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Impact of Mine Activity on Water Environment
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Impact of Mine Activity on Water Environment

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "H: Geo-Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 7698

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jacek Motyka

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Interests: hydrogeology of mines; karst hydrogeology; environmental hydrogeology
Prof. Dr. Kajetan d’Obyrn

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Departmet of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Interests: hydrogeology of mines; groundwater flow; environmental hydrogeology
Prof. Dr. Adam Postawa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Departmet of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Interests: sampling and monitoring of groundwater; QA/QC systems; environmental hydrogeology; karst hydrogeology; drinking water quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mining activity causes serious changes in water conditions in areas affected by the drainage of workings. These transformations can be both hydrodynamic, related to the depletion of the groundwater level, and hadrochemical, i.e., related to changes in the quality of surface and groundwater. Both in the case of mine design, construction, exploitation, and planning of its decommissioning, it is important from a practical point of view to forecast the impact on the aquatic environment. Since each mine is a separate entity, which results primarily from the specific geological structure in its surroundings, it is difficult to make any generalities in this regard. We can try to find them through the exchange of experiences between hydrogeologists working in different mining areas, which is the purpose of this Special Issue. The topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Methodology and results of estimating the range, and dynamics of the development of the mining drainage area;
  • The impact of mining drainage on surface waters;
  • Changes in the quality of surface and ground waters related to the activation of various sources of pollution;
  • Acid mine drainage (AMD) and neutral mine drainage (NMD);
  • Dynamics of reconstruction of the groundwater table after cessation of the dewatering of workings;
  • Changes in the quality of surface and ground waters due to the cessation of mining drainage.

Prof. Dr. Jacek Motyka
Prof. Dr. Kajetan d’Obyrn
Prof. Dr. Adam Postawa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • radius of influence
  • quantity of surface water
  • quality of surface water
  • quality of groundwater
  • post-mining stage
  • acid mine drainage
  • neutral mine drainage

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 6648 KiB  
Article
Influence of Long-Term Mine Activity on Hydraulic Relations between Separate Hydrogeological Units—New Aspects of Regional Water Circulation Assessment
by Robert Zdechlik, Kazimierz Różkowski and Mariusz Śledzik
Energies 2022, 15(13), 4647; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15134647 - 24 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1048
Abstract
In the course of the documentation works aimed at updating exploitable resources of the groundwater intake, an unexpected change in hydrodynamic field arrangement was observed in a fragment of the area. In relation to the observations made so far, lasting several decades, the [...] Read more.
In the course of the documentation works aimed at updating exploitable resources of the groundwater intake, an unexpected change in hydrodynamic field arrangement was observed in a fragment of the area. In relation to the observations made so far, lasting several decades, the groundwater table switched its slope, indicating the flow in the opposite direction than originally. Initially, in the range of the surveyed hydrogeological structure, no object was identified whose draining character could cause such an effect. No significant groundwater extraction or drainage points were documented within a radius of several kilometers. It was only the extended scope of spatial analysis that made it possible to identify the probable cause of a local change in the water table position as a mining pit located in the neighboring hydrogeological structure. The two adjacent hydrogeological structures treated separately so far revealed an experimentally confirmed hydraulic connection. An in-depth analysis of the problem showed the necessity of modifying the existing model of the structure in order to map the observed interactions. An additional simulation module of General-Head Boundary type was applied. The quantity of lateral groundwater exchange between two hydrogeological structures was estimated using mathematical modeling at 3.4 thousand m3/d (reconstructed current state, after model calibration). Further work should aim at treating reservoirs as hydraulically connected after exceeding limiting parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Mine Activity on Water Environment)
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22 pages, 10713 KiB  
Article
Pit Lakes Affected by a River Contaminated with Brines Originated from the Coal Mining Industry: Evolution of Water Chemistry in the Zakrzówek Horst Area (Krakow, Southern Poland)
by Jacek Motyka, Kajetan d’Obyrn, Ondra Sracek, Adam Postawa and Michał Źróbek
Energies 2022, 15(12), 4382; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15124382 - 16 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1869
Abstract
Long-term coal mining activities in the Upper Silesia significantly affect the environment in southern Poland. Discharges of brines (with TDS reaching over 110 g/L) from mines are the main source of pollution of many rivers in Poland, including the Vistula River. The Zakrzówek [...] Read more.
Long-term coal mining activities in the Upper Silesia significantly affect the environment in southern Poland. Discharges of brines (with TDS reaching over 110 g/L) from mines are the main source of pollution of many rivers in Poland, including the Vistula River. The Zakrzówek horst is a small geological structure composed of the Upper Jurassic limestones. These limestones were exploited in several quarries. In the largest one (the “Zakrzówek” quarry), exploitation reached the depth of 36 m below the water table, i.e., about 32 m below the average water level in Vistula River which flows 700 m from the quarry. An important part of this inflow into quarries came from the contaminated Vistula River, with a chloride concentration over 2 g/L. The exploitation ceased in 1991, and dewatering ended in 1992. In the old quarry area, pit lakes appeared, which are unique because they present an example of a post-mining site affected by the riverine water contaminated with brines. Investigations of physicochemical parameters of water in the Zakrzówek area were carried out in the period of 1990–2020. Results showed that the largest pit lake was initially meromictic with a distinct stratification. After several years, holomictic conditions developed due to the surface layer freshening and convective mixing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Mine Activity on Water Environment)
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15 pages, 4528 KiB  
Article
Surface Microgravity Monitoring of Underground Water Migration: A Case Study in Wieliczka, Poland
by Slawomir Porzucek, Monika Loj and Kajetan d’Obyrn
Energies 2022, 15(11), 4012; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15114012 - 30 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1267
Abstract
Excessive water inflow in a mine poses a great threat to its operation, especially in the case of a salt mine. In 1992, a rapid outflow of water occurred in the Mina traverse in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and a number of investigations [...] Read more.
Excessive water inflow in a mine poses a great threat to its operation, especially in the case of a salt mine. In 1992, a rapid outflow of water occurred in the Mina traverse in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and a number of investigations were undertaken to assess the causes of the outflow and the condition of the rock mass, including the gravity and microgravity surveys discussed in this paper. The first of these was to investigate the rock mass with respect to its geological, hydrogeological properties and mining. The aim of study was to monitor the changes in the rock mass density and the impact of these changes on the subsidence of the ground surface. The surveys provided information on the geological structure of the study area and helped to identify possible routes for water migration. The first data confirmed density changes in the shallow parts of the rock mass, manifested by subsidence of the land surface. However, the subsequent measurements failed to show any significant density changes in the shallow parts of the rock mass, despite the subsidence of the land surface. Therefore, it can be argued that the processes in the rock mass did not cause voids in the shallow parts of the rock mass that could lead to discontinuous deformations. These processes run deep and caused only continuous deformations in the form of subsidence basins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Mine Activity on Water Environment)
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16 pages, 1867 KiB  
Article
Trace Elements in Sediments of Rivers Affected by Brown Coal Mining: A Potential Environmental Hazard
by Ryszard Staniszewski, Przemysław Niedzielski, Tadeusz Sobczyński and Mariusz Sojka
Energies 2022, 15(8), 2828; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15082828 - 13 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1581
Abstract
Brown coal remains an important energy source in Europe, including countries such as Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Greece. Open-pit mines disturb the environment in terms of air quality, hydrology, and chemical and biological transformations in rivers receiving mine waters. In the [...] Read more.
Brown coal remains an important energy source in Europe, including countries such as Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Greece. Open-pit mines disturb the environment in terms of air quality, hydrology, and chemical and biological transformations in rivers receiving mine waters. In the present study, we assessed the impact of mine waters from four brown coal open-pit mines on the contamination of river sediments. Chemical analysis included the quantification of 62 elements, including heavy metals (HMs) and rare earth elements (REEs). The contamination of sediments by HMs was evaluated using the contamination factor (CF), the pollution load index (PLI), and the Nemerow multi-factor index (PI). The potential toxic effects of HMs on aquatic organisms were assessed using the potential ecological risk index (PERI). Detailed analysis of chondrite-standardized concentrations of REEs was performed to describe the effects of mine water on their pattern in sediments. Cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were employed to divide study sites into groups and to evaluate the combined effect of sediment texture and site location on HMs and REEs in sediments. The study showed that after mine water discharge, there is a decrease in HM and REE concentrations in sediments. The decrease in each element’s concentration in sites located 100 m downstream of the discharge was caused by washing out of the finest fractions of sediments by mine waters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Mine Activity on Water Environment)
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13 pages, 4488 KiB  
Article
Polyhumous Dystrophic Pit Lakes: Hydrographic and Hydrochemical Characteristics on the Example of Reservoirs in the Włoszczowska Basin, Central Poland
by Tadeusz Molenda, Beata Kostka, Ireneusz Malik, Paweł Lejwoda, Wiktor Radziejowski and Joanna Kidawa
Energies 2022, 15(7), 2681; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15072681 - 06 Apr 2022
Viewed by 1320
Abstract
The article presents the hydrographic and hydrochemical characteristics of post-exploitation reservoirs formed in peat excavations. Two natural bog lakes were selected as the control objects for the study. The research indicated that both the waters of post-exploitation peat reservoirs and natural bog lakes [...] Read more.
The article presents the hydrographic and hydrochemical characteristics of post-exploitation reservoirs formed in peat excavations. Two natural bog lakes were selected as the control objects for the study. The research indicated that both the waters of post-exploitation peat reservoirs and natural bog lakes show low electrolytic conductivity (<100 µS/cm) and acidic water reaction (pH < 5.5). The concentration of major cations and anions is also very low. The concentration of calcium and magnesium does not exceed a few mg/L. Hydrochemically, all post-exploitation peat reservoirs are bi-ionic sulphate–calcium (SO42−-Ca2+). This distinguishes post-exploitation peat reservoirs from natural bog lakes in which multi-ion waters were found, for example, sulphate–chloride–calcium (SO42−-Cl−-Ca2+) and sulphate–calcium–sodium (SO42−-Ca2+-Na+). The calculated water humic state index (HSI) allowed the classifying of the examined reservoirs as polyhumous. The value of this index, in all reservoirs, was >50. Based on the calculated hydrochemical dystrophy index (HDI), it was found that all post-exploitation peat reservoirs are dystrophic. So far, no such hydrochemical type has been found in other post-exploitation peat reservoirs. Therefore, the examined objects should be classified as unique post-exploitation peat reservoirs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Mine Activity on Water Environment)
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