FORMATION OF TECHNOGENICALLY LOADED ENVIRONMENT IN COAL-MINING REGIONS

Abstract

The formation of a technologically loaded environment in coal mining regions consists of two interrelated processes, which include the disturbance of the upper lithosphere by mine workings and the exposure of sedimentary rocks to the surface. Changes in the geological environment under the influence of coal mining operations are of a geological phenomenon scale both in mine workings and coal spoil heaps. Coal-mining regions have fundamental, mostly irreversible changes in the upper layer of the lithosphere, creating new structures. As a result of more than two hundred years of coal mining operations, significant masses of rocks and coal extracted from the depths have been brought to the surface and have caused the formation of new geological and technogenic structures, which have accelerated downward movements and increased subsidence of the near-surface strata and their deformation, as recorded by engineering geological and topographic observations. Given the requirements of the regulatory documents in force in the field of subsoil use: The Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Protection” and the Subsoil Code of Ukraine, the study of the formation of a technogenically loaded environment in coal mining regions is relevant. In most cases, when determining the impact of coal mining enterprises on the environment of a region, the rocks exposed to the surface are considered first and foremost. Despite this, geological processes in waste heaps remain poorly understood. The newly formed natural-man-made and man-made horizons (sections) are included in endogenous and exogenous processes at the planetary level. The geological process of structure formation has undergone significant changes due to mining operations that have an impact on the depth of up to 2000 m. The processes occurring in the natural and anthropogenic horizons of the coal-bearing massifs complement and to some extent change the course of previous geological processes, but so far their environmental impact has not been recorded. Despite this, it is the processes activated by coal mining in the upper horizons of the lithosphere that are crucial for the formation of a technologically loaded environment and have no less negative impact on the environment than waste heaps.