The Determination of the Saline/Fresh Water Interface by Resistivity Soundings

Abstract
Among other geological and hydrogeological features, the exact position of the saline/fresh water interface must be known before it is possible to assess the quantity of ground water which can safely be extracted without contaminating the aquifer with saline water. For many years, geoelectric soundings have proven to be a comparatively cheap and quick method of mapping the position of the saline/fresh water interface in both coastal areas and large inland basins. As the results of a geoelectric investigation must often be available immediately in the field there is generally not enough time for computer processing at the home office. However, specific graphical methods can be applied by the geologist-geophysicist in order to interpret manually geoelectric sounding data which have been obtained from a zone of saline water invasions. A brief description of these methods is given including the relevant references for directed reading. The practical application of one particular interpretation method is illustrated in a case history from Nacaome, Honduras. It also shows the general versatility of geoelectric surveys for obtaining in a short time and at a low cost qualitative information of exploitable groundwater resources in coastal areas.

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