Upper Silesian Region—An Example of Large-Scale Transformation of Relief by Mining

Abstract

The Upper Silesian Region stands out from other areas of Poland because of its rich natural resources—hard coal, zinc and lead ores, iron ores, stowing sands, dolomites, and limestones. The beginnings of mining date back to the Middle Ages, but it was most intense in the twentieth century. Mining of hard coal in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, currently the largest coalfield in Europe, was fundamental. As a result of long-term underground and opencast exploitation, in many areas the former agricultural and forest landscape has been transformed into a mining landscape. Its characteristic elements are anthropogenic landforms such as spoil tips, sandpits, quarries, subsidence troughs, and sinkholes occurring in the highly urbanized conurbations of Katowice and Rybnik and on their peripheries. The consequences of mining include significant changes in the course of watersheds, lowering of the base level of erosion, changes in the geometry of riverbeds, and creation of numerous water reservoirs in excavations and subsidence troughs. After 1989, due to the restructuring of the economy, half of the mines were closed. Currently, mining focuses on the southern and central parts of the Upper Silesian Region, while in the northern part many anthropogenic landforms are reclaimed and revitalized. They are transformed into attractive recreational and leisure areas, where the mining heritage has been properly exposed and is often under legal protection. The values of the anthropogenic landscape make the Upper Silesian Region an interesting tourist destination.