Impact of Some Factors on the Maximum Module of Water Runoff in Mountain Rivers of the Caucasus

The factors influencing the water runoff formation, such as vegetation, litter, soil, and rock are analyzed. The initiation of floods on forest soils underlain by dense, fissured, and disintegrated rocks as well as the impact of karst on the water runoff under the condition of subalpine meadows are discussed. A relationship between the maximum water runoff in rivers of the Caucasus and the percentage of forest land and watershed areas is proposed. Some data on changes in the hydrological regime of watercourses caused in small watersheds by stand felling are cited and discussed.