones in forming the properties of cover deposits and soils – examples from the Carpathians
Kacprzak, Andrzej; Szymanski, Wojciech; Wójcik-Tabol, Patrycja p. 225-243
DEM-based analysis of geomorphology of a stepped sandstone plateau, Stolowe Mountains (SW Poland) Stolowe Mountains (SW Poland)
Kasprzak, Marek; Migon, Piotr p. 245-268