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Role of karstic features in instability of the wall of an open-pit mine (case study: Sadat Sirize Iron Mine, Iran)

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Abstract

Karstification can effect on the stability of rock slopes (both natural and manmade) by creating solution cavities and expanding joints within the rocks. The present research studied the effects of karstification on the stability of slopes of the pit mine wall of the Sadat Sirize iron mine. In this regard, a comprehensive field observation was carried out to detect surface karst features on rock slopes of the pit mine wall. Various types of karst features such as karstic cavity which is formed at the intersection of joints, karst pinnacles and karst window were observed in the region. Our studying indicated that there are different mechanisms of landslide in the karstified rock slopes including rock sliding, rockfall, and toppling which occurred due to the collapse and breakdown of the cavities, dissolution along discontinuities, and sliding along weak planes. To determine the effects of these landslide mechanisms on the slope instability of the mine wall, kinematic analysis was performed by DIP software version 7. The analysis showed that 8.96% wedge failure,5.88% planer failure, 4% rockfall, and 9.80% toppling are predictable in the area. To control these landslides some modern and low costly methods were planned.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Yazd University, Yazd, 8915818411, Iran

    Enayatallah Emami Meybodi, Syed Khaliq Hussain & Mehdi Torabi-Kaveh

  2. State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Sajid Ali

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  1. Enayatallah Emami Meybodi
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  2. Syed Khaliq Hussain
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  3. Mehdi Torabi-Kaveh
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  4. Sajid Ali
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Correspondence to Enayatallah Emami Meybodi.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests.

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Meybodi, E.E., Hussain, S.K., Torabi-Kaveh, M. et al. Role of karstic features in instability of the wall of an open-pit mine (case study: Sadat Sirize Iron Mine, Iran). Carbonates Evaporites 37, 52 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-022-00796-z

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