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Geology topics

F.P. Haeni

Publications and source records attributed to F.P. Haeni.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Surface-geophysical investigation of the University of Connecticut landfill, Storrs, Connecticut

A surface-geophysical investigation of the former landfill area at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. was conducted as part of a preliminary hydrogeologic assessment of the contamination of soil, surface water, and ground water at the site. Geophysical data were used to help determine the dominant direction of fracture strike; subsurface structure of the landfill; locations of possible leachate plumes, fracture zones or conductive lithologic layers; and the location and number of chemical waste-disposal pits. Azimuthal square-array direct-current (dc) resistivity, two-dimensional (2D) dc-resistivity, inductive terrain conductivity, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were the methods used to characterize the landfill area.The dominant strike direction of bedrock fractures interpreted from azimuthal square-array resistivity data is north, ranging from 285 to 30 degrees east of True North. These results complement local geologic maps that identify bedrock foliation and fractures that strike approximately north-south and dip 30 to 40 degrees west.The subsurface structure of the landfill was imaged with 2D dc-resistivity profiling data, which were used to interpret a landfill thickness of 10 to 15 meters. Orientation of the landfill trash disposal trenches were detected by azimuthal square-array resistivity soundings; the dimension and the orientation of the trenches were verified by aerial photographs.Inductive terrain conductivity and 2D dc-resistivity profiling detected conductive anomalies that were interpreted as possible leachate plumes near two surface-water discharge areas. The conductive anomaly to the north of the landfill is interpreted to be a shallow leachate plume and dissipates to almost background levels 45 meters north of the landfill. The anomaly to the southwest is interpreted to extend vertically through the overburden and into the shallow bedrock and laterally along the intermittent drainage to Eagleville Brook, terminating 140 meters south of the landfill. Inductive terrain conductivity and 2D dc-resistivity profiling also detected two dipping, sheet-like conductive features that extend vertically into the bedrock. These features were interpreted either as fracture zones filled with conductive fluids or conductive lithologic layers between more resistive layers. One dipping conductive feature was detected south of the landfill, and the other feature was detected to the west of the former chemical waste-disposal pits. Both anomalies strike approximately north-south and dip about 30 degrees to the west.GPR was used unsuccessfully to locate the former chemical waste-disposal pits. Although the entire overburden and the upper few meters of bedrock were imaged, no anomalous features were detected with GPR that could be correlated with the pits. It is possible that the area surveyed by GPR was entirely backfilled after the soil was removed from the site and that the outline of the former chemical waste-disposal pits no longer exists.

Connecticut

Integrated use of continuous seismic-reflection profiling and ground-penetrating radar methods at John's Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Continuous seismic-reflection profiling (CSP) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in April 1998 over the northern part of John’s Pond, a glacial kettle pond southeast of Otis Air National Guard Base, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The surveys were conducted to delineate the types and thickness of sedimentary units that may control the infiltration of contaminated groundwater into John’s Pond. Sand-and-gravel deposits, collapse features and recent organic sediments were imaged with the CSP and GPR methods. Hummocky to chaotic reflections were interpreted as sand- and-gravel deposits. Slightly wavy, parallel reflections located in depressions in the sand-and- gravel deposits were interpreted as filled collapse features. Lower amplitude, horizontal, laminar reflections were interpreted as organic sediments. Entrapped methane gas within some of the organic sediments created a reflection zone that obscured deeper reflections in the CSP records. The CSP and GPR methods provide complementary information over most of the surveyed part of the pond. The methods detect similar interfaces, but a particular interface may produce a stronger reflection in one record than in the other. For example, regions of the pond containing organic sediments with entrapped methane gas, which prevent penetration of the acoustic signal, were penetrated and imaged by GPR. Conversely, regions of the pond containing electrically conductive sediments or deep water, which attenuate the GPR signal, were imaged using CSP. The CSP and GPR data were interpreted to generate a bathymetric map and a map of sediment type and thickness beneath John’s Pond.

Massachusetts

Use of multi-offset borehole-radar reflection method in fractured crystalline bedrock at Mirror Lake, Grafton County, New Hampshire

Multi-offset, single-hole, borehole-radar reflection surveys were conducted at the U.S. Geological Survey Fractured Rock Research Site at Mirror Lake, in Grafton County, New Hampshire. The study was conducted to evaluate the benefits of applying multi-offset seismic processing techniques to borehole-radar reflection surveys in fractured rock. The multi-offset reflection surveys were conducted in conjunction with a saline tracer- injection experiment. During injection, a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution was continuously pumped into a hydraulically conductive zone that was isolated by specially constructed, reusable, PVC straddle packers suspended from PVC casing. Eight common-offset borehole reflection profiles were collected within the PVC-sleeved portion of the borehole before and during the tracer injection. The offset between the transmitter and receiver antennas ranged from 6.4 to 9.9 m (meters). The common offset data were filtered, sorted into common distance-point (CDP) gathers, normal move-out (NMO) corrected, and stacked to produce a zero-offset borehole CDP profile. Comparison of the common-offset and CDP profiles indicates that multi-offset data acquisition and CDP processing; (1) increases the resolution of reflectors near the borehole, (2) decreases the effects of direct wave coupling, antenna ringing, and system noise, and (3) improves the clarity of difference images used to identify the effects of saline tracer on reflections from transmissive fractures.

New Hampshire

Use of borehole-radar methods to monitor the movement of a saline tracer in carbonate rock at Belvidere, Illinois

Common-depth (CD) radar surveys and cross-hole radar tomography methods were used to monitor the movement of a saline tracer in a dual-porosity dolomite aquifer at Belvidere, Illinois. The tracer test was conducted using an array of six open-hole bedrock wells at the Parson’s Casket Hardware Superfund site. The injection and recovery boreholes were about 20 m (meters) apart, and the imaging boreholes were arranged to provide planar coverage across and along the anticipated tracer path. A hydraulically conductive zone identified during previous investigations was isolated using straddle packers and pumped to establish a hydraulic gradient between the injection and recovery wells. A sodium chloride (NaCl) solution was continuously injected into this zone to move the tracer across the tomographic image plane. CD cross-hole radar surveys and cross-hole tomography surveys were conducted before and periodically during the tracer injection. Background tomograms contain similar radar velocity and attenuation changes with depth, consistent with a layered dolomite that has variable porosity and electrical conductivity. Slow changes in attenuation associated with low tracer velocity permitted the acquisition of multiple CD surveys and two cross-hole tomography surveys during injection. CD surveys were used to rapidly identify the presence of tracer between wells. Attenuation-difference tomograms contain attenuation increases that delineate the spatial distribution with time of the saline tracer and show the progressive movement of the tracer within the tomographic image plane. Formation porosity and resistivities calculated from radar velocity and attenuation tomograms were used to estimate changes in fluid resistivity and tracer concentration in the tomographic image plane.

Illinois

Cross‐hole radar attenuation tomography using a frequency centroid down‐shift method: Consideration of non‐linear frequency dependence of EM wave attenuation

This paper presents a cross-hole radar attenuation tomography method based on analysis of the down-shift in the spectrum centroid frequency, and spectral broadening of the received radar signals. The method uses a parameter that combines centroid frequency down shift and variance increase for the projection function to construct the tomography algorithm. In comparison with other methods for estimating attenuation, the frequency down shift method is relatively insensitive to the effects of geometric spreading, antenna coupling, antenna radiation pattern,and instrument response, but the method requires the data to be broad-band so the frequency shift is easily measured. This method is well suited for difference tomography when electrically conductive tracers are used. The method was tested using cross-hole radar data acquired before and during a saline tracer injection experiment at the U.S.Geological Survey’s Fractured Rock Research Site at Mirror Lake, in Grafton County, New Hampshire. The attenuation-difference tomogram clearly outlines the location of the saline tracer within the tomography plane.

New Hampshire

Use of ground-penetrating radar and continuous seismic-reflection profiling on surface-water bodies in environmental and engineering studies

Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and continuous seismic‐reflection profiling (CSP) on shallow rivers, lakes, and ponds are efficient and economical ways of obtaining subsurface hydrologic and geologic information for environmental and engineering studies. These methods are similar in that they produce continuous subsurface profiles, are easy to use in some applications, and the records can occasionally be straightforward to interpret. They are dissimilar in that GPR cannot penetrate electrically conductive water or subsurface sediments, and CSP usually cannot operate in water less than 5 feet (ft.) deep. GPR records collected on a lake in New Hampshire have been interpreted to estimate the depth to bedrock and to evaluate the grain‐size characteristics of the underlying stratified drift at the lakeshore boundary. In a pond in Massachusetts, CSP and GPR were used to determine depth to bedrock and the grain‐size characteristics of the subbottom materials in part of the pond. Water‐column multiple reflections, depth and conductivity of water and subsurface materials, and diffractions degraded the quality of the GPR records. CSP records collected in the Connecticut River near Hartford, Connecticut were used to estimate the depth of till and bedrock interfaces and to evaluate grain‐size characteristics of subsurface materials. Interpreted CSP records also can indicate bedding planes within consolidated rock units. Water‐column multiple reflections and very shallow water degraded the quality of the CSP records. GPR and CSP methods have been used to delineate infilled scour holes near bridge piers. Scour holes that were filled with up to 8 ft. of loose sand were mapped during engineering scour studies near a bridge in Connecticut. Because GPR and CSP operate on different physical principles, the two geophysical methods complement each other. Depending on the required depth of penetration and the degree of resolution needed, one or both of these methods can be used to acquire accurate and reliable subsurface hydrologic and geologic information critical to environmental and engineering studies.

Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics

Application of surface-geophysical methods to investigations of sand and gravel aquifers in the glaciated Northeastern United States

Combined use of seismic-refraction, direct-current resistivity, very-low-frequency terrain-resistivity, and inductive terrain-conductivity methods were demonstrated at sites in Connecticut, New York, and Maine. Although no single method can define both the hydrogeologic boundaries and general grain-size characteristics of sand and gravel aquifers, a combination of these methods can. Comparisons of measured electrical properties of aquifers with logs of test holes and wells indicate that, for a given conductivity of ground water, the bulk electrical resistivity of aquifers in the glaciated Northeast increases with grain size.

Northeastern United States

Surface-geophysical techniques used to detect existing and infilled scour holes near bridge piers

Surface-geophysical techniques were used with a position-recording system to study riverbed scour near bridge piers. From May 1989 to May 1993, Fathometers, fixed- and swept-frequency continuous seismic- reflection profiling (CSP) systems, and a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system were used with a laser-positioning system to measure the depth and extent of existing and infilled scour holes near bridge piers. Equipment was purchased commercially and modified when necessary to interface the components and (or) to improve their performance. Three 200-kHz black-and-white chart-recording Fathometers produced profiles of the riverbed that included existing scour holes and exposed pier footings. The Fathometers were used in conjunction with other geophysical techniques to help interpret the geophysical data. A 20-kHz color Fathometer delineated scour-hole geometry and, in some cases, the thickness of fill material in the hole. The signal provided subbottom information as deep as 10 ft in fine-grained materials and resolved layers of fill material as thin as 1 ft thick. Fixed-frequency and swept-frequency CSP systems were evaluated. The fixed-frequency system used a 3.5-, 7.0-, or 14-kHz signal. The 3.5-kHz signal penetrated up to 50 ft of fine-grained material and resolved layers as thin as 2.5-ft thick. The 14-kHz signal penetrated up to 20 ft of fine-grained material and resolved layers as thin as 1-ft thick. The swept-frequency systems used a signal that swept from 2- to 16-kHz. With this system, up to 50 ft of penetration was achieved, and fill material as thin as 1 ft was resolved. Scour-hole geometry, exposed pier footings, and fill thickness in scour holes were detected with both CSP systems. The GPR system used an 80-, 100-, or 300-megahertz signal. The technique produced records in water up to 15 ft deep that had a specific conductance less than 200 µS/cm. The 100-MHz signal penetrated up to 40 ft of resistive granular material and resolved layers as thin as 2-ft thick. Scour-hole geometry, the thickness of fill material in scour holes, and riverbed deposition were detected using this technique. Processing techniques were applied after data collection to assist with the interpretation of the data. Data were transferred from the color Fathometer, CSP, and GPR systems to a personal computer, and a commercially available software package designed to process GPR data was used to process the GPR and CSP data. Digital filtering, predictive- deconvolution, and migration algorithms were applied to some of the data. The processed data were displayed and printed as color amplitude or wiggle-trace plots. These processing methods eased and improved the interpretation of some of the data, but some interference from side echoes from bridge piers and multiple reflections remained in the data. The surface-geophysical techniques were applied at six bridge sites in Connecticut. Each site had different water depths, specific conductance, and riverbed materials. Existing and infilled scour holes, exposed pier footings, and riverbed deposition were detected by the surveys. The interpretations of the geophysical data were confirmed by comparing the data with lithologic and (or) probing data.

Connecticut