Design for fast 3D electrical resistivity survey for deep exploration using a moving multi-source and distributed acquisition

Abstract

Deep electrical resistivity survey is increasing in demand, especially for deep orebodies in mineral exploration. In conventional electrical resistivity survey, an automatic data acquisition system is used with multi-core cables deployed in the survey area, but it is almost impossible to explore a long survey line of a few kilometers in length. Therefore, we introduce a distributed survey system which is composed of electrically separated plural receivers and a stand-alone transmitter. This system uses single-core cables of only hundreds meters long and DGPS receivers to synchronize all components. In addition, a survey design is proposed as an application of this exploration strategy to improve the survey efficiency for a volcanic region for the research to investigate the characteristics of magma and geodynamics. We verify that more precise field data can be acquired at little cost and time compared with a conventional 3D survey by numerical experiments. The productivity of exploration in the field should be improved by applying a survey design strategy suggested in this study.