Analysis of post-blasting source mechanisms of mining-induced seismic events in Rudna copper mine, Poland

The exploitation of georesources by underground mining can be responsible for seismic activity in areas considered aseismic. Since strong seismic events are connected with rockburst hazard, it is a continuous requirement to reduce seismic risk. One of the most effective methods to do so is blasting in potentially hazardous mining panels. In this way, small to moderate tremors are provoked and stress accumulation is substantially reduced. In this paper we present an analysis of post-blasting events using Full Moment Tensor (MT) inversion at the Rudna mine, Poland, underground seismic network. In addition, we describe the problems we faced when analyzing seismic signals. Our studies show that focal mechanisms for events that occurred after blasts exhibit common features in the MT solution. The strong isotropic and small Double Couple (DC) component of the MT, indicate that these events were provoked by detonations. On the other hand, post-blasting MT is considerably different than the MT obtained for strong mining events. We believe that seismological analysis of provoked and unprovoked events can be a very useful tool in confirming the effectiveness of blasting in seismic hazard reduction in mining areas

Pasywna tomografia sejsmiczna obszaru Górnośląskiego Zagłębia Węglowego

Prędkościowa tomografia sejsmiczna jest metodą wyznaczania niejednorodności ośrodka na podstawie zarejestrowanych czasów propagacji fal sejsmicznych. Oczywiście, mowa tu o niejednorodnościach prędkości fal sejsmicznych, z których można następnie wnioskować o heterogeniczności litologicznej, petrologicznej itp. badanego obszaru. W zależności od sposobu generacji fal mamy do czynienia z tomografią aktywną — gdy źródła fal są kontrolowane, lub pasywną — gdy odpowiednich informacji dostarczają wstrząsy naturalne lub indukowane. W niniejszej pracy metodologię oraz otrzymane wyniki badań tomograficznych obszaru GZW opisano, biorąc pod uwagę wstrząsy indukowane działalnością górniczą i zarejestrowane przez Górnośląską Regionalną Sieć Sejsmologiczną GIG

Concrete pavements management

The article discusses the issue of managing roads with concrete surfaces. Modern methods of surface features identification applied on the exploited motorway section of a length of 100 km (in conversion to rows of concrete slabs it gives around 600 km) are presented. The general principles of the rigid surface management system are described below in order to enable a comprehensive analysis of the obtained data in terms of the possibility of developing concrete slabs degradation models that form the basis for long-term planning of maintenance works

Synthetic Tests of Full Waveform Inversion with Configuration of Rudna Mine Real Seismic Monitoring System

Sejsmiczność indukowana działalnością górniczą jest stale monitorowana i analizowana w celu zwiększenia bezpieczeństwa wydobycia kopalin. Jedną z procedur, chociaż niestosowanych rutynowo w polskim górnictwie węgla i miedzi, jest wyznaczanie mechanizmów ogniskowych silniejszych wstrząsów. Najprostszą i jak dotąd jedyną stosowaną metodą ich obliczania jest inwersja pierwszych wstąpień fali P w domenie czasu. Metoda ta pomimo swojej prostoty i możliwości bezpośredniej kontroli analizowanego wejścia fali sejsmicznej, jest procedurą bardzo czułą na geometrię sieci pomiarowej. Jest to szczególnie kłopotliwe w przypadku dołowych sieci kopalnianych, gdzie geometria sieci ograniczona jest istniejącą infrastrukturą podziemną. W niniejszym opracowaniu proponujemy i testujemy metodę inwersji pełnego pola falowego, przeprowadzaną w domenie częstotliwości oraz czasu, która do tej pory nie była powszechnie stosowana w polskim górnictwie. W oparciu o sejsmogramy syntetyczne obliczone dla lokalnego modelu prędkościowego oraz z wykorzystaniem geometrii rzeczywistej sieci monitoringu sejsmicznego, przeprowadziliśmy badanie przydatności inwersji pełnego pola falowego do obliczeń w warunkach górniczych. W pracy prezentujemy analizy 10 różnych modeli mechanizmów ogniskowych testowanych w różnych lokalizacjach kopalni dla zmiennej siły wstrząsu oraz z dodatkowym rzeczywistym szumem sejsmicznym. Na podstawie otrzymanych wyników możemy stwierdzić, iż głównym czynnikiem warunkującym jakość rozwiązania jest siła wstrząsu i wynikająca z niego zależność amplituda/szum. Natomiast metoda ta nie jest czuła na geometrię sieci pomiarowej.In order to improve the safety procedures of georesources exploitation, the induced seismicity is constantly monitored and examined. One of the procedures method, although even though not routinely used in Polish coal and copper mining mines, is the calculation of focal mechanisms of strong seismic events. The simplest and so far the only used method for source mechanisms estimation is the inversion of the first P wave onsets in the time domain. Despite its simplicity and the ability to direct control of analyzed seismic waves used during inversion, it is a procedure very sensitive to the geometry of the monitoring seismic network. This is particularly troublesome in the case of underground seismic monitoring system, where the geometry of the network is limited by the existing underground infrastructure. In this study, we propose and test the full waveform inversion method, performed both in the frequency and time domain. This kind of method has not been widely used in Polish miningmines. Basing on synthetic seismograms prepared for the local velocity model and using geometry of the real seismic monitoring network, we conducted a study of the suitability of the full waveform inversion for calculations in underground mining conditions. In this paper, we present analyzes of 10 different source models of focal mechanisms tested in various mine locations within mining area. The tests were performed for variable events strength and with additional real seismic noise. On the grounds of obtained results, we can conclude that the main factor determining the solution quality is the strength of mining tremor and amplitude/noise relationship resulting from it. However, this method is not sensitive to the geometry of the measurement network

Concrete pavements management

The article discusses the issue of managing roads with concrete surfaces. Modern methods of surface features identification applied on the exploited motorway section of a length of 100 km (in conversion to rows of concrete slabs it gives around 600 km) are presented. The general principles of the rigid surface management system are described below in order to enable a comprehensive analysis of the obtained data in terms of the possibility of developing concrete slabs degradation models that form the basis for long-term planning of maintenance works

Analysis of post-blasting source mechanisms of mining-induced seismic events in Rudna copper mine, Poland

The exploitation of georesources by underground mining can be responsible for seismic activity in areas considered aseismic. Since strong seismic events are connected with rockburst hazard, it is a continuous requirement to reduce seismic risk. One of the most effective methods to do so is blasting in potentially hazardous mining panels. In this way, small to moderate tremors are provoked and stress accumulation is substantially reduced. In this paper we present an analysis of post-blasting events using Full Moment Tensor (MT) inversion at the Rudna mine, Poland, underground seismic network. In addition, we describe the problems we faced when analyzing seismic signals. Our studies show that focal mechanisms for events that occurred after blasts exhibit common features in the MT solution. The strong isotropic and small Double Couple (DC) component of the MT, indicate that these events were provoked by detonations. On the other hand, post-blasting MT is considerably different than the MT obtained for strong mining events. We believe that seismological analysis of provoked and unprovoked events can be a very useful tool in confirming the effectiveness of blasting in seismic hazard reduction in mining areas

A Hydrofracturing-Triggered Earthquake Occurred Three Years after the Stimulation

Hydrofracturing, used for shale gas exploitation, may induce felt, even damaging earthquakes. On 15 June 2019, an Mw2.8 earthquake occurred, spatially correlated with the location of earlier exploratory hydrofracturing operations for shale gas in Wysin in Poland. However, this earthquake was atypical. Hydrofracturing-triggered seismicity mainly occurs during stimulation; occasionally, it continues a few months after completion of the stimulation. In Wysin, there were only two weaker events during two-month hydrofracturing and then 35 months of seismic silence until the mentioned earthquake occurred. The Wysin site is in Gdańsk Pomerania broader region, located on the very weakly seismically active Precambrian Platform. The historical documents, covering 1000 years, report no natural earthquakes in Gdańsk Pomerania. We conclude, therefore, that despite the never observed before that long lag time after stimulation, the Mw2.8 earthquake was triggered by hydrofracturing. It is possible that its unusually late occurrence in relation to the time of its triggering technological activity was caused by changes in stresses due to time-dependent deformation of reservoir shales. The Wysin earthquake determines a new time horizon for the effect of HF on the stress state, which can lead to triggering earthquakes. Time-dependent deformation and its induced stress changes should be considered in shall gas reservoir exploitation plans