Sediment production in flysch badlands: A case study from Slovenian Istria

Abstract

This article deals with the results of seven years of measurements of sediment release from the flysch badlands in the Rokava River headwaters. Measurements of sediment production were carried out in erosion plots, and measurements of cliff (or rockwall) retreat using erosion pins. Selected meteorological time series from the Portorož Airport meteorological station were included in the analysis. The calculation showed that from 2008 to 2015 (149 measurements) sediment production was 36 kg/m² per year and the flysch cliff retreated by 146 mm or 21 mm per year. The amount of sediment produced is moderately positively correlated with the number of days between successive measurements (r = 0.51), with a recorded daily transition of air temperature over/below 0 °C (r = 0.56) and slightly more weakly correlated with the precipitation amount (r = 0.45). On the other hand, the amount of sediment produced has a low negative correlation with average air temperature (r = −0.29) and average minimum air temperature (r = −0.30). However, no statistically significant correlation was calculated between the amount of sediment produced and average wind speed.