Strata‐Movement Concepts and the Hydrogeological Impact of Underground Coal Mining

Abstract

A review of mining‐engineering concepts and studies in mine hydrology suggests a conceptual model linking the strata deformation, hydraulic property changes, and ground‐water impacts due to underground coal mining. The pressure‐arch deformation pattern about a small opening creates a local zone of increased permeabilities and dewatering in the seam and immediate roof, but should not hydraulically affect shallower aquifers. Networks of supported headings, rooms, and pillars intensely drain lower aquifers but only slightly affect higher strata except in areas of naturally high permeability. Longwall mining causes extensive, high‐reaching, well‐defined zones of stress, fracturing, and hydraulic impact, the maximum permeability increases being in the tensile zones immediately above the panel and at the sides of the subsidence trough. In shallow aquifers, permeabilities and ground‐water velocities increase, and hydraulic gradients decline independently of mine drainage. A study of a deep coal mine in the Appalachian Plateau, Pennsylvania indicated: probable hydraulic connections between the mine and shallow aquifers in a principal valley area; no obvious response of water levels in shallow aquifers to undermining by supported headings; and rapid, considerable declines in such water levels in response to nearby longwall mining. These results are consistent with the conceptual model.

A Novel Caving Model of Overburden Strata Movement Induced by Coal Mining

“…It is generally accepted that longwall mining causes changes in the properties of stream flows, springs, wells, and aquifers (e.g., flux, water levels, pore-water pressure, head, hydraulic gradients, drawdown, groundwater chemistry, porosity, storativity, permeability, transmissivity), stress alternation, fracture changes, and subsidence by observations in wells near the panel and by the use of borescope monitoring with the analysis of drill cores and surface fracture surveys in conjunction with microgravity measurements or other geophysical techniques, together with some computer modeling techniques [7,12,[35][36][37].…”

“…The current increase in energy needs is mainly driven by the increasing world population and industrialization [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Severe conflicts of interest are especially noteworthy regarding human life and the exploitation of energy resources [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

Ecological Model of Groundwater Environment Based on Hybrid Soft Computing Method

“…Artificial neural network (ANN) is a branch of soft computing, (M-P model) proposed by Mc Culloch and Pitts in 1943 (Booth, 1986), which is a mathematical model of formal neuron structure. Neurons are the cells in the nervous system that are directly involved in information reception or generation, transmission and processing of information.…”

Coal mine water management: optimization models and field application in North China

“…During the 1970s and 1980s, many studies were conducted in the USA to predict the effect of draining water from coal mines (Brutsaert et al, 1976;Peng, 1978;Price et al, 1973;Hill & Price, 1983;Booth, 1986). Since then, however, study of this issue has decreased significantly (Indrarabna & Ramanda, 1994;Mayo et al, 2000), probably due to the shift in energy sources from coal to petroleum.…”