Abstract
Abstract. In the coal mining districts of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, we identified 662 previously unidentified depressions at the land surface using LIDAR data. Their density decreases westwards along with deepening of the Carboniferous coal layers, while not changing in dimensions. The timing of their formation based on historical maps and landowner reports, suggests that they mostly formed during the period 1920–1970, the peak of mining activity. Based on their position, density and age, we link the formation of depressions to the coal-mining activities in South Limburg, Germany and Belgium. Our working hypothesis tentatively explains the origin, mechanism of formation and timing of these local subsidence features.
Highlights
Coal mining in the Netherlands started in the 11th century around the monastery of Rolduc in the east of South Limburg (Fig. 1)
In rural areas in the Dutch coal mining district and up to 7.5 km into neighbouring Germany, we identified and mapped 662 depressions using Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) data (Fig. 1)
The geology of the coal mining region excludes the option of karstic dolines, because the top of the Late Cretaceous chalk in the region is located at depths of 40 m to more than 150 m, and it is overlain by clastic Cenozoic deposits
Summary
Coal mining in the Netherlands started in the 11th century around the monastery of Rolduc in the east of South Limburg (Fig. 1). Around the end of the 19th century technological advances such as groundwater extraction made it possible to scale-up coal extraction using deep subsurface mines. Since both private and state mines extracted coal from ever greater depths of up to around 1100 m in State Mine Hendrik (Fig. 1). The extraction of multiple coal seams affected the land surface in several ways. The coal extraction resulted in localized sinkholes. A sinkhole was discovered below one of the columns of the structure, which was the result of shallow extraction of a coal seam (Chang and Hanssen, 2014). The sinkhole triggered large-scale investigations issued by the Dutch state, which demonstrated that effects of coal mining can still be detected today
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