Overburden Breaking Law and Safe Mining Technology in Thin Bedrock Stope with Thick Alluvium
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Your manuscript is a good contribution to the knowledge of readers about application of engineering geology when it comes to rock behaviour during mining particularly for tunneling and stopping.
You need to edit little parts of your manuscript (you can use the attached annotated pdf) and I congratulate all of you for this niece pace of work.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Point 1: You need to edit little parts of your manuscript (you can use the attached annotated pdf) and I congratulate all of you for this niece pace of work.
Response 1: Thank you very much for the positive evaluation and constructive comments of the experts. For your comments and suggestions, the content of the manuscript has been modified.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
In this manuscript, a physical simulation test was conducted to study the breaking law of thin bedrock coal seam working face with thick alluvium. Generally, the structure of the manuscript is clear, and some interesting conclusions have been obtained, but there are also some issues that need to be solved before the paper can be accepted for publication. The main comments are as follows:
1. There are too many Chinese references cited in the Introduction, which makes it difficult for non-Chinese readers to understand. More international references are expected.
2. Did the authors take the flowing effect into consideration in the physical simulation test?
3. Line 94. Two stress-measuring lines were arranged in the model. However, the stress data was not presented in the manuscript.
4. Some Chinese symbols are found in the manuscript. (Line 200 :Q松)
5. Some grammar errors and improper statements are detected in the manuscript.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Thank you very much for the positive evaluation and constructive comments of the experts. For your comments and suggestions, please see the following detailed responses.
Point 1: There are too many Chinese references cited in the Introduction, which makes it difficult for non-Chinese readers to understand. More international references are expected.
Response 1: References in papers have been appropriately adjusted and international literature supplemented.
Specific references are listed as follows:
(1) Yu, Z., Zhu, S., Wu, Y. et al. Study on the structural characteristics of the overburden under thick loose layer and thin-bed rock for safety of mining coal seam. Environ Earth Sci 79, 9 (2020).
(2) Ma, Lq., Zhang, Ds. & Zhao, Yf. Practice and adaptable conditions classification of aquifer-protective mining in longwall coalface for shallow seam with thin bedrock. J Coal Sci Eng China 16, 1–5 (2010).
(3) Fan, H., Wang, L., Lu, Y. et al. Height of water-conducting fractured zone in a coal seam overlain by thin bedrock and thick clay layer: a case study from the Sanyuan coal mine in North China. Environ Earth Sci 79, 125 (2020).
Point 2: Did the authors take the flowing effect into consideration in the physical simulation test?
Response 2: In this paper, the flow effect is considered in the similar simulation experiment. The specific measures are as follows: the aquifer is simulated by water sand belt, and the water pressure equalization system is connected on both sides of the water sand belt to simulate the flow recharge characteristics of the aquifer.
Point 3: Line 94. Two stress-measuring lines were arranged in the model. However, the stress data was not presented in the manuscript.
Response 3: In this paper, the data obtained from the stress side line are not analyzed in detail. It is mainly combined with the mine pressure theory to analyze the large and small periodic fracture mechanism of the overlying strata in the stope.
Point 4: Some Chinese symbols are found in the manuscript. (Line 200 :Q松)
Response 4: The Chinese symbols Q松 has been modified to Qs. In addition, other contents in the article have been checked, and this phenomenon will not occur again.
Point 5: Some grammar errors and improper statements are detected in the manuscript.
Response 5: The content of the article has been further examined and grammatical errors have been corrected.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
