Rockslide as a Geophysical Process of Rock Bump or Sudden Outburst of Rock and Gas

Abstract

Millions of years of atmospheric, biochemical, catagenetic, metamorphic, radioactive, and other gases under the influence of rock pressure and other physico-chemical factors, were introduced into the rocks of the earth's crust and mantle year after year. During absorption, the crystal lattices of the rocks were deformed with a change in their size and shape, and the molecules of the rocks and gases formed stable chemical compounds - solid solutions [1-3]. Practice shows that under normal conditions, the reverse process - the degassing of rocks, stretches for thousands of years, which allows the crystal lattices without plastic fracture to change their sizes and shapes. But, as practice shows, at some random moment, it is possible to start the process of avalanche-like degassing of a block of rocks. After a sudden outflow of gases, the crystal lattices of the rocks must take on a natural configuration, but due to the high rate of deformation, the relaxation process cannot keep up with the increase in stress. There is a collapse of the crystal lattices with the release of energy expended by nature on their deformation and the occurrence of elastic impacts - impulses, which are known in mining practice as rock bump and sudden outburst of rocks and gas. This process is possible in the event of a chain chemical reaction in a rock mass triggered by high-energy molecules, ions, and free radicals, similar to the so-called Cold Explosion process, which was discovered in 1980 at the Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The reaction mechanism of the Cold Explosion is explained by the appearance of giant deformation loads in the sample arising from the rapid cooling of the sample. During the collapse, the process of high-speed degassing plays the role of cooling, and the mechanism of the chain chemical reaction is explained by the interaction of free radicals, high-energy molecules, and other charged particles in accordance with N. Bohr's postulates. A description of the mechanism of large-scale rock-slide and the process of formation of high-energy molecules, ions, free radicals according to the principle scheme X → X • + + e¯ / Y + e¯ → Y necessary for starting a chain chemical reaction in rock massif and the physico-chemical conditions accompanying the process is devoted this article.