Abnormal vegetation as an indicator of local permeation troubles in bodies of earthfill dams

The article addresses a relevant problem connected with finding potential indicators of permeation troubles in bodies of earthfill dams. The analysis of the Laguna dam accident paid attention to the presence of high trees at the bottom of the damsite where the accident took place. It was hypothesized than the high trees could be connected with the permeation troubles and, accordingly, could serve the indicators of such troubles. The international experience of the earthfill dam inspection at tailings ponds proved the hypothesis. Two opposite scenarios of interrelation between permeation troubles and abnormal vegetation are revealed: intensification of flow and watering out of dam areas adds to plant root nutrition and stimulates vegetation growth; or the percolating flow leads to the vegetation cover degradation as a result of change of the chemical composition of water. Furthermore, for testing the found indicator on a full scale, and to determine effectiveness of the indicator in the unfavorable conditions for vegetation, the monthly lоng-term visual observation data on a dam at a tailings pond in the Murmansk Region were reviewed. The results showed that the abnormal vegetation indicator can be efficiently used both in the unfavorable conditions for vegetation at tailings ponds of the mining industry, and in the climatic conditions of the Extreme North. Moreover, a valuable feature of the indicator is its ability to display permeation troubles without their emergence on ground surface.

Maksimov D. A. Abnormal vegetation as an indicator of local permeation troubles in bodies of earthfill dams. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2025;(7):146-156. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2025_7_0_146.

D.A. Maksimov, Researcher, Mining Institute, Kola Scientific Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences, 184209, Apatity, Russia, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6772-6776.

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