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org (ISSN-2349-5162)

VERTICAL ELECTRICAL SOUNDING

METHOD TO DECIPHER THE EXISTING
SUBSURFACE STRATIFICATION AND
ASSESS THE CAUSE LEADING TO LAND
INSTABILITY: A CASE STUDY
Meripeni Ezung1, Temsulemba Walling2 and C. Chelladurai3
1
Research Scholar (Regd. No. 1813602004), 2Assistant Professor, 3Professor
1,3
Department of Physics, St. Joseph University, Ikishe model Village, Virgin Town, Dimapur-797115, Nagaland,
India
2
Department of Geology, Nagaland University, Kohima campus, Meriema-797004, Nagaland, India
1
e-mail:m_ezung@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
An electrical resistivity study was conducted at the selected study area to ascertain the causes leading to land instability after a
portion of the area was washed away in 2005 at site 1(Officer’s Hill) and in 2007 and 2008 at site 2 (Merhülietsa). The data generated
through Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) at five VES stations were analyzed and interpretation of the sounding curves indicated
the presence of three to four subsurface geo-electric layers comprising of the topsoil, fractured shale layers/shale with
sandstone/siltstone intercalations, and weathered shale layers with high water content. The dominance of K type curve confirms
that the study area has lower saturatedbedrocks consisting of sheared, crumpled, weak, and highly weatheredrocks that are in various
stages of weathering and are more prone to slope failures.

KEYWORDS:Electrical resistivity, field curves, Schlumberger configuration, vertical electrical sounding (VES)

1. Introduction
Kohima,which is the state capital of Nagaland, is located in the southern part of the state and lies geographically between 25°37'30''
and 25°42'32'' North latitudes and 94°04'40'' and 94°07'43''East longitudes with an area coverage of about 20 sq. km. The area
receives heavy rainfall during the monsoon season ranging from 1500 mm to 2200 mm and the main drainage systems that control
the hydro-geology around the town area are Dzütre Rü on the west, Dzuna Rü on the east, Sanu Rü and Rhe Rü on the north.Kohima
town is hydrogeologically occupied by consolidated to semi-consolidated rocks of Disang and Barail group of rocks comprising of
shale, siltstone, mudstone and fine to medium sandstone, which are highly jointed, fractured and in various stages of weathering.
Major portion of Kohima town is dominated by the Disang group of rocks consisting of shales, siltstone, mudstone and sandstone.
The exposed shales observed are dark grey and splintery in nature with minor beds of siltstone and sandstone intercalation in some
areas of the town. This type of shale, when in contact with water, becomes pulverized into blackish shale and swells, leading to
slide and mudflow, thus resulting in landslides which pose great threat to the people because of the enormous generation of debris
from severe infrastructure damages[1-4].

Geophysical methods are used successfully for Reconnaissance survey over the past few decades, especially in landslide
investigations [5]. This method employs scientific measurement parameters to study the subsurface of the earth which enables to
find the different patterns relating to its geological formation, rock types, thickness of weathered material, porosity and location of
fractured zones [6-7].Among the several geophysical methods which are in use, electrical resistivity (ER) method have been broadly
used, especially by field geologists for regional and local surveysdue to its theoretical, operational and interpretational ease [8-9].
This method measures the earth’s resistivity by driving a direct current (DC) into the ground to give the potentials induced inside
the earth. Several factors, such as moisture and clay content influence slope movement that control the electrical resistance of soils
and rocks. So, variations in resistivity to current flow cause variations in the potential differences and this provides information
about the subsurface[10].

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2. Study area

2.1 Location
The study area is located within Kohima town andis incorporated in the Survey of India topographic sheet number 83K/2 and lies
between 25°39'51.59'' - 25°39'56.8'' North latitudes and 94°05'40.49'' - 94°05'50.12'' East longitudes. The selected sites for the
survey are Officer’s Hill (M1 and M2) and Merhülietsa (M3, M4 and M5) marked in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Location map of the study area

(M1 = VES 1, M2 = VES 2, M3 = VES 3, M4 = VES 4, M5 = VES 5)

2.2 Lithology of the study area

The study areas are represented by Disang group of rocks that are predominantly shales intercalated with minor beds of sandstone
and siltstone[11].These rock formations are more prone to weathering. The exposed rocks are sheared, fractured and weathered
which allows water percolation into the subsurface to take place. Development of cracks below the surface in different parts of the
selected sites led to water infiltration, especially during the monsoon season. This ledthe pore water pressure to build up on the
slopes, leading to reduced strength of the slopes.Following Kusummawardani [12], it has been observed that contacts between the
bedrocks that consist of weathered/sheared zones, presence of cracks, fault and overlapping of rock layersare potential geo-
structures that might have encouraged instability and groundwater development in these areas. Some fieldphotographs of the study
area showing fractured/weathered rocks (Fig. 2 A and B) and affected areasdue to unstable slopes (Fig. 2 C and D) are shown below:

A B

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C D

Fig. 2: Field photographs

3. Materials and methods

Electrical resistivity method, which is based on the measurement of electrical potentials between one electrode pair with a
transmitting direct current between another electrode pair, involves the measurement of the apparent resistivity of soils and rocks
as a function of depth or position.An electric field is artificially induced inside the ground by means of either galvanic batteries
(DC) or low frequency AC generators. The current sent into the ground by means of two grounded electrode, called the current
electrodes gives the potential difference measured by two more grounded electrodes, called the potential electrodes. The resistance
offered by a unit cube of the material for the flow of current through the normal surface is its electrical resistivity ‘ρ’, defined as:
ρ = RA/L (1)

where R is the resistance, A is its cross-sectional area and L is the length of the conductor.
The resistivity for a heterogeneous medium, which is called as the apparent resistivity of geologic formation[13] is equal to the true
resistivity in which, for a given electrode configuration, the apparent resistivity ‘ρ a’ is given by:
δV
ρa = K* (2)
I
π
where K = [L2 - l2] is the geometric spacing factor (AB = 2L and MN = 2l).
2𝑙
A resistivity meter, Aquameter CRM 500 was used for the data collection and each apparent resistivity value was computed using
equation (2). Computer modelling software IPI2win was used for the quantitative analysis of the data[14-15] and resistivity with
their corresponding layer thickness was obtained. Vertical electrical sounding (VES), which is based on the estimation of the
electrical conductivity or resistivity of the medium was employed [16]. Here, measurements are taken at different locations for
various values of current electrode separations by keeping the centre of the electrode system fixed. Variation in electrical
characteristics with depth is obtained from the apparent resistivity variation with the current electrode spacing.Different electrode
configurations are used for measuring the potential difference of the subsurface, the mostly used configurations for VES being the
symmetrical Schlumberger configuration (Fig. 3), which was used for the present study.

If ρ1, ρ2 and ρ3 are the resistivity of the subsurface layers with ρ1 at the top followed by ρ2 and ρ3, then the four basic categories
for the classification of sounding curves, depending on the resistivity values with depth are:
ρ1 < ρ2 < ρ3: A-type
ρ1 < ρ2 > ρ3: K-type
ρ1 > ρ2 < ρ3: H-type
ρ1 > ρ2 > ρ3: Q-type

Fig. 3: Schematic diagram for the Schlumberger array

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4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Resistivity analysis for the data collected at five VES stations give the layer model interpretations in terms of its field curves (Fig.
4) and geoelectric layer parameters (Table 1).From the five VES interpreted results, three to four geoelectric layers were delineated,
namely topsoil/clay,fractured shale layer/shale with siltstone/sandstoneintercalationsand saturated weathered shales with high water
content[17].The sounding curves are of KQ and K types, with K type being the dominant one for the survey sites.

VES 1 VES 2

VES 3 VES 4 VES 5

Fig. 4: VES field curves

Sounding data of VES 1, VES 2, VES 3 and VES 5 (Table 1) show resistivity value rising to a maximum and then decreasing (ρ1
< ρ2 > ρ3) indicating that the intermediate layer has higher resistivity value compared to the top and bottom layers. Such type of
curve dominance indicates that the area has a lower saturated weathered rock[18- 20]. The resistivity of the first layer (top soil)
ranges between 40.1 Ωm to 182.7 Ωm with thickness of 0.37 m to 4.26 m. In the second layer, high resistivity values ranging from
106 Ωm to 442.2 Ωm with thickness of 4.97m – 14.1 m was observed which may contain the fractured bedrock layer. The third
layer has lower resistivity value ranging from 0.582 Ωm to 97.25 Ωm which could be due to the presence of saturated weathered
rock. From the inferred nature of the lithounits, these areas show a good potential for groundwater prospecting [21-25].

Table1: Layer parameters for the VES points

Station ρ1 ρ2 ρ3 ρ4 h1 h2 h3 h4 d1 d2 d3 d4 Curve
(Ωm) (m) (m) type
VES 1 182.7 442.2 97.25 - 1.82 7.81 - - 1.82 9.63 - - K
(M1)
VES 2 56.7 249 26.2 - 0.37 14.1 - - 0.37 14.5 - - K
(M2)
VES 3 40.1 332 0.582 - 1.15 5.23 - - 1.15 6.38 - - K
(M3)
VES 4 63.5 297.8 103.4 1.043 0.76 0.399 14.13 - 0.76 1.162 15.29 - KQ
(M4)
VES 5 50.3 106 11.8 - 4.26 4.97 - - 4.26 9.23 - - K
(M5)

VES-vertical electrical sounding: ρ-layer resistivity: h–layer thickness: d–layer depth:Ωm-ohm meter: m - meter

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Fig. 5: Sections of resistivity and pseudo cross sections

In order to understand the underlying subsurface condition, the section AA’ is plotted along the SW-NE direction (Fig. 5) with the
VES stations M1, M2, M4 and M5. From the resistivity and pseudo cross sections (Fig. 6), it was observed that a low resistivity
zone of less 60 Ω-m is seen at M5, which continues towards M4 at a depth of 30 m below ground level. This indicates that the area
has a saturated layer revealing the high water content. In M1, layer of high resistivity (> 250 Ω-m) at a depth from 5 to 20 m
(approximately) is observed, which are indicative of the presence of possible weathered or fractured zones [26].

Fig. 6: Pseudo cross section and Resistivity cross section along AA’

5. Conclusion

Electrical resistivity survey of the selected sites show the presence of three to four geoelectric layers, namely topsoil/clay,fractured
shale layers/shale with siltstone/sandstoneintercalations and weathered shale layers with high water content. The VES sounding
curves are of KQ and K types, with K type being the dominant one, indicating that the area has a lower saturated weathered bedrock
layer.The subsurface geologic materials mainly consist of sheared, crumpled, weak, highly weatheredand fractured rocks. During
monsoon season, the excess water infiltrated through these fractured and weathered zones makes the shales to swell causing water
pressure to build up on the slopes. These might have been some of the factors that led tofailure of the slope. The results suggest that
the selected survey sites are situated in a geologically disturbed area that are highly susceptible to weathering and slope failures.

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6. Acknowledgement

The authors wish to acknowledge Mr.C. Nokendangba Chang, Mr. Mehilo Apon and Mr. Notoka, Research scholars, Department
of Geology, Nagaland University for the help during the field works.

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