Abstract
The self-potential (SP) method is one of the most inexpensive and unsophisticated geophysical methods. However, its application is limited due to the absence of a reliable interpreting methodology for the complex geological-environmental conditions. To exclude disturbances appearing in the SP method, a few ways for their removal (elimination) before quantitative analysis are presented. A brief review of the available interpretation methods is included. For the magnetic method of geophysical prospecting, special quantitative procedures applicable under complex physical-geological environments (oblique polarization, uneven terrain relief and unknown level of the normal field), have been developed. The detected common peculiarities between the magnetic and SP fields make it possible to apply the advanced procedures developed in magnetic prospecting to the SP method. Besides the reliable determination of the depth of anomalous targets, these methodologies enable the calculation of the corrections for non-horizontal SP observations and to determine the orientation of the polarization vector. For the classification of SP anomalies, is proposed to use a new parameter: the ‘self-potential moment’. The quantitative procedures (improved modifications of characteristic point, tangent techniques and the areal method) including the determination of the SP vector and SP moment, have been successfully tested on models and employed in real situations in mining, archaeological, environmental and technogenic geophysics. The obtained results indicate the effectiveness of the presented methodologies.
Highlights
The Self-Potential (SP) method is based on the study of natural electric fields
Permanent electric fields arise in the course of redox, filtration, and diffusion-adsorption processes in the upper part of the geological section. The registration of these fields is the goal of the SP method, and the geophysical interpretation of the parameters generating this field is the main purpose of SP data examination
Conventional equipment employed in the SP method consists of a microvoltmeter, a pair of non-polarizable electrodes, cable and CuSO4 solution
Summary
The Self-Potential (SP) method is based on the study of natural electric fields (in some cases, this method is named as ‘spontaneous polarization’). Permanent electric fields arise in the course of redox, filtration, and diffusion-adsorption processes in the upper part of the geological section. The registration of these fields is the goal of the SP method, and the geophysical interpretation of the parameters generating this field is the main purpose of SP data examination. An oxidizing object (e.g., ore body, archaeological or environmental target) is a galvanic cell, the existence of which requires: (1) the contact of electric conductors with different types of conductivity (electronic and ionic), and (2) the difference in the redox conditions at different contact points of these conductors. Equipment for SP method is one of the most inexpensive in the field of geophysics (Table 1)
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