Wind deflation processes on anthropogenically disturbed lands of the forest-steppe zone

Studies were carried out on the disturbed lands of the Lebedinsky mining district in the Belgorod region. The object of the study is deflation processes in different categories of hydraulic filling areas: overburden rock, naturally regenerated and after biological remediation. The experiment was conducted on three heaps with ten profiles to simulate air flow velocity and determine its effect on the volume of extracted rock particles. The studies were conducted between May and September. On sand substrates, particle discharge begins at a wind speed of 1.2-2.1 meters per second. When increasing the speed to 7.5 m/s, the particle discharge increases by 6-7 times. The chalk-marl and loams rocks begin to deflate at an air flow rate of 7.5 m/s, at an air flow rate of 10 m/s or more, these rocks deflate 5-11 times less intensively than the sand. In sand-chalk mixtures, the mass of particles with a diameter greater than 0.5 mm increases with increasing airflow speed. At airflow speeds of 7.5 m/s, particles with a diameter of 2-10 mm are removed and at speeds of more than 10 m/s particles with a diameter of more than 10 mm are removed into the air stream. The dependence is approximated by a linear regression equation, correlation coefficient 0.950-0.998. Among all studied substrates including sand, sand-chalk and chalk-marl mixtures, quaternary loams with salvaged topsoil of Chernozems, the most exposed to the processes of deflation are the sand rocks and sand-chalk mixtures with small impurity of the chalk. On the naturally regenerated heaps the mass of deflation particles is lower. In period of one year, more than 800 t/ha of substrate is removed from the surface of sand heaps.