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A Study of Acid Mine Drainage Using Earth Resistivity Measurements
Author(s) -
Ebraheem A. M.,
Hamburger M. W.,
Bayless E. R.,
Krothe N. C.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1990.tb02265.x
Subject(s) - electrical resistivity and conductivity , acid mine drainage , leachate , depth sounding , vertical electrical sounding , drainage , geology , groundwater , electrical resistivity tomography , borehole , mineralogy , mining engineering , soil science , hydrology (agriculture) , geotechnical engineering , aquifer , materials science , environmental chemistry , metallurgy , chemistry , engineering , ecology , oceanography , electrical engineering , biology
A resistivity survey was conducted in a reclaimed mine spoils disposal site near Wheatland, Indiana to study the ground‐water contamination. Due to the high conductivity of the acidic leachate from coal refuse, it was possible to detect the valleys in which this material was dumped (gob valleys) by using the horizontal resistivity profiling technique. The thickness of the gob valleys and information about the stratigraphy of the site were obtained by using the vertical electrical sounding (VES) technique. The VES data for sounding points located near monitoring wells, together with the chemical analyses of water samples taken from these wells, were used to obtain an empirical relationship between the inferred earth resistivity and the amount of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the ground water. The horizontal resistivity profiling data and the VES data at a 30‐ft electrode spacing were contoured. The resulting isoresistivity map, together with the empirical relationship, can be used to predict the approximate TDS concentration at a depth of approximately 30 ft at any point on the Wheatland site.