Josvafo paleo-polje: morphology and relation to the landform evolution of Aggtelek Karst and Josva River valley, Hungary

This paper presents new knowledge about the Josvafo depression near Josvafo Village in the Aggtelek Karst - the second largest polje in the Western Carpathians. Based on morphometric and structural analyses, detailed field observations, and the appreciation of former and recent hydrography we consider this remarkable landform to be an upstream and downstream open valley paleo-polje with a floor levelled to the piezometric level of the karst waters. Its origin and development was connected with the formation of a large Pliocene pediment preserved on the both sides of the Josva River valley. Older levelled passages of the Domica-Baradla Cave system probably formed during this phase of surface landform evolution. The results presented here are important for a more comprehensive reconstruction of the geomorphic evolution of the Aggtelek Karst during the Pliocene and Quaternary, including the well-known Domica-Baradla Cave system that extends through the state border between Slovakia and Hungary (the Silica Plateau as the south part of Slovak Karst and Aggtelek Karst form a continuous cross-border karst area).