Human impact on the karstic environment of the Krakow Upland (Southern Poland)

摘要

The Cracow Upland situated in the southern Poland is a karstic region of the Upper Jurassic limestones being under influence of the urban-industrial agglomerations of Cracow and Upper Silesia. In 1990-1996, in the preserved areas of the Cracow Upland, some indices of human impact (heavy metals content in soils and river sediments and groundwater chemistry) were studied. They correlate with the local rural settlement but heavy metal content in the bottom sediments of the water-courses and in the soil (with exception of Zn) does not reflect influence of the adjacent industrial agglomerations. The indices of water quality degradation (high concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compounds) are all of agricultural origin. The buffering character of carbonate environment limits the migration of metals to groundwater.