Contemporary trends in the Białka river channel development in the western carpathians

Abstract

Białka is a typical river that has its origins in the high mountains of the High Tatra and the Belanske Tatra Mountains. Transport of gravel from the Tatra Mountains down to the foot of the mountains over a long period of time, during the Pleistocene and the post-glacial era, led to the formation of a typical braided river channel. During the last 150 years the river channel was gradually narrowed and deepened. This process has clearly intensified since the end of the 1960s due to human intervention that changed the course of the river channel. Exploitation of the river channel by extraction of sediment also had an impact. From the geomorphological and ecological point of view, the changes occurring in the Białka River channel, which are still continuing, are not progressing in a positive direction.