“…In the direct-current (DC) resistivity numerical modelling, the finite-element methods (FEMs) (e.g., Hughes (1987); Zienkiewicz and Taylor (2000); Wu (2003); Rücker, Günther, and Spitzer (2006); Cardarelli and Fischanger (2006); Demkowicz (2007); and Qiang, Han, and Dai (2013)) with a capability of dealing with complex geological models are now recognized as the most efficient numerical tool, as compared with other numerical methods such as the integral equation methods (e.g., Lee (1975) and Hvozdara and Kaikkonen (1996)), the boundary element methods (Xu, Zhao, and Yi 1998), and the finite-difference methods (e.g., Mufti (1976); Dey and Morrison (1979); Spitzer (1995); Mundry (1984); * E-mail: qiangjianke@163.com and Moucha and Bailey (2004)). In the FEM approach, the computation time heavily depends on the number of grid points.…”