Integrated Geophysical Methods to Discriminate the Locations of the Subsurface Weakness Zone Areas in the State Company for Glass and Refractories at Al-Ramadi City, Iraq

Abstract

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity Imaging (ERI) techniques were employed at specific sites in the State Company for Glass and Refractories in the city of Ar-Ramadi, Iraq to investigate subsurface weakness zones. ERI was applied at three selected stations using a Dipole-dipole array with a-spacing of 1m, and GPR was conducted with 250MHz antenna at the same stations. The investigation results revealed that subsurface weakness zones in the quaternary deposits were found at depths ranging approximately from 2.5 to 5 meters. Additionally, a second weakness zone in the Injana Formation deposits was identified at a depth approximately 7 to 12 meters. The ERI technique demonstrated its promise as a powerful subsurface imaging technology, providing more accurate structural information about the weakness zones compared to GPR, which exhibited less sensitivity and yielded more ambiguous results.