Concept for the evaluation of geophysical studies of problem zones in salt rock.

Geophysical methods are used to evaluate the safety and stability of geological barriers in the Bischofferode potash mine in Germany for toxic waste disposal. The presence of water in salt rocks can impair both stability and the effectiveness of the rock as a barrier, so information about such zones must be included in the site assessment. The reliability of the information is increased by the use of more than one method. Electromagnetic techniques can provide a quick overview for planning the use of other methods. Data from electromagnetic, georadar, geoelectrical, seismic and sonar investigation can be evaluated in two ways: data from all the methods can be interpreted in terms of structure, and criteria specific to each method can be applied to identify anomalous values. The resulting anomaly indexes for each method can then be overlain to create a problem index.
Geophysical methods are used to evaluate the safety and stability of geological barriers in the Bischofferode potash mine in Germany for toxic waste disposal. The presence of water in salt rocks can impair both stability and the effectiveness of the rock as a barrier, so information about such zones must be included in the site assessment. The reliability of the information is increased by the use of more than one method. Electromagnetic techniques can provide a quick overview for planning the use of other methods. Data from electromagnetic, georadar, geoelectrical, seismic and sonar investigation can be evaluated in two ways: data from all the methods can be interpreted in terms of structure, and criteria specific to each method can be applied to identify anomalous values. The resulting anomaly indexes for each method can then be overlain to create a problem index.