Interpretation of Composite Seismic Signals in Deep Mines in the Donbas

The geodynamic research of coal–rock mass in mines in the Donbas uses composite seismic signals which appear on ground surface during coal mining. The search of regular patterns in geological response of rock masses to seismic waves is based on the main physical principles of elasticity: dependence of the signal energy on the proximity to the vibration source and dependence of P-wave velocity on the density of the medium. The authors of the article discuss the results of seismic monitoring in the mine fields in the Donets–Makeevka region of the Donbas. The energy and spectrum characteristics of seismic signals are correlated with the geodynamic processes and with the geological section parameters. The direct proportional dependence is found between the total thickness of jointed rock mass and an integrated parameter including azimuth of any component of seismic waves. The analysis of spectra of composite signals shows that their frequency characteristics allow differentiating areas of maximal softening and compaction in coal–rock mass and eventually enable delineating faulting influence zones which are the anomalous accumulations of methane.