Viola T. Dobosi: Paleolithic Man in the Által-ér Valley (Tata, 1999)

Fig. 1. The valley of the Által-ér mineral materials covered the surface with calcareous tuff. The surface of the elevated mountains were eroded by physical and chemical processes of weathering, washed by meteoric water, planed by ice. The eroded detritus gradually filled in the flatlands, smoothed away the uneven surface of the lower lying territories. The basic conditions were given for the formation of large terraces along the river and that of large morphological steps. On these flatlands filled up with detritus and sediments the mass of water with ever changing quantity and speed is sometimes carving anew, deeper bed for itself, sometimes depositing the sediment carried away so far. 6 The constructing-destructing activity of rivers depends on, basically, the climate, though it can be influenced by many local factors. As the events of the Ice Age are periodic, cold and warm, dry and wet periods (and their combinations) alternated during the hundreds of thousand years, the terraces of the rivers also followed this rhythm. The terraces of the Által-ér were preserved in an exceptionally intact condition. This can be attributed to calcareous tuff, playing a significant role also in the preservation of the prehistoric evidences. The fast accumulating compact „cap" of calcareous tuff conserved the terraces against posterior weathering and, at the same time, preserved the organic and inorganic remains inside, to a great luck for the students of several disciplines dealing with the Ice Age. The difference between the two territories of Komárom-Esztergom county separated by the Által-ér is so apparent that the geographical technical literature divided the area into two micro-regions. The climate of the Által-ér valley is moderately cool and dry, the sum of sunny hours is around 1980 annually. The mean temperature of the summer half-year term is 16 °C, the annual average is 10 °C. Precipitation is 600-650 mm per year, on winter, the snow suitable for sporting covers the territory for 30-35 days. The vegetation is variable and the area is fertile: on the meadows and ploughlands the usual cultivated plants for the region grow,