ИСТИНА

There is an acute problem of stockpiling waste dumps in mining areas. This problem has its own specifics in permafrost zone. Cold climate and material, throwed off on the slopes can lead to the formation of ice-soil mobile bodies from the mass of waste rock. Its movement results in a great danger to the infrastructure of mining areas in the permafrost zone. This research accumulates certain material and assesses the severity of the problem of the rock glaciers moving in permafrost conditions. We carried out field observations in Norilsk industrial region, Vorkuta region, and etc. This allows us to obtain an objective picture of the possible cryogenic hazards for buildings and structures in economically developed territories, as well as for natural complexes. Detailed studies (analysis of multi-time satellite images, geodetic data and, tracking of dynamics, etc.) were carried out for the anthropogenic rock glacier near the Medvezhy Ruchey quarry in the Norilsk region. The world's largest glacier was formed as a result of the development of the open pit– close to the POST-1 dump (one out of ten, but located on the outskirts of the southern industrial zone of Norilsk). The volume of “empty” rock reached 65 million m3 with a total mass of about 110 million tons. The movement of this glacier began in the summer of 1992, and in 1999 the active bottom part of the stone glacier rested against the opposite slope of the valley of the river Medvezhy Ruchey, destroying the road bed, buildings, water conduit and other objects. Since 2001, the upper third of the glacier, which had not participated in the movement before, started to move. The maximum displacement was about 700 m by 2014. The reasons of the movement of rock glacier was the change in permafrost conditions at the base of the body, which occurred as a result of natural climate change and man-made impact. It leads to a decrease in the adhesion forces of ice-ground particles and makes the body more ductile and deteriorate the strength properties of the soil base. Obviously, with a further increase in the temperature of the rock, we can await fast and progressive moving, which will cause an avalanche-like sliding of the front part. This work was supported by the RFBR grant 18-05-60080 “Dangerous nival-glacial and cryogenic processes and their impact on infrastructure in the Arctic”.