ASSESSMENT OF THE PROCESSES OF FORMATION AND TRANSFER OF DUST FROM OVERBURDEN DUMPS IN THE ALEKSEEVSKY QUARRY OF BUILDING MATERIALS

A methodology for assessing the processes of dust formation and transfer from the external dumps of overburden rocks, formed near the Alekseevsky quarry of building materials in the Republic of Mordovia, was proposed in the Article. The basic element of this assessment is in consideration the physical-geographical characteristics of the quarry area, including basic meteorological characteristics and coefficients determining the dispersion conditions of pollutants, combined with an analysis of the geometric characteristics of the dump and the properties of the dump rocks. The proposed method includes the use of sieve analysis of dusting material soaring in the air, as well as computer simulation using the “Ecolog” software package. It was established, investigated dusty material is largely composed of particles that are a subtype of microscopic dust, 0.4 mm in size. Spherical particles and irregular polyhedrons are the predominant. This form is primarily associated with the genesis and structure of overburden and host rocks of sedimentary origin. As a result of the sieve analysis, the spatial patterns of dusting material distribution, blown off from the dump, were established. When moving away from the overburden dump, large particles from the dust flow quickly precipitate. Already at a distance of 10 m, the number of particles larger than 1.6 mm decreases sharply, and at a distance of 50 m particles larger than 0.63 mm make about 5% in a dust flow. The bulk of dust particles have a size of less than 0.14 mm at a distance of more than 70 m. As a result of the application of the “Ecologist” software complex, a prognostic map of inorganic dust dispersion from overburden dumps in the summer was built, considering that another similar dump was being formed simultaneously with the existing dump, which has practically exhausted the possibility of overburden accumulation. As recommendations for reducing dust emission from existing and projected dumps, it was proposed to fix their surfaces with a biogenic or chemical protective layer.