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Electrical

Methods
0Principles &
Applications



0 Graeme Taylor
0 GTaylor@Plymouth.ac.uk
Info On Applied Geophysics

Field Geophysics By John Milsom, Published by John Wiley and Sons, 2003 (or any of the previous
versions)
Reynolds, J. M. 1997. An Introduction to Applied and Environmental Geophysics, John Wiley and Sons
Ltd, Chichester,796 pp. (includes examples from Sourton !)
An Intro. To Geophysical Exploration Kearey, Brooks & Hill Blackwell 2002.



Material that contains explicit info about the Sourton Area

*****BEER, K.E. and FENNING, P.J. 1976. Geophysical anomalies and mineralisation at Sourton Tors,
Okehampton, Devon. Institute of Geological Sciences, Report 76/1.*****
Taylor, G.K., Hake, D.M., King, I.R., & Bowers R. (2001). The Sourton Tors geophysical anomaly revisited.
Geoscience in south-west England, 10, 166-171.

http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/sheet_1c-b.pdf

Which also contains all the references for the regional geology

http://galitzin.mines.edu/INTROGP/index.jsp
And if you have access to it >>>
Electrical Methods
0Resistivity Methods

0Self Potential SP
0Electromagnetic Methods EM
0Induced Polarisation IP
0Ground Probing Radar GPR

Electrical Methods Applications
0 Depth to bedrock
0 Lithology/lithological boundaries
0 Depth to the water table
0 Groundwater contamination
0 Buried targets e.g.
0 mineralised targets
0 archaeological artifacts
0 UXB and other metallic objects

Resistivity ?
0 What is it ?
0 How can we exploit variations in ground resistivity
to show geology, fluids or other targets?
(Some intro ideas on how current flows in the ground)
0 How do we apply such ideas in the field ?
(Survey types, basic interpretation)
0 Fieldwork, Equipment & Applications/Case
Histories?
Resistance

An analogy
Measuring Resistance- Ohms Law
Ohm found that the
current, I, was
proportional to the
voltage,V, for a broad
class of materials that
we now refer to as
ohmic materials. The
constant of
proportionality is
called the resistance of
the material and has
the units of voltage
(volts) over current
(amperes), or ohms.


Ohms Law
0V = I *R
or
0R= V/ I



BUT will this work in the Earth ?
V - is Voltage in Volts

I is Current in Amperes

R is the resistance in Ohms
It's Resistivity, NOT
Resistance
Resistance depends not only on the
material but also the geometry of
the wire. i.e. length and cross
sectional area
We want to define a property that
describes a material's ability to
transmit electrical current that is
independent of the geometrical
factors. RESISTIVITY
Earth Materials as Conductors
0 Conductors
0 native metals, some sulphide minerals e.g. Chalcopyrite,
Pyrrohotite, Pyrite + graphite
0 Semi Conductors
0 Rock salt
0 Insulators
0 silicate minerals
This means that the vast
majority of rocks will not
be good conductors in
their own right
Poor conductors
Good conductors
Good insulators
Poor insulators
Resistivity Conductivity
How then does electricity flow in
rocks?
0 In metals by the flow of electrons which can be stripped
from the outer atomic shell of a metallic atom
0 this is known as Ohmic or electronic conduction

0 In a liquid this is not possible instead we have
0Ionic or electrolytic conduction - this is the flow of current
by the movement of +ve and -ve ions
Ionic Conduction in Rocks and sediments
0 Pore Space - to contain the Fluid

0 Water saturation - you have to have fluid
or the ions cannot flow

0 Salinity - no Salts = no Ions


0 Temperature - affects a salts ability to
break down into ions and ability to
move
0 Permeability - the pores have to be
connected
Archies Equation?
The Controlling Factors
0 Porosity - depends upon
0 Grain size
0 Sorting/Packing
0 Diagenesis/cementation
0 Normally expressed as a fraction or perecentage
0 Total Void / Total Rock Volume
0 Water Saturation
S
w
= Volume filled with fluid / Total Porosity
0 Salinity
The equivalent concentration of common salt (NaCl) that
would give rise to the same resistivity of fluid as is actually
filling the pore space.
Implications of Electrolytic
Conduction
0 Resistivity is the most variable property of rocks
because
0 it depends upon three important factors which all vary
themselves i.e. Porosity, Sw and Salinity

0 It is not possible to say what the resistivity of the
rock might be even if you know 2 of the 3 e.g. A
sandstone with high porosity and salinity will still
have a very high resistance if it is dry !!!

Summary I
0 Ionic (Electrolytic) conduction is much more common in
rocks than Electronic
0 Electrolytic conduction depends on Porosity, Sw and
salinity
0 We will need to measure the grounds resistivity (not
resistance)
Current Flow in a uniform medium
N.B. Potential = Voltage
The voltage change from a single current electrode to any point in the half
space representing the earth is given by the expression above. In this
expression, V is voltage, I is current, (rho) is resistivity, and r is the
distance between the current electrode and the point the voltage is measured.
Notice that this expression is nothing more than Ohm's law with the
resistance, R equal to over 2r
An expression for the
apparent resistivity
r
I
V

Constant Resistivity Experiment


Current
flow from
2
electrodes
Path % Current
1 17
2 32
3 43
4 49
5 51
6 57
Actually Measuring Resistivity
Potential distribution in a uniform World
The potential computed
along the surface of the
earth is shown in the
graph. The voltage we
would observe with our
voltmeter is the difference
in potential at the two
voltage electrodes, V.
C
C
P
P
+ -
Measuring Resistivity - What
happens if we change the distance
between current electrodes?
What happens if the Earth is not
uniform ? Current Flow in a Layered
Earth
Electrode Spacing and Apparent Resistivity Plots
Variation in Apparent Resistivity: Layered
Versus Homogeneous Media
Current Density
Current Flow in Layered Media v Current Electrode Spacing
A 2
nd

Example
of current
Flow in
layered
media
Summary II
0 The measurements made are V (potential difference
between 2 electrodes) and the applied current
0 50% of the current or more will penetrate no deeper
than the current electrode separation
0 We calculate the measured apparent resistivity using a
modified form of Ohms Law that allows for the
geometry of the electrode array
0 Current will preferentially flow in the low material
0 Current penetrates deeper into the ground with
expansion of the electrode distance
Electrode Arrays
WENNER
SCHLUMBERGER
Asymmetric
Overview of surveys
0 Vertical Electrical Sounding V.E.S.
0 Electrical Sounding, Drilling

0 Constant Separation Traversing
0 Profiling, Trenching

0 Tomography or 2D Surveying
0 which is a combination of both the
above methods
Expanding Arrays for V.E.S. 1
Wenner
C P P C
a a a
a a a
e.g. 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 48, 64.. metres
Expanding Arrays for V.E.S. 2
Sclumberger
A B
M N
VES-1
a=1m
a=2m
a=3m
a=4m
a=5m
VES-1
AB/2=1.5, MN/2=0.5
AB/2=2, MN/2=0.5
AB/2=3, MN/2=0.5
AB/2=4, MN/2=0.5
AB/2=5, MN/2=0.5
AB/2=5, MN/2=1
a,m
R

a
1
2
3
4
AB/2
R

a
1.5
2
3
4

a
a,m
AB/2
Wenner Sounding
Schlumberger Sounding
Data Table
Field Curve
Data Table
Field Curve
Multilayered Earth Models I
Relatively
thin middle
layer
Varying
half-space
resistivity
Multilayered Earth Models II
Varying the
thickness of the
second layer
VES Data Plotting
Convention
Plot apparent resistivity as a function of the
log of some measure of electrode
separation.
Wenner a spacing
Schlumberger AB/2
Dipole-Dipole n spacing
Asymptotes:
Short spacings << h1, a=1.
Long spacings >> total thickness of
overlying layers, a=n
To get a=true for intermediate layers, layer
must be thick relative to depth.
Multilayer Curves Summary
0 There is always at least one more layer than there are
turning points on the sounding graph
0 If three layers and 1 > 2 > 3 the it may well appear as if
you only have 1 > 2 Equally the same thing happens for
1 < 2 < 3
0 Also very thin layers or layers with resistivities similar to
those above or below may disappear
Resistivity Profiling/CST
Maps
Profiles

Locate
Boundaries
Constant
Separation
Traversing
Constant Arrays for C.S.T. I
Wenner
C P P C
a a a
C P P C
a a a
C P P C
a a a
1 2 3 4 5 6 n
Wenner array
Profiling: a-spacing is fixed, move the whole array
Constant Arrays for C.S.T. II
Schlumberger
C P P C
1 2 3 4 5 6 n
Single Contacts
0 Some
simplified
responses
to
boundaries

1
>
2

Wenner
Sclumberger
Transverse
Double Dipole
Double Contacts

2
>
1

Wenner
Double Dipole
Sclumberger
Profiling Summary
0 Symmetric arrays give symmetric anomalies

0 Assymmetric arrays give assymetric anomalies

0 A rule of thumb is that the boundary usually lies under the
steepest slope in the anomaly curve
Resistivity
Equipment,
Fieldwork,
and sample applications

Operation for
Constant Separation Traversing
0 Pick electrode spacing (e.g. 10m)
0 Electrodes in ground at 0,10, 20, 30 m (assuming 10m station spacing)
0 Measure point middle of array so 15m
0 Take measurement move on 1 spacing so 10, 20, 30, 40 >>
measurement point 25
0 repeat as needed, if you like you can always infill extra data points at
critical places so 15,25,35,45 would give an extra data point at 30m
along traverse

Operation for
Vertical Electrical Sounding
0 Pick location from other surveys
0 Place two tapes on the ground back to back
0 Electrodes in ground at 0,10, 20, 30 m (assuming 10m station spacing)

4 3 3 2 1 0 1 2 4
Operation for
Vertical Electrical Sounding
0 Spacings
0(0.25), 0.5,1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32,
64 metres
C1 P1 P2 C2
Try not to get the wires crossed !
!
Start of line GRID REFERENCE End of Line
GRID
REFERENCE
Conditions
Ground surface dry but soil damp should be no problems with
connection
Method
Resistivity CST survey using an electrode separation of 10m in a standard
WENNER configuration
Equipment
used
SAS 300
Terrameter
OPERATOR GKT
Distance -
Midpoint of
Array
Reading
Apparent
resistivity
15 45.4 2852.6
25 37.8 2375.0
35 35.6 2236.8
45 12.6 791.7
55 9.45 593.8
65 9.31 585.0
75 6.54 410.9
85 2.345 147.3
95 2.136 134.2
105 1.965 123.5
115 1.456 91.5
125 1.23 77.3
135 1.115 70.1
145 1.345 84.5
155 1.689 106.1
165 2.43 152.7
175 5.56 349.3
185 12.3 772.8
195 45.6 2865.1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0 50 100 150 200 250
Reading
Reading
Start of line GRID REFERENCE End of Line
GRID
REFERENCE
Conditions
Ground surface dry but soil damp should be no problems with
connection
Method
Resistivity CST survey using an electrode separation of 10m in a standard
WENNER configuration
Equipment
used
SAS 300
Terrameter
OPERATOR GKT
Distance -
Midpoint of
Array
Reading
Apparent
resistivity
15 45.4 2852.6
25 37.8 2375.0
35 35.6 2236.8
45 12.6 791.7
55 9.45 593.8
65 9.31 585.0
75 6.54 410.9
85 2.345 147.3
95 2.136 134.2
105 1.965 123.5
115 1.456 91.5
125 1.23 77.3
135 1.115 70.1
145 1.345 84.5
155 1.689 106.1
165 2.43 152.7
175 5.56 349.3
185 12.3 772.8
195 45.6 2865.1
10.0
100.0
1000.0
10000.0
0 50 100 150 200 250
L
o
g

A
p
p
.

R
e
s
.


r
h
o
.
m

Distance (m)
Apparent resistivity Line 1
Equipmen
t
Sub-Surface Imaging or
Electrical Tomography
0 A combination of V.E.S. and C.S.T. That provides an image
conveying information both vertical and horizontal
changes in resistivity

0 Needs many readings > must be fast > must be automated
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.1 Wenner array
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Forward modelling Example 1
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Forward modelling Example 1
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Forward modelling Example 2
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Forward modelling Example 3
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Forward modelling Example 4
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Inversion Example 1
Figure courtesy of M.H. Loke
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Inversion Example 2
Figure courtesy of M.H. Loke
C6.2 Wenner pseudosections of some simple 2-D resistivity models
Inversion Example 3
Figure courtesy of M.H. Loke
Case Studies - Mineralisation
St. Erth Formation, Cornwall Evidence for an unconformity, evidence of the
clay/brickworks workings >Undisturbed site for future excavation
Engineering Applications
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C6.3 Dipole-dipole array
C7.1.1 Cavity detection
C7.1.1 Cavity detection
Figure courtesy of M.H. Loke
C7.1.2 Environmental geophysics
C7.1.2 Environmental geophysics
Figure courtesy of M.H. Loke
C7.1.2 Environmental geophysics

3-D DC resistivity inversion
Figure courtesy of M.H. Loke
C7.1.3 Hydrocarbon exploration
Shallow gas exploration with DC resistivity. Data courtesy of KOMEX
http://iga.igg.cnr.it/geo/geoenergy.php
C7.1.4 Geothermal exploration
Low resistivity
reservoir
Low resistivity
clay cap
C7.1.4 Geothermal exploration
More details http://geothermal.marin.org/GEOpresentation/
Tongonan geothermal field, Leyte Bacman geothermal field, Bicol
Mayon Volcano, Bicol
C7.1.5 Geotechnical exploration
Figure courtesy of M.H. Loke
Time lapse variations
Case Studies V
Summary
0 All fieldwork requires ground contact so relatively slow
0 provides quantitative results in terms of depths/location
0 modern equipment provides for more rapid surveying and
2D and 3D approaches

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