applications
Geophysics is often used in environmental projects to identify, map or predict the presence and potential movement of surface water and groundwater and to identify contaminants in the soil within the upper 10 to 50 meters of the Earth’s surface. It can also be used to help locate sites for underground waste disposal, underground contaminant distribution or bedrock mapping. The most common applications in environmental studies are the following:
- Environmental Site Assessments
- Landfill Studies
- Underground Storage Tanks studies
- Groundwater Contaminant Plume Delineation
- Flow Pathway Studies
- Aquifer Delineation
- Aquitard Mapping
- Sludge Thickness and Extent
- Bedrock Fracture Studies
- Depth to Bedrock
- Stratigraphic Mapping
- Borehole Fracture Identification
Geophysical techniques provide key insights into environmental projects. GPR can be used to detect buried objects, such as underground storage tanks, building foundations, underground tunnels as well as burial sites.
Electromagnetic and electrical resistivity surveys are methods that are commonly employed for mapping of contaminant plumes, soil/overburden, bedrock geology, buried debris etc.
Magnetic surveys are ideal for detecting buried drums and delineating variations in landfills.