Electrical and electromagnetic surveys to locate possible causes of water seepage to ground surface at a quarry open pit
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Electrical and electromagnetic surveys to locate possible causes of water seepage to ground surface at a quarry open pit near Helwan city, Egypt Hany S. Mesbah 1 & Ahmed Ismail 2 & Ayman I. Taha 1 & Usama Massoud 1 & Mamdouh M. Soilman 1
Received: 1 March 2016 / Accepted: 18 April 2017 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2017
Abstract Water seepage to ground surface at a limestone quarry located at Wadi Garawy about 20 km south-east of Helwan city in Egypt posed a real threat to the mining activity at the quarry. The quarry area is known to be very dry for decades and away from water utilities and infrastructures that may cause water leaks to the quarry. Geophysical investigation including 1D Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES), 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and 1D Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) surveys were conducted to characterize the rock sequence and locate what could be a possible source of water seepage to the quarry. The resistivity profiles generated from the VES and TEM surveys mapped the rock units in the area down to depths exceeded 100 m. The ERT profiles acquired from the quarrying zone close to the water seepage spot have imaged the top of groundwater level at few meters below the ground surface at the quarry open pit. The spot of groundwater seepage seemed to occur at an area of limestone dissolution that were filled by finer sediments. The finer sediments acted as a hydrological conduit that allowed an upward seepage of groundwater to ground surface under the capillary action effect.
Keywords Water seepage . Limestone quarry . Mining activity . Water utilities . Infrastructures geophysical investigation . 1D Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) . 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) .
* Hany S. Mesbah [email protected]
1
National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt
2
Boone Pickens School of Geology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA
1D Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) seepage spot hydrological conduit . Capillary action effect
Introduction This study was conducted at a limestone quarry located southeast of Helwan city, Egypt, in order to investigate the possible causes of groundwater upward seepage to the surface. At some locations, water was observed seeping to the ground surface in considerable quantities. This water affected the quality and the quantity of the limestone extracted from this quarry. During the past 3 years, the cement industry was suffering from the water seepage into this main quarry. The water seepage to the site is not caused by rain as the problem was observed during the long dry summer season or by water utilities as the site is free from any utilities. As an attempt to investigate the source of water seepage, the Egyptian Geological Survey (EGS 2007) drilled two boreholes (BH-4 and BH-5) in the area. The two boreholes examined the soil profile and measured the depth to groundwater table (Fig. 1). The information extracted from the two boreholes were very useful but did not provide insight
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