Study on the Evolution of the Displacement and Deformation of the Surface Produced by the Exploitation of Iron Deposits in the Mining Perimeter of Ghelari, Hunedoara County, Romania

The mining activities for the exploitation of the iron deposits often lead to massive deformation and displacement of rocks, with major consequences on the civil and industrial buildings on the surface, sometimes even including the loss of human lives. The mining activity in the research area have had in time a series of negative effects on the soil and human settlements. The first manifestations of the deformation were the appearance of cracks in the monumental building of the Orthodox Church of Ghelari, as well as to some houses in the influence area of the mining exploitation. The great degradation in the perimeter of Ghelari is well-known. In time, a series of submergence of the land due to the mining activities was signalled. The present paper intends to present a study on the character and the amplitude of the phenomenon of mining subsidence as a result of the anthropic activity mentioned above.