Date of Award

1987

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Earth & Environmental Systems

Abstract

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 created revenues for the reclamation of Abandoned Mine Land (AML) problems. The data in this study were obtained from the National Inventory Update of Abandoned Mine Lands for the State of Indiana, completed in July 1986. The study area included the coal producing region of Indiana, approximately 6,500 square miles. Specifically those fifteen counties in Southwestern Indiana where there were Extreme Danger Problems resulting from past coal mining. This study analyzed the Extreme Danger Problems associated wtih Abandoned Coal Mine Lands in Southwestern Indiana. Identifying the statistical relationships between the total occurrences of Extreme Danger Problems in Indiana and selected coal mine related variables was the first step. Multiple Regression Analysis was the statistical technique employed in this research. The total number of occurrences of Extreme Danger Problems, TOTAL, was the dependent variable. The selected coal mine related variables are: the year coal production began, BEGIN; the year the mine was abandoned, END; the location with respect to glacial boundaries, GLACIATION; the total coal production of each mine, PRODUCTION; the specific coal seam, SEAM; the depth to the coal seam, DEPTH; the thickness of the coal seam, THICKNESS; the local topographic group, TOPOGRAPHY; and a measure of the economics of each mine, the economic ratio, ER, were the independent variables. Thirty-seven statistically significant relationships for various subgroups resulted. Seven of these subgroups had explained variances of greater than 80%. Overall there is a strong positive relationship between the dependent variable, TOTAL, and the independent variable, GLACIATION. There is also a very strong negative relationship between the dependent variable, TOTAL, and the independent variable, BEGIN.

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