Denudacja antropogeniczna na obszarach górniczych : na przykładzie Górnośląskiego Zagłębia Węglowego

"Monografia dotycząca przekształceń rzeźby w wyniku działalności górniczej na obszarze Górnośląskiego Zagłębia Węglowego. Praca stanowi podsumowanie stanu wiedzy o historii i rozmiarach antropogenicznych zmian rzeźby na tle tego typu presji w Polsce i w Europie oraz analizę ilościową denudacji antropogenicznej dla całego obszaru Zagłębia, wykonana według jednolitej procedury badawczej i z zastosowaniem różnych wzajemnie weryfikujących się metod. Praca jest bogato ilustrowana. Adresowana do zainteresowanych naukami o Ziemi." (wyd.

Wpływ górnictwa węgla kamiennego na zmiany rzeźby obszaru KWK Miechowice na Wyżynie Śląskiej

The paper presents geomorphological effects of activity of black coal mine “Miechowice”, located in upland area with weakly diversified relief. On the base of morphometric studies with archival and contemporary cartographic materials applying as well as coal outputbalance analysis it was stated that almost 100-years lasting mining activity caused essential changes in relief of about 70% of mining area. The area of “active” mining terrain was lowered on average of 10,3 m, but the largest lowering rate happened in the last 30 years and it amounted on average to 156 mm/year. Total sizes of subsiding are spatially diversified and they are included within the range from 1 m up to 23 m. In result of significant terrain surface subsiding in the relief depression without outflow (subsiding depressions) of total area of about 2,39 sq km were separated. In consequence almost 31% of former “active” mining area was excluded from the fluvial system. This young, deep depressions without outflow play the special role in the process of matter circulation, beca-use they make local denudation bases and therefore they are the place of deposits accumulation. The rate of natural “filling” of such sedimentation basins without outflow will be at least several hundred times slower than anthropogenically conditioned rate of their formation. Therefore geomorphological effects of short-lasting mining anthropopression will be long-lasing

The disappearance of inland dunes landscape - a case study from southern Poland

The paper presents changes in the landscape of inland dunes in one of the basins in the eastern part of Silesian Upland. Based on the analysis of archival maps and historical sources, the former dune landscape of Dąbrowa Basin was reconstructed. The current state of its preservation was determined based on contemporary cartographic materials and field research. It was established that the dunes occur on the floodplain, under-slope flattening, and cuesta escarpment (Ząbkowice Hummock)). The source of aeolian sands was fluvioglacial and alluvial deposits, which, as a result of aeolian transport, were moved to higher and higher morphological levels and stabilized on a substrate of different lithology and age. The impermeability of the bedrock – tills, clays, mudstones, siltstones had a significant influence on the dune landscape. It resulted in the presence of wetlands and peat bogs in the vicinity of most dunes. Consequently, the landscape of the valley was distinguished by a lot of contrast in terms of vegetation - dry pine forests or grassy areas on the dunes and moisture-loving vegetation in their surroundings. However, this landscape was under strong human pressure. Most of the dunes (3/4) have been destroyed in the last hundred years due to sand mining and industrial and residential construction. One of the largest dune fields in the Przemsza River basin and most floodplain and under-slope flattening dunes were utterly destroyed. In addition, an interesting dune at Triassic clays was almost fully exploited, and a rare case on the Silesian Upland where a dune entered the Triassic limestones was partially covered with concrete. There are only 25 dunes in the study area - they deserve protection both as the last fragments of the inland dunes landscape in this part of the Silesian Upland and for historical and natural reasons

Płytka eksploatacja węgla kamiennego na Płaskowzgórzu Dańdówki (Wyżyna Śląska)

Shallow exploitation of black coal in Dańdówka Plateau was carried out on a wide scale in the 19th century and in the early part of the 20th century. It included 20% of the area of plateau and its effects still reveal. Two regions of shallow exploitation were here distinguished – the northern, including 10 smaller fields as well as the southern with three fields. Within them 138 excavations were stated, which in the majority of cases had the depth of 10–15 m, maximally 63 m. In result of falling of the part of empty places tens of collapse cones have been originated, often after several years after exploitation finishing. The largest density of empty places occurs below the built-up areas, making the potential hazard for the terrain surface and the construction of buildings

Record of aeolian processes in Pleistocene deposits in the foreland of the European sand belt

This article presents the degree of aeolization of Pleistocene deposits in the foreground of the European sand belt in southern Poland. Ten of the 13 sites were established in the Oświęcim Basin and three in the south part of the Silesian Upland. Attention was focused on four types of deposits formed during three glaciations (Sanian, Odranian, Vistulian): boulder clay, fluvioglacial sands and gravels, end moraine deposits, and aeolian sands. Quartz grain abrasion (for the 0.8–1.0 mm fraction) was examined by mechanical graniformametry and the morphoscopic method. The record of aeolian processes in analyzed deposits is the presence of quartz grains RM (very well-rounded and mat) and EM/RM (moderately rounded and mat). They were found in deposits of various origins and ages but in variable proportions. Considering only the average percentage of grains RM, it should be regarded that abrasion of deposits is low in the case of fluvioglacial deposits, moderate in the case of glacial deposits, and good in the case of aeolian deposits. However, the key factor in determining the degree of abrasion is the share of EM/RM grains, which in the abovementioned deposits are seven, three, and twice as many as RM grains. Therefore, the most noteworthy research result is the very high total share of grains with aeolian abrasion (RM + EM/RM), amounting on average to 84.1% for Odranian fluvioglacial deposits, 86.7% for Sanian glacial deposits and 92.6% for Late Glacial aeolian deposits. It means that in the study area, glacial and fluvioglacial transport included deposits with good aeolian abrasion obtained in the periglacial environment before the transgression of the ice sheets. Probably due to the longer persistence of periglacial conditions in southern Poland, compared to its central and northern parts, the degree of aeolization of fluvioglacial and glacial deposits is better. At the same time, there is a significant differentiation in the aeolization of fluvioglacial deposits within the outwash plain in the foreland of the maximum extent of the Odranian ice sheet. In its proximal part, near the front of the ice sheet, fluvioglacial deposits are characterized by much worse abrasion of quartz grains than in the distal part

Aeolian Abrasion of the Coastal Deposits on the Western Crete

Crete is located in the collision zone of tectonic plates; therefore, the island coast was often shaped due to tectonic phenomena. In 365 AD, a major earthquake caused the uplift of the coast of western Crete by a few metres. It means that the modern beaches of this part of the island are fragments of the former seabed with its littoral deposits. Some of these deposits are affected by wind activity. The article aims to answer the question, did wind transport lasting more than 1600 years give the marine deposits the features of aeolian deposits? Grain size and mineral composition were determined for samples from seven research sites in western Crete. Deposits representing three sedimentary environments were examined – high-energy beach, aeolian, and beach with permanent or periodic fluvial supply. Quartz abrasion was established using the morphoscopic method. In the 0.8–1.0 mm fraction, less resistant carbonate minerals dominate (on average, 77%), while the content of more resistant quartz is low (on average, 18%). It means most deposits are relatively young and were briefly in the range of aeolian processes. Coastal deposits are dominated by moderately rounded and mat grains EM/RM, on average 79%. The content of very well-rounded and mat grains RM is low, on average 18%. Multiple predominances of EM/RM grains in relation to RM grains indicate short-term aeolian transport. It can be concluded that the degree of aeolisation of coastal deposits by wind activity from 365 AD to the present is weak, at most moderate

Aeolian processes on the outwash plain in the Oświęcim Basin, southern Poland

This article presents the results of studies on aeolian processes in the Oświęcim Basin in southern Poland. There are only a few large dunes in the western part (Woszczyce area) of the vast area of the Basin (about 1800 km2), and several dozen small forms (1–3 m high) in the central part (Świerczyniec area) All these forms are located on the outwash plain from the Odra Glaciation – dunes in the proximal part of sandur and small forms in the distal part. Grain size indices were determined for all samples taken at 17 sites, and quartz grain abrasion was examined using mechanical graniformametric and morphoscopic methods. The study found that the fluvioglacial deposits are not very diverse in grain size but significantly differentiated in terms of the degree of aeolization. In the proximal part of the outwash plain, deposits are characterized by very poor abrasion of quartz grains, two-three times worse than those from the distal part. Aeolian sands, in terms of grain size, do not differ essentially from fluvioglacial deposits, and in the distal part of sandur, there are no differences in the abrasion of the quartz grains. Conversely, in the proximal part, there was a significant increase in the degree of aeolization of the dune deposits compared to the source fluvioglacial deposits

Zasoby i wykorzystanie wód powierzchniowych Afryki

The paper presents selected issues related to the surface waters of continental Africa. In the first part, the main rivers, lakes, wetlands, and dam reservoirs are characterized, and the second outlines their importance for agriculture, fisheries, and inland waterways. The data were taken from the literature, the FAO statistical yearbook and the Aquastat, World Waterfalls Database, and Global Lakes and Wetlands Database. Africa has the world's largest river systems (Nile, Congo), one of the world's largest lakes (Lake Victoria, Tanganyika), the world's largest wetland