Jozsef Dezső

University of Pécs | PTE · Department of Environmental Geography

Rivers flowing through sedimentary basins are subjected to a variety of controls. The main goal of our study was to identify the effect of external (e.g. climate changes, tectonics) and internal controls (e.g. sediment transport, deposition, vegetation cover) on the evolution of meandering rivers flowing through sedimentary basins using the example...

Land-use/land-cover (LULC) change is considered a key human factor influencing groundwater recharge in floodplains. Without accurate estimations, the impact of LULC change on water balance components may be either significantly understated or exaggerated. This paper assesses the impacts of LULC changes from 1990 to 2018 on water balance components...

Morphometric indices from high-resolution DEMs can contribute to the estimation of flash flood susceptibility in mountainous areas. We have screened 25 morphometric indices commonly used in literature, and based on a correlation matrix, selected those which showed the strongest relationship with flash flood generation: area ( A ), drainage texture...

Regions with scarce freshwater resources, such as North Africa and the Middle East, face significant challenges today and will face even greater challenges in the future as a result of socioeconomic and climatic changes. The Missour Oases in Morocco is one of many arid Moroccan Ocases grappling with increasing water scarcity, which threatens self-s...

Diversified farming systems are promoted to improve ecosystem services in agriculture while maintaining productivity. Intercropping could improve soil quality, the stability of yields and climate resilience. Whether direct emissions of greenhouse gases from soil are reduced as well, depends on the specific measures of diversification. Here, we dete...

We aim to identify conditions that influence the preservation of a complete record of channel planforms in the topmost layer of floodplains, prior to the maintenance in the rock record. We have tested a hypothesis that a successive decrease of stream power and channel belt width are necessary to preserve the record of channel planforms in the topmo...

Morphometric indices from high-resolution DEMs can contribute to the estimation of flash flood susceptibility in mountainous areas. We have screened 25 morphometric indices commonly used in literature, and based on a correlation matrix, selected those which showed the strongest relationship with flash flood generation: area ( A ), drainage texture...

The water budget of wetland areas and floodplains has been altered due to human intervention and water regulation works. To protect agricultural productivity, ecosystem services, and wetland habitats on the Hungarian side of the Drava River floodplain, this research developed a unified management approach for floodplain rehabilitation through natur...

Knowledge about the evolution of rivers planforms in loess landscapes of Europe is incomplete. While there are studies on river evolution conducted in loess areas of central and western Europe, the area of Transdanubia (Hungary) remains poorly recognized. Our research work extends previous findings by studying a unique example of alluvial fill main...

Constructions of dams influence river courses by cutting off sediment delivery and altering flow regime. We conducted flume experiments to study how sediment starvation, flow deficit and occurrence of series of floods with sediment load influence the evolution of channel planform. Results indicated that reduced flow caused a transition from a braid...

Complex river rehabilitation/restoration projects devote equal attention to the improvement of hydromorphological conditions and the neighbouring floodplain environment. Since land use exerts a heavy control on the hydrological cycle of floodplains, land use optimization is a central task in floodplain rehabilitation. In floodplains where large sur...

Global climate change has discernible impacts on the quality of the landscapes of Hungary. Only a dynamic and spatially differentiated land evaluation methodology can properly reflect these changes. The provision level, rate oftransformation and spatial distribution of ecosystem services (ESs) are fundamental properties of landscapes and have to be...

Terroir refers to the geographical origin of wines. The landscape factors (topography, parent rock, soil, microbial life, climate, natural vegetation) are coupled with cultural factors (cultivation history and technology, cultivars and rootstock) and all together define a terroir. The physical factors can be well visualized by a slope profile devel...

A more resilient adaptation to changing climate calls for crop diversification in vineyards, too. As a contribution to the H2020 collaborative project of the European Union, called Diverfarming, and part of the agroecological experiments during 2018 and 2019, grapevine biomass growth was monitored in connection with carbon storage types in soil and...

Terroir refers to the geographical origin of wines. The landscape factors (topography, parent rock, soil, microbial life, climate, natural vegetation) are coupled with cultural factors (cultivation history and technology, cultivars and rootstock) and all together define a terroir. The physical factors can be well visualized by a slope profile devel...

Plio-Pleistocene silt/clay-rich deposits and paleo-karst fissure sediments from sites of the northern and southern parts of the Carpathian Basin were investigated. These materials were supposed to be mixed during transport before being captured in karstified fissures. Evidence that the eolian fissure sediments of Plio-Pleistocene age in the older T...

Springs have an important role both in groundwater flow system understanding and in maintaining groundwater-related ecosystems. The aim of the research of the lukewarm karst springs in Kistapolca is to understand the origin of the elevated temperature (22–24 °C), i.e., whether it is the result of mixing of cold and thermal waters or it represents t...

Growing drought hazard and water demand for agriculture, ecosystem conservation, and tourism in the Hungarian Drava river floodplain call for novel approaches to maintain wetland habitats and enhance agricultural productivity. Floodplain rehabilitation should be viewed as a complex landscape ecological issue which, beyond water management goals to...

Despite many models describing the evolution of meandering rivers, little is known about low-energy rivers formed in loess landscapes. This is the first study that focuses on a spatial and temporal evolution of meandering river planforms in Transdanubia (south Hungary). Field research was conducted in the Kapos and Koppány valleys. Geological and g...

Low-energy meanders replaced a braided river system in the Koppány valley at least 14000 cal. BP. The meandering system was characterized by elongated, compound bends with widened channel cross-sections near apexes. Silts constituting the river bed, oblique accretion within the inner banks, cutoffs formation between 14000 and 11300 cal. BP, and flo...

The water budget of wetland areas and floodplains has been altered due to human intervention and water regulation works. To protect agricultural productivity, ecosystem services and wetland habitats on the Hungarian side of the Drava River floodplain, this research develops a unified management approach for floodplain rehabilitation through natural...

In South Transdanubia (Hungary) there are remarkable geothermal and hydrocarbon resources. Besides the sedimentary basin, the area also includes the Villány Thermal Karst. The karst area is characterized by natural thermal water discharge at the boundary of outcropping carbonate hills and the sedimentary basin, which established the thermal water e...

The identification of drought-sensitive areas (DSAs) in floodplain Fluvisols of high textural pedodiversity is crucial for sustainable land management purposes. During extended drought periods moisture replenishment is only available by capillary rise from the groundwater. However, moisture flux is often hindered by capillary barriers in the interf...

Knowledge on the spatial variability and temporal trends of precipitation are essential for efficient management of water resources, agriculture and for the proper design of hydro related schemes such as clean water supply, reservoir, and distribution channels. This research analyzed the distribution, variability and trends of rainfall over Drava f...

The assessment of spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge is required as an input to develop the regional groundwater model in the Drava flood plain for more accurate simulations of different management scenarios. WetSpass-M, a GIS-based spatially-distributed water balance model, was implemented to assess monthly, seasonal, and th...

Floodplains are highly sensitive to human pressure. The lower sections of the Hungarian catchment of the Drava River, particularly the Drava Plain, have suffered large-scale landscape degradation in recent decades. The negative influences affected both the physical and socio-economic environment. To counter negative impacts from upstream flow impou...

Cut-off oxbows are the most remarkable fluvial landforms and the most valuable wetland habitats in the protected floodplain of the Lower Drava River in Hungary. Their geomorphic evolution, however, has not been studied yet. Recently, a complex hydromorphological survey of oxbows covered their geographical position, connection with the main Drava ch...

Floodplains fulfil vital ecosystem services (supporting water management, biodiversity, agricultural production, ecotourism and others). Since a satisfactory water supply is indispensable for the provision of such services, in addition to longitudinal channel connectivity, lateral channel/floodplain hydrological connectivity is of primary importanc...

A monokultúrás növénytermesztés ellentéteként a terménydiverzifikáció a természeteshez közelítő, nagyobb biodiverzitást fenntartó tájszerkezetet tesz lehetővé. A magyar mezőgazdaság átszervezése (1960-as évek) előtti, hagyományos (karós), kisparcellás szőlőtermesztés áttekintése bizonyítja, hogy ez a földhasználat is sokféle növény együttes termesz...

The hypogenic cave of Beremend is located in the Villány karst area (South Hungary). This cave is characterized by thermal water-related phenomena: tectonically controlled maze-like pattern, morphological features such as spherical niches, and typical minerals such as huntite, aragonite and typical forms of calcite such as cave popcorns (Takács-Bol...

Considerable part of Hungary's thermal water resources is hosted by carbonate rocks. Owing to the favourable geological and geothermal conditions many of these reservoirs are characterized by natural thermal water discharge, usually at the boundary of outcropping carbonates and adjacent sedimentary basins. The Villány thermal karst area is situated...

Recently in Hungary, drought affects the Drava floodplain more severely than floods. The channelization of the Drava River changed the water budget of the Cún-Szaporca oxbow lakes in the floodplain. The paper presents a 3-D groundwater model for this oxbow of the Drava floodplain to gain a better understanding of the water budget of the whole syste...

The study of loess and loess-like deposits in Romania has developed considerably, over the years. C14 dating determined that the last three glaciations (Mindel, Riss, Würm) and, at least, two interglacial periods were recorded in the Dobrudja Plateau. Five other paleosol layers indicate the succession of the Quaternary interglacial stations. The lo...

When studying the evolution of landscape, it is difficult to discriminate the influence of anthropogenic from natural causes, or recognise changes caused by different sources of human action. This is especially challenging when the influence of certain sources is overprinted. For instance, although dam closure is the most common method of altering...

The sedimentological sequences along the lower sections of rivers have been created by the alluviation of meandering rivers in historical times. For the rehabilitation measures (focusing on water replenishment to oxbows) with the purpose of enhancing ecosystem services, the detailed hydrogeological study of alluvial deposits and soils is indispensi...

The sedimentological sequences along the lower sections of rivers have been created by the alluviation of meandering rivers in historical times. For the rehabilitation measures (focusing on water replenishment to oxbows) with the purpose of enhancing ecosystem services, the detailed hydrogeological study of alluvial deposits and soils is indispensi...

The main objective of the present study is to identify processes influencing a formation of alluvial islands in a river course transformed by channel straightening and dams constructions. The research was conducted in the lower course of the Drava River (Hungary) transformed by artificial channel straightening followed by dams constructions during...

There are numerous wetland rehabilitation projects worldwide, but their efficiency is seldom assessed comprehensively. Oxbow lakes are wetlands of particular sensitivity. Within a large-scale floodplain rehabilitation project in Hungary, the Old Drava Programme, water replenishment was first carried out for the Cún-Szaporca oxbow lakes, a key area...

The water regulation and channelization works of the past centuries did not only alter the drainage pattern and individual stream channels, but also the water budget of the adjacent floodplains and wetland areas, particularly oxbow lakes. For the maintenance of the wetland habitat of the Cun-Szaporca oxbow in the Hungarian section of the Drava Rive...

The Tisza Megaunit in the Southern Pannonian Basin formed part of the southern margin of the European Plate in the Early Mesozoic era. Its exact paleo-position and relation to other structural blocks is disputed for a long time. Detrital zircon U–Pb dating, heavy mineral analysis and petrographical examination of Carnian to Pliensbachian sandstone...

The hydromorphological properties of rivers and their floodplains receive increased attention both in basic research and water management. A comparison of hydromorphological parameters before and after river regulation (involving floodplain drainage) provides important information for river management, particularly floodplain rehabilitation. The pa...

The study is focused on environmental assessments of impacts by former briquette factory at the Nagymányok area in South Hungary. The (former) industrial zone is located in a northern valley of the Eastern Mecsek Mountains. Until the 1990s this company was the largest briquette factory in Hungary and the demolition works are still incomplete. forme...

The main objective of the project is the study of a peat wetland functioning as recipient of effluents from former and present-day industrial activities. The investigation was focused on heavy metal contaminations and their probable mobilization or fixation. The studied peatbog is a typical Eastern European wetland, located in Hungary on the border...

Floodplains along regulated rivers often suffer from serious environmental degradation. River and floodplain rehabilitation measures along the major rivers of Hungary are motivated by two objectives: to inrease the floodwater retention capacity of floodplains (also beyond the dykes) and to improve the ecological conditions of floodplain habitats (w...

RÉSUMÉ La partie hongroise du lit majeur de la Drava est autant affectée par les risques d'inondation que de sécheresse. Les risques de sécheresse ont tendance à augmenter car la construction de barrages et les régulations ont changé le débit de la rivière et creusé son lit. Un projet de réhabilitation à grande échelle, le programme « Ancien Drava...

In Hungary river rehabilitation projects affect the Danube, Tisza and Drava Rivers. The lower Drava is part of the Danube-Drava National Park and extensive areas are included in the Natura 2000 system. By-channel revitalization interventions are under way but a complex rehabilitation should not only cover the active floodplain, but the entire morph...

In the riverine fl oodplains of hill regions built of sand and loess, interactions between river channels and groundwater reservoirs result from the high permeability of the riverbed and the spatial heterogeneity of fl oodplain deposits and soils. Although in dry periods, groundwater sustains the river in the form of basefl ow, and the relationship...

In the loess area of Baranya Hills, Southeast from Belvárdgyula (Baranya County), there is a five meter tall island-like natural formation in the floodplain at the confluence of the Karasica and the Vasas-Belvárdi water course. Archaeological excavations in the surrounding environment were sporadic in the past. The research of this formation starte...

Terrestrial red clays underlying Quaternary loess deposits, or filling fissures and recently existing caves in limestone are named Tengelic Red Clay Formation and Kerecsend Red Clay Formation (Middle Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene). They occur in three types in Hungary. (1) The oldest red clays are mainly in situ weathering crusts rich in kaolinite,...

Palaeohydrological record coupled with geochronology can serve as key tools for reconstructing past environmental and climatic change. The alluvial plains of the Carpathian Basin are hosting numerous generations of paleochannels which developed in response to highly varying water and sediment discharges. Our investigations focused on the Lower Tisz...

Szársomlyó has the richest flora within the Villány Hills (Hungary) (approx. 800 species/3 km2). One of the most interesting species of the hill is the Vincetoxicum pannonicum, which was described by Professor Attila Borhidi in the last century. This Pannonian endemic taxon occurs exclusively on the southern slopes of the Buda Hills and the Szársom...

According to the geopedologic protocol, the characteristics of soils, infillings and different sediments were analysed in the archaeological excavation. Beside experimental observations, textural (granulometric) analyses, measurements of carbonate and humus content are used in general. This paper presents results of geopedologic analyses, micromorp...

In the eastern Loess Plateau region of Northern China, the Quaternary loess-palaeosol sequences of the last 2.6 Ma are underlain by the Hipparion Red-Earth Formation (namely the "Red Clay"). The red clay is also a significant deposit in Hungary, the origin of which is controversial. This paper is a comparative study of the Central European (Hungari...

Large areas of Pecs are affected by the remains of mine excavations and spoil tips from former hard coal and uranium mining and also deposits of fly-ash and slurry from Pecs power plant, which was coal-fuelled but is now converted to biomass technology. In 210 Pecs, with Essen, becomes Cultural Capital of Europe, and this has given impetus to clean...

Limestone quarrying and cement manufacturing are industries capable of causing immense environmental damage. Deterioration in the visual quality of the landscape and changes in runoff are considered among the most significant geomorphological impacts. This paper explores the case of cement production in the Villany Hills. Landscape ecological analy...

The genesis of spherical cavities and their transitional types is still only partly clear. However, those with known formation environment may give important clues to the evolution of a given karst region, as they can act as sediment and fossil traps or indicate the closeness of former karst water tables. Their appearance shows numerous transitiona...