Soil-agrochemical analysis of the fertile soil layer from the Erunakovskiy field of the Taldinskiy coal mine

Activity of mining enterprises lead to significant changes in the orography, composition and patterns of movement of groundwater, disruption of microbiota and impact on vegetation, which result in ecosystem destruction of vast land areas. The upper layer of the soil is subjected to serious changes due to physical impact during the extraction of minerals, thus it forms a technogenic relief. To restore the biological diversity of soils disturbed by surface and underground mining operations, a reclamation process is used, including the all typemanagement of physical, chemical and biological disturbances of the soil cover. Reclamation of abandoned mines' territories is a very complex process. Vegetation restoration is the most widely recognized and practical way to reduce nitrogen losses and erosion, increase soil nutrients, and protect soils from degradation. Substantiation of the scaleto remove the fertile soil layer of mining operations is a compulsory condition for approving a plan of measures to restore theland quality. This work includes the study of the main properties of the potentially fertile soil layer of the Taldinskiy coal mine, Novokuznetsk district of the Kemerovo region of the Russian Federation, for the possibility of using it when carrying out work to restore its biological diversity. (paper)