Characteristics of coal mining subsidence in ultra-high mining heights in desert areas and responses of shallow soil physical properties
HUA Zhaolai
WANG Lu
LI Jinming
Abstract：The ecological environment in China's desert regions is fragile,and water resources are scarce,yet the mining intensity is extremely high.Therefore,studying the shallow damage patterns caused by high-intensity coal mining in desert areas is of great significance.Taking the high-intensity mining of Shaanxi Shanmei Coal Caojiatan Mine as a case study,numerical simulation and field testing methods are employed to investigate the subsidence patterns of high-intensity coalmining in desert regions.Based on an understanding of mining-induced damage,soil bulk density and porosity changes in mined subsidence areas were studied through sampling and testing.Results show that field measurements in-dicate a W-shaped profile formed after large-scale multi-working face mining,with significantly greater subsidence near the initially mined working face(maximum subsidence of 3.39 m,compared to a simulated value of 3.40 m).The minim-um subsidence between two working faces was 1.12 m(simulated value:1.26 m),demonstrating consistency between nu-merical simulation and field measurements.Soil bulk density decreased as crack width increased,with notable reductions in areas with 20-40 and 60-100 cm crack widths(decreases of 0.08 and 0.07 g/cm3,respectively,compared to crack-free zones).Soil bulk density gradually decreased with increasing subsidence depth,showing a certain increase at 0-20 cm subsidence depth but no significant difference at 20-40 and 40-60 cm depths.Soil porosity increased progressively with crack width,varying by 0.5%,-1.2%,2.3%,and 1.7%for crack widths of 0-20,20-40,40-60,and 60-100 cm,respect-ively.Soil porosity also increased with subsidence depth,showing no significant difference at 0-20 cm depths compared to non-subsided areas but increasing by 5.8%and 9.0%at 20-40 and 40-60 cm depths,respectively.The research provides valuable insights for green mining practices in desert regions of the Yellow River Basin.
Keywords：desert areahigh-intensity coal miningcoal mining subsidencesoil physical propertieswater-conserving coal mining
Publication Date：2026-03-31
Online Publishing Date：2026-03-10(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：12( 129-140 )