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Salt caverns are used for over 70 years to store power sources and dispose of industrial wastes. The design of cavern shape and dimensions is still considered as a difficult engineering problem despite progress in geotechnical, construction and exploration methods. The rational design of cavern depends on mechanical parameters of rock salt and nonsalt rocks, stability conditions, safety requirements and stored material. However, most of these factors are related to geological factors like depth of cavern location, the geological structure of salt deposit, lithology of interlayers, petrology and mineralogy of rock salt and interlayers. The significant diversity in the geological conditions of different rock salt deposits contributed to the variety in shape and dimensions of salt caverns worldwide. In this paper, the examples of caverns developed in various salt deposits are presented. The shape of these caverns and its relation to geological features is presented. The influence of geological factors on the formation of irregularities in a cavern shape is described. Moreover, the evaluation of storage caverns located in Polish salt deposits in a view of the aforementioned geological factors is performed. The information and analysis described in this paper provide input which can be useful in future plans connected with the development of underground storage in Poland.

This paper studies an actual problem of the appearance of a deposit on walls of heat-exchange devices. An improved deposit formation number is presented that describes the heat and electrochemical nature of any deposit. A new criterion equation for the free convection of air when a salt deposit appears on a heated-up surface is successfully obtained and shown in the paper. New methods of the heat transfer calculation during the formation of deposits based upon the improved heat transfer similarity criterion of deposit formation are developed.

The storage cavern field at Epe has been brined out of a salt deposit belonging to the lower Rhine salt flat, which extends under the surface of the North German lowlands and part of the Netherlands. Cavern convergence and operational pressure changes cause surface displacements that have been studied for this work with the help of SAR interferometry (InSAR) using distributed and persistent scatterers. Vertical and East-West movements have been determined based on Sentinel-1 data from ascending and descending orbit. Simple geophysical modeling is used to support InSAR processing and helps to interpret the observations. In particular, an approach is presented that allows to relate the deposit pressures with the observed surface displacements. Seasonal movements occurring over a fen situated over the western part of the storage site further complicate the analysis. Findings are validated with ground truth from levelling and groundwater level measurements.

The purpose of the present study is to analyse the distribution of arsenic in the soils of the Verkhnekamskoe potassium salt deposit (Perm Krai, Russia). The danger of arsenic pollution is determined by its high toxicity and carcinogenic hazard. Being a technophilic element, arsenic enters the environment primarily as a result of mining activities. Mining and processing sites for arsenic-containing ores are the most prone to technophilic arsenic accumulation. Solid wastes from potash production also contain elevated concentrations of arsenic. The content of arsenic in soils was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Statistical methods were used to analyse the features of arsenic distribution in soils of background areas and potash mining areas near production facilities. Three types of landscapes were studied within each territory, which were each distinguished by the leading processes of substance migration. Arsenic concentrations in both the background areas and the potash mining territories vary considerably, ranging from n × 10−1 to n × 10. The study found no statistically significant differences in arsenic concentrations in soils of potash mining areas and background areas. Arsenic concentrations in soils from various types of landscapes also do not differ statistically. Arsenic concentrations in soils of saline areas were found to be higher than in the rest of the territories. Outside of saline areas, the identified patterns of arsenic distribution in the soils of the Verkhnekamskoe potassium salt deposit indicate that potash operations are not a determinant in the technophilic accumulation of arsenic.

Mineralogy and texture of diagenetic phases in the Aptian Pre‐Salt Barra Velha Formation are described, quantified and compared by facies and structural setting to understand their spatial and temporal distribution, and to develop predictive concepts for their genesis. This study examined data from eight wells from one oil‐field in the Santos Basin. Calcite is the most abundant mineral and occurs with fibro‐radial texture as spherulites and shrubs and sparse microcrystalline mudstone. The δ18O values from calcite spherulites and shrubs suggest water of similar composition and temperature, but they have different δ13C values. Mudstones show lower δ18O, suggesting warmer lake water and/or lower evaporation, whereas δ13C values indicate a variable, but commonly strong influence of biogenic CO2. Dolomite with rhombohedral habit was the first to precipitate, followed by lamellar, saddle and anhedral varieties. Rhombohedral dolomites show a positive δ13C‐δ18O correlation and a similar range in values to spherulites and shrubs, suggesting similar lake water. The lamellar dolomite is related to biofilms, whereas anhedral dolomite is attributed to mixing of pore and meteoric waters. Lamellar and anhedral dolomites have similar isotopic values, precipitating after rhombohedral dolomite in slightly warmer and/or less evaporatively concentrated pore water. Saddle dolomite is related to hydrothermal fluids that percolated the formation during early diagenesis. Silica occurs as replacement of primary calcite and Mg‐clay, but also as a cement and more rarely as a depositional chert. Both dolomite and silica display a complex range of petrographic textures, many of which are facies dependent. This study focusses on the most important phases of the paragenetic sequence that took place pre‐burial and are (1) formation of Mg‐clay, calcite spherulites and shrubs, (2) partial dolomitisation of shrubs and spherulites and precipitation of rhombohedral and lamellar dolomites, (3) precipitation of saddle dolomite, matrix and carbonate dissolution and (4) anhedral dolomite and all textures of precipitated or substituted silica. Mineralogy and texture of diagenetic phases in the Aptian Pre‐Salt Barra Velha Formation are described, quantified and compared by facies and structural setting to understand their spatial and temporal distribution, and to develop predictive concepts for their genesis. This study focusses on the most important phases of the paragenetic sequence that took place pre‐burial and are (1) formation of Mg‐clay, calcite spherulites and shrubs, (2) partial dolomitisation of shrubs and spherulites and precipitation of rhombohedral and lamellar dolomites, (3) precipitation of saddle dolomite, matrix and carbonate dissolution and (4) anhedral dolomite and all textures of precipitated or substituted silica.

The mine shafts in the salt (unwatered) rock mass at the Upper Kama deposit are mostly lined with cast-in-place concrete and reinforced concrete, which should ensure the required load-bearing capacity and water impermeability in host rocks in creep. The long-term observations of the shaft lining in operation revealed some typical patterns of failure induced by the rheological properties of salt rock mass under the action of rock pressure. The technical evaluation of the lining and reinforcement of mine shafts is an integrated checkup procedure including measurements of fractures and areas of corrosive zones/rock falls; updating of actual geometrics of lining from laser measurements; determination of residual strength of lining; mathematical modeling; estimation of integral reliability index of lining. The authors propose a procedure to categorize technical conditions of concrete lining in mine shafts in operation in salt-bearing rock mass in creep. The application of the procedure is described, and the conclusions on the package of repair activities are drawn.

Tuzla City, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is very famous for salt mining. The intensive extraction of brine from the underground salt deposit caused accumulative subsidence of up to -12 m from 1956 to 2003. It induced serious damage to residences, buildings, and infrastructures. Although the activity of brine extraction was officially stopped in 2007, reports of subsidence are still on-going for some areas of Tuzla City according to a previous study. In the present study, a satellite-based method, i.e., Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR), is applied for the subsidence monitoring of the induced underground brine extraction. Since October 2014, SAR data obtained by the Sentinel-1A and -1B satellites (European Space Agency: ESA) and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) multi-temporal analyses have been employed to obtain the spatial distribution and the temporal transition of the land subsidence. The accuracy and effectiveness of the SBAS-DInSAR method are assessed and evaluated by using the real-time kinematic GNSS monitoring system. DInSAR detected that the subsidence is still on-going at a velocity of -36.4 mm/year in some areas, especially in an area northeast of the center of the city. This study presents the validity and effectiveness of SBAS-DInSAR as a useful subsidence monitoring tool.

The paper concerns an interpretation of high-precision gravimeter observations in the Upper Kama Potash Salt Deposit. The studies aim to detect the mining-induced softened areas in undermined rock mass. It is found that the gravity field transformants exhibit induced softening areas as flat inclined negative anomalies that intersect the undermined rock mass from top downward. The spatial location of the induced softening areas in rock mass is determined.

Purpose. To show the effectiveness of application of method of natural pulsed electromagnetic field of the Earth (NPEMFE) in issues of spatial prediction of the earth's surface deformation, for assessing the karst hazard within territories with exhausted salt deposits. Improvement of existing methods of interpretation of data obtained as a result of applying of NPEMFE by involving geodetic information. Methodology. Processing the information obtained as a result of measurements of the NPEMFE with the help of GIS-technologies. Spatial combination of data interpretation results obtained through the NPEMFE method with results of geodetic observations. Findings. The image of the spatial combining of NPEMFE intensity maps and the earth surface subsidence is constructed. The hypothesis that the anomalies of NPEMFE are a direct indicator of displacement of the earth's surface is proved. Originality. For the first time, on the example of the territory of the Stebnyk potassium salt mining field, the results of topogeodetic survey and those of the geophysical method of NPEMFE have been compared. Connection of geodetic and geophysical data and a significant level of their correlation is proved. This gives grounds for considering the NPEMFE method as a predictive in terms of forecasting the development of deformation processes of the earth's surface. Practical value. The improvement of the method for interpreting the NPEMFE data by involving geodetic information is proposed.

Underground mining operation in salt deposits requires special control over rock mass stability. Changes in stress within the rock mass cause gradual convergence of underground workings. A slow convergence process with a complex spatiotemporal distribution requires the measurements with high accuracy, which is carry out on a well-planned spatial distribution of observation network. The aim of the study was to present the procedure of designing and implementing observations of convergence in salt caverns within a salt dome deposit in Kłodawa salt mine in Poland. The studies focused on identifying the most important factors that should be considered when establishing new observation networks to assess the stability of salt rock mass. The algorithm was developed based on experiences is measurements conducted over a period of 50 years in one section of the Ktodawa mine. The most significant components of spatio-temporal deformation process in 3D space were presented. Measured convergence in relation to the salt dome geometry, geological and mining condition were taken into account to design a new network in another part of salt dome. Presented experiences may originate as a premise for designing a new observation network in other salt mines where extraction is planned with the chamber and pillar method.