Endangering of the Upper Jurassic karst-fissured aquifer in the Krakow Upland (southern Poland) |
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| Authors: | Jacek Rózkowski |
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| Institution: | (1) Uniwersytet Śląski, Będzińska Str. 60, 41–200 Sosnowiec, Poland, PL |
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| Abstract: | A karst-fissured aquifer in the Upper Jurassic carbonate rocks of the Krakow Upland shows a very high yield (safe yield 117 000 m3/day) and belongs to the major groundwater basins (MGBs) of Poland. The uncovered character of the aquifer and its hydraulic
structure favor the intensive infiltration and migration of anthropogenic pollutants from the surface. This pollution is caused
by agriculture and industry in the proximity of Krakow and the Upper Silesian agglomeration. Progressive degradation of groundwater
quality on a regional scale results. Evaluation of the endangering of the aquifer studied is based on the analysis of the
time interval of vertical water percolation from the surface, the time interval of groundwater horizontal flow through the
aquifer and the duration of water residence in the aquifer derived from tritium data. Quaternary and Cretaceous overburden
occur in the Krakow Upland in addition to numerous outcrops of limestones. The time interval of vertical water percolation
in highly permeable limestones does not exceed 3 years and in the areas covered by overburden it is from several to 50 years.
The mean effective time interval of horizontal groundwater flow through the Upper Jurassic rocks along the flow paths ranges
from several months in the areas of direct drainage to over 15 years in the elevated areas of local groundwater divides. The
age of water in the rock matrix was determined using tritium data interpreted according to an exponential model and it ranges
from 70 years to over 130 years. In karst-fissured systems with a high retardation index (Rp=21) the effective time of water circulation in local drainage basins does not exceed 7 years.
The Krakow-Wieluń Upland is the most extensive and uniform karst region in Poland. It is a belt of Upper Jurassic limestone
extending from Krakcow in the southeast to Wieluń in the northwest on the northeast slope of the Silesian Upland. Residual
hills of Paleogene age separated by infilled karst depressions are the most characteristic features of the Krakow-Wieluń Upland.
More than 800 small caves are known in this area, but only two of them reach 1 km of aggregate passage length (Gazek and others
1992).
Received: 4 December 1996 · Accepted: 29 April 1997 |
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| Keywords: | Karst-fissured aquifer Upper Jurassic Vertical and horizontal permeability |
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