Abstract
Flooding the remaining gaps of lignite open-pits and the formation of so-called open-pit lakes tends to become an increasingly common practice in Romania (in the Oltenia Mining Basin, where the lignite deposit contained in Dacian and Romanian formations was and is extracted through open-pits). This type of ecological reconstruction of former exploitation areas has been applied worldwide for quite a time, and there are many references in this regard in the scientific literature. In this context, the present paper aims to present some preliminary results regarding the ecology of these lakes, being taken as case study the lake formed in the remaining gap of Urdari open-pit, within the Rovinari Mining Basin. However, given the multitude of similar conditions (bioclimate, geological framework, the formation of the remaining gaps, etc.) in which they form, we appreciate that the conclusions of this study can be extrapolated for other lakes in the area (eg. South Peșteana). We point out from the outset that this study presents data on the existing biotope and biocenoses (restricted to species identification), without going into details about populations, ecosystem production, energy and matter flows within it, these investigations being foreseen for a future development stage of the present study.
Highlights
IntroductionArtificial lakes, resulting either from damming watercourses or by flooding of gaps resulting from excavations (made for this purpose or for the extraction of useful mineral substances), are often found all over the world and represent interesting study objectives for researchers from different fields (hydrologists, geochemists, environmental engineers, biologists, ecologists, etc.)
The lakes of the last category, those resulting from flooding the remaining gaps of some former quarries and open-pits, from which useful minerals were extracted, whether formed voluntarily or involuntarily, aroused the interest of researchers in several directions, such as: the geotechnical risks posed by these lakes to neighboring areas during and after flooding [1, 2]; the evolution of the basin from a morphological point of view [3,4,5], the influence of the rocks that make up the lake basin on the water chemistry; evolution of water quality [3, 6]; evolution of vegetation and fauna installed spontaneously and/or by
The research was resumed in 2019, and we appreciate that it can provide valuable information that can be extrapolated to other open-pit lakes in the Oltenia Mining Basin
Summary
Artificial lakes, resulting either from damming watercourses or by flooding of gaps resulting from excavations (made for this purpose or for the extraction of useful mineral substances), are often found all over the world and represent interesting study objectives for researchers from different fields (hydrologists, geochemists, environmental engineers, biologists, ecologists, etc.). Urdari open-pit lake began to form at the end of 2003 - beginning of 2004, with the cessation of productive activities and the withdrawal of equipments from the open-pit of the same name, in the gap formed between the final slopes of the open-pit and those of the inner dump (Figure 1). In other words, it is a young lake, which was little studied from an ecological point of view, at the level of 2010 [10, 16], representing an attractive objective for the authors. The research was resumed in 2019, and we appreciate that it can provide valuable information that can be extrapolated to other open-pit lakes in the Oltenia Mining Basin (existing, such as: Moi, Beterega and South Peşteana; or planned, such as: North Peșteana and Roșia de Jiu)
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