Em And Gpr Mapping Of Bedrock Fractures As Conduits For Contaminated Groundwater Flow In A Landfill

Geophysical methods can provide fast, economic, and non-invasive methods to<br>study groundwater contamination. Geological, hydrogeological and geochemical data are<br>not always sufficient in compiling a complete story of the subsurface. However, the<br>addition of geophysics to these other data sets is generally much more informative.<br>There have been some growing concerns that landfills in general have been<br>contaminating the groundwater of near-by domestic wells. An example where this is the<br>case is the Hartland Landfill in Victoria, B.C., Canada (Fig. 1.). Since most groundwater<br>flow in this area occurs through fractured bedrock, a geophysical study was carried out to<br>map these potentially conductive groundwater paths with electromagnetic techniques.<br>Any alteration products or leachate found in these fractures are expected to show<br>conductive highs. To help interpret the electromagnetic (EM) data and provide<br>independent information on fracture occurrence, several ground-penetrating radar (GPR)<br>profiles were completed.