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Integration of Large-Scale Electrical Imaging into Geological Framework Development and Refinement

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A Correction to this article was published on 27 July 2022

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Abstract

Geologic framework models (GFMs) are critical to the construction of reliable simulation models of groundwater flow and contaminant transport. To support GFM development, direct information (e.g., core samples, fluid samples, hydraulic testing) tends to be sparse and separated by large distances relative to the spatial scales of aquifer heterogeneity. There are additional challenges associated with highly contaminated legacy waste sites, where drilling is particularly costly, and invasive sampling requires specialized handling and disposal of hazardous materials. At these sites in particular, non-invasive geophysical imaging can play an important role in filling spatial gaps between boreholes and reducing characterization costs by optimizing and minimizing the number of necessary boreholes. This paper presents a case study demonstrating the use of large-scale (>30 km2) electrical mapping to identify hydrostratigraphy and potential paleochannels at the Hanford Site, located in Washington State, USA. In two field campaigns, over 36 line-kilometers of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data were collected along 14 transects. ERT surveys were sited based on available site data and performed to image critical aspects (e.g., paleochannels, stratigraphic contacts) of the subsurface, demonstrating a general workflow for integrating ERT with GFM development and refinement. Inconsistencies between the GFM and ERT were catalogued to provide a basis for future site characterization using complementary geophysical methods and (or) direct sampling.

Highlights

  • ERT was used for large-scale stratigraphic characterization and to site new wells.

  • Geological framework development using ERT supports site remedy decisions.

  • ERT imaged stratigraphic structure where borehole information was sparse.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the https://github.com/judithrobinson/CP_Hanford_ERT/releases/tag/v1.0.0 repository, https://zenodo.org/badge/latestdoi/423988023.

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Funding

Funding information is reported under the ‘Statements and Declarations’ section.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA

    J. Robinson, J. Thomle, D. Mcfarland, K. Deters, M. Rockhold, F. Day-Lewis & V. Freedman

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  1. J. Robinson
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  2. J. Thomle
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  3. D. Mcfarland
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  4. K. Deters
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  5. M. Rockhold
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  6. F. Day-Lewis
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  7. V. Freedman
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Contributions

Conceptualization: [Judith Robinson]; Methodology: [Judith Robinson, Jonathan Thomle]; Formal analysis: [Judith Robinson]; Field investigation: [Jonathan Thomle, Doug McFarland, Kate Deters]; Writing – original draft preparation: [Judith Robinson, Mark Rockhold]; Writing – review and editing: [Judith Robinson, Fred Day-Lewis, Vicky Freedman]; Funding acquisition: [Vicky Freedman]; Supervision: [Vicky Freedman, Fred Day-Lewis]; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to J. Robinson.

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This document was prepared under the Deep Vadose Zone – Applied Field Research Initiative at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.

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Robinson, J., Thomle, J., Mcfarland, D. et al. Integration of Large-Scale Electrical Imaging into Geological Framework Development and Refinement. Environ. Process. 9, 21 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-022-00570-2

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