ABSTRACT
Northwest China is a main base of coal with the future reserves accounting for 50% of the total in China. It belongs to an arid area with sparse vegetation and short of water and is an area frail in ecologic environment. Therefore, the coal mining activity is quite easy to destroy the écologie environment, of which the mining subsidence is the main factor inducing geological disaster and destroying the environment. Characteristics of mining district in arid and semiarid area are analyzed, the influence of mining subsidence on environment is discussed, and some countermeasures are put forward for controlling the subsidence, reducing the destruction of environment, and effectively harnessing the polluted environment, so as to realize the sustainable improvement of environment in mining area.
