Page 283 - Changing Living Spaces

The Neverlake: Water and Land Management in a Dry and Soilless Place

catchment area of the torrents flowing into the ‘Lake’, leaving more sed-
iment at the bottom of the doline mentioned above. Since the erosional
processes in the drainage basin of the torrents were much faster than the
eluvium-forming processes on the carbonate bedrock, the eluvium cov-
er was completely removed and rainwater was able to flow freely into the
underground. As a result, surface runoff decreased significantly and wa-
ter did not flow into the doline as often as before. Under this scenario, it
would have become increasingly difficult to contain the torrential water
in phase one, and there would not have been enough water in phase two
to make the system functional. Therefore, it was partially abandoned.
Both possible explanations remain unproven hypotheses for the
time being. It should be added, however, that the two are not mutually
exclusive.

Acknowledgement
Our special thanks go to Jožef Švagelj and Božidar Premrl for their co-
operation and assistance.
This research was carried out as part of the University of Primorska
internal programme group ŽIVS – Living Spaces of Slovenia: past – pre-
sent – future at the Faculty of Humanities, Institute for Intercultural
Studies.

Archival sources
ASGo, AC, AD: Archivio di Stato di Gorizia, Archivio Coronini, Atti e
documenti.
− AS 1, VUK: Arhiv Republike Slovenije 1, Vicedomski urad za
Kranjsko.
− ASts, CF: Archivio di Stato di Trieste, Catasto Fransceschino.
− StLA, IÖHKS: Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Sachabteilung der
Innerösterreichischen Hofkammer.

References
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Gams, I. 1991a. ‘The Origin of the Term Karst in the Time of Transition
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