Geomorphological Processes at the Industrial Sludge Landfill in Sered, Slovakia

Matúš Maxin,Eva Michaeli,Jozef Vilček,Martin Boltižiar,Vladimír Solár

doi:10.3390/su13126605

Abstract

The principal aim of the study is to identify the nature and causes of changes to the surface of a landfill body of waste from nickel production located in the industrial zone of the town of Sereď (Slovak Republic). This change is related to natural and anthropogenic geomorphological processes characteristic of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. The landfill is an accumulative anthropogenic form of relief, and its body is composed from an artefact-metallurgical sludge, which has specific properties. The landfill constitutes a strange shape of relief at the Danubian Plane, which attracts attention with its physiognomy and also with the black color of the material significantly. It formed during the 30-year-long existence of the nickel smelter plant (1963–1993) and remained in this location, until the present day, for another 28 years after the end of production. Since 1994, the landfill has been the property of a private company that mines sludge in order to obtain residual metals.

Highlights

The aim of the article was to find out which geomorphological processes are currently taking place in the landfill and the origin of which forms of relief they conditioned
The object of our research was the landfill of metallurgical sludge or the anthropogenic industrial convex form of relief, which originated through the accumulation of waste during the 30 years of the production of nickel at the former smelter plant in Sereď
The object of our research was the landfill of metallurgical sludge or the anthropogenic industrial convex form of relief, which originated through the accumulation of waste during the 30 years of the production of nickel at the former smelter plant in Sered’

Summary

Introduction

The aim of the article was to find out which geomorphological processes are currently taking place in the landfill and the origin of which forms of relief they conditioned. We relied on our previous research, but the most important was direct field research, associated with relief forms mapping. Our contribution to anthropogenic geomorphology lies primarily in the identification of geomorphological processes at the metallurgical sludge landfill. These processes have been degrading the environment for 58 years and damaging the health of the population, so we wrote this article. Research into anthropogenic shapes of relief has, until recently, been a secondary problem of global geomorphological research, today, it is a scientific topic that is resonating in some regions, in Central and Eastern Europe. Humans are an important component of processes involved in the evolution of the shapes of relief in landscapes [2]

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Conclusion