Numerical Study for the Detection of Fault using Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Abstract Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) is a well-known standard geophysics technique for identification of geological phenomena such as faulting. The resolving power of this method is constrained by electrode spacing, device used, electrode configuration, resistivity contrast, and so on. On faulting, fault types are assumed to influence greater than the other parameter. In this research, we carried out a simulation study to detect the resolving power of ERT system using available software in public domain. Three different electrode configurations were used, namely Wenner, Schlumberger, and Dipole-dipole. We varied electrode spacing and resistivity contrast and fault types to yield optimal result. The results of this research are the most optimal model for identifying fault zones was a model that used a Dipole-dipole array with an electrode spacing of 1 m. The smaller the electrode spacing and the greater the number of cells in modelling, it produces a higher resolution modelling cross-section, so that the inversion results are more accurate to the models.