Use of induced polarization to characterize the hydrogeologic framework of the zone of surfacewater/groundwater exchange at the hanford 300 area, WA

Lee D. Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Kisa Mwakanyamale, John W. Lane, Andy Ward, Roelof J. Versteeg

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

An extensive continuous waterborne electrical imaging (CWEI) survey was conducted along the Columbia River corridor adjacent to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford 300 Area, WA, in order to improve the conceptual model for exchange between surface water and U-contaminated groundwater. The primary objective was to determine spatial variability in the depth to the Hanford-Ringold (H-R) contact, an important lithologic boundary that limits vertical transport of groundwater along the river corridor. Resistivity and induced polarization (IP) measurements were performed along six survey lines parallel to the shore (each greater than 2.5 km in length), with a measurement recorded every 0.5-3.0 m depending on survey speed, resulting in approximately 65, 000 measurements. The H-R contact was clearly resolved in images of the normalized chargeability along the river corridor due to the large contrast in surface area (hence polarizability) of the granular material between the two lithologic units. Cross sections of the lithologic structure along the river corridor reveal a large variation in the thickness of the overlying Hanford unit (the aquifer through which contaminated groundwater discharges to the river) and clearly identify locations along the river corridor where the underlying Ringold unit is exposed to the riverbed. Knowing the distribution of the Hanford and Ringold units along the river corridor substantially improves the conceptual model for the hydrogeologic framework regulating U exchange between groundwater and Columbia River water relative to current models based on projections of data from boreholes on land into the river.

Original languageAmerican English
Title of host publication23rd Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2010, SAGEEP 2010
PublisherJ and N Group, Ltd.
Pages955-960
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)9781617384172
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Event23rd Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2010, SAGEEP 2010 - Keystone, CO, United States
Duration: Apr 11 2010Apr 15 2010

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Symposium on the Application of Geophyics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, SAGEEP
Volume2

Other

Other23rd Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2010, SAGEEP 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityKeystone, CO
Period4/11/104/15/10

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Environmental Engineering

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