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Changes in Erosion Processes and Morphology of Step-Pool Channels in the SKI Resort with Artificial Snowmaking, An Example from Gubałowskie Foothills

Dawid Piątek

Dawid Piątek

  • Department of Geomorphology, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian UniversityKrakow, Poland
  • Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences Jagiellonian UniversityKrakow, Poland
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Piątek, Dawid
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Agata Gołąb

Agata Gołąb

  • Department of Geomorphology, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian UniversityKrakow, Poland
  • Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences Jagiellonian UniversityKrakow, Poland
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Gołąb, Agata
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Dominika Wrońska-Wałach

Dominika Wrońska-Wałach

Department of Geomorphology, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian UniversityKrakow, Poland
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Wrońska-Wałach, Dominika
  
Mar 19, 2025
Changes in Erosion Processes and Morphology of Step-Pool Channels in the SKI Resort with Artificial Snowmaking, An Example from Gubałowskie Foothills's Cover Image
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Published Online: Mar 19, 2025
Page range: 151 - 165
Received: Jan 25, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/quageo-2025-0011
Keywords
© 2025 Dawid Piątek et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1.

Location of the study area: A – a regional overview, B – a hillshaded relief of the catchment with analysed channels. Channels are signed with CH and followed numbers. Important drainage lines and ski infrastructure are marked, and C – a photograph of the catchment with ski run 2 (photo: D. Piątek).
Location of the study area: A – a regional overview, B – a hillshaded relief of the catchment with analysed channels. Channels are signed with CH and followed numbers. Important drainage lines and ski infrastructure are marked, and C – a photograph of the catchment with ski run 2 (photo: D. Piątek).

Fig. 2.

Schematic diagram of selected measurements, black arrows and Greek letters show the way of measurement.
Schematic diagram of selected measurements, black arrows and Greek letters show the way of measurement.

Fig. 3.

Photographs of characteristic parts of analysed channels: A – a part of Channel 2 with traces of lateral and deep erosion, B – a part of Channel 4 with a relatively high gradient, C – a part of Channel 8 with a 0.6-m-high step below the rockfloor, D – a step with typical height for catchment, Channel 3, E – part of Channel 7, fulfilled with material from a small landslide visible in the left corner (photos: A. Gołąb and D. Piątek).
Photographs of characteristic parts of analysed channels: A – a part of Channel 2 with traces of lateral and deep erosion, B – a part of Channel 4 with a relatively high gradient, C – a part of Channel 8 with a 0.6-m-high step below the rockfloor, D – a step with typical height for catchment, Channel 3, E – part of Channel 7, fulfilled with material from a small landslide visible in the left corner (photos: A. Gołąb and D. Piątek).

Fig. 4.

Distinctive correlations in the group of all analysed channels (reach averaged data), A – hillslope gradient versus bed material size; B – channel gradient versus drainage area.
Distinctive correlations in the group of all analysed channels (reach averaged data), A – hillslope gradient versus bed material size; B – channel gradient versus drainage area.

Fig. 5.

Distinctive correlations in the group of channels without impact of ski runs (reach averaged data), A – hillslope gradient versus step clast size; B – step height versus step spacing.
Distinctive correlations in the group of channels without impact of ski runs (reach averaged data), A – hillslope gradient versus step clast size; B – step height versus step spacing.

Fig. 6.

Distinctive correlations in the group of channels affected by ski runs (reach averaged data), A – drainage area versus channel gradient; B – channel width versus number of steps.
Distinctive correlations in the group of channels affected by ski runs (reach averaged data), A – drainage area versus channel gradient; B – channel width versus number of steps.

Fig. 7.

Elevation changes in analysed channels in the period 2016–2023, in rectangle areas presented in Figure 8.
Elevation changes in analysed channels in the period 2016–2023, in rectangle areas presented in Figure 8.

Fig. 8.

Close up on areas with elevation changes marked with rectangles on Figure 7; A – close up on Channel 2, in red rings marked results of headward erosion; B – close up on Channel 8 with zones with erosion and deposition; and C – close up on a small landslide on hillslopes of Channel 4.
Close up on areas with elevation changes marked with rectangles on Figure 7; A – close up on Channel 2, in red rings marked results of headward erosion; B – close up on Channel 8 with zones with erosion and deposition; and C – close up on a small landslide on hillslopes of Channel 4.

Morphometry of analysed channels_ SD is the standard deviation_

Channel ID Number of Reaches Drainage area Length Channel gradient Hillslope gradient Valley bottom width Channel/active zone width Bed material size Number of steps Step height Step height SD Step spacing (m) Step spacing SD Step clast size (mm) Step per channel length Channels with skiing impact
[km2] [m] [m · m−1] [°] [m] [mm] [–] [m] [–] [m] [–] [mm] [–] [–]
1 3 0.01 77 0.27 26.75 1.97 0.63 68 28 0.38 17.38 1.41 0.89 220 0.36 YES
2 5 0.02 192 0.24 35.48 2.74 0.98 74 69 0.39 15.69 2.83 1.91 380 0.34 YES
3 5 0.14 223 0.24 35.39 1.80 1.80 84 50 0.4 12.43 4.05 2.52 450 0.22 NO
4 6 0.07 438 0.17 31.13 3.47 0.72 68 55 0.38 21.51 4.59 1.72 230 0.13 NO
5 2 0.05 161 0.25 33.55 2.05 0.45 66 50 0.41 18.24 2.18 1.36 540 0.31 NO
6 5 0.08 295 0.23 30.41 2.94 0.78 61 137 0.31 12.94 1.98 1.70 350 0.46 NO
7 3 0.14 199 0.24 32.42 1.83 0.50 68 43 0.44 15.04 5.71 4.47 350 0.22 NO
8 8 0.18 645 0.18 33.36 3.59 1.80 84 286 0.39 22.91 2.10 1.22 730 0.44 YES

Correlation matrix of parameters from channels without impact of skiing_ Red marked statistically significant values_

Variable Bed material size Step clast size Hillslope gradient Channel gradient Step height avg. Step height SD Step spacing Avg. Step spacing SD Number of steps Channel/active zone width Valley bottom width
Bed material size
Step clast size 0.678
Hillslope gradient 0.705 0.716
Channel gradient 0.108 0.030 0.399
Step height avg. 0.184 0.005 0.406 0.175
Step height SD –0.037 –0.119 0.198 –0.053 0.626
Step spacing avg. –0.044 –0.299 –0.012 0.013 0.625 0.280
Step spacing SD –0.179 –0.282 –0.340 –0.096 0.172 –0.212 0.567
Number of steps –0.281 0.137 –0.267 –0.073 –0.578 –0.294 –0.799 –0.121
Channel/active zone width 0.611 0.455 0.392 –0.028 0.079 –0.078 0.181 0.142 –0.190
Valley bottom width –0.304 –0.449 –0.773 –0.323 –0.326 –0.179 –0.085 0.222 0.165 –0.169
Drainage area 0.285 0.430 0.053 –0.489 0.005 –0.326 0.121 0.440 0.051 0.333 0.003

Correlation matrix of parameters from channels with impact of skiing_ Red marked statistically significant values_

Variable Bed material size Step clast size Hillslope gradient Channel gradient Step height avg. Step height SD Step spacing Avg. Step spacing SD Number of steps Channel/active zone width Valley bottom width
Bed material size
Step clast size 0.718
Hillslope gradient 0.269 0.098
Channel gradient 0.342 –0.153 0.071
Step height avg. 0.085 0.049 0.355 0.395
Step height SD 0.116 0.082 0.235 0.188 0.862
Step spacing avg. 0.158 0.000 0.616 –0.292 –0.081 –0.105
Step spacing SD –0.178 –0.219 0.429 –0.438 –0.308 –0.266 0.815
Number of steps 0.027 0.333 0.188 –0.590 –0.142 0.111 0.058 0.100
Channel/active zone width –0.184 0.202 0.404 –0.474 –0.027 0.077 –0.013 0.247 0.695
Valley bottom width –0.092 0.295 0.331 –0.447 0.056 0.031 0.085 0.104 0.632 0.679
Drainage area 0.224 0.599 0.033 –0.729 –0.307 –0.033 0.045 0.056 0.763 0.572 0.510

Correlation matrix of parameters from all analysed channels_ red marked statistically significant values_

Variable Bed material size Step clast size Hillslope gradient Channel gradient Step height avg. Step height SD Step spacing Avg. Step spacing SD Number of steps Channel/active zone width Valley bottom width
Bed material size
Step clast size 0.712
Hillslope gradient 0.482 0.390
Channel gradient 0.213 -0.063 0.263
Step height avg. 0.147 0.044 0.388 0.253
Step height SD 0.080 0.044 0.220 0.049 0.713
Step spacing avg. –0.063 –0.256 0.075 –0.032 0.393 0.058
Step spacing SD –0.208 –0.289 –0.090 –0.192 0.002 –0.273 0.629
Number of steps –0.076 0.278 –0.071 –0.259 –0.380 –0.047 –0.652 –0.135
Channel/active zone width 0.321 0.368 0.383 –0.153 0.071 0.036 0.021 0.076 0.128
Valley bottom width –0.159 –0.060 –0.365 –0.356 –0.184 –0.044 –0.143 0.115 0.355 0.091
Drainage area 0.246 0.533 0.042 –0.592 –0.144 –0.131 0.050 0.206 0.397 0.374 0.231
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