Mapping Raw Material for Brick Industries Utilizing Electrical Resistivity, Induced Polarization, and Geotechnical Properties in Kurdistan Region, Northeast Iraq

Abstract

Electrical Resistivity and Induced Polarization Imaging (ERI and IPI) techniques are selected as non-destructive procedures, which provide continuous imaging of the subsurface. Recently, the demand has increased for obtaining raw materials that represent a more suitable and economical quantity of clay mass for brick industries. This is because of the unexpected expansion of cities and rising demand for brick materials due to their excellent characteristics of resisting earthquakes and isolation. The present study aims to delineate the extensions of the economic layer used for brick’s raw material in Sulaymaniyah Province. For this purpose, the ERT and IPI integrated with physical and geochemical analyses were carried out in three separate locations nominated as 1, 2, and 3. The ERI and IPI survey was conducted in these locations by using a Wenner-Schlumberger array with electrode spacing equal to 5 meters. The 2D data were processed, interpreted, and modified to depth view as 3D estimations for each location. The resistivity range of clay for the brick industry was revealed according to the 2D ERI model of the Aso brick quarry and the suitability of this clay was assessed depending on geotechnical parameters, chemical composition, and mineralogical analysis. It is found that the resistivity values of clay range between 7 and 11 Ωm and silty clay from 11 and 13 Ωm, which are suitable for the brick industry. Additionally, the three locations are suitable for clay or silty clay and locations 1 and 2 are economically acceptable since the clay (or silty clay) layer is exposed to the surface. There is an economic quantity in the three surveyed locations estimated as approximately 240000, 330000, and 160000 m3 for locations 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Further, the IP survey is found to be the most suitable technique used with ERI to indicate the exact boundary of clay mass due to its high capability of electrical storage. The most optimal amount of the chargeability of suitable clay layers is found as equal to more than 5 mV/V and silty clay from 0.9 to 5 mV/V.