Investigation Of An Earth Fissure Using Electrical And Seismic Methods

Earth fissures present a hazard in the alluvial desert soils of the Las Vegas valley<br>(Nevada), particularly when their presence is masked by cemented surficial materials.<br>The authors performed electromagnetic conductivity, electrical resistivity, and surfacebased<br>seismic measurements over a known earth fissure lacking surface expression.<br>Preliminary reconnaissance using electromagnetic conductivity measurements indicated<br>the presence of a buried pipeline traversing the site. The presence of the fissure was<br>clearly indicated by the electrical resistivity measurements, which were performed in a<br>28-electrode dipole-dipole array, although the geometry of the fissure was not resolved.<br>Results were compared with a synthetic dataset. An experimental frequency-domain<br>surface-based seismic cavity detection investigation was also conducted over the fissure.<br>The method was moderately successful for this application.