Geophysical techniques are increasingly being used as tools for characterising the subsurface, and they are generally required to develop subsurface models that properly delineate the distribution of aquifers and aquitards, salt/freshwater interfaces, and geological structures that affect groundwater flow. In a study area covering 730 km 2 across the border between Germany and Denmark, a combination of an airborne electromagnetic survey (performed with the SkyTEM system), a high-resolution seismic survey and borehole logging has been used in an integrated mapping of important geological, physical and chemical features of the subsurface. The spacing between flight lines is 200–250 m which gives a total of about 3200 line km. About 38 km of seismic lines have been collected. Faults bordering a graben structure, buried tunnel valleys, glaciotectonic thrust complexes, marine clay units, and sand aquifers are all examples of geological structures mapped by the geophysical data that control groundwater flow and to some extent hydrochemistry. Additionally, the data provide an excellent picture of the salinity distribution in the area and thus provide important information on the salt/freshwater boundary and the chemical status of groundwater. Although the westernmost part of the study area along the North Sea coast is saturated with saline water and the TEM data therefore are strongly influenced by the increased electrical conductivity there, buried valleys and other geological elements are still revealed. The mapped salinity distribution indicates preferential flow paths through and along specific geological structures within the area. The effects of a future sea level rise on the groundwater system and groundwater chemistry are discussed with special emphasis on the importance of knowing the existence, distribution and geometry of the mapped geological elements, and their control on the groundwater salinity distribution is assessed.

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Transboundary geophysical mapping of geological elements and salinity distribution critical for the assessment of future sea water intrusion in response to sea level rise

For reliably predicting the impact of climate changes on salt/freshwater systems below barrier islands, a long-term hydraulic modelling is inevitable. As input we need the parameters porosity, salinity and hydraulic conductivity at the catchment scale, preferably non-invasively acquired with geophysical methods. We present a methodology to retrieve the searched parameters and a lithological interpretation by the joint analysis of magnetic resonance soundings (MRS) and vertical electric soundings (VES). Both data sets are jointly inverted for resistivity, water content and decay time using a joint inversion scheme. Coupling is accomplished by common layer thicknesses. We show the results of three soundings measured on the eastern part of the North Sea island of Borkum. Pumping test data is used to calibrate the petrophysical relationship for the local conditions in order to estimate permeability from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data. Salinity is retrieved from water content and resistivity using a modified Archie equation calibrated by local samples. As a result we are able to predict porosity, salinity and hydraulic conductivities of the aquifers, including their uncertainties. The joint inversion significantly improves the reliability of the results. Verification is given by comparison with a borehole. A sounding in the flooding area demonstrates that only the combined inversion provides a correct subsurface model. Thanks to the joint application, we are able to distinguish fluid conductivity from lithology and provide reliable hydraulic parameters as shown by uncertainty analysis. These findings can finally be used to build groundwater flow models for simulating climate changes. This includes the improved geometry and lithological attribution, and also the parameters and their uncertainties.

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Hydraulic properties at the North Sea island of Borkum derived from joint inversion of magnetic resonance and electrical resistivity soundings

Saltwater contamination in the managed low-lying farmland of the Venice coast, Italy: An assessment of vulnerability

Delineation of site-specific management units in a saline region at the Venice Lagoon margin, Italy, using soil reflectance and apparent electrical conductivity

Understanding geological and hydrogeological characteristics in coastal areas is an issue of paramount importance considering its socio-economic relevance, whereas, to date, limited information has been acquired due to the lack of suitable survey methods. We have conducted an airborne electromagnetic survey in an alluvial coastal plain, Kujukuri, in southeast Japan, to examine the effectiveness of elucidating the subsurface electric-resistivity structure both on land and offshore. Our approach was to use a grounded electrical dipole source and a helicopter-towed magnetic field receiver. Repeated surveys both at high and low tides revealed that a reliable resistivity structure is available to a depth of 300–350 m in coastal areas where shallow (∼5 m deep) water prevails.

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Further investigations of underground resistivity structures in coastal areas using grounded-source airborne electromagnetics

A comprehensive investigation of the exchange between surficial waters and groundwater in transitional environments, and hence the mixing of waters characterized by a different salt concentration, is an issue of paramount importance considering the ecological, cultural, and socio-economic relevance of transitional environments. Acquiring information, which can improve the process understanding, is often logistically challenging, and generally expensive and slow in these areas. This applies both for punctual, invasive borehole measurements as well as for ground-based non invasive geophysical surveys. Here we investigate the capability of airborne electromagnetics (AEM) to give a significant contribution to the understanding of the hydrogeology within, below and at the margin of the Venice Lagoon, Italy. The quasi-3D modelling of the SkyTEM data by the spatially constrained inversion (SCI) methodology allows to accurately distinguish several hydrogeological features, both underneath the lagoon and the farmland beside it. Hydrogeological features resolved are, for example, the extent of the saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers and the transition between the upper salt saturated and the underlying fresher sediments below the lagoon bottom, and areas of probable submarine groundwater discharge. While the AEM data show a high degree of coherence with available ancillary information, both from wells and from other geophysical techniques such as high resolution off-shore seismic, they improve greatly the understanding of the hydrogeology in the Venice lagoon, both at large scale and in detail. The research highlights the great potential of AEM to improve significantly the hydrogeological characterization of subsurface processes in lagoons, wetlands, and deltas worldwide.

Tosi Luigi

Papers

Surface Water-Groundwater Exchange in Transitional Coastal Environments by Airborne Electromagnetics: The Venice Lagoon Example