EARTH REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF DISTURBED LANDS IN SOUTH YAKUTIA

Abstract

In the south of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), coal is produced by Neryungri open pit mine and small open cuts. At Neryungri open pit mine, coal is extracted at the end of a downfold at a depth of 300–320 m. At the small open cuts, mining is carried out at the coal outcrops under alluvium and is advanced down the dip of the coal beds. At the present time, all small open casts have the depth of 30–50 m along the total mining front longer than 40 km. The preliminary assessment of the coal mining sites shows that the land is disturbed across the area of 5000 ha. The further environmental analysis of the mining landscape uses the data of the earth remote sensing. The area of the disturbed land is 3510.1 ha at Neryungri open pit mine and 2137.2 ha at all small open casts. The recovery factors of the vegetation eco-system are very low—0.012 and 0.029 at Neryungri open pit mine and small open casts, respectively. The open pit coal mining operations in the south of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have resulted in the disturbance of the natural landscape over the overall area of 5662.3 ha. The lack of the plant cover across the whole area of the disturbed land is explained by the presence of the many meters-thick permafrost, by the climate in the zone of geographic occurrence of coal bodies with the mean annual temperatures of –7…–8° and by the absence of reclamation activities. That low factors of the environmental equilibrium safety are intolerable. For this reason, a package of activities has been recommended for the open pit coal mines with a view to implementing mechanical and biological remediation of the disturbed land with the planting of larch-trees at overburden dumps. The planting requires application of much quantities of fertilizes containing azote, kalium and phosphorus to improve surviving ability and growth of young trees.