FAULT LOCATION BY ELECTRICAL PROSPECTING—AN EXAMPLE

Abstract

Electrical resistivity surveys were run in an area near Campbell, Hunt County, Texas, across a known fault of the Mexia system. Lateral inhomogeneity of earth resistivity was investigated by employing constant‐depth surveys, using the Wenner configuration with 1000‐foot spacing between adjacent electrodes. Five depth surveys were made using the Wenner configuration at electrode spacings up to 4000 feet. These depth surveys were interpreted using 3‐layer curves interpolated from the Wetzel‐McMurry data. The interpretations checked reasonably well against resistivity logs in two 350‐foot core holes in the region. The constant‐depth profiles cannot be said to have definitely indicated the presence of the fault, but a thin high resistance bed participating in the faulting was clearly delineated by the depth surveys and could be used to locate the fault.