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Băile Tușnad, also known as “Little Switzerland”, “The Land of Mineral Waters”, “The Pearl of Transylvania” or “The Pearl of Spa Tourism in Romania”, was once the pride and effervescence of spa tourism in Romania. Officially, it is the smallest town in the country, and through the unique charm of its landscape and natural heritage it has earned its national and international reputation. A new opportunity for the development of the resort in 2023 is the promotion of the town by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MET) as a new ecotourism destination in the country. Thus, the area might become the 7th ecotourism destination in Romania, being one of the most representative volcanic geomorphohydrosites in the Harghita Mountains (Eastern Carpathians). The objective of the study was to evaluate the ecotourism potential of the settlement and the region using methods applied in academic literature for urban and rural geomorphosites, as well as to justify the importance of this ecotourism destination based on tourist circulation data. In the evaluation process of the ecotourism potential the resort receives 84% of the maximum score according to the methodology, and the tourist circulation data support the important contribution that the resort has in Harghita County, with increasing prospects after the recovery from the pandemic period.

Cluj Fortress was built by the military garrison of the Habsburg Empire to have a defensive role in tragic periods. The site of its location was chosen possibly due to morphology, the presence of landforms developed on sandstones and conglomerates which led provided conditions for living and development in that place. The evolution of the area from extramuros to intramuros was shaped by the living necessities that the military garrison had to satisfy. By entering the area beyond the walls, "the world down there", they had access to the means of satisfying their needs, to the necessary substance and energy exchange. The emergence of miserable households, mere holes in the slope, was possible due to the geological structure. They had a negative impact on the geographical landscape, due to the negative look of the slope, but also because of the precarious living conditions of the inhabitants of that area. The development of communities including disfavoured people determined miserable living conditions, while they tried to survive in different manners. By means of the used methodology, the paper highlights the evolution of Cluj Fortress since ancient times until today, and to emphasize the importance of the Fortress site from a scientific and anthropogenic point of view, by means of the geomorphosite inventory list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to assess the suitability for spatial planning of a depression area. For this purpose, a spatial analysis model was developed using GIS techniques, integrating databases representing the morphometric parameters of the relief (depth of fragmentation, density of fragmentation, surface exposure, slope) and additional criteria (land use, the geology and the soil erosion rate.) These were qualitatively evaluated on a scale from 1 to 5 (1-very favourable; 5-unfavourable) and were used to generate the map of relief suitability for spatial planning. The obtained results highlight the fact that the analysed area has high and very high favourability for spatial planning, both as a whole and at the level of the individual analysis of the territorial administrative units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of the geomorphologic vulnerability of a territory is a very important stage in the process of urban planning. Târgu Mureş municipality has extended its built-up area in the last few years independently of the restrictions which should be imposed in order to avoid the situation of building in areas with a high probability of landslide occurrence. As a consequence, the present study classified the built-up area of Târgu Mure? in probability classes for landslide occurrence according to the Governmental Order 447/2003 and using GIS technology which facilitates such complex analyses. Specialised data was collected using geomorphologic mapping which captured the active slope processes. These were eventually used for validating the final results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silvania Mountains are a particular geospatial entity within the geomorphological landscape of Silvania, bringing together Plopis Mountains (Măgura Mare Peak 917 m] and Meses Mountains (Măgura Pria Peak 996 m] and only comparatively Măgura Şimleului [597m] and Măgura Chilioarei (420 m], taking into account their high degree of erosion, into one family of mountains, forming a boundary of the vast Neogene Simleu gulf from West to East and North-East. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the so-called Little Ice Age (LIA] was documented for the Northern Hemisphere and in particular for the Silvania Mountains and the surrounding areas (Bihor Mountains] through the identification of fossils belonging to some buffalos, which died during the LIA. The effects of crionival processes on the types of agricultural land use in Silvania Mountains are manifested through freeze-thaw phenomena and small avalanches in close interrelationship with the climate factor and conditions offered by the adjacent Silvania sublayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining activities for sulfur-rich ore extraction and processing resulted in significant morphological changes in Călimani Mountains (Eastern Carpathians, Romania). Hydrogeomorphic processes, i.e., debris flows originating in the spoil heap area produced in the last decades an increasing volume of sediments transferred along the stream channels. In this mining area, very limited information exists about the frequency and spatial extent of past debris flow activity. Dendrogeomorphic methods allow to document the spatial extent and temporal frequency of debris-flow activity with an annual or even a seasonal resolution. This dating method is based on the identification of growth anomalies (e.g., scars) recorded by the annual rings of trees disturbed by debris flows. The purpose of this study is to apply dendrogeomorphic methods to reconstruct debris flow chronology in mining area of Cǎlimani Mts. To this end, trees exhibiting clear external signs of mechanical disturbances (stem wounding) related to past debris-flow activity were sampled. The analysis of growth anomalies, e.g., scars, identified within the annual rings of the disturbed trees allowed to precisely date the occurrence year and season of past debris-flows events. Reconstructed debris flow frequencies and return periods spanning the period 1970–2021 indicate an increase of debris flow activity over the last two decades. Reconstructed debrisflow history will further be coupled with the analysis of spatio-temporal patterns of precipitation in the attempt to identify debris-flows’ triggering precipitation thresholds in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the city’s geographical context and human intervention, landslides occur in Zalău Municipality on extended areas. With a medium reactivation potential, some of these processes repeatedly affect dwellings, elements of infrastructure or agricultural terrains. The main purpose of this paper is to identify and locate the landslide prone areas from Zalău based on the landslide susceptibility assessment performed with the help of the semi-quantitative method included in the Governmental Decision 447/2003 – Mapping methodology and content of landslide and flood risk maps. The estimation of the value and the geographical distribution for each susceptibility coefficient was performed separately for the lithologic, geomorphologic, structural, hydrologic and climatic, hydrogeologic, seismic, sylvic and anthropic factors. Using GIS techniques, the thematic maps representing the contribution of each factor to landslide occurrence and evolution were used to determine the map of average susceptibility coefficient. The validation was achieved by comparing the results with the location of active landslides identified in the field and through cartographic analysis of topographic maps and satellite images. Identifying landslide prone areas is a necessary stage in the process of landslide prevention and mitigation of negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the role of geomorphosites on salt, in experts and specialists training, in geography of tourism and planning, namely, the involvement of educational factor in defining managerial and marketing skills of future specialists in training. Geographical area of investigation belongs to the Transylvanian tectonic basin, overlapped to saliferous tectonic area from eastern Transylvania, represented by Praid - Sovata - Corund anticline and Sic -Cojocna - Turda anticline, analysis is focused on the Praid - Sovata and Turda diapirs. Saliferous area Praid - Sovata - Corund is situated on the contact area of the Transylvanian Basin with neo-eruptiv mountain chain of Eastern Carpathians, Calimani - Gurghiu - Harghita, and at the contact of Târnavelor Plateau with the orogen alignment of Gurghiu - Harghita Mountains. The salt body, in the horizontal plane, has a quasi-circular shape, slightly ellipsoidal, with diameters of 1.2 and 1.4 km, and is estimated to have a burial depth of 2.6 to 2.8 km. The salt massif from Praid, pierce the Mio-Pliocene blanket around and appears at the surface as diapir, flanked by sedimentary rocks that are partially covered by extrusive post-Pliocene volcanic formations and Quaternary deposits. Evaporitic deposits presents a varied lithology represented by gypsum, anhydrite, salt rock, potassium salt and celestine. The salt massif from Turda develops on the anticline Sic-Cojocna - Turda, oriented NE - SW, 2 km NE of Turda's downtown. It has an elongated shape, about 4 km, with widths ranging from 700 m to 200 m and also with a thickness ranging from 750 m to over 1000 m. In terms of stratigraphy, the salt massif is surrounded by deposits belonging to Badenian, Sarmatian and Quaternary. Due to salt dissolution by meteoric waters, carsto-saline lakes were formed, and due to ceiling collapse, because of an intensive exploitation, and infiltrations of rainwater and rivers, antropo-salted lakes were formed. The water and mud of these lakes are used for external treatment. The holes resulting from exploitation were arranged and turned into treatment rooms for those affected by respiratory diseases. Localities Praid and Sovata from rural settlements, have become balneary resorts, that use these salt resources by multiple forms of tourism: spas, climatic, cultural, recreational and scientific. In Turda has developed both health, climacteric and recreational tourism, as well as cultural and historical tourism, given the historical relics that are housed here. The design of applicative segment of geomorphological sites on salt recovery, through tourism activities is the objective of our work. Methodological argumentation is supported by the objective motivation, of geomorphosites on salt capitalization, by the content of syllabus and specialization of geography of tourism and territorial planning, from the Faculty of Geography, Babes-Bolyai University from Cluj-Napoca. The syllabus content argues the need for knowledge of geomorphosites genesis, their morphology, touristic valences, urbanistic valences, and the possibility of recovery, through forms and types of tourism, namely, urban, agricultural, industrial forms and types of exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study focuses on the impact analysis of contemporary geomorphological processes on tourism activities in the diapiric regions of Transylvania. The methodology implies identifying the causes of geomorphological processes that induce territory's vulnerability and restrict tourist activities. Inside the study area, in the anticlines of Praid - Sovata and Turda, the saliferous geomorphosites were identified, along with the geomorphological processes and human activities that lead to their deterioration. The study required the use of topographical maps (1:50000 scale), aerial photographs and orthophotomaps besides the field investigations. The methodology led to the identification of the opportunities offered by the diapir geomorphologic landscape in order to outline complementary or alternative tourist activities that would ensure permanent tourist activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Depression of Transylvania is the largest depression area within the chain of the Carpathians, and by its associated tectonic, lithological, morpho-climatic, morpho-hydrographic, and bio-pedogeographic relations it defines the specificity of Transylvanian geographical landscapes. The functionality of Transylvanian geographic landscapes is proved by the heterogeneity of the paleo-media of morphogenesis, and the rate and intensity of contemporary geomorphological processes as apparent in Pleistocene "informational" matrices. The landscape response to climatic and hydrologic changes was highlighted by: the analysis of climatic and hydrologic conditions, the morpho-dynamics of valleys and slopes, land usage types, and the dynamics of rural and urban settlements. The action of Pleistocene, Holocene, and contemporary modelling factors is apparent in the morphodynamic factors of geomorphological landscapes. Contemporary modelling is inscribed into the Pleistocene matrix, while the processes of linear and regional erosion outline a new dimension of the functions of Transylvanian landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volcanic eruptions pose a threat to people that live around active volcanoes. Volcanic phenomena such as lava flows, debris flows, pyroclastic density currents and ash fall can affect everyone in the proximity of the volcano as well as in distant areas. The necessity of having a better understanding of volcanic phenomena and therefore to improve the delineation of hazard maps, has led scientists to develop different methods to assess volcanic hazards, including the creation of several computer codes that can simulate different volcanic phenomena. In this paper, we present an overview of several computers codes, with a particular emphasis on those used for pyroclastic flow hazard assessment and modeling. We include an example of the application of Titan2D software on El Misti volcano; an active Quaternary stratovolcano in Southern Peru that represents a threat to the ~ 1,000,000 people living in and around the city of Arequipa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]