Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data
Lakes are integrators of past climate and ecological change. This information is stored in the sediment record at the lake bottom, and to make it available for paleoclimate research, potential target sites with undisturbed and continuous sediment sequences need to be identified. Different geophysica...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-12-01
|
| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/23/8053 |
| _version_ | 1797507143037878272 |
|---|---|
| author | Johannes Hoppenbrock Matthias Bücker Jakob Gallistl Adrián Flores Orozco Carlos Pita de la Paz César Emilio García García José Alberto Razo Pérez Johannes Buckel Liseth Pérez |
| author_facet | Johannes Hoppenbrock Matthias Bücker Jakob Gallistl Adrián Flores Orozco Carlos Pita de la Paz César Emilio García García José Alberto Razo Pérez Johannes Buckel Liseth Pérez |
| author_sort | Johannes Hoppenbrock |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lakes are integrators of past climate and ecological change. This information is stored in the sediment record at the lake bottom, and to make it available for paleoclimate research, potential target sites with undisturbed and continuous sediment sequences need to be identified. Different geophysical methods are suitable to identify, explore, and characterize sediment layers prior to sediment core recovery. Due to the high resolution, reflection seismic methods have become standard for this purpose. However, seismic measurements cannot always provide a comprehensive image of lake-bottom sediments, e.g., due to lacking seismic contrasts between geological units or high attenuation of seismic waves. Here, we developed and tested a complementary method based on water-borne electrical-resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements. Our setup consisted of 13 floating electrodes (at 5 m spacing) used to collect ERT data with a dipole–dipole configuration. We used a 1D inversion to adjust a layered-earth model, which facilitates the implementation of constraints on water depth, water resistivity, and sediment resistivity as a priori information. The first two parameters were readily obtained from the echo-sounder and conductivity-probe measurements. The resistivity of sediment samples can also be determined in the laboratory. We applied this approach to process ERT data collected on a lake in southern Mexico. The direct comparison of ERT data with reflection seismic data collected with a sub-bottom profiler (SBP) showed that we can significantly improve the sediment-thickness estimates compared to unconstrained 2D inversions. Down to water depths of 20 m, our sediment thickness estimates were close to the sediment thickness derived from collocated SBP seismograms. Our approach represents an implementation of ERT measurements on lakes and complements the standard lake-bottom exploration by reflection seismic methods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:44:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6ab844714ea147249a181b12ff6c8fd9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:44:25Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-6ab844714ea147249a181b12ff6c8fd92023-11-23T03:03:15ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-12-012123805310.3390/s21238053Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography DataJohannes Hoppenbrock0Matthias Bücker1Jakob Gallistl2Adrián Flores Orozco3Carlos Pita de la Paz4César Emilio García García5José Alberto Razo Pérez6Johannes Buckel7Liseth Pérez8Institute of Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics, TU Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, GermanyInstitute of Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics, TU Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, GermanyResearch Unit Geophysics, Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, AustriaResearch Unit Geophysics, Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, AustriaGeotem Ingeniería S.A. de C.V., Mexico City 14640, MexicoGeotem Ingeniería S.A. de C.V., Mexico City 14640, MexicoGeotem Ingeniería S.A. de C.V., Mexico City 14640, MexicoInstitute of Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics, TU Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, GermanyInstitute of Geosystems and Bioindication, TU Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, GermanyLakes are integrators of past climate and ecological change. This information is stored in the sediment record at the lake bottom, and to make it available for paleoclimate research, potential target sites with undisturbed and continuous sediment sequences need to be identified. Different geophysical methods are suitable to identify, explore, and characterize sediment layers prior to sediment core recovery. Due to the high resolution, reflection seismic methods have become standard for this purpose. However, seismic measurements cannot always provide a comprehensive image of lake-bottom sediments, e.g., due to lacking seismic contrasts between geological units or high attenuation of seismic waves. Here, we developed and tested a complementary method based on water-borne electrical-resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements. Our setup consisted of 13 floating electrodes (at 5 m spacing) used to collect ERT data with a dipole–dipole configuration. We used a 1D inversion to adjust a layered-earth model, which facilitates the implementation of constraints on water depth, water resistivity, and sediment resistivity as a priori information. The first two parameters were readily obtained from the echo-sounder and conductivity-probe measurements. The resistivity of sediment samples can also be determined in the laboratory. We applied this approach to process ERT data collected on a lake in southern Mexico. The direct comparison of ERT data with reflection seismic data collected with a sub-bottom profiler (SBP) showed that we can significantly improve the sediment-thickness estimates compared to unconstrained 2D inversions. Down to water depths of 20 m, our sediment thickness estimates were close to the sediment thickness derived from collocated SBP seismograms. Our approach represents an implementation of ERT measurements on lakes and complements the standard lake-bottom exploration by reflection seismic methods.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/23/8053geophysicssediment thicknesselectrical-resistivity tomographywater borneinversionreflection seismic |
| spellingShingle | Johannes Hoppenbrock Matthias Bücker Jakob Gallistl Adrián Flores Orozco Carlos Pita de la Paz César Emilio García García José Alberto Razo Pérez Johannes Buckel Liseth Pérez Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data Sensors geophysics sediment thickness electrical-resistivity tomography water borne inversion reflection seismic |
| title | Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data |
| title_full | Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data |
| title_short | Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data |
| title_sort | evaluation of lake sediment thickness from water borne electrical resistivity tomography data |
| topic | geophysics sediment thickness electrical-resistivity tomography water borne inversion reflection seismic |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/23/8053 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johanneshoppenbrock evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT matthiasbucker evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT jakobgallistl evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT adrianfloresorozco evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT carlospitadelapaz evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT cesaremiliogarciagarcia evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT josealbertorazoperez evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT johannesbuckel evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata AT lisethperez evaluationoflakesedimentthicknessfromwaterborneelectricalresistivitytomographydata |