High resolution seismic investigations for the determination of water flow directions during sulphur deposits exploitation

This paper shows the results of seismic research on some problems of sulphur in-situ mining. The difficulties during exploitation were mainly connected with the lack of detailed information on the structure and tectonics of deposit and overburden strata. This kind of information could be obtained using the High Resolution Seismic method. The use of seismic method allows to determine the range of subsidence provoked by well mining of sulphur. It is very important to undertake the measurements before exploitation, because the comparison of seismic sections before and during exploitation creates a possibility of determining the process of changes in the structure of the deposit and overburden strata. Another problem is a possibility of determining the source of uncontrolled flows of technological water. The water saturated zones are observed on seismic records as zones without reflections and with decay of seismic energy. Two examples of the seismic investigation conducted on the well mining of sulphur area are presented. Both are connected with the danger to main road on the surface caused by uncontrolled flow of technological water.