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An engineering site investigation using non-invasive geophysical approach

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Abstract

Subsurface geological formation is essential to validate design assumptions for the construction of deep engineering structures, especially in the weathered terrains. The geological formation can be delineated using resistivity values through an electrical survey. However, the subsurface resistivity alone is ambiguous to interpret the subsurface geological units. As part of an ongoing investigation to select the key methods towards this end, an integrated geophysical survey through a combination of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), induced polarization (IP), magnetic method and joint profile method (JPM) was carried out in a weathered terrain of South Huizhou, China. Resistivity, IP, and magnetic data were obtained using a variety of survey parameters. Subsurface resistivity was calibrated with upfront boreholes lithology to constrain geological formation into four discrete layers such as topsoil cover with resistivity 2–3257 Ωm, highly weathered layer having resistivity 2–636 Ωm, partly weathered layer with resistivity range 448–1204 Ωm, and unweathered bedrock having resistivity 791–116,497 Ωm. The integration of ERT with IP, magnetic and JPM delineated four faults namely F1, F2, F3 and F4, and several localized fractures. The weathered layer, fractures and faults were marked as the weakest zones for engineering projects, whereas the unweathered fresh bedrocks were identified as the most appropriate locations for the construction of deep structures in the study area. The weakest zones unsuitable for engineering structures were delineated as the most appropriate places of groundwater occurrence in the studied area revealed by low resistivity ranging from 2 to 1204 Ωm and overlapped by low chargeability less than 14.8 ms. This non-invasive geophysical approach suggests the most suitable locations highly significant not only for the future construction of engineering structures but also the exploitation of groundwater resources in the investigated area.

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(adapted from Wyns et al. 1999)

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted under a project by the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing China; financially supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences for Post-doctoral fellowship (No. 2020PD01), National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2014CB046901), the Chinese National Scientific Foundation Committee (NSFC) (No. 41772320), and National Science and Technology Basic Resources Investigation Project (2018FY100503). Authors wish to acknowledge support received from Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. We thank the anonymous reviewers and AE whose comments/suggestions helped improve and clarify this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Hasan, Yanjun Shang & Weijun Jin

  2. Institutions of Earth Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Muhammad Hasan, Yanjun Shang & Weijun Jin

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Muhammad Hasan, Yanjun Shang & Weijun Jin

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Gulraiz Akhter

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  1. Muhammad Hasan
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  4. Gulraiz Akhter
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Correspondence to Muhammad Hasan or Yanjun Shang.

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Hasan, M., Shang, Y., Jin, W. et al. An engineering site investigation using non-invasive geophysical approach. Environ Earth Sci 79, 265 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09013-3

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