Journals →  Eurasian mining →  2017 →  #2 →  Back

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
ArticleName Earth remote sensing in ecological evaluation of disturbed lands in South Yakutia
DOI 10.17580/em.2017.02.12
ArticleAuthor Zenkov I. V., Zayats V. V., Nefedov B. N., Nefedov N. B.
ArticleAuthorData

Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia:

Zenkov I. V., Professor, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Honored Ecologist of the Russian Federation, zenkoviv@mail.ru

 

Academician Reshetnev Siberian State University for Science and Technology. Krasnoyarsk, Russia:

Zayats V. V., Candidate for a Master’s Degree

 

Institute of Computational Technologies, Novosibirsk, Russia:
Nefedov B. N., Candidate of Engineering Sciences
Nefedov N. B., Post-Graduate Student

Abstract

In the south of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), coal is produced by Neryungri open pit mine and small open cuts. At Neryungri open pit mine, coal is extracted at the end of a downfold at a depth of 300–320 m. At the small open cuts, mining is carried out at the coal outcrops under alluvium and is advanced down the dip of the coal beds. At the present time, all small open casts have the depth of 30–50 m along the total mining front longer than 40 km. The preliminary assessment of the coal mining sites shows that the land is disturbed across the area of 5000 ha. The further environmental analysis of the mining landscape uses the data of the earth remote sensing. The area of the disturbed land is 3510.1 ha at Neryungri open pit mine and 2137.2 ha at all small open casts. The recovery factors of the vegetation eco-system are very low—0.012 and 0.029 at Neryungri open pit mine and small open casts, respectively. The open pit coal mining operations in the south of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have resulted in the disturbance of the natural landscape over the overall area of 5662.3 ha. The lack of the plant cover across the whole area of the disturbed land is explained by the presence of the many meters-thick permafrost, by the climate in the zone of geographic occurrence of coal bodies with the mean annual temperatures of –7…–8° and by the absence of reclamation activities. That low factors of the environmental equilibrium safety are intolerable. For this reason, a package of activities has been recommended for the open pit coal mines with a view to implementing mechanical and biological remediation of the disturbed land with the planting of larch-trees at overburden dumps. The planting requires application of much quantities of fertilizes containing azote, kalium and phosphorus to improve surviving ability and growth of young trees.

keywords South Yakutia, small open casts, mining production landscape, vegetation eco-system development, earth remote sensing, disturbed land reclamation
References

1. Dvurechenskiy V. G., Androkhanov V. A. Soil-ecological state of technogenic landscapes of Novokuznetsk industrial complex. Zhivye i biokosnye sistemy. 2017. No. 20. pp. 3–7.
2. Zenkov I. V., Yuronen Yu. P., Nefedov B. N., Vokin V. N. Monitoring of ecosystem formation at open pit mines and waste dumps in the area of Bazhenovsky asbestos deposit by means of the earth remote sensing. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2017. No. 3. pp. 81–85. DOI: 10.17580/gzh.2017.03.15
3. Zenkov I. V., Yuronen Yu. P., Nefedov B. N., Baradulin I. M. Remote sensing in estimation of forest ecosystem generation at crushed stone quarries in Siberia. Eurasian mining. 2016. Vol. 1. pp. 50–54. DOI: 10.17580/em.2016.01.09
4. Zenkov I. V., Yuronen Yu. P. Nefedov B. N. Results of monitoring of vegetative ecosystem formation in abandoned places of Raychikhinskoe brown coal deposit using the distant sounding resources. Ekologiya i promyshlennost Rossii. 2017. Vol. 21, No. 2. pp. 28–33.
5. Schastlivtsev E. L., Yukina N. I., Kharlampenkov I. E. Informationanalytical system of geoecological monitoring of water resources in mining region. Vestnik Kuzbasskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta. 2016. No. 2(114). pp. 157–165.
6. Sokolov D. A., Androkhanov V. A., Kulizhskii S. P., Loiko S. V., Domozhakova E. A. Morphogenetic diagnostics of soil formation on tailing dumps of coal quarries in Siberia. Eurasian soil science. 2015. Vol. 48(1). pp. 95–105.
7. Naeth M. A., Wilkinson S. R. Establishment of Restoration Trajectories for Upland Tundra Communities on Diamond Mine Wastes in the Canadian Arctic. Restoration Ecology. 2014. Vol. 22(4). pp. 534–543.
8. Sena K., Barton C., Hall S., Angel P., Agouridis C., Warner R. Influence of spoil type on afforestation success and natural vegetative recolonization on a surface coal mine in Appalachia, United States. Restoration Ecology. 2015. Vol. 23(2). pp. 131–138.
9. Ngugil M. R., Neldner V. J., Doley D., Kusy B., Moore D., Richter C. Soil moisture dynamics and restoration of self-sustaining native vegetation ecosystem on an open-cut coal mine. Restoration Ecology. 2015. Vol. 23(5). pp. 615–624.
10. Brady J. K. Salamander diversity of reforested abandoned surface coal mines in the Appalachian Region, U.S.A. Restoration Ecology. 2016. Vol. 24, Iss. 3. pp. 398–405.
11. Strunk S., Houben B., Krudewig W. Controlling the Rhenish opencast mines during. World of Mining – Surface & Underground. 2016. Vol. 68(5). pp. 289–300.
12. Gilland K. E., McCarthy B. C. Microtopography Influences Early Successional Plant Communities on Experimental Coal Surface Mine Land Reclamation. Restoration Ecology. 2014. Vol. 22(2). pp. 232–239.
13. Knapp S., Gerth A., Stefan K. Sustainable recultivation and wastewater treatment in Vietnamese coal mining. World of Mining – Surface & Underground. 2012. Vol. 64(4). pp. 253–263.
14. Kulik L., Stemann H. Ecology and biodiversity protection in the Rhenish lignite mining area. World of Mining – Surface & Underground. 2014. Vol. 66(3). pp. 143–152.
15. Google Planet Earth. Available at: https://www.google.com/earth/ (accessed: 9.10.2017).
16. Available at: https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

Full content Earth remote sensing in ecological evaluation of disturbed lands in South Yakutia
Back