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SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
During the past 30 years or so, extensive work has been done for the inter-
pretation of resistivity sounding curves over horizontal discontinuities. Indeed, one
begins to wonder whether these investigations have not already overshot their
practical utility, and whether, in spite of all these investigations, the accuracy
and/or ease of interpretation of resistivity sounding curves have substantially
changed since the days of Hummel. Within the same interval of time, surprisingly
little seems to have been done towards preparations of master curves or developing
other methods of practical quantitative interpretation for resistivity profiles over
bodies of limited lateral extent (like spheres, cylinders and sheets) not exposed at
the ground surface. VAN NOSTRAND (1953) obtained the theoretical solution for
buried spheres in presence of point current electrodes on the ground surface and
made some computations for symmetrical Wenner soundings over infinitely con-
ducting spheres. PARASNIS (1964) developed the solution for cylinders of arbitrary
resistivity in presence of infinitely long line sources of current on the ground sur-
face oriented parallel to the cylinder axis, and numerically computed apparent
resistivity Schlumberger profiles for a cylinder of infinite conductivity. In this case,
the energizing line electrodes were considered stationary and symmetrical with
respect to the axis of the cylinder, and the potential gradients were taken as meas-
ured along a perpendicular line. In another paper, PARASNIS(1965) gave the
detailed theoretical development for the cases of outcropping vertical contact, out-
cropping vein, etc., in presence of linear current electrodes. NAIDU (1966a,b)
solved and published master curves for profiles over buried two-dimensional dykes
of arbitrary shape and dip. His analysis, again, considered infinitely long current
electrodes and infinitely conductive or resistive dykes.
While line electrodes are useful under some conditions (PARASNIS,1965),
point electrodes are the ones that are most widely used. Also, targets in nature are
neither infinitely conductive nor infinitely resistive. Thus, there is still an urgent
need for master curves for resistivity profiling over buried ore bodies in presence
of point electrodes and having resistivity contrasts in the range usually found in
nature. For conducting ore bodies, this range is usually between p2/p, = 0.01 and
PdPl = 0.1, where pz and p1 are the resistivities of the ore body and the country
rock respectively.
The cases of buried spheres and cylinders of arbitrary resistivities in the
neighbourhood of point electrodes seem amenable to theoretical solution and com-
putation, although the formulas involved may be of formidable appearance.
~odelling, on the other hand, for these geometries seems di~cult, and the theo-
retical approach is therefore being tried for calculation of master curves. The most
commonly occurring geometry for ores is that of a vein or sheet. A theoretical
solution for such a geometry with arbitrary resistivity contrast and unexposed at
the surface seems to be difficult and lacking. Fortunately, modelling of this geo-
metry is comparatively simpler.
This note presents the preliminary results of resistivity profiling over model
veins or sheets. Two kinds of point electrode systems have been used. One is the
usual Wenner arrangement. The other is the surface equivalent of DOLLS(1951)
laterolog intended for bore-hole investigations. The latter is a focused system and
yields, as will be seen, apparent resistivity profiles which are superior in some
respects to the Wenner profiles.
MATERIAL
FOR MODELS
Model investigations on veins have been reported from time to time, but it
seems that, in all such investigations, the material used was either of very high
(metallic sheets) or very low (ebonite, for instance) conductivity. In view of the
great deal of time and effort spent by the authors of this note in their search for
a material suitable for modelling and having resistivity contrasts in the range men-
_-... _-
The case of a sphere of &J&WY resistivity has not been shown to be amenable to theoretical
solution. The difficulty, apparently unresolved so far, concerns the orthogonality of a Legendre
polynomial multiplied by a factor of the form (cash q-cos E)*. (Editors note, D. S. P.)
tioned above, the restriction by the earlier workers to very high and very low
resistivities seems understandable.
Mixtures of iron filings and cement in different proportions were first tried.
Cylinders made out of 70% iron filings and 30% cement, when fully saturated
with the model tank water with a resistivity of 16 Qm, gave p2/p1 = 0.5. It was
not possible to increase the proportion of iron filings any further, because then
the mixture would not set. The unexpected high resistivity of such a mixture was
perhaps due to rusting of the iron filings in continued contact with water. Mixtures
of brass powder and cement, brass powder and araldite, plaster of Paris and iron
filings, plaster of Paris and brass powder, plaster of Paris and graphite were tried
and found unsatisfactory, either due to the resistivity of the mixture not being low
enough and/or due to the sample being too susceptible for disintegration under
water. Difficulties were aggravated by the fact that samples taken from iron filings,
brass powder and graphite-purchased in different instalments-often showed
large differences of resistivity and with such variety under apparently identical
conditions of measurement.
The mixture that finally gave usable results and strong enough models was
that of graphite and cement. A mixture of five parts by weight of cement and six
parts of graphite, for instance, gave a resistivity value of 0.18 Qm when completely
saturated with water. This gave a resistivity ratio of 0.011, which is very close to
the lowest extreme of the desired range.
r 18.0
-2
s -17.0
z
5 . . .
F . .-.-.-..*-- -- -
!!I
ii
a -15.0
15 0 15 30
I I I I
DISTANCE (CM)
Fig.1. Wenner resistivity of tank water without ore model. Illustrates absence of wall effecf
in the region of measurement.
01 02
I I
Al A2
---&-- _--_---
Fig.2. A. Surface laterolog system and the current configuration on any half-plane hinged at the
line of electrodes. B. Current configuration for conventional (Wenner) electrode system.
being parallel to the width of the model tank. The range of the variables are
p2/pI : 0.01-0.1, width of vein (depth extent): 7.5-30.0 cm, depth of top of vein
below water surface: 0.5-5.0 cm, dip = 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 and spacing between
current electrodes: 3.0-l 5.0 cm.
It should be understood that modelling in this case is purely geometric.
That is, the scaling factor relates only to the linear dimensions of the veins and
electrode arrangements. The resistivity values or their ratios are not scaled-they
retain the same values in the model as in the prototype.
The number of models to be constructed has been kept to a minimum by
keeping the model thickness fixed at 1 cm and using this dimension as the unit of
distance measurements. The maximum length of the profiles, taken parallel to the
length of the tank and along the perpendicular bisector of the vein is 60 cm-about
30 cm on either side of the vein. The absence of any wall effect for such length and
position of profiles is shown in Fig. 1, which plots the values of in situ measure-
ments of the resistivity of the water in the model tank without any submerged ore
body. It will be seen that the measured resistivities are very close to 16 Qm, a
value obtained separately by a conductivity cell measurement. The scatter is evenly
distributed around the horizontal line representing 16 Qm, and the experimental
errors of individual measurements do not seem to exceed 0.1 Qm.
SURFACE LATEROLOG
The laterolog (DOLL, 1951) is a focused electrical well logging device that
gives sharper and larger response against target formations, especially thin ones.
Its surface equivalent, suitable for geophysical exploration of nearly vertical con-
ductive or resistive sheet-like bodies, is shown at the top of Fig.2A. The surface
laterolog consists of a central electrode A, and three other pairs of electrodes
M,M,, MlMz and A,A, placed symmetrically about A,. The M-pairs are poten-
tial measuring electrodes and are shorted within each pair, as shown in the figure.
Currents I,,, Z, and Z2 of the same polarity are passed through A,, A, and A,.
Ii and I, are adjusted in such a way that the potential difference between the
shorted pairs of electrodes M,M2 and M,M, is zero. The potential at M,, M,,
M, or M, with respect to a distant point, and the three currents are recorded
under conditions of zero potential difference between the two potential electrode
pairs. The potentials at 0, and 0, are:
I---- ~ 10
27rV(O)
Pa = -__
-401 1+
+Ad,
1 1
[ ~0010r2
where pa is the apparent resistivity and Z = [Zi +Z2]/2. Since Z,, Zi and I2 are such
as to make a potential minimum at 0, and O,, it can be shown that:
f = (u2-b2)2
(4)
10 4ab3
p,=2nyLZbi
o (a2+b2)
In this system of electrodes, the current emanating from A, and going out
to infinity is prevented from radial flow. The auxiliary currents from A, and A2
cut down much of the lateral flow from A, and force a greater proportion of the
current downwards through the ore body before the current filaments flare out
in depth in their journey to the sink at large distance. It is clear that the focusing
effect of the surface laterolog system cannot be as efficient as that of the bore-hole
laterolog of Doll, since, for surface exploration, circular symmetry around the line
of electrodes does not exist (unless the sheet is vertical and outcropping).
i-0 -
0.9 -
0.9 -
0.6 -
d
---DI S
6
TANCE-
Fig.3. Wenner and surface Iaterolog model profiles for varying depths of ore sheet.
= 0.4. A. Wenner arrangement. B. Surface Iaterolog arrangement.
(3) Although the Wenner profiles are more complicated as compared to the
other, they have some distinct advantages. At least for vertical or near-vertical
sheets, the distance between the two troughs seems to be equal to twice the Wenner
spacing plus the thickness of the vein. The surface laterolog profiles do not provide
for a measure of the thickness of the vein so directly. A second advantage concerns
A, A, =9.0
- P,Ifi= O*Oll
IO 0 IO
I I I
.
d-r
B ANCE----
Fig.4. Wenner and surface laterolog model profiles for varying dips of ore sheet. 0102 = 0.4.
A. Wenner arrangement. B. Surface laterolog arrangement.
A, A, =12-O /
0.5
p2 /p, = O*Oll
0.4 d =O-5
IO 0 IO
0.3 I I I
A * DIS ANCE
0.6
t
d = oe5
IO
I
Fig.5. Wenner and surface laterolog model profiles for varying distances between (outside) current
electrodes. OIOz = 0.4. A. Wenner arrangement. B. Surface laterolog arrangement.
the possible determination of the dip of the ore sheet. The ratio of the amplitudes
of the two troughs in the Wenner profiles constitutes a more obvious and better
resolved measure of the dip than does the asymmetry of surface laterolog profiles.
(4) The appearance of a central peak in the Wenner profiles may seem
puzzling at first. A physical understanding of this phenomenon becomes simpler
if one considers a thin infinitely conducting half-sheet (vertical) in place of the
finitely conducting sheet of finite thickness. When the power electrodes are sym-
metrically located on either side of the thin idealised sheet, the potential distribu-
tion in the ground with or without this sheet must be the same. Without the sheet,
the surface of zero potential is a vertical half-plane located mid-way between the
current electrodes. The insertion of an infinitely conducting thin sheet, that coin-
cides with part or whole of this zero-potential surface, does not disturb the poten-
tial configuration in any way. It follows that, for this position of the current elec-
trodes, the apparent resistivity with or without the sheet has to be equal to the
resistivity of the enclosing medium.
(5) The central peak in the Wenner arrangement diminishes in magnitude,
and ultimately disappears, as the spacing becomes smaller and smaller with respect
to the thickness of the target. As the spacing increases, the magnitude of the
Wenner anomaly remains more or less unaffected, while that of the surface latero-
log anomaly diminishes progressively. The latter effect is somewhat unexpected,
as, with O,O, fixed, an increase in the distance A,A, should mean better and
deeper focusing and, therefore, higher response.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
REFERENCES
DOLL, H. G., 1951. The laterolog: a new resistivity logging method with electrodes using an
automatic focussing system. J. Petrol. Technol., 192 : 305-3 16.
NAIDU, P. S., 1966a. Apparent resistivity over thin dipping dyke. Geoexploration, 4(l): 25-36.
NAIDU, P. S., 196613.Theoretical analysis of apparent resistivity over a dyke of arbitrary shape.
Geophys. Prospecting, 14(2): 168-183.
PARASNIS,D. S., 1964. Long, horizontal cylindrical ore body at arbitrary depth in the field of
two linear current electrodes. Geophys. Prospecting, 12(4): 457-487.
PARASNIS,D. S., 1965. Theory and practice of electric potential and resistivity prospecting using
linear current electrodes. Geoexploration, 3(l): 3-69.
VAN NOSTRAND,R. G., 1953. Limitations on resistivity methods as inferred from the buried
sphere problem. Geophysics, 18(2): 423-433.