Introduction

Geophysical surveys are more and more commonly used for the investigation of both permafrost features and their changes in high mountain environments. Before the rebuilding of the cable railway on Kasprowy Wierch, Tatra Mountains, Poland, geophysical techniques were applied to determine the ground conditions of the planned construction site. The survey results were used to prepare a geotechnical expert report for the reconstruction of the upper section of the cable railway. This contribution aims to show the possibilities, limitations and ways of interpreting the geophysical measurements obtained in a mountainous periglacial environment within the zone of discontinuous permafrost.

Field site

Kasprowy Wierch is a peak in the main ridge of the Tatra Mountains (Figure 8.1), 1986 m a.s.l. It consists of granodiorite and pegmatites, which form a tectonic cap-rock on the summit with a thickness of a few hundred metres (Bac-Moszaszwili and Gąsienica-Szostak1990). Faults and fractures can be seen in the dome. Although the area of the Tatra Mountains was glaciated several times (Gadek 1998), the peak was transformed by periglacial processes only (Klimaszewski 1988), which led to the creation of block fields on the dome. The thickness of the weathered material reaches 3–4 m (Gryczmanski et al. 2004). In contrast to the peak, all adjacent valleys were glaciated. Distinct glacial undercutting rock faces are visible on the northern part of the peak (Figure 8.2). Kasprowy Wierch is the only mountain in the Polish Tatra Mountains so extensively used by people.