Mining-Induced Anthropogenic Transformations of the Wielka Kopa Massif—Case Study of Rudawy Janowickie, the Sudetes

The article presents a detailed description of the transformation of the terrain relief due to long-lasting underground and surface mining activity in the Wielka Kopa massif at Rudawy Janowickie (the Western Sudetes mountains). It includes both the anthropogenic forms and secondary transformations of these forms due to natural land-shaping processes, ongoing after mining had been discontinued. The location deserves special attention, as it shows particularly significant mining-induced relief transformations, whose scale can be compared to those of the Walbrzych hard coal basin and the Turoszow lignite basin. The presented object is also an important historical heritage and deserves special attention due to its high research, didactic and tourism potential. The article offers a description of the characteristics and a classification of the anthropogenic forms in the area of Wielka Kopa, which are hoped to serve as an aid in planning future actions related to the revitalization of the area and also as an example for future descriptions of other closed mining facilities.

Tourism climate conditions in the Western Sudetes (Poland) in relation to UTCI

The region of Western Sudetes is one of the most popular tourist areas in Poland. Simultaneously, it is also characterized by significant variability in terms of climate conditions. Therefore, the main goal of the analysis was to evaluate variability in heat stress frequency according to UTCI and examine how it corresponds to the results of the tourism-climate index (WSI). The results for both indices, for 1971-2015 data, showed significant differences between the summit and the lower located mountain zones. Analysis on multiannual trends of UTCI classes showed significant increase in the frequency of thermoneutral conditions and decreasing tendency for cold stress categories.

Ophrys apifera Huds. (Orchidaceae) on a heap of limestone mine waste – the first population found in the Sudetes and the second in Poland

The paper reports the finding of a new locality of Ophrys apifera – the first locality of this species in the Sudeten range and the second in Poland. A new population was found in the Kaczawskie Mts. (Western Sudetes). It consists of 23 flowering plants and occurs in an operating limestone quarry. The detailed data on this population and its habitat are included.

Aluminium in waters of the active exchange zone in the Karkonosze National Park (Western Sudetes, SW Poland)

The paper presents the variability of aluminum concentrations in groundwater of the main porous-fissured aquifer and surface waters in the area of the Karkonosze National Park (KPN), covering mainly the upper parts of the Karkonosze Mts. The analysis was based on the results of samplings carried out in the area of the KPN in August 2015 and supplemented with the results of water quality monitoring carried out during the period of 2010–2016 in selected catchments of the Karkonosze Mts. Significant spatial variability of aluminium concentrations was observed, from several dozen to over 1,090 μg/L, increasing along with the height of the measurement points. The highest concentrations were recorded in the ridge zone of the Karkonosze Mts, where the pH is the lowest.

Polymetamorphic evolution of pelites inferred from tourmaline zoning – the Rędziny hornfels case study at the eastern contact of the Karkonosze Granite, Sudetes, Poland

Tourmaline occurring in hornfelses from the eastern envelope of the Karkonosze Granite (Western Sudetes, Poland) reveals at least two stages of crystallization expressed by its complex zoning. The cores and mantles of the crystals probably grew during prograde metamorphism under intermediate pressure-temperature conditions reflected by increasing Mg, Ti and Ca. Outermost rims show enrichment in Al and Ca, indicating growth during contact metamorphism in the presence of an Al-saturating phase. The Ti-content in biotite indicates that the temperature of the contact metamorphic event did not exceed 650ºC. The presence of andalusite and the lack of garnet and cordierite also indicates pressure conditions of ~ 2-3 kbar, typical of the C1 bathozone of Carmichael (1978) or the P1 bathozone of Pattison (2001).

Geological setting of the barite-fluorite deposit at Jeżów Sudecki (Kaczawa Mts.)

From 1969 to 1993, investigation for the Ba-F mineralization was executed within the metamorphic Kaczawa complex, north of the Intra-Sudetic Fault in the Jeżów Sudecki-Dziwiszów area (Kaczawa Mts., Western Sudetes). The article presents unpublished results of those prospecting works. A small deposit of Ba-F with Zn, Pb, Cu-sulphides, on the SE slope of the Szybowisko hill near Jelenia Góra, was documented in 1994. The economic mineralization is developed in the Jeżów Sudecki fault, steep fracture zone running parallel to the Intra-Sudetic Fault, and was identified at a distance of 600 m along the strike of the fault (in the W–E direction) and up to a depth of 500 m along the dip (towards the south). Two (locally three) bifurcating veins were found. The average content of the main components is: BaSO4 – 63.18%, CaF2 – 8.60%. The Ba-F mineralization is associated with the Jeżów Sudecki fault, synchronous with the formation of the Intra-Sudetic Fault zone. Both of these faults are Variscan and fall steeply southward. Younger, alpine (?) inverse and transverse normal faults were formed after the intrusion of a rhyolite dyke into the Kaczawa complex rocks and after the formation of the barite deposit. The Ba-F mineralization developed in a multi-stage process and shows a pulsatory nature. Five mineral parageneses were distinguished in the deposit. The age of the Ba-F mineralization has not been definitively established.