Syanovskaya underground quarry (Moscow region)

В Южном Подмосковье до сих пор сохранилось несколько десятков разветвленных подземных заброшенных каменоломен, которые обнаруживают и посещают энтузиасты и которые являются объектами спелеотуризма. Протяженность некоторых из них превышает 3–5 км. В настоящее время эти объекты не являются учтенными месторождениями и расположены, как правило, под деревнями. В статье раскрыты геолого-тектонические, геоморфологические и социально-исторические предпосылки развития подземной камнедобычи в нижнем течении реки Пахра. На основе архивных материалов и преимущественно дореволюционных изданий реконструирована история заложения и развития крупнейших подземных каменоломен Московской области ― Съяновских. Установлено, что добыча в каменоломнях велась с начала XVII по конец XIX века. Описано современное состояние подземных горных выработок. Приведена краткая история туристического освоения Съяновских каменоломен. In the south of the Moscow Region, there are still some dozens of abandoned underground quarries whose forked tunnels still attract enthusiasts and speleo-tourists. Some underground quarries extend over more than 3–5 kilometres. Nowadays, these objects are no longer registered as quarries and are often situated under villages. The article treats geological, tectonic, geomorphological, social and historical prerequisites for the development of underground quarries in the lower flow of the Pakhra River. The author analyzes archival materials and pre-revolutionary publications to reconstruct the history of the Syanovskiye Quarries , the largest underground quarries in the Moscow region. The article maintains that the exploitation of the quarries started in the early 17th century, the quarries were closed in the late 19th centuries. The article describes the present state of the quarries and contains a brief history of tourism-related development of the quarries.

Time-dependent behaviour and water influence on the mechanical response of gypsum rock in underground quarry frameworks

<p>The mechanical response of natural gypsum rock is relevant in a wide range of engineering applications (e.g. tunnel excavation, stability assessment of underground quarries, oil and gas accumulation). In particular, in underground quarry environments, static loading conditions insisting on the gypsum pillars during and after the exploitation activities (i.e. several decades) require a specific attention to the sub-critical time-dependent deformation of the rock. The short-term stability (referred to the possibility of a failure in consequence to the sudden application of the axial load) does not preclude the possibility of deformation or even failure in the long-term.</p><p>In addition, the underground drifts of gypsum quarries are often located below the static level of the groundwater table, requiring a continuous water pumping to allow for the accessibility of the drifts themselves. The end of the quarry activity, coinciding with the interruption of the de-watering operations and the re-assessment of the original level of water table, brings to the new water saturation of the gypsum body. The water fills the connected porosity of the rock, influencing the general stability of the underground voids.</p><p>For these reasons, the present work aims to investigate the mechanical response of gypsum rock in time-dependent regime, also considering the influence of water saturation. The study proposes an experimental investigation of the influence of water on the rheology of a natural gypsum facies (i.e. branching selenite gypsum), distinguishing between the mechanical effects of a saturating fluid (in relation to the internal pore pressure), that should also be observed with a non-reactive fluid such as oil, and the water-gypsum chemical interactions. This influence of water is investigated in uniaxial compression, under uniaxial creep conditions and conventional triaxial compression. The new mechanical data are accompanied by microstructural observations of the effects induced in the rock by the mechanical compression, aiming to propose a description of the mechanisms involved in the gypsum deformation process.</p>

Global Heritage Stone: Belgian black ‘marbles’

The appellation ‘Belgian black “marbles”’ usually designates dark fine-grained limestones present in the Paleozoic substrate of south Belgium. They have been extracted mostly in Frasnian (Upper Devonian) and Viséan (Lower Carboniferous) strata, in various different localities (Namur, Dinant, Theux, Basècles, Mazy-Golzinne among others). Nearly devoid of fossils and veins, they take a mirror-like polished finish, with a pure black colour. These limestones were already known during Antiquity but were only intensively exploited from the Middle Ages. Many different uses were made of these stones, for architecture, decoration or sculpture, in religious or civil contexts, following all the successive styles, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, baroque and so on. All these products, architectural, decorative and sculptural, were probably manufactured close to the quarries and were first exported to neighbouring countries (France and the Netherlands), then to all of Europe (Italy, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Baltic states, etc.) and, by the beginning of the nineteenth century, worldwide. They were always considered as high value-added objects, which allowed them to travel great distances from their origin. Thousands of references document the widespread use of these exceptional natural stones. They were employed, among other famous applications, as the black background of the Pietre dure marquetry of Florence. Some other lesser uses were either for musical instruments or lithographic stones. Today only one underground quarry exploits the black ‘marble’, at Golzinne (close to Namur). This prestigious material, with its dark aura, is suitable for recognition as a Global Heritage Stone Resource.