Application of a directional geoelectrical resistivity square configuration for anisotropy estimation in haramoun region, Southern Syria

Abstract EN

The geoelectrical resistivity square configuration is utilized in order to determine the anisotropy characteristics of fractured and faulted systems.

Using this configuration, the current and potential electrodes are located at the heads of the square, and resistivity measurements are attributed to the square center.

For a given position of a square, two perpendicular resistivities ρα and ρβ are measured.

Square polar diagram is thereafter established through rotating the square two successive rotations of 30 degree towards the west, where six resistivities are obtained for only three successive directions of the square.

Theoretical and practical characteristics of such a configuration are examined and analyzed through the field application on a case study taken from Haramoun region in south of Syria, characterized by fractured and faulted systems.

The superiority of the square configuration is demonstrated by a comparison study between its results and those obtained by traditional Schlumberger configuration.

It is to mention that theoretical and practical characteristics of this square configuration, obtained in the present case study are similar to other already published researches using the same configuration and verify the Habberjam's earlier work.

As a result, the sensitivity of this square array to a given rock anisotropy is confirmed in this study and is bigger than that obtained by other more commonly practiced as Wenner and Schlumberger configurations.

Therefore, the square array is strongly recommended to be successfully applied for detecting faulted and fractured systems, especially when traditional Schlumberger configuration is not efficacy in detecting them