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

Roksana Zarychta,Adrian Zarychta,Katarzyna Bzdęga

doi:10.3390/rs12101548

Roksana Zarychta, Adrian Zarychta + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12101548

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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.

Highlights

Open pit mining contributes to irreversible changes in the relief of land
On comparing the image of the obtained hypsometry of the studied area (Figure 3a,b) with the description of the pit contained in the literature (Section 2) and field observations (Figure 3d), it was found that the lowest floor part of the quarry is located at an elevation of approximately 212–214 m a.s.l
The Podgórski Cemetery bordering the quarry from the east is located at an elevation of 235 m a.s.l. and the anthropogenic embankments adjacent to its western wall are located at an elevation of 225 m a.s.l

Summary

Introduction

Hydrographic conditions are altered, and soil and vegetation degradation processes occur [1,2,3,4,5]. For this reason, a return to the original morphology becomes practically impossible. A return to the original morphology becomes practically impossible This is highly important in the case of anthropogenic areas, in particular, former mining areas, including quarries established in large numbers until the mid-20th century [6,7,8]. The only materials available were maps, mainly topographical maps with various scales, usually too small to be able to precisely reproduce the former relief of the land affected by exploitation

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