8 Groundwater Resources of Poland
145
appear directly on the surface, forming monadnocks and aquifer supply areas. In
the ´
Swi˛ etokrzyskie Mountains, Sudetes and in Upper Silesia there occur locally on
the surface aquifer levels from older geological periods, including the Palaeozoic
aquifers. Large parts of rock formations are made of limestone and dolomites, which
contain tunnels, channels, passages and karst craters, which in turn form fractured
and karst water-bearing systems. By virtue of their dominant position in the land
morphology – being surrounded by a belt of foreland depressions (for example, the
Carpathian Foredeep) in the south and the zone of Mid-Polish lowlands in the north,
vast uplands constitute aquifer supply areas. In the past twenty years, buried valleys
whose depths reach approximately 140 m have been detected in the upland zone by
means of research boreholes and geophysical surveys 140 m. They eroded in solid
rocks of much older surface and were filled with Quaternary sediments [3]. These
valleys can contain substantial reserves of groundwater in the case of being filed in
with sandy and gravelly sediments.
The Mid-Polish Lowlands, which belong to the region of Polish and German
Lowlands are distinguished by their extensive groundwater reservoirs in a deep basin
or trough structures, in which aquifer levels belong to the Quaternary, Neogene,
Paleogene, Cretaceous and Jurassic sediments. In the Mesozoic layers, saline and
salt waters occur, but they are not suitable for the supply of potable water for local
communities. In the aforementioned layers, pore ranges have paramount importance
for groundwater resources, and only locally in the Upper Cretaceous and Jurassic
periods can one find fractured aquifers as well as karstic and fractured ones. In
the area of Mid-Polish Lowlands, a range of Major Underground Water Reservoirs
have been identified, covering the total area of several thousand km
2 [2, 5]. These
reservoirs provide the greatest volumes of groundwater extracted at large municipal
intakes. Substantial reserves of groundwater can be located in wide river valleys
whose sandy alluvial deposits on average do not exceed 20 m of thickness, but in the
event of their interference with buried valleys, the thickness of sandy water-bearing
levels can reach even 80 m.
Considerable groundwater resources in regional reservoirs also occur in the
Neogene and Paleogene aquifers. In the areas where Quaternary aquifers do not occur,
these resources constitute the major usable water-bearing horizon. The reservoirs are
perfectly insulated and are impervious to surface pollution.
The upper roof of the Mesozoic aquifers in the Mid-Polish Lowland area occurs
on average at a depth of 100 m. It is composed of the Upper Cretaceous and Jurassic
layers of marls, limestones, and siliceous limestones. Only in the area of the MidPolish anticlinorium (from Cuiavia to the Holy Cross Mountains) is the upper roof
of the Mesozoic covered with a series of the Kenozoic sediments of a rather low
thickness (30–50 m). In this range layers of Jurassic limestones and sandstones
prevail. Occasionally brackish and salt waters occur in the Mesozoic water-bearing
levels.
The major utility significance in the area of central and northern Poland have the
Quaternary aquifers, whereas the water-bearing levels of the Neogene and Paleogene
are of secondary importance [6]. Locally potable water is extracted from the Upper
Cretaceous aquifers, and in the area of the Mid-Polish anticlinorium, the Jurassic
145
appear directly on the surface, forming monadnocks and aquifer supply areas. In
the ´
Swi˛ etokrzyskie Mountains, Sudetes and in Upper Silesia there occur locally on
the surface aquifer levels from older geological periods, including the Palaeozoic
aquifers. Large parts of rock formations are made of limestone and dolomites, which
contain tunnels, channels, passages and karst craters, which in turn form fractured
and karst water-bearing systems. By virtue of their dominant position in the land
morphology – being surrounded by a belt of foreland depressions (for example, the
Carpathian Foredeep) in the south and the zone of Mid-Polish lowlands in the north,
vast uplands constitute aquifer supply areas. In the past twenty years, buried valleys
whose depths reach approximately 140 m have been detected in the upland zone by
means of research boreholes and geophysical surveys 140 m. They eroded in solid
rocks of much older surface and were filled with Quaternary sediments [3]. These
valleys can contain substantial reserves of groundwater in the case of being filed in
with sandy and gravelly sediments.
The Mid-Polish Lowlands, which belong to the region of Polish and German
Lowlands are distinguished by their extensive groundwater reservoirs in a deep basin
or trough structures, in which aquifer levels belong to the Quaternary, Neogene,
Paleogene, Cretaceous and Jurassic sediments. In the Mesozoic layers, saline and
salt waters occur, but they are not suitable for the supply of potable water for local
communities. In the aforementioned layers, pore ranges have paramount importance
for groundwater resources, and only locally in the Upper Cretaceous and Jurassic
periods can one find fractured aquifers as well as karstic and fractured ones. In
the area of Mid-Polish Lowlands, a range of Major Underground Water Reservoirs
have been identified, covering the total area of several thousand km
2 [2, 5]. These
reservoirs provide the greatest volumes of groundwater extracted at large municipal
intakes. Substantial reserves of groundwater can be located in wide river valleys
whose sandy alluvial deposits on average do not exceed 20 m of thickness, but in the
event of their interference with buried valleys, the thickness of sandy water-bearing
levels can reach even 80 m.
Considerable groundwater resources in regional reservoirs also occur in the
Neogene and Paleogene aquifers. In the areas where Quaternary aquifers do not occur,
these resources constitute the major usable water-bearing horizon. The reservoirs are
perfectly insulated and are impervious to surface pollution.
The upper roof of the Mesozoic aquifers in the Mid-Polish Lowland area occurs
on average at a depth of 100 m. It is composed of the Upper Cretaceous and Jurassic
layers of marls, limestones, and siliceous limestones. Only in the area of the MidPolish anticlinorium (from Cuiavia to the Holy Cross Mountains) is the upper roof
of the Mesozoic covered with a series of the Kenozoic sediments of a rather low
thickness (30–50 m). In this range layers of Jurassic limestones and sandstones
prevail. Occasionally brackish and salt waters occur in the Mesozoic water-bearing
levels.
The major utility significance in the area of central and northern Poland have the
Quaternary aquifers, whereas the water-bearing levels of the Neogene and Paleogene
are of secondary importance [6]. Locally potable water is extracted from the Upper
Cretaceous aquifers, and in the area of the Mid-Polish anticlinorium, the Jurassic