Progress in the Reconstruction of Terrain Relief Before Extraction of Rock Materials—The Case of Liban Quarry, Poland

Abstract

Open pit mining leads to irreversible changes in topographical relief, which makes a return to the original morphology virtually impossible. This is important for quarries that were part of former mining areas. This research presents an innovative approach to the reconstruction of the relief of anthropogenically transformed land on the example of Liban Quarry in Cracow, where operations began before 1873 to 1986. The basis for the reconstructed area was a Topographic Map of Poland with a scale 1:10,000 from 1997, from which a set of data was obtained to perform spatial analyses. The estimation was conducted using the ordinary kriging method, enabling a reconstruction of the morphology of the studied area and presenting it in the form of a hypsometric map and a digital elevation model. The correctness of the modelling was verified by cross-validation and a kriging standard deviation map (SDOK). These revealed low values of estimation errors in the places without contour lines on the base map. The comparison of the obtained maps and model with a Tactical Map of Poland with a scale 1:100,000 from 1934 indicated great similarities. The highest interpolation error value was recorded in the part of the pit where the difference between the actual and reconstructed elevation was about 30 m on average. In the exploited part, the SDOK did not exceed 0.52 m, and in the entire studied area, it reached a maximum of 0.56 m. The proposed approach fulfilled the assumptions of reconstruction, as the analysis revealed elements matching the historic relief in both forms of presentation of the topography of the quarry, on the obtained hypsometric map and on the tactical map. Our study is among the very few in the world concerning the application of geostatistics in the restoration of the relief of land transformed by open pit mining activities.

Environmental Transformation and the Current State of Hydrogeological Condition in the Wojkowice Area—Southern Poland

“…The obtained results represent a valuable source of information concerning landscape transformation which has occurred in areas strongly Similar transformations occurred, for example in Wałbrzych, a town located in south-western Poland, where (similarly to Wojkowice) the mining industry developed for 100 years until the end of the 1990s. The results of the research confirm that a comparison of the present relief with the reconstructed relief or historical maps makes it possible to determine time-spatial relations between the original relief and the relief which was transformed due to human impact [18,19]. The obtained results represent a valuable source of information concerning landscape transformation which has occurred in areas strongly transformed by human impact.…”

“…Jowisz-Dąbrówka Wielka [46] and Grodziec [47], published in 1929. Reconstruction of the relief was carried out using a geostatistical interpolatorordinary kriging [19,48,49]. However, because of a lack of information concerning the depth of the channel of the Brynica, the Wielonka and the Jaworznik, these water courses were omitted.…”

“…The obtained results represent a valuable source of information concerning landscape transformation which has occurred in areas strongly transformed by human impact. They may also be very significant in future geomorphological analysis and studies connected with the development of anthropogenic areas [17,19].…”

“…Characteristic remnants of mining activity include underground workings, surface deformations and waste tips, as well as objects of technical and constructional infrastructure of mines and pits [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. All these elements determine the beauty of the landscape and how perceptible it is to society.…”

Quantitative Assessment of Changes in Topography of Town Caused by Human Impact, Krakow City Centre, Southern Poland

“…Recently, more and more attention has been given to anthropogenic changes of towns topography, especially in the case of centrally located districts with long development history. These changes are associated with wetland drainage, river regulation, spatially uneven distribution of cultural deposits, earthwork, mining, development of convex landforms [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Camouflage of the initial land surface by the overlayer of cultural deposits may lead to fossilisation of natural landforms and, in some cases, to partial or total 'submergence' of historical buildings [3][4][5][6]12].…”