The Geomorphological Map as a Tool for Assessing Human Impact on Landforms

This paper presents the potential of geomorphological maps as tools for assessing human impact on landforms. This issue is especially important in areas which were subject to intensive human activity in the past and are abandoned at present, which is the case for the study area. It includes three intermontane basins in the Eastern Sudetes Mountains, SW Poland. Detailed geomorphological mapping of anthropogenic landforms on a topographic base of 1: 10,000, along with morphometric analyses, allows assessment of the extent of direct human impact on the landscape and also evaluation of its persistence in the environment after population decline. The legend for standard and generally used geomorphological maps had to be modified, extended and adjusted for the study area in order to show the entire complexity of past and present human activities in the region.