Complex conductivity of soils

The complex conductivity of soils remains poorly known despite the growing importance of this method in hydrogeophysics. In order to fill this gap of knowledge, we investigate the complex conductivity of 71 soils samples (including four peat samples) and one clean sand in the frequency range 0.1 Hz to 45 kHz. The soil samples are saturated with six different NaCl brines with conductivities (0.031, 0.53, 1.15, 5.7, 14.7, and 22 S m21, NaCl, 258C) in order to determine their intrinsic formation factor and surface conductivity. This data set is used to test the predictions of the dynamic Stern polarization model of porous media in terms of relationship between the quadrature conductivity and the surface conductivity. We also investigate the relationship between the normalized chargeability (the difference of in-phase conductivity between two frequencies) and the quadrature conductivity at the geometric mean frequency. This data set confirms the relationships between the surface conductivity, the quadrature conductivity, and the normalized chargeability. The normalized chargeability depends linearly on the cation exchange capacity and specific surface area while the chargeability shows no dependence on these parameters. These new data and the dynamic Stern layer polarization model are observed to be mutually consistent. Traditionally, in hydrogeophysics, surface conductivity is neglected in the analysis of resistivity data. The relationships we have developed can be used in field conditions to avoid neglecting surface conductivity in the interpretation of DC resistivity tomograms. We also investigate the effects of temperature and saturation and, here again, the dynamic Stern layer predictions and the experimental observations are mutually consistent

Electrical Conductivity Versus Temperature in Freezing Conditions: A Field Experiment Using a Basket Geothermal Heat Exchanger

International audienceWe use a basket geothermal heat exchanger during 518 hr to freeze a portion of soil. This field experiment is monitored using time lapse electrical conductivity tomography and a set of 47 in situ temperature sensors. A frozen soil core characterized by negative temperatures and low conductivity values (<10 −3 S/m) develops over time. A petrophysical model describing the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity in freezing conditions is applied to the field data and compared to two laboratory experiments performed with two core samples from the test site. The results show that this petrophysical model can be used to interpret field measurements bridging electrical conductivity to temperature and liquid water content. Plain Language Summary In order to better understand the evolution of permafrost (spatial extent, temperature, and liquid water content distributions), we can use time lapse electrical conductivity tomography. The electrical conductivity of a soil is influenced by water and ice contents, temperature, salinity of the pore water, and the cation exchange capacity of the material. We test a physics-based relationship connecting temperature, ice content, and electrical conductivity. This relationship is tested on two core samples and compared with field observations during a in-situ test experiment. In this experiment, we generated a frozen soil core using a geothermal heat exchanger, and at the same time, we recorded the temperature and electrical conductivity distributions. We found a good consistency between the field data and the model, which means that from the distribution of the electrical conductivity of the frozen soil, we are able to recover its temperature

Chargeability of Porous Rocks With or Without Metallic Particles

International audienceThe chargeability of rocks de nes their ability to reversibly store electrical charges at low frequency (typically below a few kHz). We consider the case of an isotropic mixture of metallic particles embedded into a polarizable porous background composed of mineral grains and pore water. The term metallic is here used in a broad sense involving semiconductors (for instance disseminated pyrite or magnetite), semimetals (e.g., graphite), and metals (copper, steel). The chargeability of such a mixture depends on the chargeability of the background material and the volumetric amount of metallic particles. The chargeability of the background material is in turn salinity dependent and is equal to a universal dimensionless number R = 0.08 (ratio between the normalized chargeability and the surface conductivity) at low salinities. It is given by the ratio of two apparent mobilities, which are actually related to the mobility of the Stern and diffuse layers forming the so-called electrical double layer around the mineral grains. This universal number is saturation and temperature independent. The predictive model for the chargeability of the mixture is compared successfully to variety of experimental and eld data. We show that the polarization of dispersed metallic particles is due to the electrodiffusion of the charge carriers inside these particles. This work can be applied to conventional well-log analysis using the dispersion of the electrical conductivity with the frequency in order to determine the formation properties and accounting for the presence of pyrite in some formations. Our conductivity model appears as an extension of the Waxman and Smits seminal model of shaly sands extending this model to determine the chargeability and the effect of pyrite on both the electrical conductivity and the chargeability

Induced polarization of volcanic rocks. 3. Imaging clay cap properties in geothermal fields

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Induced polarization as a tool to characterize shallow landslides

International audienceThe development of shallow landslides is strongly connected to the changes in the water content of soils on hillslopes, their clay content and permeability distribution, which, in turn, are playing an important role regarding their hydro-mechanical properties. A non-intrusive geophysical method able to map these properties would be very helpful. The most common geoelectrical method, DC (Direct Current) resistivity, cannot be used as a stand-alone technique for this purpose since it depends on two contributions (bulk and surface conductivities), which depend on the water content and the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the material. Induced polarization is a geophysical method that can be now used to complement DC resistivity in providing key material properties that can be used to diagnose potential risks for failure. We first recall the basic principles behind the induced polarization method from laboratory to field scales and key findings in the underlying petrophysics needed to jointly interpret electrical conductivity and normalized chargeability tomograms. Then, we apply these relationships to a field survey carried out over a shallow landslide at Claix (Isère, France), close to Grenoble. A 3D induced polarization survey was carried out and interpreted in terms of the clay content, water content, and permeability distributions. We demonstrate that the landslide is associated with a channel of high water content corresponding with the presence of travertine, a flow-path, and a permeability barrier downslope corresponding to the presence of plastic clays. This study demonstrates that induced polarization can be used to characterize the impacted volume and therefore might have been useful to map the area before the landslide to assess the possible risk of failure. This methodology could play a key role in mitigation planning

Induced polarization of volcanic rocks. 3. Imaging clay cap properties in geothermal fields

International audienceSmectite-rich clay caps form permeability seals in geothermal systems. The presence of smec-tite is also responsible for a strong surface (interfacial) electrical conductivity and polarization due to their electrical double layer properties. We developed new complex conductivity models using both differential effective medium (DEM) and volume averaging theories accounting for both conduction and polarization of these high cation exchange capacity (CEC) materials. These models predict that the chargeability is also a non-linear function of the pore water conductivity reaching a constant value at pore water conductivity far above the so-called iso-conductivity point. The iso-conductivity point is characterized by the equality between the conductivity of the rock and the conductivity of the pore water. We apply the DEM conductivity model (which requires only two textural parameters) to smectite-rich volcanic and sedimentary rocks using data sets from the literature. When smectite is present in the volcanic rocks, the CEC of the rock is dominated by the CEC of smectite. The grain conductivity and the normalized chargeability are related to each other by a dimensionless number R = 0.10 (independent of temperature and saturation) and both are controlled by the excess of charge per unit pore volume Q V , which can be determined from the CEC and porosity. Our petro-physical model is also able to predict the permeability of the rock as well from the CEC and the porosity. It is applied to a 3-D data set at Krafla volcano (Iceland). The porosity, the CEC, the percentage of smectite, and the permeability of the clay-cap are imaged by 3-D induced polarization tomography. Electrical conductivity tomography alone does not allow separation of the contribution of the bulk pore space from the interfacial properties related to alteration and therefore should be used with caution

Low‐Frequency Induced Polarization of Porous Media Undergoing Freezing: Preliminary Observations and Modeling

International audienceWe investigate the thermal dependence of the complex conductivity of nine porous materials in the temperature range +20°C to −10 or −15°C. The selected samples include three soils, two granites, three clay-sands mixes, and one graphitic tight sandstone. A total of 12 experiments is conducted with one sample tested at three different salinities. Our goal is to use this database to extend the dynamic Stern layer polarization model in freezing conditions. We observe two polarization mechanisms, one associated with the effect of the change in the liquid water content and its salinity upon the polarization of the porous material. A second mechanism, at higher frequencies (>10 Hz), is likely associated with the polarization of ice. At low frequencies and above the freezing point, the in-phase and quadrature conductivities depend on temperature in a predictable way. This dependence is due to the dependence of the mobility of the charge carriers with temperature. Below the freezing point, the in-phase and quadrature conductivity follow a brutal decay with temperature. This dependence is modeled through an exponential freezing curve function. We were also able to determine how the (apparent) formation factor and surface conductivity change with temperature and water content below the freezing point. Our model is able to replicate the data at low frequencies and predicts correctly the fact that the ratio between the normalized chargeability and the surface conductivity is independent of the water content and temperature and equals a well-defined dimensionless number R

Temperature distribution in a permafrost-affected rock ridge from conductivity and induced polarization tomography

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