Udział procesów mrozowych w rozwoju brzegów rzecznych
Contribution of frost processes in the development of river banks

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to determine the share of frost processes in the annual balance of river bank erosion. Rates of erosional retreat of river banks in Podhale (boundary zone between the Central and Outer Carpathians) were measured for the hydrological year 2013–2014. Bank erosion during the winter half year was caused mainly by frost phenomena (ground ice and needle ice) and during the summer half year – by fluvial processes and mass movements (undercutting, slumping). The share of erosion by fluvial processes in the yearly progress of bank retreat (this amounted to 71 cm on average) was four times greater than by frost processes, including mass movements. The effects of erosion by frost processes were greatest in the upper parts of banks, built mostly of fine-grained alluvia, while the lower parts, built largely of gravel, were mostly eroded by fluvial processes.

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