ABSTRACT
Tertiary (Miocene), the region was partly buried by deposits of the Pannonian Inland Sea, chiefly sands and clays from the mountains further north. Erosion has since exhumed the higher ground, which now forms a rounded massif to altitudes of 450-500 m, above remaining clay lowlands at c. 300 m. Kecso River (Figure 1) entrenched the massif, permitting early springs to drain to it, at an altitude of c. 270 m. A knickpoint has receded through the Kecso valley, lowering modern spring levels to 220-230 m. The region experienced severe cold at times during the Quaternary, with solifluction and other periglacial features indicating periodic loss of natural forest cover, although there was no growth of glaciers (Zambo, 1993).
