Anthropogenic relief changes in a long‐lasting lignite mining area (‘Ville’, Germany) derived from historic maps and digital elevation models

Abstract

Humans constitute one of the main geomorphological agents in modern times. As an example, post‐mining regions represent a typical landscape of the Anthropocene. Strong relief modifications are particularly obvious with open pit mining. However, many existing mining areas are lacking detailed pre‐mining information for the quantification of anthropogenic relief changes, which is a considerable challenge in regions with historic mining activities. Here, the Ville (Rhenish lignite district, Germany) is used to quantify surface mining induced relief changes in one of the oldest and currently largest lignite districts in Europe. Historical maps from first geodetic mapping in 1893 enabled construction of a historic digital elevation model to quantify the relief changes in comparison to elevation data from 2000 and 2015. The vertical accuracy of the historic data is remarkably high, with relief differences < 2 m in areas not affected by mining. In total, 49.2% of the investigated area (184 km2) shows a relief deficit and 14.5% has positive relief differences. Absolute changes account for more than 80 m heightening (dumpsites of overburden) and lowering of the natural relief (pits). Besides these altitudinal changes, overall steeper slopes are significant for the new topography, but levelling exists likewise. The spatial variabilities are discussed in the context of the regional geology and the mining techniques. Undoubtedly, such large‐scale anthropogenic relief changes persist for a very long time and will last as a human legacy far into the future. Only the detailed reconstruction of the pre‐mining relief offers the ability to clarify the dimension of humans as geomorphological agents and to understand landscape perception. Due to the fact that the impact of open pit mining has such a large vertical and horizontal extension, their consideration as part of anthropogeomorphology can significantly contribute to support future Critical Zone research in the Anthropocene.

Combining geophysical and geomorphological data to reconstruct the development of relief of a medieval castle site in the Spessart low mountain range, Germany

“…While anthropogenic influence on a landscape has often been discussed in science and proven in various case studies (e.g., Brown et al, 2017;Bork, 2020;Henselowsky et al, 2021) This study also demonstrates the importance of comprehensive geomorphological investigations for the identification and evaluation of castle sites in terms of factors influencing site selection. Furthermore, the thorough investigation of multiple interdependent landscape-forming processes also allows for a discussion of the constraints resulting from competing land-use pressures in particular landscapes.…”

“…While anthropogenic influence on a landscape has often been discussed in science and proven in various case studies (e.g., Brown et al, 2017; Bork, 2020; Henselowsky et al, 2021), the example of the surrounding of Wahlmich Castle shows a different picture. Today, easily erodible ridges and valleys of weathered Bröckelschiefer form a rough landscape around the castle hill, which stands in strong contrast to the mostly gentle hills of the Spessart low mountain range.…”

Hypsometric changes in urban areas resulting from multiple years of mining activity

“…The Prussian Meßtischblätter maps used in this study are characterised by very high detail and accurate topography and are among the best sources of information on the spatial transformations (e.g. land use, changes in water relations and in land relief) that have taken place within the last 120 years 22 , 23 , 41 , 42 . According to Harnischmacher and Zepp 23 who studied relief changes in the Ruhr, almost 99% of data from this area had an elevation difference error of less than 2 m, and only slightly more than 1% had an error greater than 2 m. The study by Dulias 43 , which covers the entire area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, demonstrates that the maximum error was ± 0.45 m. The comparison between the two terrain models developed for that study shows that the maximum differences in terrain elevation in the area where no changes in relief occurred due to human activity during the studied period (wooded areas in the northern part of the city) do not exceed ± 1.5 m.…”

115 years of sediment deposition in a reservoir in Central Europe: Topographic change detection

“…Topographic information from the contour lines was interpolated using the tool 'Topo to Raster' in ArcGIS Pro 3.0, which is based on the ANUDEM program (Hutchinson, 2008(Hutchinson, , 1989Hutchinson et al, 2011), and resulted in a hydrologically correct DEM with a spatial resolution of 1 m (DEM 1897 ) (Figure 4). The spatial resolution of 1 m was conservatively selected based on the distance of the contour lines and the scale of the nine maps (Henselowsky et al, 2021).…”