Investigations of outbursts and tremors in Polish collieries with application of radon measurements

In the 80's and 90's of the last century some attempts were undertaken to apply specific radiometric methods to support the prediction of outbursts in collieries, located in Lower Silesian Coal Basin (LSCB) in south-western Poland. This idea was developed as an analogy to the application of radon changes in groundwater prior to earthquakes, and on this basis the hypothesis of variations of radon emanation from coal seams, preceding approaching outburst, was formulated. It has been stated, that a certain correlation between temporal and spatial variations of radon level and the level of outburst's hazard existed. Then, new investigations have been started in copper and coal mines with the hope to use radon as a tool for the prediction of another dynamic phenomena - tremors. In the case of these investigations, only weak evidences were found. In the last years the occurrence of outburst was noticed in the collieries of Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB). Therefore, we started observations of changes of radon concentration in gas, sampled from headings, driven in endangered coal seams. The goal of the research is an attempt to formulate '' radon index of outburst hazard '' to support other, routinely used, methods of the prediction of dangerous events. In this paper some results of investigations, done in collieries in LSCB and in copper mines are quoted to give the background for preliminary results of new research, ongoing in one of the coal mines in the Upper Silesia region. (authors)