Based on the temperature measurement of 280 gangue pile liable to spontaneous combustion in Yangquan city,Shanxi province,the characteristics of temperature change of the gangue pile was studied.The results showed that level distribution of high and low temperature in 280 gangue pile was irregular,was very uneven,the temperature increased from outside to inside in vertical direction;the highest temperature appeared at about 7m apart from surface,from where to the inner the temperature began to decline;in the shallow zone the variation rule of temperature was similar to that of atmospheric temperature,with obvious diurnal change and seasonal change,but in the deep the temperatures did not change significantly;the thermal conductivity of the soil in the gangue pile was low,he temperature reduced sharply form the highest point along with distance.