Scribd
Upload
148 views29 pages

Electrical Surveying Part II: Induced Polarization Method: WS0708 Dr. Laurent Marescot

This document discusses the induced polarization (IP) method of electrical surveying. IP utilizes the capacitive properties of rocks and soils to locate zones with disseminated clays and conductive minerals. IP measurements involve measuring the decay of voltage over time after an initial current is turned off. Applications include mineral exploration, clay mapping, and locating contaminant plumes. Factors that influence IP responses are discussed, as are survey strategies and qualitative interpretation of IP data. Key advantages are detection of disseminated materials and sensitivity to clays, while limitations include complex electrochemistry and higher cost compared to resistivity alone.

Uploaded by

fanisa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
148 views29 pages

Electrical Surveying Part II: Induced Polarization Method: WS0708 Dr. Laurent Marescot

This document discusses the induced polarization (IP) method of electrical surveying. IP utilizes the capacitive properties of rocks and soils to locate zones with disseminated clays and conductive minerals. IP measurements involve measuring the decay of voltage over time after an initial current is turned off. Applications include mineral exploration, clay mapping, and locating contaminant plumes. Factors that influence IP responses are discussed, as are survey strategies and qualitative interpretation of IP data. Key advantages are detection of disseminated materials and sensitivity to clays, while limitations include complex electrochemistry and higher cost compared to resistivity alone.

Uploaded by

fanisa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 29

Electrical Surveying

Part II: Induced polarization method


WS0708
Dr. Laurent Marescot

1
Introduction
Electrical surveying…

• Resistivity method
• Induced polarization method (IP)
• Self-potential (SP) method

Higher frequency methods (electromagnetic surveys):


• Electromagnetic induction methods
• Ground penetrating radar (GPR)

2
Induced polarization method
The induced polarization method makes use of the
capacitive action of the subsurface to locate zones where
clay and conductive minerals are disseminated within their
host rocks

3
Application
• Exploration of metalliferous mineral deposits
• Clay location for hydrogeological surveys
• Mapping electrochemical reactions for pollutants in the
ground

4
Structure of the lecture
1. Basic IP theory and units
2. IP properties of rocks
3. Survey strategies and interpretation
4. Conclusions

5
1. Basic IP theory and units

6
Basic theory

7
Membrane polarization

8
Electrode polarization

9
Note that membrane and electrode polarizations cannot be 10
separately identified!
Time-domain IP

t2
1
M a = ∫ V (t )dt
V0 t1

Ma is the apparent chargeability in


milliseconds (ms)

11
Frequency-domain IP

ρ a DC − ρ aAC
FE = 100
ρ aAC
FE is the percent frequency effect (in %)
ρaDC is the apparent resistivity mesured at
low frequency (0.05-0.5 Hz)
ρaAC is the apparent resistivity mesured at
higher frequency (1-10 Hz)

12
Frequency-domain IP

MF = 2π ⋅10 5 (ρ aDC − ρ aAC ) = 2π ⋅105 FE


ρ aDC ρ aAC ρ aDC

MF is the metal factor in Siemens per meters (S/m)

This normalization removes to a certain effect the


variation of IP effect with the effective resistivity of
the host rock (ρaDC )

13
Spectral induced polarization (SIP)
• For a complete description of the IP phenomenon, two
frequencies are not enough. The SIP technique measures a
frequency spectrum ranging from 10-2 to 104 Hz.
• The shift between the current and the potential is used to
discriminate between various metallic ores or substances

14
2. IP properties of rocks

15
IP versus resistivity

16
Chargeability of minerals

Concentration 1 %, current injection time 3 s, integration time 1 s

17
Chargeability of rocks

Current injection time 3 s, integration time 0.02 s to 1s

18
IP effect…
• … is higher for disseminated than massive clay and
metallic particles
• … depends on the concentration of clay and metallic
particles
• …increases if water in the ground has a low conductivity
• … increases with decreasing porosity
• …varies with the amount of water in the ground
• …depends on the current intensity and the current
frequency

19
3. Survey strategies and interpretation

20
IP measurement
• Different measurement devices for Time-domain IP and
Frequency-domain IP
• Same electrode arrays (for mapping and sounding) than in
conventional resistivity
• Sensitive to telluric noise
• Sensitive to noise resulting from electromagnetic coupling
between adjacent wires (dipole-dipole array very useful)
• Stability of potential measurements can be a problem (use
non polarizable electrodes, see lecture on SP surveying)

21
Interpretation
• Mainly qualitative, more complex than for resistivity
• Inversion using iterative algorithms (similar to resistivity)
• For SIP, getting information on material structures (e.g.
size of pores) using the Cole-Cole model

22
Mining geophysics

23
Geothermy

24
Hydrogeology

25
Geology

26
4. Conclusions

27
Advantages
• Detection of disseminated mineral (difficult with
resistivity)
• Method sensitive to clay in aquifers

28
Drawbacks
• Same disadvantages than resistivity method
• Electrochemical phenomena are still not well understood
• IP surveys is slow and more expensive than resistivity
surveys

29

You might also like