Abstract
For open pit coal mines, subsidence of the surrounding area and landslides are among the most common mining-induced catastrophic geohazards. These large-scale geohazards are related to both hydrogeological and geotechnical parameters, and they cause substantial damage. A major challenge to managing these hazards is that the factors that trigger these two phenomena are diametrically opposed. Land subsidence is triggered by the overexploitation of the aquifers conducted for the protection of the slope’s stability. Thus, the reduction of groundwater pumping from the draining wells reduces land subsidence deformations but at the same time decreases the stability of the slopes. In the present study, the investigated site is the area at the perimeter of the Amyntaio opencast coal mine at Florina Prefecture, Northern Greece. The overexploitation of the aquifers for the dewatering of the slopes turned the mine into a large-diameter well. The land subsidence caused by the dewatering extended 1–3 km around the mine, affecting the villages of Anargiroi and Valtonera. Furthermore, on June 10, 2017, a massive landslide of approximately 80 million cubic meters occurred at the working slopes of the mine, burying 25 million tons of lignite, resulting in severe damage to a large amount of mining equipment and causing the evacuation of the nearby Anargyroi village. The geometry of the slopes, the preexisting sheared zones, the extensive faults intersecting the site, and the high piezometric loads underneath the floor of the open pit as well as the high groundwater level of the shallow aquifers are the main causal factors of the landslide. The current research, besides presenting the two catastrophic events, aims to correlate the geological, hydrogeological, and geotechnical factors affecting both phenomena, outlining their opposing mechanisms. The study proves the necessity of the establishment of a holistic development plan supported by focused geotechnical and hydrogeological studies. This way, the occurrence and the diametric drivers of both types of catastrophic events can be evaluated and predicted, minimizing their effects on the mining activities and the surrounding environment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bell F, Stacey T, Genske D (2000) Mining subsidence and its effect on the environment: some differing examples. Environ Geol 40(1–2):135–152
Caramanna G, Ciotoli G, Nisio S (2008) A review of natural sinkhole phenomena in Italian plain areas. Nat Hazards 45(2):145–172
Carlà T, Intrieri E, Raspini F, Bardi F, Farina P, Ferretti A, Colombo D, Novali F, Casagli N (2019) Perspectives on the prediction of catastrophic slope failures from satellite InSAR. Sci Rep 9:14137. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50792-y
Carnec C, Delacourt C (2000) Three years of mining subsidence monitored by SAR interferometry, near Gardanne, France. J Appl Geophys 43(1):43–54
Dimitrakopoulos D (2001) Hydrogeological conditionions of Amyndeon mine. Problems during exploitation and overcoming them. PhD Thesis, NTUA - School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, NTUA, Athens, pp. 202
Dimitrakopoulos D, Koumantakis I (2017) Hydrodynamic regime of Amynteon basin. Influence of open lignite mines. In: proceedings of the 11th international hydrogeological congress of Greece, Athens, vol. no 2, pp 101–112
Glowacka E (1993) Probabilistic seismic hazard evaluation in underground mines. Nat Hazards 7:121–132
Gongyu L, Wanfang Z (1999) Sinkholes in karst mining areas in China and some methods of prevention. Eng Geol 52(1):45–50
Koukouzas C, Kotis T, Ploumidis M, Metaxas A (1979) Coal exploration of Anargiri-Amynteon area, mineral deposit research, no 9, 1–69. I.G.M.E, Athens
Koukouzas C, Kotis T, Ploumidis M, Metaxas A (1981) Coal exploration of “Apophisis” field of Anargiri-Amynteon area, research for energy resources, no 1, 1–52. I.G.M.E, Athens
Leonardos M, Terezopoulos N (2003) Rim slope failure mechanism in the Greek deep lignite mines - a case study. Mining Technol (trans Inst Min Metall: sect A) 112:197–204. https://doi.org/10.1179/037178403225001656
Loupasakis C (2006) Study of the geotechnical conditions of theAmintaio coalmine slopes close to the Anargiri village, Aetos Municipality, Florina Prefecture, Greece, technical report. I.G.M.E, Athens
Loupasakis C (2010) Geotechnical study in the Anargiroi village, Aetos Municipality, Florina prefecture, Greece. technical report, I.G.M.E., Athens
Loupasakis C, Angelitsa V, Rozos D, Spanou N (2014) Mining geohazards - land subsidence caused by the dewatering of opencast coal mines: the case study of the Amyntaio coal mine, Florina, Greece. Nat Hazards 70:675–691
Márquez-Ferrando R, Santos X, Pleguezuelos JM, Ontiveros D (2009) Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the lizard Psammodromus algirus after a tailing-dam collapse in Aznalcóllar (Southwest Spain). Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 56(2):276–285
Mountrakis D, Pavlides S, Zouros N, Astaras T, Chatzipetros A (1998) Seismic fault geometry and kinematics of the 13 May 1995 Western Macedonia (Greece) earthquake. J Geodyn 26(2–4):175–196
Mountrakis D, Tranos M, Papazachos C, Thomaidou E, Karagianni E, Vamvakaris D (2006) Neotectonic and seismological data concerning major active faults, and the stress regimes of Northern Greece. Publ Geol Soc Lond 260:649–670
Muezzinoglu A (2003) A review of environmental considerations on gold mining and production. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 33(1):45–71
Pavlides S (1985) Neotectonic evolution of the Florina—Vegoritida—Ptolemaida basin (W. Macedonia), PhD Thesis. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, p 265
Pavlides S, Simeakis K (1988) Neotectonics and active tectonics in low seismicity areas of Greece: Vegoritis (NW Macedonia) and Melos isl. Complex—Comparison. Ann Géol Pays Hellén 33:161–176
Riba I, DelValls TA, Reynoldson TB, Milani D (2006) Sediment quality in Rio Guadiamar (SW, Spain) after a tailing dam collapse: contamination, toxicity and bioavailability. Environ Int 32(7):891–900
Rico M, Benito G, Díez-Herrero A (2008) Floods from tailings dam failures. J Hazard Mater 154(1–3):79–87
Sammarco O (2004) A tragic disaster caused by the failure of tailings dams leads to the formation of the Stava 1985 foundation. Mine Water Environ 23(2):91–95
Šílený J, Milev A (2008) Source mechanism of mining induced seismic events—resolution of double couple and non double couple models. Tectonophysics 456(1–2), pp. 3–15
Soulios G, Tsapanos Th, Voudouris K, Kaklis T, Mattas Ch, Sotiriadis M (2011) Ruptures on surface and buildings due to land subsidence in Anargyri village (Florina Prefecture, Macedonia). In: Lambrakis N et al (ed), Proceedings of the advances in the research of aquatic environment. Springer, Berlin 2:505–512. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24076-8
Stecchi F, Mancini F, Ceppi C, Gabbianelli G (2012) Vulnerability to ground deformation phenomena in the city of Tuzla (BiH): a GIS and multicriteria approach. Nat Hazards 64:2153–2165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0225-2
Tsourlos P, Papazaxos C, Tranos M, Koutalou B (2007) Investigation and suggestions for the problem created by the fault crosing the municipalities of Fanos and Ksino Nero. Technical report, School of Geology, Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki
Tsourlos P, Vargemezis G, Fikos I (2015) Application of ERT to map earth fissures at the valtotnera area (Amyntaion, NW Greece), Conference Proceedings, 8th Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society, 2015:1–5. https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.201414131
Tzampoglou P, Loupasakis C (2016) New data regarding the groundwater level changes at the Amyntaio basin-Florina Prefecture, Greece. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of the Geological Society of Greece, Thessaloniki, Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, vol. No 2, pp 1006–1015
Tzampoglou P, Loupasakis C (2017) Mining geohazards susceptibility and risk mapping: the case of the Amyntaio open-pit coal mine, West Macedonia, Greece. Environ Earth Sci 76:542
Tzampoglou P, Loupasakis C (2018) Evaluating geological and geotechnical data for the study of land subsidence phenomena at the perimeter of the Amyntaio coal mine, Greece. Int J Min Sci Technol 28:601–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2017.11.002
Vaziri A, Moore L, Ali H (2010) Monitoring systems for warning impending failures in slopes and open pit mines. Nat Hazards 55(2):501–512
Wanfang Z (1997) The formation of sinkholes in karst mining areas in China and some methods of prevention. Environ Geol 31(1–2):50–58
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Amjad Kallel
This paper was selected from the 1st Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG), Tunisia 2018
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Loupasakis, C. Contradictive mining–induced geocatastrophic events at open pit coal mines: the case of Amintaio coal mine, West Macedonia, Greece. Arab J Geosci 13, 582 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05633-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05633-y