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Utilization of engineering geology in geo-tourism: few case studies of subsidence influence on historical churches in Ostrava-Karvina District (Czech Republic)

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Abstract

This article studies a set of historical churches influenced by subsidence induced by underground coal mining in the Karvina part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin in the Czech Republic. The research made use of engineering geological tools to assess the influence of underground mining on the ground. In the cases of the churches in question, variations in time of the existing subsidence have also been evaluated. The herein applied method in determination of the building site categories transforms the measured (macroscopically) visible vertical tilts of buildings (churches) into horizontal tilts and it is new. Horizontal tilts are important characteristics expressing differential settlement. However, these are not measurable as the building begins in the foundation soil and the foundations would have to be exposed. Building site categories, i.e. categories of hazard to determine the mining influence on buildings, based on horizontal tilt were used to determine the influence of underground mining onto a building. Due to the fact that the churches under observation find themselves at diverse stages of subsidence, we identified a great variability of subsidence and building site categories. This way, the churches become unique landmarks in the cultivated landscape as they frequently remain the only historical buildings in the subsidence trough. Thanks to rehabilitation and repeated repairs churches survive as the memorials of human life in subsidence troughs induced by underground coal mining. For example, in the Ostrava-Karvina Coal District coal has been mined for 200 years. The fundamental argument for the nomination of the church set onto the UNESCO World Heritage List is the fact that historical churches may remain the only traces left by people living in localities affected by underground coal mining. The article would also like to point at the application of engineering geology for other than construction or environmental purposes. Geo-tourism has this scientific and economic potential for the future.

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Acknowledgments

Authors thank the European Union (CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERDF) for the support for the project (COBRAMAN—1CE014P4) which is the base of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Construction, VŠTE-Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice, Okružní 517/10, 370 01, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    David Lamich, Petra Bednářová, Dominik Niemiec, Jan Durďák & Karel Kubečka

  2. Faculty of Mining and Geology, Institute of Geological Engineering, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 33, Ostrava, Czech Republic

    Marian Marschalko

  3. Department of Geological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cumhuriyet University, 58140, Sivas, Turkey

    Işık Yilmaz

  4. Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30, 30 059, Krakow, Poland

    Robert Duda

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  1. David Lamich
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  2. Marian Marschalko
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Correspondence to Işık Yilmaz.

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Lamich, D., Marschalko, M., Yilmaz, I. et al. Utilization of engineering geology in geo-tourism: few case studies of subsidence influence on historical churches in Ostrava-Karvina District (Czech Republic). Environ Earth Sci 75, 128 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4993-3

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