Tree-ring records of surface displacements in a coal-mining subsided region and their links to hypsometric changes and extreme precipitation

•Surface activity on chronically subsided relief was analysed in a coal mining region.•Overall subsidence of 4–9 m from 1966 to 2013 pre-determined near-surface displacements.•Tree-ring records from Larix decidua Mill. showed the strongest activity in the 1970s.•One-year compression wood was discussed as a specific dendrogeomorphic signal.•Extreme rainfall contributes to surface activity in an area with more clayey soils.