The lower altitudinal limit of the periglacial climazonal belt on Kopaonik Mountain (Serbia)

Abstract

The morphostructural relief of the highest parts of the central Kopaonik Mt was altered by exogenous agents, by denudation as a primary and periglacial processes as a secondary agent. Previous geomorphological studies were mostly focused on the traces of the Pleistocene glaciation, although no reliable evidence was found for this. Recent research, in the part of the mountain above 1,700 m of absolute height, points to geomorphological phenomena resulting from more recent processes within the periglacial environment. By means of geomorphological reconnaissance, analysis and mapping of the highest part of the Kopaonik mountain massif, forms of relief were studied, the ones that according to their morphology correspond to the periglacial forms and processes described in the conditions of high latitudes and high mountains. Determining the spatial coverage of the periglacial belt, especially its lower limit on Kopaonik Mt, is important for understan-ding the distribution of this climatic morphology both in Serbia and in South East Europe. The research contributes to one of the primary aims of exploring the concept of the periglacial zone, in terms of the regional distribution of its specific relief forms.