NATURAL COMPONENTS OF LANDSCAPE
CHARACTER: 1. GEORELIEF (TOPOGRAPHY)
RNDr. Martin Culek, Ph.D.
Geographical Institute, Faculty
of Science, MU. With use of pictures of
author´s archive and open sources on internet
Topographical conditions_1
• Roughness of the topography, we count the difference of altitude
between the highest and lowest point in a square of area of 16
km². There are also other possibilities how to count it.
• Difference in altitudes:
• 0 – 29 m Plain
• 30 – 74 m Flat hilly land, plain with shallow valley
• 75 – 149 m Roughly hilly land, plain with medium valley
• 150 – 199 m Flat higland, plain with deep valley
• 200 – 299 m Rough higland (but not mountains)
• 300 – 449 m Flat mountains
• 450 – 599 m Medium rough mountains
• 600 m – Very rough mountains
to know to the Exam:!
• => Scale of Landscape shape – petite, medium, monumental
• => Scale of suitable buildings. In more rough possible bigger
For seminar work
Topographical conditions_2:
• Necessary addition: Is the hill isolated? Are in a Landscape
hills or it is a plain with deep valeys?
• Height of slopes (and on which horiozontal distance)
• Valleys – depth, width between upper rims, width of the bottom,
straight, meandering, close, open, with rocks, ….
• Sharpnes of moutains tops
• Sharpnes of slope edges – influence to architecture of buildings
• Height of rocks, are they visible above tree crowns? – more
important
• Size and shape of boulders
• Depth and frequency of gullies and ravines
• How dramatic is the Horizont (flat, undulated, mountain flat
ridge, rocky with pronounced tops, …) → attractiveness.
White Carpathians – flat long slopes - landslides,
flat horizonts
This and next pictures are for better understanding, not necessary to exam
Bohemian hilly land – plain with medium size
valley
Flysh Carpathians – medium long and steep slopes,
many springs, landslides. Almost no rocks.
Mountains of Bohemian higlands (Jeseníky) – steep slopes,
small basins, deep valleys, ± flat horizonts
Flat tops and horizonts of Bohemian highland – in
altitude about 1000 m. Krušné hory Mts. at Abertamy
Pronounced hills of neovulcanic cones. Dramatic horizonts. And their rocks:
Bohemian Karst Protected area. But can you see any karstic relief? It is on
limestone, but not everything looks karstic. Especially if forested.
This and next pictures to the Exam!
Isolated rock on hilltop is more
important than on the valley slope
Boulder, partly used, granitic rocks of Boh. mas.
Rocks in valleys are mostly not so visible.
Various types of rocks and boulders –
anyway attractive
National Park of Podyjí
Rocky „cities“ – very
attractive, often visited
Artificially conditioned topography
- Inform us about history of Man, Landscape
• Sunken lines = hollow way – rests of old roads
• Surface quaries in slopes, hills - problem
• Open pits (also abandoned) – often brown coal
• Spoil heap (Spoil tip) – belongs to the mine
Landscape, not necessary to destroy
• Dams of damlake
• Embankments of highway, railway – for
Landscape shape better Furrow
System of hollow ways
Medieval golden
mine
Bohemian-Moravian
Higland
City Ostrava, former city of stone (black) coal,
with only 3 spoil heap left – it is a pitty because of identity, it was
specific for this city.
Jan Zrzavý 1933:
Ostravské haldy
Painting from y. 1933 – typical, impresive
Biggest spoil heap left, touristic attraction, lookout, park,
interesting rests of Carboniferous life ….
It is also burning inside, temperature 1500°C – like a active volcano (in Czechia is none
natural active), it is also attraction, formation of rare bedrocks, thermophilous biota
• Frequent visitors
Lookout, best in region Not necessary to the exam
Bark of paleozoic Araucaria, fired by inner heat
Not necessary to the exam
Embankments – bariers in Landscape for views and migration,
for people
A furrow with highway – better solution for Landscape
Photo: ŘSD
Dam of a damlake – barrier for water species, touristic routes, water touristic,
barrier for views
Regional and supraregional
changes of topography
• Seldom, but than great and permanent:
• Stone Mining – disappearing of hills, esp. isolated hills
- bad
• Giant open pits + Spoil heap = bad, in future some of
them to be preserved for identity.
• Flooding of valley by damelake – disappearing of
canyons, rapids, attractive Landscape.
• Great buildings on elevations (e.g. towers)
• Optically – great buildings and wind turbines
• Be careful of this.
Open pit on
brown coal –
town Most,
Northern
Bohemia.
There are many
of them, but I
think, that one or
two should be
preserved for
future – may be
as a attraction,
part of the history
of that region,
part of identity of
people.
Originally steep limestone hill, isolated, impresive, with white rocks, but devastated,
almost nothing interesting persist. 15 km to northwest of our Faculty. Bad.
Other case in one of our most popular Landscapes. Disappeared.
And many others. We are loosing our interesting parts of
Landscape, Bad. Very bad.
And others. This is even Landscape protected area.
Not necessary to the exam, nor next two
Other lost hill, now a rubbish place
A case from southern Moravia, former steep granit hill with
hillforts, extraordinary shape, biota, lookout. Bad.
Suitable form of quarry because under a flat surface:
Bohemian Karst – „Great America“
A damelake named Želivka – originally deep valley, recreation
area. The topography was flattened, changed to optical „plain“.
The greatest attraction disappeared. We have enough of other flat
surface. Bad.
• TV tower + hotel on
the Ještěd Mt. (1013 m)
• It picks up the top to
sky. Very good.
• Built 1966-73
• 1969 highest price of
International union of
architects - Price of August
Perret.
Nuclear powerplant in Temelín built on top of hill + 155 m
high towers with clouds – changed shape of a hilly land.
Not good locality.
Wind turbines – mostly escaping of
Landscape scale. And are proposed
bigger and bigger.
Taking the role of dominats instead a
neovulcanical cone hill
– visualisation
Project of wind farm. People do not want it, wind
turbines are to high and close.
California, the USA, in semidesert OK