Geographia Polonica (2020) vol. 93, iss. 1

Reconstruction of the morphology and hydrography of the centre of Kraków before the mid-13th century

Adam Łajczak, Roksana Zarychta

Geographia Polonica (2020) vol. 93, iss. 1, pp. 25-50 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0161

Abstract

The paper concerns investigations on urban geomorphology. The subject of the paper is the historic centre of Kraków (or Cracow) where the pre-human relief became masked due to the rapid increase in cultural deposits from the mid-13th century onwards. The aim of the investigation is the reconstruction of the original topography, relief and hydrography of this area based on rich sources of materials in papers and non-publisheddata on geology, geoengineering, archaeology, history, and also on maps and panoramic drawings of the town. A digital elevation model has been generated, which showed the topography of the study area in the period before the mid-13th century. Structural analysis, cross validation test and estimation by ordinary kriging method were carried out. The final cartographic work was prepared with the use of QGIS and Surfer software.The distribution of landforms in the study area in the mid-13th century is presented as a proposed variant of the geomorphological map prepared by the authors. The former relief was evaluated in terms of its potential for encouraging settlement.

Keywords: pre-urban morphology, Kraków, Vistula, meandering river, limestone horst, Pleistocene terrace, Holocene floodplain, digital cartography, geostatistics, ordinary kriging

Adam Łajczak [alajczak@o2.pl], Institute of Geography Pedagogical University of Krakow Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Krakow: Poland
Roksana Zarychta [roksana.zarychta@up.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography Pedagogical University of Kraków Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Kraków: Poland