200 years of coupled relief disturbance in the heart of a former industrial city

Abstract

Landscapes in industrialized areas undergo distinct stress due to numerous and rapid changes, including geomorphic disturbances. We investigated a distinct abandoned sloped area above the river channel in the heart of an industrial city with a population of 300,000 inhabitants. Traces of numerous past changes enabled us to reconstruct a narrative of coupled and chained disturbances spanning over 200 years. Ten different landscape-forming processes of natural, mining, urban, and war origins were identified and dated through field mapping, dendrogeomorphic and geophysical surveys, speleological exploration, and analysis of historical maps and reports. The most impactful processes included slope retreat, structural landslides, stone quarrying, and ground subsidence induced by coal mining, while rockfalls, urbanization, and war disruptions had lesser effects. The collapse of an air-raid shelter, combined with other processes, created a remarkable cave exposing coal seams. These identified processes interact within a complex environment, either immediately or with time gaps of tens or even hundreds of years. The responses of relief and landscape to these events were captured in discernible relief generations. The derelict landscape, composed of numerous spatial units resulting from many temporal events, is unique—a landscape devastated and yet valuable. We discuss two potential scenarios for the site's future development: gradual erasure of past relief generations leading to landscape homogenization, or the occurrence of further disturbances increasing the complexity of the palimpsest.