Loess landslides induced by the freeze–thaw effect frequently occur in Yili, China. Freeze–thaw cycles cause indelible changes in the soil microstructure, affecting its permeability. This study investigated the impacts of freeze–thaw cycles on the permeability of Yili loess using permeability tests on undisturbed (virgin, in situ) and remolded loess samples taken before and after freeze–thaw cycles. Scanning electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques were utilized to investigate the microscopic mechanism of the freeze–thaw process on the loess. Grey relation analysis (GRA) was employed to analyze the correlation between macroscopic permeability and microscopic parameters (maxi. radius, eccentricity, fractal dimension, directional probability entropy, and porosity). The results revealed that the permeability and all the microstructure parameters have roughly shown the same trend: “fluctuation–towards equilibrium–stability”. Firstly, the permeability coefficients of original and remolded loess experienced three and two peaked–trends, respectively, before 30 freeze–thaw cycles. The trends eventually stabilized within 30–60 freeze–thaw cycles. Increased number of freeze–thaw cycles disintegrated large particles in undisturbed loess into medium–sized particles, and particle shapes became more uncomplicated. Medium–sized particles in the remolded loess agglomerated to larger particles with more complex shapes. Furthermore, the overall porosity of the originally undisturbed loess decreased, and large and medium–sized pores transformed into small pores and micropores. In contrast, the overall porosity of remolded loess increased. Finally, the results revealed that permeability coefficients of the undisturbed and remolded loess became closely related with eccentricity and porosity, respectively. This study provides a reference for preventing and governing the loess landslides induced by the freeze–thaw cycles and permeability reduction in construction on loess in seasonally frozen areas in Yili.

This research examined the drying–wetting cycles induced changes in undrained triaxial shear strength parameters and microstructural changes of Yili loess. The drying–wetting cycles were selected as 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 and 30. Then, we collected Yili loess samples and performed unconsolidated-undrained (U-U) triaxial shearing tests to ascertain the variation in shear strength parameters with drying–wetting cycles. Additionally, we investigated the microstructural changes of Yili loess samples under drying–wetting cycles simultaneously via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and scanning electron electroscopy (SEM). Finally, we established a grey correlation model between shear strength and microstructural parameters. Under U-U conditions, the prime finding was that the loess’s shear strength parameters changed overall after drying–wetting cycles; in particular, the internal friction angle φ dropped significantly while the cohesion c changed only slightly during cycles. For all the cycles, the first cycle gave the highest change. Soil morphology deterioration was evident at the initial stage of cycles. During the entire drying–wetting cyclic process, pore size distribution showed progressive variance from two-peak to a single-peak pattern, while both porosity and the fractal dimension of pores increased gradually towards stability. Soil particle morphology became slowly simple and reached the equilibrium state after 20 drying–wetting cycles. Under cyclic drying–wetting stress, the shear strength parameter changes were significantly correlated to microstructural modifications. This investigation was related to loess in the westerly region. The findings were expected to provide new insight into establishment of the connection between microstructure and macro stress–strain state of loess. To some extent, it provided a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of loess engineering geological disasters in Yili, Xinjiang and other areas with similar climate and soil types.

Because of the arid climate and fragile ecological environment in Xinjiang, China, land reclamation should be carried out after mining. The core of land reclamation is the water content of the surface covering soil. In this paper, the law of water distribution in reclamation reconstructed soil of nonmetal mines in Xinjiang was studied. In order to obtain the law of water distribution in reconstructed soil, we set up an observation system of the neutron probe and tensiometer. The neutron probe was used to monitor the soil water content. The tensiometers were used to obtain the matrix potential of soil for verifying the water distribution in reconstructed soil. Volumetric water content and matrix potential of reconstructed soil during 1‐year period of management and irrigation were obtained by long‐term monitoring. After one year’s field in situ test, 2424 sets of neutron probe data and 1368 sets of tensiometer data were obtained. By studying the above parameters, we summarized the law of water distribution in reconstructed soil of variable thickness and degree of compaction with nonmetallic waste rock filling. The results showed that covering soil was helpful to retain water content. Whether the soil was compacted or uncompacted, the soil water content at the depth of 10 cm was less than that at other depth of reconstructed soil because it was greatly affected by meteorological factors. The water content of reconstructed soil at 30 cm depth was greater than that at other depths. Under the influence of factors such as the thickness and compaction of the soil, the response time of soil water content and matrix potential to each irrigation infiltration was different. According to the characteristics of reclamation‐vegetation such as alfalfa growth in Xinjiang, the thickness of surface reconstructed soil should be not less than 50 cm. Over time, soil that was compacted once was better for the vegetation. The research results could provide a reference for the land reclamation of nonmetallic mines in Xinjiang, China.

This paper proposes a technique for producing underground backfilling materials using enzyme-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (EICP) technology to address the growing ecological security concerns caused by coal mining. To augment the mineralization impact of EICP, diverse levels of organic substances, including yeast extract, peptone, and skimmed milk powder, were incorporated into the cementing solution to offer a greater number of nucleation sites for the precipitation of calcium carbonate. The results indicate that (1) based on visual observations, all the sand columns remained intact after cementation, demonstrating a good cementation effect; (2) unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test findings demonstrated that the introduction of organic components effectively augmented the strength of EICP. Among these materials, skimmed milk powder exhibited the most significant effect, resulting in a 66.01% increase in the UCS of EICP at a concentration of 6 g/L. Peptone also showed a positive impact, albeit to a lesser extent, while yeast powder had a relatively lower effect; (3) The utilization of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a significant diversification in the crystal morphology of calcium carbonate when combined with organic materials through the EICP process. An X-ray diffraction (XRD) test confirmed the presence of calcite and vaterite. This finding implies that the molecular structure of calcium carbonate is enhanced by the inclusion of organic materials.

Understanding the water movement in reconstructed soil and its efficacy on local vegetation is critical for the ecological reclamation of mine lands. This study employed field experiments and a numerical model to investigate the water movement in reconstructed soil and evaluate the effects of mining waste rock on plant growth in an arid and cold region of Xinjiang. Water contents and matrix potentials were monitored over 1-year period. A numerical model was established based on the observed data to calculate soil water balance and irrigation demand. The results show that the soil water content at a shallow depth could be more vulnerable to the climate variability in uncompacted and compacted soil. The water content at the depth of 50 cm with 30 cm-thick covering soil was the lowest; meanwhile, the barrels with 50 cm- and 70 cm-thick covering soil without compaction had the highest water content. Moreover, the water content of the uncompacted soil could be lower than that of the counterpart attributed to the variation in soil porosity. To maintain the water content as an optimized value to grow a certain plant species in the long run, irrigation could be implemented according to the water balance over time in mine lands.

The utilization of CO₂ mineralization fly ash (F) and coal gangue (G) technology is proposed in this research work to prepare underground backfilling materials. The test process can be divided into pre-treatment and post-treatment stages. In the pre-treatment stage, a sealed stirring vessel is used to conduct CO₂ wet mineralization. The ratios of F and G were selected as follows: 20%:60% (F2G6), 30%:50% (F3G5), 40%:40% (F4G4), 50%:30% (F5G3), and 60%:20% (F6G2). The ratios were prepared into Φ50 mm × 100 mm cylindrical samples, with curing durations of 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, and 28 d. In the post-processing stage, the SANS microcomputer-controlled electronic universal testing machine and FLIR A615 infrared thermal imager were used to carry out uniaxial loading and temperature detection, respectively. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), average infrared radiation temperature (AIRT), variance of original infrared image temperature (VOIIT), and variance of successive minus infrared image temperature (VSMIT) of the samples were compared and analyzed. The results indicated that when curing reaches 14 d, the strength approaches its peak, with minimal changes in strength over a delayed period; furthermore, as the ratio of F to G continues to increase, the mineralization effect gradually strengthens, reaching its optimum level at a ratio of 5:3. However, when the ratio exceeds 5:3, signs of deteriorating mineralization effect start to appear. During the loading process, the AIRT of the mineralized samples showed a continuous increase, but the VOIIT and VSMIT of the mineralized sample both exhibited significant fluctuations or rapid increases during damage rupture. Moreover, the rise in the AIRT value was found to be linked to the increase in the ratio of F to G. This indicates that F has a higher thermal–mechanical conversion efficiency compared to G, so the temperature change will be greater during the loading process. The drastic changes in the VOIIT and VSMIT indicate that they can be used as sensitive response indicators for sample rupture, and can predict and warn of damage rupture in mineralized samples. Research work can provide practical guidance and reference for underground backfilling of CO₂ mineralization industrial waste.