EVALUATION OF THE USE OF SATELLITE INTERFEROMETRY TO DETERMINE PLACES WITH A HIGHER PROBABILITY OF A STRONG MINING TREMOR OCCURRENCE

References: 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2017, www.sgem.org, SGEM2017 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7408-03-4 / ISSN 1314-2704, 29 June - 5 July, 2017, Vol. 17, Issue 23, 119-126 pp, DOI: 10.5593/sgem2017/23/S10.015

ABSTRACT

The area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) is Europe’s largest hard coal basin. The Basin’s surface area is subjected to continuous impacts and threats associated with underground exploitation, such as ground deformation and induced seismicity. The area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin is one of the most seismically active mining regions in the world. The epicenters of the strongest tremors in the rock mass are grouped in several areas related to various structural units, which are characterized by a deep deposition of coal seams, occurrence of strong and thick sandstone complexes in their vicinity and highly developed tectonics. Geological and Mining Law as well as the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act impose on the mining plants the obligation to observe the effects of mining activities on the ground surface, in particular those which pose a threat to the engineering and civil structures. An attempt to estimate the magnitude of neotectonic movements caused by underground mining using satellite interferometry was made in this paper. The next step was the correlation between the location of the strong tremors with subsidence increment and the fields of deposit exploitation, and verification whether it is possible to indicate areas with increased probability of a strong tremor occurrence. The paper presents the interferometric analysis of a very strong tremor registered on 21.11.2014 in the area of hard coal mine Bielszowice. This analysis was used to identify places particularly predisposed to the occurrence of strong mining-induced tremors.

Keywords: interferometry, mine, tremors, USCB