Bláha P., Niyazov R., Abdullaev S., Motorniy I. & Lazecký M., 2024: Human-induced landslides in the Angren coal district, Uzbekistan. Acta Geologica Slovaca, 16, 2, 113–122.

Human-induced landslides in the Angren coal district, Uzbekistan

Pavel Bláha¹, Rustam Niyazov², Shavkat Abdullaev², Igor Motorniy² & Milan Lazecký³

¹GEOtest, a. s., Kapitolní 13, Ostrava, 700 30, Czech Republic, blaha@geotest.cz
²Institute of Hydroingeo SE, 64, Olimlar Str, Tashkent City 100041, Uzbekistan
³School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Ln LS2 9JT, Leeds, United Kingdom

Abstract

The authors of this paper wish to acquaint the Czech and Slovak professional landslide expert public with the issues of slope deformations in the post-Soviet republics in Central Asia. As an example, two sites were chosen in the vicinity of the town of Angren in Uzbekistan. The main part of this paper deals with human-induced landslides which were caused by mining activity in the “Razrez Angrensky” bituminous coal pit ten kilometres east of the town of Angren. It is an area in which slope deformations are known as being of natural as well as anthropogenic origin. It often occurs that an old, stabilised landslide is activated by deepening a coal pit. As examples, we have chosen two landslides called “Atci“ and “Staraya Podstanciya”. Both the slope deformations were set in motion by work in the bituminous coal deposit of Jurassic age, but the cause proper was different. In the “Atci“ slope deformation, it was the gasification of a coal seam on the adjacent southern slopes of the River Angren, whereas the “Staraya Podstanciya“ slope deformation was set in motion by mining activity proper on the northern wall of the opencast pit. The great majority of survey and monitoring work was carried out by Uzbek specialists; the Czech researchers at these sites tested some of the methods which could be considered as novelties at the time of their application. Another activity of the Czech party included cooperation in the interpretation of geophysical measurements, not only conventional geophysical, but also engineering-geological. Czech-Uzbek cooperation has been taking place since 1981 and it can be pointed out that three generations of specialists of both the parties have already participated in the solution of the problems of slope deformations. One of their outputs was also the book “Modern methods for measuring stress and pore pressure and landslide motion at depth”.

Key words: slope deformation, human-induced landslide, Angren, geoacoustics, radar interferometry, monitoring

Manuscript received: 2024-07-11

Revised version accepted: 2024-12-11