Electrical resistivity earth imaging system

我们正在申请资金购买电阻率成像系统（ERI）。这将是唯一一个直接支持不列颠哥伦比亚省大学研究的系统。电阻率是所有材料的固有特性；它是一种测量材料抵抗电流流动程度的方法。在沉积物或岩石中，这种性质是孔隙度、饱和度、孔隙流体和固相的电阻率以及物质结构的函数。因此，预计不同的沉积物和岩石在电阻率方面会有很大的差异。该应用中要求的电阻率成像系统包含准确快速测量电阻率对比所需的硬件和软件，并解决沉积物和岩石的湿度条件和地下结构。该设备将被大量使用，因为它将支持冰川地貌学和地层学、岩土工程、水文地质学和水文学等广泛的研究项目。这些研究项目旨在：(1)促进我们对冰川地貌形成和冰川景观演变的理解，并由此扩展我们对冰川运动、冰管道系统和上一个冰河时期环境变化的认识；(2)探索区域尺度的地下水流动，重点是沿海含水层水文地质学和裂隙岩石中的流体流动；(3)表征和模拟土壤和岩石边坡稳定性；(4)研究基岩地形和土壤深度空间格局对水文过程的影响。

We are requesting funding to purchase an electrical resistivity imaging system (ERI). This would be the only system of its kind directly supporting University research in British Columbia. Electrical resistivity is an inherent property of all materials; it is a measure of the degree to which a material resists the flow of an electrical current. In sediments or rock this property is a function of porosity, saturation, resistivity of pore fluids and the solid phase, and the material texture. Consequently, different sediments and rock are expected to exhibit large contrasts in electrical resistivity. The electrical resistivity imaging system requested in this application contains the hardware and software required to accurately and rapidly measure these resistivity contrasts and to resolve the moisture conditions and subsurface architecture of sediments and rock. This equipment will be heavily used as it will support a broad range of research programs in glacial geomorphology and stratigraphy, geotechnical engineering, hydrogeology and hydrology.  These research programs are designed to (1) advance our understanding of the formation of glacial landforms and the evolution of glacial landscapes and from this to expand our knowledge of ice motion, ice plumbing systems and environmental change during the last ice age, (2) explore regional-scale groundwater flow, with an emphasis on coastal aquifer hydrogeology and fluid flow in fractured rocks, (3) characterize and model soil and rock slope stability, and (4) investigate the role of bedrock topography and spatial patterns in soil depth on hydrological processes.