Environmental Applications of Geophysical Surveying Techniques

This book should be of great benefit to undergraduate and postgraduate students who are taking geology or geophysics courses. It is also aimed at a wider audience, those who need to know what exists below the surface and those to whom the state of that subsurface, and hence to a large extent our environmental wellbeing, is important. Geophysics is a science that transcends the usual disciplinary boundaries so this book will also be beneficial for engineers, geologists, planners, archeologists, hydrologists, geographers and environmental scientists. The layout of this second edition of the book follows that of the first edition to ensure continuity, but is greatly enhanced by the addition of new case studies, figures and plates. Chapter 1, for example, has 35% more text and 20% more diagrams than the first edition. A very important aspect of geophysics is the processing of geophysical data. An innovative aspect of this second edition is that the reader will be given the opportunity to process real geophysical data collected by the authors. Over 60 files are provided online which can be used in conjunction with the book. The processing includes: • Smoothing geophysical data • Investigating sample interval with sine waves • Modeling of gravity data • Processing magnetic data • Forward and Inverse resistivity modelling • Processing resistance data • Forward and Inverse modelling of EM data • GPR response simulation • Seismic calculations from distance-time graph • Seismic calculations for reflection survey This processing is performed using either simple spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel or proprietary software downloadable from the web. The aims and scope of the book are: • To explain the theoretical basis behind the main geophysical techniques used in environmental investigations • to discuss the equipment and techniques used in environmental geophysics • to provide case studies of the use of the techniques and • to have the opportunity to process real geophysics data.