How old maps are used to investigate modern environmental issues in the Czech Republic

The Austrian Geological Survey and Czech geological organizations have in their archives source materials that can be used for the landscape restoration. At many places in the Czech Republic, considerable changes of the environment took place due to building and other industrial activities, especially the mining of mineral raw materials. Changes of relief, river networks and hydrogeological conditions are conspicuous. The largest changes and damages are due to open-cast mining in the North Bohemian and Sokolov brown-coal basins. Other damage was caused by underground black coal-mining, exploitation of uranium and building materials. During huge floods in northern and central Moravia in July 1997, the morphology of the landscape underwent conspicuous changes. Maps and other historical materials are priceless for specialists to solve problems of landscape reclamation and rehabilitation. They document the original morphology, geography and geology of the areas. Not only topographical, but also geological, maps are important enabling estimation of the original situation. In 1989 the Austrian and Czech Geological Surveys proposed a project to use the historical map resources of the Austrian Institute in Vienna and other organisations for rehabilitation and reclamation of the landscape, as part of the long-standing Czech-Austrian co-operation „The history of geology – common work on the condition of geological mapping of the Czech countries up till the years 1918“. Historical sources will be further analysed for reconstruction mapping in the area of the Becva and Morava rivers in central Moravia. On basis of the agreement for cooperation with Austrian Geological Survey, the Czech Geological survey has obtained colour copies of historical topographic map material from the so-called Joseph (1763-1768) and Francis (1810-1866) mapping periods from the area of the river beds of Morava and Becva, between Litovle and Uherske Hradiste, that have been most intensively damaged by huge floods. These will enable comparison of changes in the landscape after more than 200 years.