Integrated geological survey in North Rhine-Westphalia - explanations for the mapping project Ruhr area

A summary description of the mapped geological units as well as an overview of the representation levels of the project area Ruhr area within the integrated geological state survey of the Geological Service NRW. With a view to future issues, the GD NRW, as the responsible state authority, has continued the exploration and documentation of the near-surface and deeper subsoil in the Ruhr area that began more than 150 years ago. In addition to the data from mining activities collected over many decades, lots of exploration and drilling information, numerous archive data, e.g. B. from geoscientific advice, and other sources of information, new findings were also collected. These served primarily to verify earlier data in order to be able to methodically re-evaluate them according to uniform and up-to-date criteria. In addition to exploring the terrain surface by mapping and drilling, geophysical borehole measurements, sampling of the rocks and the exploration of structures of the hard coal deposit, hydrogeological, geotechnical, geothermal and pedological aspects were also recorded. The geoscientific findings obtained document the specialist knowledge of the rocks of the various geological eras, their spatial position and their planning-relevant significance. The GD NRW accompanies the structural change in the Ruhr area almost from the beginning. Geoscientific questions in the context of planning, e.g. B. in land use for settlements, industry or infrastructure measures, but also for raw material extraction, groundwater, building land, the use of regenerative geothermal energy and valuable soils, were and are competently weighed up in the Ruhr metropolitan region and in good cooperation with other specialist authorities and municipalities answered. With the final cessation of hard coal mining at the end of 2018, new questions and requirements for the subsoil came into focus, for which forward-looking data are required. As an example, the responsible prognostic handling of the groundwater rise again after the cessation of mine water management is mentioned here. Geoscientific facts are important pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in order to realize plans for the future, to optimize the structural change that has long begun and to accompany it in a future-oriented manner.