Mining Activity and its Remains - The Possibilities of Obtaining, Analysing and Disseminating of Various Data on the Example of Miedzianka, Lower Silesia, Poland

Abstract

The article presents comprehensive documentation of the situation of post-mining Miedzianka village (former town), which is located in Lower Silesia, in south-western Poland. Due to the long-term expansive mining exploitation since the 14th century, over time Miedzianka was completely destroyed and depopulated, thus nowadays, only a few inhabitants live there. The basis for the conducted research area were changes in land and urban structure that have been occurring for centuries in connection with mining operation of copper and uranium. The authors focused on presenting the changes using archival cartographic documentation, land surveying measurements and 3D modelling. That data allowed to determine on the ground specific sites related to mining operations, discover old urban buildings, performing their 3D models and finding places potentially threatened by continuous and discontinuous deformations. The combination of all the data allowed to present the full situation that occurred in Miedzianka.

A Multidisciplinary Investigation of an Abandoned Old Mining Area Which Has Been Affected by the Combined Influences of Salt Karst and Human Exploration Activity

“…The geology of the North European Plain is distinguished by the occurrence of numerous salt structures [1,2], which are usually associated with tectonic deformations and sometimes the manifestation of active diapirism, which generates some problems for the stability of the ground surface [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Ground instability (subsidence, ground collapse, sinkholes) is caused by intense underground leaching (subrosion) and by the development of karst phenomena.…”