Source discrimination of mine water inrush using multiple methods: a case study from the Beiyangzhuang Mine, Northern China

The problem of distinguishing the source of water inrush in mines and tunnels has been addressed by studying the specific case of significant water inrush along the haulage roadway of the Beiyangzhuang Mine and applying three different methods to determine the source of the water inrush from a range of angles. The first of these methods was to determine the source by analyzing the dynamic response law of the groundwater in the water filling aquifers, including a Quaternary porous aquifer and a Cambrian-Ordovician karst aquifer. The second was to establish a linear equation for stratum burial depth and ground temperature to calculate water temperature. The source of water inrush is identified by comparing the calculated water temperature for the filling aquifer and the measured water temperature at the water inrush point. The third was to analyze the hydrochemical types of the water filling aquifers and water inrush point samples using a Piper diagram, followed by Fisher discriminant analysis to discriminate water inrush sources with eight hydrochemical components; the mixture ratio is roughly evaluated based on chloride mass balance. These three methods consistently showed that the primary source of water inrush is karst water. The hydrogeochemistry discrimination analysis further indicated that the mixing ratio of karst water to pore water was about 6.0, suggesting that this method is the powerful and more practical of the three methods tested. The results presented here provide significant guidance for the management of mine water inrush.