Extent of Thin Surfacial Fracture Detection Using Geophysical Survey: A Case Study of Parwan Gravity Dam, Jhalawar, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Parwan Gravity Dam is under construction stage in the Jhalawar district of Rajasthan, India. A thin sub-vertical surficial fracture trending N 75°W to S 75°E has been observed in the foundation area of the dam. Geophysical techniques such as electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), seismic refraction tomography (SRT), and multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) are utilized extensively in the field of civil engineering, exploration geophysics for the assessment and construction of large-scale infrastructures such as dams. These methods provide critical information about the subsurface conditions without the need of extensive drilling and excavation. The combination of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), seismic refraction (SR), and multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) techniques with the different acquisition parameters have been used to image the extent of shallow subsurface geological structures. Various geophysical Surveys have been carried out along several profiles in the longitudinal direction and along the transverse direction to the fault axis. A total of 13 refraction and resistivity profiles were conducted of which 9 were transverse profiles and 4 were longitudinal profiles. A total of nine MASW profiles were conducted of which 8 are transverse profiles and 1 is a longitudinal profile. In this paper, the subsurface distribution of seismic wave velocity and electrical resistivity have been studied to identify any possible anomalous zone in bedrock and to detect the downward extension of surface fracture of brittle fault using the afore mentioned methods. The vertical and lateral extent of the surface fracture of the fault has been investigated by the analysis of these survey results. The analysis of the results indicates that a very tight and narrow fracture is present in the shallow subsurface.