Abstract
The measurement of earth resistivity is the most commonly employed geophysical technique in hydrogeological investigations but is perhaps one of the least well understood. The ease with which electrical measurements can now normally be made has led many non-geophysicists to believe, quite falsely, that resistivity is simple. Unfortunately this has led to many common errors in field practice and interpretation and ultimately to the production of ubiquitous, poor quality, survey reports. Inevitably this has resulted in the often poor reputation of this technique which is unfortunate because used correctly the resistivity technique is one of the most cost-efficient and powerful of the geophysical tools. This article outlines the principles of the techniques now in common use and shows how the results should be interpreted to obtain the most useful subsurface information
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Acworth, R.I. (1987). The development of crystalline basement aquifers in a tropical environment. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, 20: 265–272.
Banerjee, B. and Pal, B.P. (1986). A simple method for determining the depth of investigation characteristics in resitivity prospecting. Exploration Geophysics, 17: 93–95.
Barker, R.D. (1979). Signal contribution sections and their use in resistivity studies. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 59: 123–129.
Barker, R.D. (1989). Depth of investigation of a generalised colinear 4-electrode array. Geophysics, 54: 1031–1037.
Barker, R.D., White, C.C. and Houston, J.F.T. (1992). Borehole siting in an African accelerated drought relief project. In: Wright, E.P. and Burgess, W.G. (eds), Hydrogeology of Crystalline Basement Aquifers in Africa. Geological Society Special Publication No. 66, 183–201.
Caruthers, R.M. and Smith, I.F. (1992). The use of ground electrical survey methods for siting water-supply boreholes in shallow crystalline basement terrains. In: Wright, E.P. and Burgess, W.G. (eds), Hydrogeology of Crystalline Basement Aquifers in Africa. Geological Society Special Publication No. 66, 203–220.
Dey, A. and Morrison, H.F. (1979). Resistivity modelling for arbitrary shaped two-dimensional structures. Geophysical Prospecting, 27: 106–136.
Edwards, L.S. (1977). A modified pseudosection for resistivity and IP. Geophysics, 42: 1020–1036.
Herbert, R., Barker, J.A. and Kitching, R. (1992). New approaches to pumping test interpretation for dug wells constructed on hard rock aquifers. In: Wright, E.P. and Burgess, W.G. (eds), Hydrogeology of Crystalline Basement Aquifers in Africa. Geological Society Special Publication No. 66, 221–242.
Keller and Frischknecht (1966). Electrical Methods in Geophysical Prospecting; Pergamon Press, Oxford, p. 501.
Loke, M.H. and Barker, R.D. (1995). Least-squares deconvolution of apparent resistivity pseudosections. Geophysics, 60: 1682–1690.
Loke, M.H. and Barker, R.D. (1996). Rapid least squares inversion of apparent resistivity pseudosections by a quasi-Newton method. Geophysical Prospecting, 44: 131–152.
Money, H.M. and Wetzel, W.E. (1956). The potential about a point electrode and apparent resistivity curves for a two, three-and four-layered earths; University of Minnesota Press, Minnespolie, Minn; p. 146.
Olayinka, A.I. and Barker, R.D. (1990). Borehole siting in crystalline basement areas of Nigeria with a microprocessor-controlled resistivity traversing system. Ground Water, 28: 178–183.
Roy, A. and Apparao, A. (1971). Depth of Investigation in Direct Current Methods. Geophysics. 36: 943–959.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Capital Publishing Company
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Barker, R.D. (2007). Electrical Resistivity Methods for Borehole Siting in Hardrock Region. In: Thangarajan, M. (eds) Groundwater. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5729-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5729-8_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5728-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5729-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)