Slovenian Sea-floor Morphology Analysis

On Monday, 13th February 2012, our colleague Petra Slavec sucessfully finished her Masters studies at Department of Geology (Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana) with thesis Slovenian Sea-floor Morphology Analysis.

The thesis presents some findings and geomorphologic interpretation of the Slovenian seabottom morphology based on the information, acquired from sonar data. Six main geomorphologic
features have been recognized from the digital relief model. The first one is the anthropogenic
interferences in the sea-bottom while others are underwater springs and solid rock outcrops near
Izola, depression with highest depths in front of Piranska punta promontory, underwater dunes in
front of the Piran bay, and palaeochannel of Rižana in front of Koper bay. Finally, an enigmatic
channel which runs all across Slovenian sea bottom in NE-SW direction perpendicular to present-day
river valleys has also been described. The last three features have been described for the first time.
The boundary between marine and continental sedimentary environment has been identified based
on the sub-bottom sonar data and information from the geologic well log. Furthermore, some
estimations of the thickness of marine sediments are shown for several locations in the Slovenian
sea.