Coal Mining Activities Driving the Changes in Microbial Community and Hydrochemical Characteristics of Underground Mine Water

Abstract

Coal mining can cause groundwater pollution, and microorganism may reflect/affect its hydrochemical characteristics, yet little is known about the microorganism’s distribution characteristics and its influence on the formation and evolution of mine water quality in underground coal mines. Here, we investigated the hydrochemical characteristics and microbial communities of six typical zones in a typical North China coalfield. The results showed that hydrochemical compositions and microbial communities of the water samples displayed apparent zone-specific patterns. The microbial community diversity of the six zones followed the order of surface waters > coal roadways > water sumps ≈ rock roadways ≈ goafs > groundwater aquifers. The microbial communities corresponded to the redox sensitive indices’ levels. Coal roadways and goafs were the critical zones of groundwater pollution prevention and control. During tunneling in the panel, pyrite was oxidized by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria leading to SO42− increase. With the closure of the panel and formation of the goaf, SO42− increased rapidly for a short period. However, with the time since goaf closure, sulfate-reducing bacteria (e.g., c_Thermodesulfovibrionia, Desulfobacterium_catecholicum, etc.) proportion increased significantly, leading to SO42− concentration’s decrease by 42% over 12 years, indicating the long-term closed goafs had a certain self-purification ability. These findings would benefit mine water pollution prevention and control by district.