Geodetic surveys in detection of geological features: a case study of Inowrocław area, central Poland

Abstract

Remotely obtained geodetic survey data can be used to detect anomalies in the terrain surface over different geological structures, like faults or deposit boundaries. Some computer techniques are helpful to extract the influence of geological phenomena on typical distribution of the measured elevations. Certain disturbances in profile lines can be considered as additional, human-induced effects or caused by geological processes. The paper demonstrates such an analysis basing on geodetic data with some support of geophysical results. The examined morphological profiles and profiles of subsidence bowls caused by mining in the area of Inowroclaw (central Poland) illustrate the problem of an underestimated mechanism in non-geological disciplines. For geologists this is another example of environmental interaction between relief-forming processes and subsurface conditions. Furthermore, it brings additional information about processes of mining subsidence, which is the primary topic of this study. Mutual relationships between vertical displacements induced by mining or other factors and morphological profiles point to the dominant role played by mobility of geological structures, as shown by correlation between geodetic and geophysical data.