Ground Topography
This area is much differentiated in terms of relief. The Silesian Plateau represents an upland-hilly area whose typical feature is gentle hills of small height differences (from 70 – 130 m) and long, gentle slopes. They are covered with deep cover of clay mantle which resulted in the rounded shape of the hills and the development of the system of ravines (flat-bottomed accumulation valleys).
The areas where Cretaceous sediments are exposed on the surface or where the depth of Quaternary sediments (not resistant to external factors) is larger, the processes of disintegration occur more intensively causing the development of depressions and planations. A typical hilly landscape, which is typical for the Cieszyn area and which differentiates this area from other parts of the Silesian Plateau developed mainly due to the erosional activity of surface water. The hills in the neighbourhood of the town form long, narrow ridges of east-west orientation. These ridges are separated one from another by the deep, branched valleys of rivers and streams. Flat valley bottoms – apart from the Olza River – occur in the lower sections of the Bobrówka and Puncówka Rivers; all the other watercourses have V-shaped valleys. Therefore most of the town area is located on slopes of different angles (locally exceeding 20 or 30%) and different exposure. In the Cieszyn area, hill ridges surround a very distinctive depression called the Cieszyn Basin. It is cut across by the Olza and the Bobrówka Rivers.
Heights in this area are considerably differentiated and they range from 225 to 375 m above sea level. About ¾ of the town’s area is located at a height of between 275 and 350 m above sea level. Only 0.4% of the town area is located at a height between 225 and 250 m above sea level, and 1.6% above 375 m above sea level. The highest point in Cieszyn (378.5 m above sea level) is situated on the hill in the northern part of the town. Towards the south and west the heights decrease and the area becomes flatter.
A characteristic feature of the relief in this area are landslides and ground creeping connected with the liability of the bedrock to mass movements (occurrence of shales) and ground topography (large slope angle). These elements of relief are especially abundant in the northern part of the town.