The 2019 Brumadinho tailings dam collapse: Possible cause and impacts of the worst human and environmental disaster in Brazil     

《International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation》2020

On 25th January 2019, the tailings dam of the Brumadinho iron mine operated by Vale S/A failed catastrophically. The death toll stood at 259 and 11 people remained missing as of January 2020. This tragedy occurred three years after Mariana’s tailings dam rupture – the most significant tailing dam disaster in Brazilian history. Thus far, a systematic investigation on the cause and effect of the failure has yet to be conducted. Here, we use satellite-driven soil moisture index, multispectral high-resolution imagery and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) products to assess pre-disaster scenarios and the direct causes of the tailings dam collapse. A decreasing trend in the moisture content at the surface and the full evanescence of pond water through time (2011–2019) suggest that the water was gradually penetrating the fill downwards and caused the seepage erosion, saturating the tailings dam. Large-scale slumping of the dam (extensional failure) upon the rupture indicates that the materials of the fill were already saturated. InSAR measurements reveal a dramatic, up to 30 cm subsidence in the dam (at the rear part) within the past 12 months before the dam collapse, signifying that the sediments had been removed from the fill. Although the information on the resistance level of the tailings dam to infiltrations is not available, these pieces of evidence collectively indicate that the seepage erosion (piping) is the primary cause for the chronic weakening of the structure and, hence, the internal “liquefaction” condition. Upon the collapse, the fully saturated mud tailings flowed down the gentle slope area (3.13 × 10⁶ m²), where 73 % were originally covered by tree, grass or agricultural tracts. The toxic mud eventually reached the Paraopeba River after travelling 10 km, abruptly increasing the suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and the toxic chemical elements in the river, immediately affecting the local livelihoods that depend on its water. The Paraopeba River is a major tributary of the San Francisco River, the second-longest river in Brazil reaching the Atlantic Ocean. We anticipate that the environmental repercussions of this toxic seepage will be felt throughout the entire basin, especially riverine communities located downstream.  相似文献   

加强矿业供给侧结构性改革的初步思考     

张福良  季洪伟 《地质论评》2016,62(S1):143-144

当前我国正处经济增速减缓的新常态,供给侧结构性改革应运而生。我国乃至世界的矿业更是处于发展的严冬之季,产能严重过剩,大宗商品价格持续走低。在当前形势下,我们要用新常态眼光看待矿业未来发展之路,因地制宜,着力加强供给侧改革,刻不容缓。  相似文献   

矿业权边界在资源储量估算垂直纵投影图上的确定   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1       下载免费PDF全文

贾绍松  栾元滇  岳伟佳  杨元 《山东国土资源》2016,32(1)

利用垂直纵投影图进行资源储量估算时,当矿体走向与矿业权边界斜交时,矿业权边界在资源储量垂直纵投影图上投影的准确位置较难确定。该文介绍了利用不同中段平面图和利用计算公式确定矿业权边界在资源储量垂直纵投影图上的投影位置,对解决此类问题具有一定的参考价值。  相似文献   

三山岛金矿F3断裂带的水文地质工程地质特征及灾害防治   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

张寿全  黄巍 《工程地质学报》1994,2(1):62-72

本文对三山岛金矿F3断裂带的构造、岩性和水动力学特征进行了研究,对矿坑开挖中的突水和坑道碎屑流的成因做了探讨,并在水文地质结构、水化学、水同位素及水文地热学的综合研究基础上,对未来的二期井下工程开挖中可能出现的工程地质问题进行了预测,提出了防治方案。  相似文献   

River adjustment to changes in sediment load: The effects of tin mining on the Ringarooma River,Tasmania, 1875–1984     

A. D. Knighton 《地球表面变化过程与地形》1989,14(4):333-359

The mining of alluvial tin in the Ringarooma basin began in 1875, reached a peak in 1900–20, and had virtually ceased by 1982. During that time 40 million m³ of mining waste were supplied to the main river, quickly replacing the natural bed material and requiring major adjustments to the channel. Based on estimates of sediment supply from more than 50 widely scattered mines and the frequency of flows capable of transporting the introduced load, the river's transport history is reconstructed using a mass-conservation model. Because of the lengthy time period (110 years) and river distance (75 km) involved, the model cannot predict detailed change but it does reproduce the main pattern of sediment movement in which successive phases of aggradation and degradation progress downstream. Peak storage is predicted in that part of the river where braiding and anastomosis are best developed. Aggradation was most rapid in the upper reaches close to major supply points, becoming slower and later with distance downstream. Channel width increased by up to 300 per cent where the valley floor was broad and braiding became relatively common. Bridges had frequently to be replaced. While bed levels were still rising in lower reaches, degradation began in upper ones, notably after 1950, and by 1984 had progressed downriver over 30 km. Rates of incision reached 0·5 m yr^?1, especially in the early 1970s when record high flows occurred. As a result of degradation the bed material became gravelly through either reexposure of the original bed or lag concentration of coarser fractions. Also a narrower unbraided channel has developed. The river is beginning to heal itself and upper reaches now have reasonably stable beds but at least another 50 years will be required for the river to cleanse its channel of mining debris.  相似文献   

Delineation of sulphide ore-zones by borehole radar tomography at Hellyer Mine, Australia     

Binzhong Zhou  Peter K. Fullagar   《Journal of Applied Geophysics》2001,47(3-4)

Velocity and absorption tomograms are the two most common forms of presentation of radar tomographic data. However, mining personnel, geophysicists included, are often unfamiliar with radar velocity and absorption. In this paper, general formulae are introduced, relating velocity and attenuation coefficient to conductivity and dielectric constant. The formulae are valid for lossy media as well as high-resistivity materials. The transformation of velocity and absorption to conductivity and dielectric constant is illustrated via application of the formulae to radar tomograms from the Hellyer zinc–lead–silver mine, Tasmania, Australia. The resulting conductivity and dielectric constant tomograms constructed at Hellyer demonstrated the potential of radar tomography to delineate sulphide ore zones.  相似文献   

向斜构造煤层开采地表移动规律研究   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

李永树  王金庄  邢安仕 《测绘学报》1996,(2)

现行的地表移动预计方法，都是建立在开采工作面主断面为线性分布的基础上，因此，对于非线性分布煤层的预计将会产生较大的误差。本文以随机介质理论为基础，利用曲线积分的方法建立了地表移动与变形预计公式，并且利用数值积分法和叠加原理解算地表移动与变形值，扩大了地表移动预计理论的应用范围，同时也大大提高了预计值的精度  相似文献   

Tectonic analysis of mine tremor mechanisms from the Upper Silesian Coal Basin     

Grzegorz Sagan  Lesław Teper  Waclaw M. Zuberek 《Pure and Applied Geophysics》1996,147(2):217-238

Fault network of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) is built of sets of strike-slip, oblique-slip and dip-slip faults. It is a typical product of force couple which acts evenly with the parallel of latitude, causing horizontal and anti-clockwise movement of rock-mass. Earlier research of focal mechanisms of mine tremors, using a standard fault plane solution, has shown that some events are related to tectonic directions in main structural units of the USCB. An attempt was undertaken to analyze the records of mine tremors from the period 1992–1994 in the selected coal fields. The digital records of about 200 mine tremors with energy larger than 1×10⁴ J (M _L >1.23) were analyzed with SMT software for seismic moment tensor inversion. The decomposition of seismic moment tensor of mine tremors was segmented into isotropic (I) part, compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) part and double-couple (DC) part. The DC part is prevalent (up to 70%) in the majority of quakes from the central region of the USCB. A group of mine tremors with large I element (up to 50%) can also be observed. The spatial orientation of the fault and auxiliary planes were obtained from the computations for the seismic moment DC part. Study of the DC part of the seismic moment tensor made it possible for us to separate the group of events which might be acknowledged to have their origin in unstable energy release on surfaces of faults forming a regional structural pattern. The possible influence of the Cainozoic tectonic history of the USCB on the recent shape of stress field is discussed.  相似文献   

中国东部特殊地震带研究   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

肖和平 《地震工程学报》1996,18(2):12-17

综合分析了中国东部湖南、湖北、广东等省的水库地震和矿山地震特征，并根据区域地震地质、深部构造等资料，初步确立了特殊地震带──诱发地震活动带。结果认为鄂湘粤地区之所以形成特殊地震带，是与现代活动的秭归－常德－河源深断裂带有关。  相似文献   

冷水江煤矿塘冲矿井的地质采勘对比分析     

袁正泉 《湖南地质》1992,11(4):318-323

塘冲矿井的大量井巷地质资料与原勘探精查报告对比分析表明,原精查报告内容与实际情况有较大出入,特别是控煤褶皱、断裂,煤层厚度与储量等方面,都存在较大差异,对矿山采矿影响颇大。究其原因,可能是勘查阶段受规范和技术手段等的限制,使原报告精度不够。因此,本文提出改进勘探方法,完善规范,提高勘查精度和加强煤矿生产补充勘探,都显得十分重要。  相似文献