Electrical resistivity tomography applied to geologic, hydrogeologic, and engineering investigations at a former waste-disposal site

Abstract

. Electrical resistivity tomography applied to geological, hydrogeological and engineering investigations at a former waste disposal site. Geophysics, Vol. 71, B231-B239. ABSTRACTA former dolerite quarry and landfill site was investigated using 2D and 3D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), with the aims of determining buried quarry geometry, mapping bedrock contamination arising from the landfill, and characterizing site geology. Resistivity data were collected from a network of intersecting survey lines using a Wenner-based array configuration. Inversion of the data was carried out using 2D and 3D regularized least-squares optimization methods with robust (L1-norm) model constraints. For this site, where high resistivity contrasts were present, robust model constraints produced a more accurate recovery of subsurface structures when compared to the use of smooth (L2-norm) constraints. Integrated 3D spatial analysis of the ERT and conventional site investigation data was shown in this case to provide a highly effective means of characterizing the landfill and its environs. The 3D resistivity model was successfully used to confirm the position of the landfill boundaries, which appeared as electrically well-defined features that corresponded extremely closely to both historic maps and intrusive site investigation data. A potential zone of leachate migration from the landfill was identified from the electrical models; the location of this zone was consistent with the predicted direction of groundwater flow across the site. Unquarried areas of a dolerite sill were imaged as a resistive sheet-like feature, whilst the fault zone appeared in the 2D resistivity model as a dipping structure defined by contrasting bedrock resistivities.3

LiDAR and 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography as a Supplement of Geomorphological Investigations in Urban Areas: a Case Study from the City of Wrocław (SW Poland)

“…The application of electrical resistivity methods in soil surveying is fairly common (e.g., SAMOUËLIAN et al 2005;CHAMBERS et al 2006;SCHROTT and SASS 2008;VAN DAM 2012). They are successfully used in studies of the periglacial environment (KNEISEL 2006;KNEISEL et al 2008;HARRIS et al 2009;KNEISEL 2010), slope dynamics (SASS 2007;MARESCOT et al 2008;MIGOŃ et al 2010;PÁ NEK et al 2011;CAR-PENTIER et al 2012), river valleys (BERSEZIO et al 2007BOWLING et al 2007;Š KARPICH et al 2010), and in geoarchaeological studies (DOMENICO et al 2006;BROWN 2008).…”

Computation of Optimized Arrays for 3-D Electrical Imaging Surveys

“…However, in areas with very complex geology, it has been found that the models obtained from 2-D surveys can suffer from artefacts due to offline structures (Dahlin & Loke 1998;Bentley & Gharibi 2004). For such problems, 3-D surveys using a rectangular grid of electrodes provide the best solution (Dahlin et al 2002;Gharibi & Bentley 2005;Chambers et al 2006Chambers et al , 2012. Frequently, due to physical limitations in many commercial multielectrode resistivity meters systems, the number of electrode positions along one direction (the 'x' direction) is much larger than in the perpendicular (the 'y') direction.…”

Quasi-2D Resistivity Model from Inversion of Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) Data using Guided Random Search Algorithm

“…The use of a multi-electrode data acquisition system with digital multi-channel recording has become the standard for efficient and cost-effective 2D resistivity imaging [2,3]. However, 2D resistivity imaging is mostly applied in investigations with relatively shallow depth targets, such as in geotechnical and environmental studies [4][5][6], archaeology [7] and agriculture [8]. Although it is also possible to image deeper sections of the subsurface with a multi-electrode system, this is less efficient due to the long multi-core wires and the large amount of electrodes required.…”