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M-08 A GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY TO INVESTIGATE

Abstract

Some graveyards are installed in Quaternary high porous and permeable rocks. In such
geological environments, and when the water table is close to the surface, there is a strong
possibility that local shallow aquifers can be contaminated. Such contamination should be
complex as organic and inorganic pollutants must be present.

Geophysics has been used succefully to investigate aquifers contamination by industrial sources
but little is known about its use in aquifers contamination by graveyards. Therefore Geophysical
studies have been carried out in the vicinity of two graveyards installed in eolic sands, that is a
highly porous and permeable environment, with different depths to the water table.

The two graveyards considered, " Gafanha do Carmo" (GC) and "Gafanha da Encarnação" (GE)
have been operating since 1951 and 1932 respectively and are located 10 km South West of
Aveiro, Portugal. In GC there are more than 650 bodies whilst in GE there are more than 1300.
The geological settings are identical for both sites, they are a few km apart, and consist in broad
terms of eolic sands, where a free aquifer is installed and some intercalations of mud layers. The
underground water flow is, predominantly, to the Northwest in GC and to the West in GE. The
water table in GC is at a depth of about 3 meters and in GE is about 1.5 meters. On the other
hand, in accordance to the Portuguese legislation the depth of burial is at least 1.15 meters. Thus,
in the GE case the water table is very close to the depth of burial, and this could enhance the
possibilities of local contamination.

EM Conductivity Survey

A Geophysical survey was designed so that a large area was covered at first. Bearing in mind the
experience and results in industrial sites, an introductory EM conductivity mapping survey was
conducted in the vicinity of both graveyards. Several maps were obtained using different
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EAGE 63 Conference & Technical Exhibition — Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 11 - 15 June 2001
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geometrical arrangements between the receiving and transmitter coils. On Fig. 1 EM34
Conductivity Maps, horizontal dipole mode - vertical coils, 10 meters apart - are shown.

Fig. 1: Conductivity Maps (Vertical coils 10 metres apart)

NOTE: the full lines represent the graveyard walls; dots represent the surveying points

For both graveyards, the contouring conductivity values increase roughly in the underground
water flow direction. To the East, conductivity values are lower, that is less than 5 mS/m in the
case of GE and less than 4 mS/m for GC. To the West and Northwest of both graveyards
conductivity increases, particularly in GE where values greater than 9mS/m are registered.

It must be noticed that the conductivity "contamination plume" is clearer for GE, that is when the
water table is very close to the depth of burial.

GPR Survey

Based on these results some GPR profiles were carried out to clarify both the local geological
structure and to locate eventual high signal attenuation zones within each profile. As this is a
preliminary work GPR profiles were conducted in GE only. Therefore, one profile was done in
the area where values less than 5mS/m were registered. On the other hand, in the "plume" region
two GPR profiles were carried out, one just by the walls and another about 30 metres away to the
West of the graveyard.
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The profiles used readings every metre with a central frequency of 100 MHz and 1 metre
antenna separation.

The profiles are shown on Figs. 2 and 3. Data processing is the same in both figures but for the
used gains. Thus the general sequence consisted of: drift removal, set time zero, filtering with a
band pass filter (Butterworth) 60-130Mhz, f-k polygonal rejecting filter and depth conversion
(using a velocity of 110 m/ms computed from local CDP's).

Analysis of all profiles reveals a water table depth around 1.5 metres. Downwards data
processing was required to obtain a better understanding of the data.

Thus, Fig. 2 shows the data using AGC gain (time window 30 ns) and some comments can be
drawn about local geology, that is, interfaces at depths of 2.5 and 4.5 metres (clearer on the
southeast profile). Such interfaces should correspond to thin mud layers in accordance with local
geology.

Fig. 2: GPR profiles with AGC

The data obtained with exponential/spherical gain (velocity 110m/ms and a=100) are shown in
Fig. 3. Attenuation zones within each profile are clear on the Western profiles.

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EAGE 63 Conference & Technical Exhibition — Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 11 - 15 June 2001
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Fig. 3: GPR with Exponential/spherical gain

The attenuation zones in these two profiles are located in the conductivity "contamination
plume" (Fig. 1) and are particularly evident in the profile just by the graveyard (the central one
on Fig. 3). This profile shows the water table clearly but below this horizon the attenuation is so
strong that any particular information is hard to obtain. The most Western profile reveals an
attenuation zone with a limited lateral extension that coincides with the most conductive area of
Fig. 1.

On the other hand, the profile to the East, although showing some attenuation, keeps the general
geological features.

Conclusions

From this work it is seems possible to locate contamination plumes from graveyards using
Geophysical Methods. The data provided by EM and GPR have similar interpretation, although
further techniques, such as resistivity imaging, should be experimented. Finally, some
underground water sampling and chemical analysis must be carried out so that pollutants can be
identified.

Thus, in urban areas where drilling and direct sampling can be difficult, Geophysical Techniques
can be most valuable in this type environmental problems study.