Search Results (7)

The Silesian Upland in southern Poland is known as a place where subsidence processes induced by mining activities occur in an area of nearly 1500 square kilometres, with many water bodies that formed in subsidence basins. This study concerned the dynamics of changes in the occurrence, boundaries and area of water bodies in subsidence basins (using orthoimagery from 1996 to 2023), as well as the assessment of the factors underlying the morphogenetic and hydrogenetic transformations of these basins. Within the subsidence basins covered by the study, water bodies occupied a total area that changed from 9.22 hectares in 1996 to 48.43 hectares in 2003, with a maximum of 52.30 hectares in 2009. The obtained figures testify to the extremely dynamic changes taking place in subsidence basins, which are unprecedented within such short time intervals in the case of other morphogenetic types of lakes and anthropogenic water bodies (for instance, from 1996 to 2003, the basin of the Brantka water body in Bytom underwent a more than two-fold change in its area, with R_A values in the range of 54.4% to 131.9). A reflection of the dynamics of short-term changes in the water bodies in question in the period from 1996 to 2023 is the increase in the water area of the three studied water bodies, which was projected by linear regression to range from 0.09 hectares/year to 0.56 hectares/year. The area change trends, as determined by polynomial regression, suggest a slight decrease in the water table within the last few years, as well as within the next few years, for each of the studied basins. Full article

Ice phenomena occurring in water bodies are an important indicator of natural changes (e.g., climate change) and the possibilities for economic use of water bodies (e.g., using the ice cover); hence, there is a need to adopt new advanced statistical methods for the purpose of their analysis and assessment. Material for this study was collected for three winter seasons in 39 water bodies in the Silesian Upland (southern Poland). Nine variables were used in the analysis, of which three pertained to the features of the water bodies studied (surface area, mean depth, the amount of water retained), and six pertained patterns to of ice phenomena (average near-surface water temperature during ice phenomena, average and maximum ice thickness, the number of days with ice phenomena, the number of days with ice cover, and average thickness of the snow accumulated on ice). The centroid class principal component analysis (CCPCA) method was found to be the most precise of the five methods used in the study for classifying water bodies in terms of their ice regimes. It enabled the most accurate division of the group of water bodies covered by the study in terms of their ice regimes in conjunction with their morphometric features and hydrological types. The presented method of classifying water bodies using advanced statistical methods is an original proposal, which was used for the first time in limnological research and in the analysis of ice phenomena. Full article

The study of bottom sediments was conducted within the basins of water bodies used for recreational purposes (e.g., bathing, fishing and diving) in the Silesian Upland and its periphery in southern Poland. Various concentrations of trace elements were found in bottom sediments, reflected by the following levels: Pb (30–3020 mg/kg), Zn (142–35,300 mg/kg), Cd (0.7–286 mg/kg), Ni (10–115 mg/kg), Cu (11–298 mg/kg), Co (3–40 mg/kg), Cr (22–203 mg/kg), As (8–178 mg/kg), Ba (263–19,300 mg/kg), Sb (0.9–52.5 mg/kg), Br (1–31 mg/kg), Sr (63–510 mg/kg) and S (0.001–4.590%). These trace elements are present in amounts that usually exceed those found in other bodies of water or are sometimes even unprecedented among bodies of water in the world (e.g., cadmium—286 mg/kg, zinc—35,300 mg/kg, lead—3020 mg/kg, arsenic—178 mg/kg). It was found that bottom sediments were contaminated to varying degrees with toxic metals, metalloids and non-metals, as evidenced by the values of geoecological indicators, i.e., the geoaccumulation index (−6.31 < I_geo < 10.90), the sediment contamination factor (0.0 ≤ $C_f^i$ < 286.0), the sediment contamination degree (4.6 < C_d < 513.1) and the ratios of the concentrations found to the regional geochemical background (0.5 < I_RE < 196.9). It was concluded that the presence of toxic elements (e.g., lead, zinc, cadmium, chromium, strontium and arsenic) in bottom sediments should be taken into account when classifying water bodies as suitable for recreational use. A maximum ratio of the concentrations found to the regional geochemical background of I_RE ≤ 5.0 was proposed as the threshold for the permissibility of recreational use of water bodies. The water bodies used for recreational purposes in the Silesian Upland and its periphery do not meet the geoecological conditions for safe use in terms of recreation and leisure activities. Forms of their recreational use that directly affect the participants’ health (e.g., fishing and the consumption of fish and other aquatic organisms) should be abandoned. Full article

A particularly large accumulation of mining subsidence basins is characteristic for the Silesian Upland in southern Poland. This region is home to one of Europe’s largest coal basins. The objective of the study was to assess the subsidence process on the land surface in an industrialized urban area, as well as their impact on changes in the water cycle. Detailed studies were conducted in an area of 51.26 km², which covers urban areas—mainly of Świętochłowice and partly Ruda Śląska and Chorzów, as well as Bytom and Zabrze. In the period 1883–1994 land surface depressions were revealed in an area of 38.8 km², which constitutes 75.7% of the study area. In total, the endorheic areas spread over 6.9 km². Changes in land reliefs have resulted in distinct water-cycle disturbances at local and regional levels. A generalised water-cycle scheme has been developed for the mining subsidence zone. The main directions of changes in water migration within the endorheic subsidence basin have been indicated, accounting for the situation before and after land subsidence. Consequently, this results in an average excess of 1.7 hm³ of water per year in the water cycle in these areas. Full article

This article summarizes the studies concerning the impact of pollutants on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the mountain and upland rivers of southern Poland. The Carpathian Raba River, which in the 1960s retained its natural character and had good water quality, was considered as a reference in terms of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. The other two analyzed rivers were polluted to different degrees. The Carpathian Dunajec River was contaminated mainly by sewage from small towns and treatment plant, while the upland Vistula River mainly by sewage from the Upper Silesian Industrial Region and saline waters from coal mines. In studied ecosystems in response to pollutions, a rapid increase in density of fauna caused mainly by the massive development of Oligochaeta was found. In the mountain river, the impact of contamination on macroinvertebrate diversity was negligible. There, taxa considered as indicators of clean water (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) were abundant and their diversity was similar to that of an uncontaminated river. In the heavily polluted upland Vistula River, the sites with a muddy bottom were dominated by Oligochaeta (99.4–99.9%), while at sites with stony bottoms, apart from Oligochaeta, there were also Chironomidae, Gastropoda, and Hirudinea. In comparison to the 1950s, all Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Odonata, Trichoptera, and Megaloptera were extinct. Full article

The paper analyses the anthropogenic change in water bodies in the southern part of the Silesian Upland as exemplified by the town of Knurów. The assessment was based on topographic maps from the years 1827–1828, 1928–1936, 1960 and 1993, and on a 2011 orthophotomap. The cartographic materials used were processed as required for analysis purposes. Maps were calibrated in the Quantum GIS program on the basis of map corner coordinates and using the common points method. In Knurów, four main types of water bodies were distinguished with respect to their origins: reservoirs impounded by dams, flooded mineral workings, industrial water bodies and water bodies in subsidence basins and hollows. Historically, the first water bodies to appear were reservoirs impounded by dams, which dominated until the 1930s. They later fell into disuse and were completely dismantled. Water bodies in mineral workings formed in the early 20th century and were associated with the excavation of raw materials for producing bricks. The period of their greatest significance were the 1960s, when they constituted slightly more than 46% of water bodies in total and accounted for nearly 40% of overall surface area. At the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, industrial reservoirs began to appear. Within the town of Knurów, those were sedimentation tanks that held mine water, washery effluent, backfill and cooling water, fire-fighting water pools and tanks, tanks at sewage treatment plants, industrial water tanks and others. Presently, these account for 41.4% (29) of the total number of water bodies and have a total surface area of 32.0 ha (25.2%). Within the study area, water bodies in subsidence basins and hollows only began to form in the second half of the 20th century. In 2011, such water bodies numbered 38 (54.3%) and occupied an area of 90.4 ha (71.2%). Full article

The aim of the study was to identify patterns of ice-related phenomena on 39 selected anthropogenic water bodies in the Silesian Upland in southern Poland. The core research was conducted in the winter season of 2009/2010, between December and March. Field measurements and observations were conducted every two days during the freezing and thawing phases and every four days at the time of continuous ice cover. Data were interpolated to cover days without observations. Differences in the ice cover phenology on these water bodies were caused by natural conditions (morphometric and hydro-meteorological) and human activity (thermal pollution). Two principal groups of anthropogenic water bodies were identified in terms of the ice phenomena: lakes and ponds with a natural or quasi-natural pattern of ice phenomena and water bodies featuring various degrees of human impact. The thickness of the ice-cover was found to vary, which was a source of great danger to the users of the water bodies in the winter season. Full article