Identified the hydrochemical and the sulfur cycle process in subsidence area of Pingyu mining area using multi-isotopes combined with hydrochemistry methods

Groundwater serves as an important water source for residents in and around mining areas.To achieve scientific planning and efficient utilization of water resources in mining areas,it is essential to figure out the chemical formation process and the ground water sulfur cycle that transpire after the coal mining activities.Based on studies of hydrochemistry and D,^(18)O-H_(2)O,^(34)S-SO_(4)isotopes,this study applied principal component analysis,ion ratio and other methods in its attempts to reveal the hydrogeochemical action and sulfur cycle in the subsidence area of Pingyu mining area.The study discovered that,in the studied area,precipitation provides the major supply of groundwater and the main water chemistry effects are dominated by oxidation dissolution of sulfide minerals as well as the dissolution of carbonate and silicate rocks.The sulfate in groundwater primarily originates from oxidation and dissolution of sulfide minerals in coal-bearing strata and human activities.The mixed sulfate formed by the oxidation of sulfide minerals and by human activities continuously recharges the groundwater,promoting the dissolution of carbonate rock and silicate rock in the process.

Combination of artificial zeolite and microbial fertilizer to improve mining soils in an arid area of Inner Mongolia,China

Restoration of mining soils is important to the vegetation and environment.This study aimed to explore the variations in soil nutrient contents,microbial abundance,and biomass under different gradients of substrate amendments in mining soils to select effective measures.Soil samples were collected from the Bayan Obo mining region in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,China.Contents of soil organic matter(SOM),available nitrogen(AN),available phosphorus(AP),available potassium(AK),microbial biomass carbon/microbial biomass nitrogen(MBC/MBN)ratio,biomass,and bacteria,fungi,and actinomycetes abundance were assessed in Agropyron cristatum L.Gaertn.,Elymus dahuricus Turcz.,and Medicago sativa L.soils with artificial zeolite(AZ)and microbial fertilizer(MF)applied at T0(0 g/kg),T1(5 g/kg),T2(10 g/kg),and T3(20 g/kg).Redundancy analysis(RDA)and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution(TOPSIS)were used to identify the main factors controlling the variation of biomass.Results showed that chemical indices and microbial content of restored soils were far greater than those of control.The application of AZ significantly increases SOM,AN,and AP by 20.27%,23.61%,and 40.43%,respectively.AZ significantly increased bacteria,fungi,and actinomycetes abundance by 0.63,3.12,and 1.93 times of control,respectively.RDA indicated that AN,MBC/MBN ratio,and SOM were dominant predictors for biomass across samples with AZ application,explaining 87.6%of the biomass variance.SOM,MBC/MBN ratio,and AK were dominant predictors with MF application,explaining 82.9%of the biomass variance.TOPSIS indicated that T2 was the best dosage and the three plant species could all be used to repair mining soils.AZ and MF application at T2 concentration in the mining soils with M.sativa was found to be the most appropriate measure.

Quality evaluation of land reclamation in mining area based on remote sensing

Several deficiencies exist in the present evaluation of land reclamation quality in mining areas.These include the absence of an established set of evaluation index systems and standard acceptance criteria,as well as the use of traditional sam-pling techniques,which are costly and in eficiency,and time-consuming.Compared with the traditional sampling survey methods,remote sensing has the advantages of a wide detection range,diverse information collection,multiple data-acquiring strategies,high speed,and short cycle.In this study,we used the Xinzhuang coal mining field in Yongcheng,Henan Province as an example to extract information and invert surface parameters using remote sensing techniques,based on national and local reclamation regulations and standards.Subsequently,using remote sensing,we constructed an index system for evaluating land reclamation quality in three aspects:reclaiming project quality,soil quality,and ecological benefits.Through the grading standards of evaluation indicators and quantitative remote sensing models,we determined the extracted information on the area of indicators,roads,ditches,soil moisture,organic matter,and ecological benefits after reclamation.Based on this,we established a quality evaluation model for mining land reclamation using an improved index and method.The evaluation units were divided,and the weight of the evaluation index was determined using the analytic hierarchy process and data envelopment analysis(AHP-DEA)method.The land reclamation quality in the study area was comprehensively evaluated,field accuracy was verified,and the results were analyzed.The results show that,except for the removal of roads,houses,and fishponds in the study area,all 13 evaluation units achieved a score of 60 points or higher.The quality of reclamation met the standards,and the evaluation results were consistent with the conclusions of the field investigation and project acceptance report,demonstrating the reliability and feasibility of the method developed in this study.The research results will provide technical support for the scientific evaluation of land reclamation quality.

Spatial distribution and ecological risk of heavy metals and their source apportionment in soils from a typical mining area, Inner Mongolia, China

Determining the distributions and sources of heavy metals in soils and assessing ecological risks are fundamental tasks in the control and management of pollution in mining areas.In this study,we selected 244 sampling sites around a typical lead(Pb)and zinc(Zn)mining area in eastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China and measured the content of six heavy metals,including cuprum(Cu),Zn,Pb,arsenic(As),cadmium(Cd),and chromium(Cr).The ecological risk of heavy metals was comprehensively evaluated using the Geo-accumulation index,Nemerow general pollution index,and potential ecological risk index.The heavy metals were traced using correlation analysis and principal component analysis.The results showed that the highest content of heavy metals was found in 0–5 cm soil layer in the study area.The average content of Zn,As,Pb,Cu,Cr,and Cd was 670,424,235,162,94,and 4 mg/kg,respectively,all exceeding the risk screening value of agricultural soil in China.The areas with high content of soil heavy metals were mainly distributed near the tailings pond.The study area was affected by a combination of multiple heavy metals,with Cd and As reaching severe pollution levels.The three pathways of exposure for carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks were ranked as inhalation>oral ingestion>dermal absorption.The heavy metals in the study area posed certain hazards to human health.Specifically,oral ingestion of these heavy metals carried carcinogenic risks for both children and adults,as well as noncarcinogenic risks for children.There were differences in the sources of different heavy metals.The tailings pond had a large impact on the accumulation of Cd,Zn,and Pb.The source of Cr was the soil parent material,the source of As was mainly the soil matrix,and the source of Cu was mainly the nearby Cu ore.The purpose of this study is to more accurately understand the extent,scope,and source of heavy metals pollution near a typical mining area,providing effective help to solve the problem of heavy metals pollution.

Spatial prediction of soil organic carbon in coal mining subsidence areas based on RBF neural network

A quantitative research on the effect of coal mining on the soil organic carbon(SOC)pool at regional scale is beneficial to the scientific management of SOC pools in coal mining areas and the realization of coal low-carbon mining.Moreover,the spatial prediction model of SOC content suitable for coal mining subsidence area is a scientific problem that must be solved.Tak-ing the Changhe River Basin of Jincheng City,Shanxi Province,China,as the study area,this paper proposed a radial basis function neural network model combined with the ordinary kriging method.The model includes topography and vegetation factors,which have large influence on soil properties in mining areas,as input parameters to predict the spatial distribution of SOC in the 0-20 and 2040 cm soil layers of the study area.And comparing the prediction effect with the direct kriging method,the results show that the mean error,the mean absolute error and the root mean square error between the predicted and measured values of SOC content predicted by the radial basis function neural network are lower than those obtained by the direct kriging method.Based on the fitting effect of the predicted and measured values,the R^(2) obtained by the radial basis artificial neural network are 0.81,0.70,respectively,higher than the value of 0.44 and 0.36 obtained by the direct kriging method.Therefore,the model combining the artificial neural network and kriging,and considering environmental factors can improve the prediction accuracy of the SOC content in mining areas.

Spatiotemporal mapping of(ultra‐)mafic magmatic mine areas:Implications of economic and political realities in China

The spatiotemporal extension/expansion of mine areas is affected by multiple factors.So far,very little has been done to examine the interaction between mine areas and political or economic realities.The(ultra‐)mafic magmatic mines in China played a specific role in supporting national development and providing an ideal research subject for monitoring their interrelationship.In this study,remote sensing and mining‐related GIS data were used to identify and analyze 1233(ultra‐)mafic magmatic mine area polygons in China,which covered approximately 322.96 km2 of land and included a V–Ti–Fe mine,a copper–nickel mine,a chromite mine,an asbestos mine,and a diamond mine.It was found that(1)the areal expansion of mines is significantly related to the mine types,perimeter,topography,and population density.(2)The mine area variation also reflects market and policy realities.The temporal expansion of the mine area from 2010 to 2020 followed an S‐shaped pattern(with the turning point occurring in 2014),closely related to iron overcapacity and tightened mining policies.(3)The complexity(D)of the mine area may reflect mine design and excavation practices.To be specific,lower D indicates early‐stage or artisanal/small‐scale mining,whereas higher D represents large‐scale mining.This study demonstrates that the detailed mapping of mine land can serve as an indicator to implement miningrelated market and policy changes.The(ultra‐)mafic mines area data set can be accessed at https://zenodo.org/record/7636616#.Y-p0uXaZOa0.

Analysis on Typical Spatio-temporal Characteristics of Open-cast Mining and Its Countermeasures

In order to deal with the special spatio-temporal environmental changes encountered in the process of open-cast mining,taking Huolinhe No.1 Open-cast Mine as the research object,this paper studied its typical problems in river reconstruction and cultural relics protection.The study focused on eight key core aspects,including the design optimization of the spatial layout of the mining area,the accurate estimation of the mineral resources reserves,the scientific theoretical demonstration of the mining scale,the fine analysis and calculation of the stripping ratio,the comprehensive consideration of the transport distance and efficiency,the accurate judgment of the best time for the implementation of the transformation,the analysis and evaluation of the slope stability,and the overall planning of the production system.The results show that the extracted problem-solving strategies and scheme system for special mining conditions can not only provide specific and practical guidance for Huolinhe No.1 Open-cast Mine,but also serve as a valuable reference and practical reference for other open-cast mine enterprises facing similar challenges.

Suitability evaluation for land reclamation in mining area:A case study of Gaoqiao bauxite mine

Suitability evaluation plays an important role in land reclamation because the choice of evaluation methods affects the accuracy and objectivity of the suitability evaluation results. Furthermore, it influences the decision-making related to land reclamation. An improved method, which is called limit comprehensive conditions method, was developed after different suitability evaluation methods were studied. Based on this method, the reclaimed land of the Gaoqiao bauxite mining area was evaluated. The Gaoqiao mining area was divided into seven evaluation units that were evaluated respectively by selecting evaluation factors and establishing grade standards. The results show that the proposed method is more applicable and easier to handle. Moreover, its evaluation results are more scientific compared with the traditional evaluation methods. The improved method can be beneficial to the rapid monitoring and the effective management of reclaimed land in the opencast mine area.

Production Characteristics and the Control Factors of Surface Wells for Relieved Methane Drainage in the Huainan Mining Area

Based on the production data of a large number of surface drainage wells in the Huainan mining area,the present study shows that four types of typical production characteristics for relieved methane wells are recognized,of which the stable type for production and gas concentration is the most dominate,as determined by a comprehensive study on the volume and concentration of drained gases, as well as the stress changes of rocks influenced by mining.Some influence factors for the productive differences of the drainage wells were also been discussed.The results indicate that protective coal-seam mining has a significant effect on overlying strata,which promotes the development of pores and fractures of coal reservoirs for methane desorption and migration;however,the production and the stability of drainage wells are affected by deformation and damage of the overlying strata.The second distribution of strata stress is caused by mining engineering,and if the stress load is larger than the carrying capacity of the extraction well,the gas production would be influenced by the drainage well that has been damaged by rock movement.Furthermore,the case damage occurs first in the weak, lithologic interface by its special mechanical properties.The stability of drainage wells and the production status are also influenced by the different drilling techniques,uneven distribution of gas concentration,and combination of gob gas and methane from the protected layer.

Object oriented land cover classification using ALS and GeoEye imagery over mining area

An object oriented coal mining land cover classification method based on semantically meaningful image segmentation and image combination of GeoEye imagery and airborne laser scanning (ALS) data was presented. First, DEM, DSM and nDSM (normalized Digital Surface Model, nDSM) were extracted from ALS data. The GeoEye imagery and DSM data were combined to create segmented objects based on neighbor regions merge method. Then 10 kinds of objects were extracted. Different kinds of vegetation objects, including crop, grass, shrub and tree, can be extracted by using NDVI and height value of nDSM. Water and coal pile field was extracted by using NDWI and the standard deviation of DSM method. Height differences also can be used to distinguish buildings from road and vacant land, and accurate building contour information can be extracted by using relationship of neighbor objects and morphological method. The test result shows that the total classification accuracy of the presented method is 90.78% and the kappa coefficient is 0.891 4.

Optimum location of surface wells for remote pressure relief coalbed methane drainage in mining areas

Based on engineering tests in the Huainan coal mining area,we studied alternative well location to improve the performance of surface wells for remote pressure relief of coalbed methane in mining areas.The key factors,affecting location and well gas production were analyzed by simulation tests for similar material.The exploitation results indicate that wells located in various positions on panels could achieve relatively better gas production in regions with thin Cenozoic layers,low mining heights and slow rate of longwall advancement,but their periods of gas production lasted less than 230 days,as opposed to wells in regions with thick Cenozoic layers,greater mining heights and fast rates of longwall advancement.Wells near panel margins achieved relatively better gas production and lasted longer than centerline wells.The rules of development of mining fractures in strata over panels control gas production of surface wells.Mining fractures located in areas determined by lines of compaction and the effect of mining are well developed and can be maintained for long periods of time.Placing the well at the end of panels and on the updip return airway side of panels,determined by lines of compaction and the effect of mining,would result in surface wells for remote pressure relief CBM obtaining their longest gas production periods and highest cumulative gas production.

Soil Heavy Metal Pollution and Health Risk Assessment of Abandoned Land in Coal Mining Areas in Xingren County

Total contents of heavy metals （ Pb, Cr, Cd, Hg, As, Cu, Zn, and Ni） in 68 soil samples were determined to evaluate the contamination level of soil from five coal mine areas in Xingren County, Guizhou province. The pollution levels of heavy metals were characterized by anthro- pogenic influence multiple, and the pollution of heavy metal in soil was evaluated using geo-accumulation index. Based on the health risk models recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency （ US EPA）, the health risks of heavy metals in the soils were assessed. The results showed that the abandoned land in the five coal mining areas were contaminated by heavy metals, and the order of pollution levels of eight heavy metals was As 〉 Pb 〉 Cu 〉 Hg 〉 Ni 〉 Cr 〉 Cd 〉 Zn. The soils suffered moderate-heavy pollution from As and Pb, and the contents of As and Pb in the soils were 13.16 and 4.76 times higher than the background values of Guizhou Province, followed by Cu, Hg and Ni , while soil pollution from Cr, Cd and Zn was mild. The order of non-caminogenic risks of the heavy metals in the soils was As 〉 Pb 〉 Cr 〉 Ni 〉 Cu 〉 Hg 〉 Cd 〉 Zn, and the non-carcinogenic dsk value of As was higher than that its threshold value 1, which indicated that As had a high potential health risk to adults and children. The order of carcinogen risks of the four heavy metals was As 〉 Cd 〉 Cr 〉 Ni, and the carcinogenic risk value of As was higher than its threshold value, indicating that As had a high carcinogenic risk to adults and children. The carcinogenic risk values of other three heavy metals （ Cd, Cr and Ni） were lower than the threshold value, so they had no carcinogenic risk to human health. Moreover, children were more sensitively affect- ed by heavy metals from the abandoned land. Therefore, the health of children in such areas should be paid more attention to. The HI value of the eight heavy metals to children was seven times higher than that to adults. The contribution rate of HQAs to HI was about 88%, and the contribution rate of CRA, to TCR was about 98%, so As was the most crucial factor influencing non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic dsk in the abandoned soils.

A review of UAV monitoring in mining areas: current status and future perspectives

With the emergence and development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), different sensors have become more miniaturized and intelligent. UAVs equipped with various sensors are now an important approach for acquiring spatial data. Many advantages, such as low cost, short revisiting cycle, flexibility and high precision, have made UAVs powerful tools in geological, agricultural, ecological and forestry growth monitoring, as well as evaluation. Now, UAVs are a hotspot in scientific research. Their application in mining areas (MA), although still in its infancy, is developing rapidly in terms of speed, scale and service scope. This research examines aspects such as UAV platforms, different sensors and their application fields, as well as reviewing the advances of scientific research in MA at the present time. By combining current research and the functions of multiple sensors, an application framework for UAV monitoring in MA is constructed. Finally, the challenge and prospects for the development of UAVs and sensors are also considered. This research hopes to provide a technical reference, expanding the knowledge and recognition of UAV monitoring in MA, as well as an assessment of applications in mining, reclamation and environment.

A Synergetic Study on Large-Scale Coal Mining and Eco-Environment Protection in Shendong Coal Mining Area

Based on the sharp contradiction between the economic benefits and adverse ecological impact of coal development in China's west,this paper establishes an evaluation model for the synergetic eco-environmental development in Shendong Coal Mining Area through using synergism of five laws and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The analysis on synergy between large-scale coal mining and the eco-environment protection in Shendong is also conducted,arriving at the conclusion that synergetics of Shendong 's eco-environment protection is"good". And thus,the result sheds light on the fact that while working to quench China's energy demand on its path towards a modernized large coal mine complex,Shendong,as part of Shenhua Group's mining operation,has applied innovative management concepts and models to improve eco-environment for harmony and win-win results between resource exploration and environmental protection.

Annual integral changes of time serial NDVI in mining subsidence area

By means of MORTRAN4 model of FLASSH module, an atmospheric correction of the SPOT II/IV data of four-year period for eight experimental coal faces of Lu'an mine area was done. The mining-affected zones were obtained with probability integral method. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and its mean were obtained by band ratio calculation at the mining subsidence area. Using FOURIER4 model of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of discrete Fourier analysis theory, the mean NDVI time series data set was reconstructed. With the mean of NDVI transformed into amplitude and the phonological information transformed into phase, the law of NDVI variation by monthly, quarterly, annual were obtained. The annual integral of the time series of NDVI Fourier function (ANDVI) was obtained. The results show that an experience formula of ANDVI variation accompanies with mining time; A fast estimation formula of NPP by means of a coefficient of mining disturbance such as γ.

KEY TECHNOLOGY OF D-INSAR AT X-BAND FOR MONITORING LAND SUBSIDENCE IN MINING AREA AND ITS APPLICATION

In theory, land subsidence measurement results with high accuracy can be obtained by using the Differential Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar(D-InSAR) at X-band. In practice, however, the measuring accuracy of D-InSAR at X-band has been seriously affected by some factors, e.g., decorrelation and high deformation gradient. In this work, the monitoring capability of D-InSAR for coal-mining subsidence is evaluated by using SAR data acquired by TerrraSAR-X system. The SAR image registration method for low coherence image pairs, the denoising phase filter for high noise level interferogram and atmospheric effects mitigation method are the key technical aspects which directly influence the measurement results of D-InSAR at X-band. Thus, a robust image registration method, an improved phase filter method and an atmospheric effects mitigation method are proposed in this paper. The proposed image registration method successfully achieves InSAR coregistration, while the amplitude cross-correlation cannot properly coregister low coherence SAR image pairs. Moreover, the time complexity of the proposed image registration method is obviously slighter than that of the Singular Value Decomposition(SVD) method. The comparing experiment results and the unwrapping phase results show that the improved Goldstein filter is more effective than the original Goldstein filter in noise elimination. The atmospheric influence correction experiment results show that the land subsidence areas with atmospheric influence correction are more clarified than that of without atmospheric influence correction. In summary, the presented methods directly improved the measurement results of D-InSAR at X-band.

Analysis to driving forces of land use change in Lu’an mining area

By selecting impact factors of driving force and formulating evaluation criteria of the impacts, the evaluation system of corresponding driving force impact of land use change was established. Taking Lu'an mining area as an example, the specific impact factors of coal mine were comprehensively evaluated and analyzed in order to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis for the driving force of mining-land use change. The principal component analysis shows that the social and economic development in mining area from 2000 to 2007 demonstrates continuous accelerate trends, and the impacts of its overall driving force to land use change are increased gradually. The socio-economic factors have more impacts to mining-land use change than those of the natural resources. The main driving force of mining-land use change also include population, technological progress and policy.

Monte-Carlo Method for Coalbed Methane Resource Assessment in Key Coal Mining Areas of China

Monte-Carlo method is used for estimating coalbed methane （CBM） resources in key coal mining areas of China. Monte-Carlo method is shown to be superior to the traditional volumetric method with constant parameters in the calculation of CBM resources. The focus of the article is to introduce the main algorithm and the realization of functions estimated by Monte-Carlo method, including selection of parameters, determination of distribution function, generation of pseudo-random numbers, and evaluation of the parameters corresponding to pseudo-random numbers. A specified software on the basis of Monte-Carlo method is developed using Visual C＋＋ for the assessment of the CBM resources. A case study shows that calculation results using Monte-Carlo method have smaller error range in comparison with those using volumetric method.

Constitutive model of disturbed soil-structure interface within mining subsidence areas

The characteristics of a disturbed soil-structure interface were studied based on the variation regularities of the disturbed soil within its mining subsidence area using direct shear tests.The effects of the initial moisture content on the shear strength parameters of the soil-structure interfaces were analyzed.The results indicate that the cohesion of the interface initially increased and then decreased as the initial moisture content increased.In addition,the friction angle of the interface decreased as the initial moisture content increased.A constitutive model of the disturbed soil-structure interface,a rigid-plastic model based on the initial void ratio and saturability(VSRP) model,was established based on the results.In order to validate this model,a finite element analysis of DRS-1 direct shear tests was conducted.The finite element model calculations coincided with the results of the DRS-1 direct shear tests.The proposed model also reflected the nonlinear features of the soil-structure interface.

Hydrochemical characteristics and water quality evaluation of shallow groundwater in Suxian mining area,Huaibei coalfield,China

The aim of this study is to evaluate the hydrogeochemical characteristics and water environmental quality of shallow groundwater in the Suxian mining area of Huaibei coalfield,China.The natural formation process of shallow groundwater in Suxian is explored using Piper trilinear charts and Gibbs diagrams,and by examining the ratios between the major ions.United States Salinity Laboratory(USSL)charts,Wilcox diagrams,and the water quality index(WQI)are further employed to quantify the differences in water quality.The results reveal that the main hydrochemical facies of groundwater are HC03-Ca,and that silicate dissolution is the main factor controlling the ion content in shallow groundwater.The USSL charts and Wilcox diagrams show that most of the water samples would be acceptable for use in irrigation systems.The WQI results for each water sample are compared and analyzed,and the quality of groundwater samples around collapse ponds is found to be relatively poor.