Surface Microgravity Monitoring of Underground Water Migration: A Case Study in Wieliczka, Poland

Slawomir Porzucek, Monika Loj and Kajetan d’Obyrn
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Slawomir Porzucek: Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Monika Loj: Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Kajetan d’Obyrn: Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Excessive water inflow in a mine poses a great threat to its operation, especially in the case of a salt mine. In 1992, a rapid outflow of water occurred in the Mina traverse in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and a number of investigations were undertaken to assess the causes of the outflow and the condition of the rock mass, including the gravity and microgravity surveys discussed in this paper. The first of these was to investigate the rock mass with respect to its geological, hydrogeological properties and mining. The aim of study was to monitor the changes in the rock mass density and the impact of these changes on the subsidence of the ground surface. The surveys provided information on the geological structure of the study area and helped to identify possible routes for water migration. The first data confirmed density changes in the shallow parts of the rock mass, manifested by subsidence of the land surface. However, the subsequent measurements failed to show any significant density changes in the shallow parts of the rock mass, despite the subsidence of the land surface. Therefore, it can be argued that the processes in the rock mass did not cause voids in the shallow parts of the rock mass that could lead to discontinuous deformations. These processes run deep and caused only continuous deformations in the form of subsidence basins.

Keywords: gravity; microgravity monitoring; water migration; mining water disaster (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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