Tracking Deformation Processes at the Legnica Glogow Copper District (Poland) by Satellite InSAR—II: Żelazny Most Tailings Dam

Paolo Mazzanti, Benedetta Antonielli, Alessandra Sciortino, Stefano Scancella and Francesca Bozzano
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Paolo Mazzanti: Department of Earth Sciences & CERI Research Center on Geological Risks, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Benedetta Antonielli: Department of Earth Sciences & CERI Research Center on Geological Risks, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Alessandra Sciortino: Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEAA), University of L’Aquila, Via Giovanni Gronchi, 18, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Stefano Scancella: NHAZCA S.r.l., Via Vittorio Bachelet, 12, 00185 Rome, Italy
Francesca Bozzano: Department of Earth Sciences & CERI Research Center on Geological Risks, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: The failures of tailings dams have a major negative impact on the economy, surrounding properties, and people’s lives, and therefore the monitoring of these facilities is crucial to mitigate the risk of failure, but this can be challenging due to their size and inaccessibility. In this work, the deformation processes at Żelazny Most tailings dam (Poland) were analyzed using satellite Ad-vanced Differential SAR Interferometry (A-DInSAR) from October 2014 to April 2019, showing that the dam is affected by both settlements (with a maximum rate of 30 mm/yr), and horizontal sliding in radial direction with respect to the ponds. The load of the tailings is pushing the dam forward along the glacio-tectonic shear planes located at depth, in the Pliocene clays, causing horizontal displacements at a rate up to 30 mm/yr, which could lead to a passive failure of the dam. The measured displacements have been compared with the ones observed by in situ data from the 90s to 2013, available in the literature. The outcomes indicate that intense localized deformations occur in the eastern and northern sectors of the dam, while the western sector is deforming evenly. Moreover, although the horizontal deformation had a slowdown from 2010 until 2013, it continued in 2014 to 2019 with recovered intensity. The upper and the recent embankments are affected by major settlements, possibly due to a lower consolidation degree of the most recent tailings and a larger thickness of compressible materials.

Keywords: A-DInSAR; tailings dam stability; Żelazny Most; remote sensing monitoring; ground deformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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