Electrical resistivity of frozen earth

Abstract

Cook [1960] has described laboratory experiments on the RF electrical properties of synthetic salty ice and frozen earth and has commented on the scarcity of available data concerning the electrical properties of natural sea ice and permafrost with which to compare his results. During IGY the d-c resistivities of the ground upon which Scott Base (latitude 77°51′S) and HaJlett Station (latitude 72°9′S) are constructed were measured, and this note presents the d-c resistivities of the natural frozen ground and compares them with the RF resistivities of the synthetic soils used by Cook. Pram Point, Ross Island, on which Scott Base is built, consists of basaltic debris, with a good deal of clay material, overlying the basalt flows of the Hut Point Peninsula. Except for the top 5 to 10 cm, which thaws for a very short period during the summer months, the ground is permanently frozen. Hallett Station lies on the gravel spit attached to Cape Hallett, and in at least the upper 2 meters of this soil there is some penguin guano. Resistivities measured at these bases during January 1958 by the standard d-c method (commutated) using the Wenner electrode configuration are shown in Figure 1. At Scott Base two expanding electrode profiles were measured in different areas on Pram Point. At Hallett Station only one locality was occupied.