Historic salt mines in Wieliczka and Bochnia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7494/geotour.2009.18.61Keywords:
salt mine, Wieliczka, Bochnia, natural heritage, geotourismAbstract
Historic salt mines in Wieliczka and Bochnia are situated by the old trade road from Kraków to the east, in the region well known from salt-making from brines since the Neolith (ca. 3500 BC). In Bochnia the rock salt was discovered in 1248, whereas in Wieliczka production of the rock salt was confirmed in the town charter in 1290. At the end of the 13th century both mines were united into the Kraków Saltworks. In the 16th century it was the biggest production centre in Poland and one of the biggest in Europe. The rock-salt exploitation ended in Bochnia in 1990 and in Wieliczka in 1996. Both deposits are situated within the Miocene (Badenian – M4) folded strata of the salt-bearing complex, consisting of the Skawina Formation (at the bottom), the Wieliczka Formation (containing the evaporites), and the Chodenice beds (at the top). The Wieliczka deposit consists of the upper boulder deposit and the lower stratiform one. The boulder deposit was formed as a result of submarine flows in southern part of the evaporite basin. Both the boulder and the stratiform deposits were finally shaped by the overthrust movements of the Outer Carpathians. The Bochnia deposit is limited to the northern limb of the Bochnia anticline, at the northern edge of the Outer Carpathians. The Wieliczka Salt Mine is written into the first UNESCO List of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1978) and recognised as a National Monument of History (1994). Since 2000 the Bochnia Salt Mine is the National Monument of History as well. In 1997 the Małopolska voivode issued a decree comprising legal protection of 40 documentated sites, important for geology of the Wieliczka deposit, and in 2000 the Natural Reserve “Crystal Caves” in Wieliczka was established. In 2005, twenty seven documentated sites were established and provided with legal protection in the Bochnia Salt Mine.Downloads
References
Alexandrowicz, S.W., Garlicki, A. & Rutkowski, J., 1982. Podstawowe jednostki litostratygraficzne miocenu zapadliska przedkarpackiego. Kwartalnik Geologiczny, 26 (2): 470-471 (In Polish only).
Andreyeva-Grigorovich, A.S., Oszczypko, N., Savitskaya, N.A., Ślączka, A. & Trofimovich, N.A., 2003. Correlation of Late Badenian salts of the Wieliczka, Bochnia and Kalush areas (Polish and Ukrainian Carpathian Foredeep. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 73: 67-89.
Bukowski, K., 1999. Comparison of the Badenian saliferous series from Wieliczka and Bochnia in the light of new data. Prace Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego, 168: 43-56 (In Polish, English summary).
Charkot, J., 2005. An outline of Bochnia Salt Mine space expansion 1772-1990. Studia i Materiały do Dziejów Żup Solnych w Polsce, 24: 25-58 (In Polish, English summary).
Charysz, J. & Wiewiórka, J., 1976. Paleogeograficzne warunki sedymentacji ewaporatów w dolnej części złoża Wielickiego. Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Komisji Naukowych PAN, Oddział w Krakowie, 20 (1): 197-199 (In Polish only).
Dudek, K., Bukowski, K. & Heflik, W., 2004. Mineralogical characteristics of the Bochnia tuff from the Chodenice Beds (Carpathian Foredeep), S Poland. Mineralogia Polonica, 35 (2): 63-77.
Garlicki, A., 1968. Autochthonous salt series in the Miocene of the Carpathian Foredeep, between Skawina and Tarnów. Biuletyn Instytutu Geologicznego, 215: 5-77 (In Polish, English summary).
Garlicki, A., 1979. Sedimentation of Miocene salts in Poland. Prace Geologiczne PAN, 119: 1-67 (In Polish, English summary).
Garlicki, A., 1994. Formalne jednostki litostratygraficzne miocenu – formacja z Wieliczki (fm). Przegląd Geologiczny, 42 (1): 26-28 (In Polish only).
Garlicki, A., 2008. Salt Mines at Bochnia and Wieliczka. Przegląd Geologiczny, 56 (8/1): 663-669.
Gaweł, A., 1962. Geology of the Wieliczka salt deposit. Prace Instytutu Geologicznego, 30 (3): 305-327 (In Polish, English summary).
Gonera, M., 2001. Foraminifers and palaeoenvironment of the Badenian (Middle Miocene) Formation in the area of the Upper Silesia. Studia Naturae, 48: 5-211 (In Polish, English summary).
Jodłowski, A., Wiewiórka, J., Piotrowicz, J., Keckowa, A., Dziwik, K. & Wyrozumski, J., 1988. The history of Kraków Salt-Works. Muzeum Żup Krakowskich Wieliczka, 460 pp. (In Polish, English summary).
Kolasa, K. & Ślączka, A., 1985a. Sedimentary salt megabreccias exposed in the Wieliczka mine Fore-Carpathian Depression. Acta Geologica Polonica, 35 (3-4): 221-230.
Kolasa, K. & Ślączka, A., 1985b. Some remarks on the Wieliczka salt deposit genesis. Studia i Materiały do Dziejów Żup Solnych w Polsce, 14: 7-49 (In Polish, English summary).
Kotarba, M.J., 2009. The Starunia palaeontological site and idea of Ukrainian-Polish trans-border geoturist trail “Traces of large, extinct mammals, earth wax, oil and salt: from Starunia to Kraków”. Geoturystyka, This volume.
Oszczypko, N., 1996. The Miocene dynamics of the Carpathian Foredeep in Poland. Przegląd Geologiczny, 44 (10): 1007-1018 (In Polish, English summary).
Oszczypko, N., 1997. The Early-Middle Miocene Carpathian peripheral foreland basin (Western Carpathians, Poland). Przegląd Geologiczny, 45 (10/2): 1054-1063.
Oszczypko, N., Krzywiec, P., Popadyuk, I. & Peryt, T., 2006. Carpathian Foredeep Basin (Poland and Ukraine): its sedimentary, structural, and geodynamic evolution. In: Golonka, J. & Picha, F.J. (Eds.), The Carpathians and their foreland: Geology and hydrocarbon resources. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Memorie, 84: 293-350.
Parachoniak, W., 1962. Miocene pyroclastic deposits on the foreland of the Polish Carpathians. Prace Geologiczne Komisji Nauk Geologicznych PAN Oddz. w Krakowie. 11: 7-77 (In Polish, English summary).
Poborski, J., 1952. The Bochnia salt deposit on the geological background of region. Biuletyn Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego, 78: 3-160 (In Polish, English summary).
Smaroń, A., 1982. Two oldest latin reports on Kraków Salt-Works. Studia i Materiały do Dziejów Żup Solnych w Polsce, 11: 117-157 (In Polish, English summary).
Tarkowski, R., 2005. Nowe materiały dotyczące podróży przyrodnika francuskiego J.-E. Guettarda do Polski (1760-1762). Przegląd Geologiczny, 53 (1): 41-46 (In Polish only).
Wiewiórka, J., 1974. Level of the oldest rock-salt in the stratified salt deposit of Wieliczka. Studia i Materiały do Dziejów Żup Solnych w Polsce, 3: 17-38 (In Polish, English summary).
Wiewiórka, J., 1979. Przewodnie poziomy tufitowe w kopalni soli Wieliczka. Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Komisji Naukowych PAN, Oddział w Krakowie, 21 (1): 176-178 (In Polish only).
Wiewiórka, J., 1988. Geological conditions of salt exploitation in the Kraków Salt-Works. In: Jodłowski, A., Wiewiórka, J., Piotrowicz, J., Keckowa, A., Dziwik, K. & Wyrozumski, J. The history of Kraków Salt-Works. Muzeum Żup Krakowskich Wieliczka, 37-70. (In Polish, English summary).
Wiewiórka, J., Charkot, J., Dudek, K. & Gonera M., 2007. New data on the salt-deposit geology and the mining history in the Bochnia Salt Mine. Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi, 23, special volume 1: 157-162 (In Polish, English summary).
Wiewiórka, J., Dudek, K., Charkot, J. & Gonera M., 2009. Natural and historic heritage of the Bochnia salt mine (South Poland). Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 54 (1): 43-47.
Wójcik, Z., 1977. The origin of rock salt and the methods of its exploration as viewed by Jean Etienne Guettard. Prace Muzeum Ziemi, 27: 3-25 (In Polish, English summary).
Web sites:
www.kopalnia-wieliczka.pl
www.muzeum.wieliczka.pl
www.kopalniasoli.pl
Downloads
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The content of the journal is freely available according to the Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
