Stability of nearly horizontal roof strata in shallow seam longwall mining

摘要

The coal seams in the Northwestern region of China are widelyspread at shallow depth. The upper part of the overlying strata ismainly composed of either thick unconsolidated layers or loess. Thecoal reserves in the Shendong Mining Area are typically of shallowdepth, with thin bed rocks and thick unconsolidated quaternarylayers overlain [1]. The unique geological conditions and thelongwall mining in Shendong Mining Area determine its particula-rities in the strata behaviors and the mining damage [12].