Abstract
High magnitude seismic events (HMSE), also called major events, triggered at underground mines can severely threaten safety and structures in mines. The aims of this work are to assess stress evolution with the occurrence of them and identify patterns in stress change. Several methods were used to help understand the stress redistribution and rock mass behavior related to two HMSE with moment magnitude greater than 1.0 in a deep nickel mine. Approximately 46,500 seismic events were compiled with 2 HMSE at this mine and used seismic tomography to obtain high-resolution images and temporal-spatial velocity changes before and after these events. This work exhibited surrounding stress evolution and geological structures. Seismic imaging results show that velocity increased in the nearby regions of HMSE before they were triggered. Stress subsequently reduced in the relaxation process after the occurrence of HMSE. Conversely, regions predominantly occupied by low-velocity anomalies increased to higher stress levels after HMSE. Overall, the stress redistributed toward an equilibrium state following HMSE. This study highlights the value of utilizing seismic tomography for estimating stress evolution associated with HMSE. The findings illuminate the applications of seismic imaging around HMSE of hard-rock mines, providing insights into seismic hazard mitigation for deep mining.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baig AM, Bosman K, Urbancic TI (2017) Temporal changes in stress state imaged through seismic tomography. In: proceedings of the eighth international conference on deep and high stress mining. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, pp. 269–274
Beck DA, Brady BHG (2002) Evaluation and application and controlling parameters for seismic events in hard-rock mines. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 39:633–642
Brady BHG, Brown ET (2013) Rock mechanics: for underground mining. Springer, Netherlands
Eberhart-Phillips D (1986) Three-dimensional velocity structure in northern California Coast Ranges from inversion of local earthquake arrival times. Bull Seismol Soc Am 76(4):1025–1052
Friedel MJ, Scott DF, Williams TJ (1997) Temporal imaging of mine-induced stress change using seismic tomography. Eng Geol 46:131–141
Hudyma M, Potvin YH (2010) An engineering approach to seismic risk management in hardrock mines. Rock Mech Rock Eng 43(6):891–906
Inbal A, Clayton RW, Ampuero JP (2015) Imaging widespread seismicity at midlower crustal depths beneath Long Beach, CA, with a dense seismic array: evidence for a depth-dependent earthquake size distribution. Geophys Res Lett 42:6314–6323
Krauß F, Giese R, Alexandrakis C, Buske S (2014) Seismic travel-time and attenuation tomography to characterize the excavation damaged zone and the surrounding rock mass of a newly excavated ramp and chamber. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 70:524–532
Leake MR, Conrad WJ, Westman EC et al (2017) Microseismic monitoring and analysis of induced seismicity source mechanisms in a retreating room and pillar coal mine in the Eastern United States. Undergr Sp 2:115–124
Luxbacher K, Westman E, Swanson P, Karfakis M (2008) Three-dimensional time-lapse velocity tomography of an underground longwall panel. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 45:478–485
Ma X, Westman EC, Fahrman BP, Thibodeau D (2016) Imaging of temporal stress redistribution due to triggered seismicity at a deep nickel mine. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment 5:55–64
Malek F, Espley S, Yao M, Trifu C (2008) Management of high stress and seismicity at Vale Inco Creighton Mine. In: the 42nd US rock mechanics symposium (USRMS). American rock mechanics association
Malek F, Suorineni FT, Vasak P (2009) Geomechanics strategies for rockburst management at vale inco creighton mine. In: ROCKENG09: proceedings of the 3rd Canada-US rock mechanics symposium, vol 4234. p 12
Mansurov VA (2001) Prediction of rockbursts by analysis of induced seismicity data. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 38:893–901
Omi T, Ogata Y, Hirata Y, Aihara K (2013) Forecasting large aftershocks within one day after the main shock. Sci Rep 3:2218
Sakaguchi K, Yokoyama T (2017) Changes in in situ rock stress before and after the major 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. Procedia Eng 191:768–775
Sakaguchi K, Yokoyama T, Lin W, Watanabe N (2017) Stress buildup and drop in inland shallow crust caused by the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake events. Sci Rep 7:10242
Seebold I, Lehmann B, Arribas A et al (1999) Development of tomographic systems for mining, mineral exploration and environmental purposes. Trans Inst Min Metall Sect B Applied Earth Sci 108:105–118
Šílený J, Milev A (2008) Source mechanism of mining induced seismic events—resolution of double couple and non double couple models. Tectonophysics 456:3–15
Snelling PE, Godin L, McKinnon SD (2013) The role of geologic structure and stress in triggering remote seismicity in Creighton Mine, Sudbury, Canada. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 58:166–179
Sweby G, Trifu C, Goodchild D, Morris L (2006) High resolution seismic monitoring at Mt Keith open pit mine. In: Golden rocks 2006, The 41st US symposium on rock mechanics (USRMS). American Rock Mechanics Association
Trifu CI, Urbancic TI, Young RP (1995) Source parameters of mining-induced seismic events: an evaluation of homogeneous and inhomogeneous faulting models for assessing damage potential. Pure Appl Geophys 145:3–27
Urbancic T, Trifu C (2000) Recent advances in seismic monitoring technology at Canadian mines. J Appl Geophys 45(4):225–237
Vallejos J, McKinnon S (2010) Omori’s law applied to mining-induced seismicity and re-entry protocol development. Pure Appl Geophys 167(1–2):91–106
Vallejos J, McKinnon S (2011) Correlations between mining and seismicity for re-entry protocol development. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 48:616–625
Westman EC, Luxbacher K, Schafrik S (2012) Passive seismic tomography for three-dimensional time-lapse imaging of mining-induced rock mass changes. Lead Edge 31(3):338–345
Westman EC, Molka RJ, Conrad WJ (2017) Ground control monitoring of retreat room–and–pillar mine in Central Appalachia. Int J Min Sci Technol 27:65–69
White JA, Foxall W (2016) Assessing induced seismicity risk at CO2 storage projects: recent progress and remaining challenges. Int J Greenh Gas Control 49:413–424
Young RP, Maxwell SC (1992) Seismic characterization of a highly stressed rock mass using tomographic imaging and induced seismicity. J Geophys Res Earth 97:12361–12373
Young R, Collins D, Reyes-Montes J (2004) Quantification and interpretation of seismicity. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 41:1317–1327
Zhang H, Thurber C (2003a) User’s manual for tomoDD1. 1 (double-difference tomography) for determining event locations and velocity structure from local earthquakes and explosions. Department of geology and geophysics. University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison
Zhang H, Thurber CH (2003b) Double-difference tomography: the method and its application to the Hayward fault, California. Bull Seismol Soc Am 93(5):1875–1889
Acknowledgements
Vale Canada Limited provided the field data for this study. Support for this project came from the Canadian Mining Industry Research Organization and a NIOSH Ground Control Capacity Building grant (contract 200-2011-40313).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Revise and resubmit to Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ma, X., Westman, E., Malek, F. et al. Stress Redistribution Monitoring Using Passive Seismic Tomography at a Deep Nickel Mine. Rock Mech Rock Eng 52, 3909–3919 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-019-01796-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-019-01796-7