Coal seam fire 952214 225037404 2008-07-11T16:10:50Z Circeus 98785 /* United States */ alphabetical A '''coal seam fire''' or '''mine fire''' is the underground [[smoulder]]ing of a [[coal]] deposit, often a [[coal mine]]. Such fires have economic, social and ecological impact. Coal fires can burn for very long periods of time (from months to centuries), until the seam in which they [[smoulder]] is exhausted. They propagate in a creeping fashion along mines shafts and cracks. Because they are underground, they are extremely difficult and costly to reach and extinguish. There is a strong similarity between coal fires and [[Peat#Peat fires|peat fires]]. == Origins == Mine fires may begin as a result of an industrial accident, generally involving a gas explosion. Historically, some mine fires were started when [[bootleg mining]] was stopped by authorities, usually by blowing the mine up. Many recent mine fires have started from people burning trash in a [[landfill]] that was in proximity to abandoned coal mines, including the much publicized [[Centralia, Pennsylvania]] fire, which has been burning since [[1962]]. Of the hundreds of mine fires in the [[United States]] burning today, most are found in the state of [[Pennsylvania]]. Some fires along [[coal]] seams are natural occurrences. Some coals may [[spontaneous combustion|self-ignite]] at temperatures as low as 40 °C (104 °F) in the right conditions of moisture and grain size. [[Wildfire]]s (lightning-caused or others) can ignite the coal closer to the surface or entrance, and the [[smoulder]]ing fire can spread through the seam, creating subsidence that may open further seams to oxygen and spawn future wildfires when the fire breaks to the surface. Prehistoric [[clinker]] outcrops in the American West are the result of prehistoric coal fires that left a residue that resists erosion better than the matrix, leaving [[butte]]s and [[mesa]]. It is estimated that Australia's [[Burning Mountain]], the oldest known coal fire, has burned for 6,000 years.<ref name=Krajick>{{cite news | first=Kevin | last=Krajick | title=Fire in the Hole |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2005/may/firehole.php | work=Smithsonian Magazine | pages=54ff | date=[[2005-05-01]] | accessdate=2007-01-16 }}</ref> Globally, thousands of inextinguishable mine fires are burning, especially in [[China]] and [[India]], where poverty, lack of government regulations and runaway development combine to create an environmental disaster. Modern [[strip mining]] exposes smoldering coal seams to the air, revitalizing the flames. Rural Chinese in coal-bearing regions often dig coal for household use, abandoning the pits when they become unworkably deep, leaving highly combustible [[coal dust]] exposed to the air. Using [[satellite imagery]] to map China's coal fires resulted in the discovery of many previously unknown fires. The oldest coal fire in China is in [[Baijigou]] and is said to have been burning since the [[Qing Dynasty]].<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/02/01/wcoal01.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/02/01/ixworld.html How China's scramble for 'black gold' is causing a green disaster - Telegraph<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==Detection== Infrared detecting equipment is able to track the fire's location as the fire heats the ground on all sides of it.<ref>{{cite journal | author = J. Zhang, W. Wagner, A. Prakash, H. Mehl, S. Voigt | title = Detecting coal fires using remote sensing techniques | journal = International Journal of Remote Sensing | volume = 25 | issue = 16 | year = 2004 | pages = 3193–3220 | doi = 10.1080/01431160310001620812 }}</ref> == Environmental impact == Besides destruction of the affected areas, coal fires emit gases that may contribute to [[global warming]]. China's coal fires, which consume an estimated 20 &ndash; 200 million tons of coal a year, make up as much as 1 percent of the global [[carbon dioxide]] emissions from [[fossil fuel]]s.<ref name=Krajick /> == Extinguishing coal fires == The task of extinguishing underground coal fires, sometimes exceeding temperatures of 540 °C (1,000 °F), is both highly dangerous and very expensive.<ref name=Krajick /> In 2004, the Chinese government claimed success in extinguishing a mine fire at a [[colliery]] near [[Urumqi]] in [[China]]'s [[Xinjiang]] province that had been burning since 1874. However, a March 2008 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article quotes researcher Steven Q. Andrews as saying, "I decided to go to see how it was extinguished, and flames were visible and the entire thing was still burning.... They said it was put out, and who is to say otherwise?"<ref name=TIME>[http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1722450,00.html Is Beijing Manipulating Air Pollution Statistics?], ''TIME'', 14 March 2008 (retrieved 17 March 2008)</ref> ==List of mine fires== ===Australia=== {{incompletelist}} *[[Burning Mountain]] ===Germany=== *[[:de:Brennender Berg|Brennender Berg]] {{de icon}} ===India=== *[[Jharia]], [[Dhanbad district]], [[Jharkand]] ===New Zealand=== {{incompletelist}} <!-- Is only NZ incomplete? Perhaps we should add hidden comments to other geographical regions indicating that they are complete, if indeed they are --> *Burnett's Face, [[West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast]] *Strongman Mine, West Coast [http://www.coalnz.com/index.cfm/3,150,388/performance.pdf] *Wangaloa, [[Otago]] [http://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/features/restoration/wangaloa/wangaloa.html] ===United States=== *[[Centralia, Pennsylvania]] *[[Carbondale, Pennsylvania]] *[[Laurel Run, Pennsylvania]]<ref>[http://www.undergroundminers.com/laurelrun.html Laurel Run<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> *[[New Castle, Colorado]] *[[New Straitsville, Ohio]] *[[San Toy, Ohio]] *[[Sego, Utah]] *[[Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania]] == See also== * [[Darvaza]] (also known as "Gates of Hell"), a location in Turkmenistan with a burning natural gas deposit ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== * {{cite journal | author=Kuenzer, C. |coauthors=Zhang, J.; Tetzlaff, A.; van Dijk, P.; Voigt, S.; Mehl, H.; Wagner, W. | year=2007 |title=Uncontrolled coal fires and their environmental impacts: Investigating two arid mining regions in north-central China |journal=Applied Geography |volume=27 |pages=42–62 | doi=10.1016/j.apgeog.2006.09.007}} * {{cite news | title=Satellites track the fires raging beneath India |url=http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg19125605.600-satellites-track-the-fires-raging-beneath-india.html | work=New Scientist |pages=25ff | date=[[2006-07-18]] | accessdate=2007-01-16 }} ==External links== *[http://www.eoearth.org/article/Coalfire_and_remote_sensing Encyclopedia of Earth: Coalfire and remote sensing] *[http://www.eoearth.org/article/Coal_fires Encyclopedia of Earth: Coal fires] *[http://www.gi.alaska.edu/~prakash/coalfires/ "Coal fires - A natural or man made hazard?"] (site about coal mine fires from Anupma Prakash, of the Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks) *[http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm Centralia, Pennsylvania Mine fire] *[http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/PACENmine.html Centralia Mine Fire] (from roadsideamerica.com) *[http://www.shulersnet.com/coalcracker/fire.htm Welcome to Centralia] [[Category:Coal mining]] [[Category:Fire]] {{Link FA|de}} [[de:Kohlebrand]] [[ru:Подземный пожар]]