Assessment and Duration of the Surface Subsidence after the End of Mining Operations
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article concerns the issue of resudual subsidence of the area after the end of hard coal mining in German mines. It should be emphasized that this applies to plants that are not yet subject to liquidation, i.e. no drainage. Dehydration causes the opposite effect, i.e. uplift of the area. The theoretical problem has been correctly solved with many sources and proposed models. The simulation calculations performed confirm the correctness of the model used. The article deals with issues that relate to the still topical issues in the field of mining area protection. Fully eligible for publication. The article does not contain significant editorial flaws. On page 8 (line 274) it should be +/- 1.0mm.).
Author Response
Thank you very much for your kind comments concerning our manuscript. These comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper. All the changes we have made as a result of reviewer coments are highlighted in red in the revised version.The editorial errors have been corrected in accordance with your recommendations.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The article is primarily focused on modeling the residual surface subsidence that occurs after the end of the mining operation. The Gauss-Markov algorithm using a functional model based on Knothe's method and a stochastic model based on the principle of least squares alignment is presented here. The initial parameters determined by the three-point method or the four-point method are used as approximate values of unknowns. Solving the algorithm leads to obtaining the corrections to determine the adjusted values and determine the accuracy of adjusted values by the variance-covariance matrix. The results of the solution using the Gauss-Markov algorithm are compared with the results of the three-point method for selected point 121 of the evaluated Lohberg mine area.
Currently, there are well-known methods of predicting dynamic surface subsidence that occur during the mining operation and are used to determine mine damage. Unfortunately, many researchers have not yet received the attention to modeling the duration of the surface subsidence after the end of mining. Therefore, the topic of the article is novel and will be interesting to an international audience.
The article may also be interesting for researchers who want to investigate the duration of the surface subsidence after the end of the mining operation in connection with the natural and mining-technical conditions of mined sites. Therefore, I recommend supplementing the basic geological and mining-technical information about mining in the Lohberg mine. Please also state whether or not the mined spaces were flooding with mine water after the mine was closed.
Formal notes: on the line 275 add the unit of leveling accuracy, on the line 306 add parentheses for the citation, the same on the line 315.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your kind comments concerning our manuscript. These comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper. All the changes we have made as a result of reviewers comments are highlighted in red in the revised version. Editorial errors have been corrected as recommended by you recommendations.
As for the basic geological and mining-technical information about mining in the Lohberg mine, the text contains the following sentences marked in red:
"The geological conditions in the study area is characterized by Quaternary and Tertiary deposits near the surface. Below these, the rock mass range is built up by strata of the Cretaceous and the Triassic. In the northwest of the study area, these overlay the layers of the Zechstein.Through the mining of hard coal, rocks containing seams from the Upper Carboniferous have been exposed and their storage conditions examined.The Upper Carboniferous is consist of layers of Westphalia A (Bochum layers) and Westphalia B (Horst and Essen layers) with a total thickness of approx. 650 m."
and
"Hard coal mining in the Lohberg mine was carried mostly out using the longwall panel method."
and
"Currently (in the second half of 2022), the mine is in the initial stage of flooding according to the plan developed by the mining company RAG AG."
Reviewer 3 Report
The manuscript is valuable and can be published after minor revisions.
I have no substantive reservations, only minor editorial remarks:
- in line 70 it should be “point subsidence s(t)”
- lines 164 and 167 should start with a dash,
- Fig. 2. On the vertical axes is Se(T) it should be Se(T) – only “e” subscribed,
- in line 219 is “c^,”
- line 250 “— -",
- line 275, is the accuracy expressed in mm ?
- in line 306 is “method30)”
- in line 315 is “Bartosik-Sroka31”
Author Response
Thank you very much for your kind comments concerning our manuscript. These comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper. All the changes we have made as a result of reviewers comments are highlighted in red in the revised version. The editorial errors have been corrected in accordance with your recommendations. The figure 2 have been corrected as well.
