Resumo

TEJERO ANDRADE, Andrés  e  LOPEZ GONZALEZ, Aide Esmeralda. The induced polarization method applied to soils polluted by hydrocarbons. Bol. Soc. Geol. Mex [online]. 2013, vol.65, n.1, pp.1-8. ISSN 1405-3322.

The evidence obtained by some authors devoted to electrical methods has shown that when a conventional resistivity survey is performed, it is not possible to differentiate areas with similar electrochemical behavior of both the organic and inorganic origin. Therefore, in recent years the method of Induced Polarization (IP) has been applied to soil contamination problems, showing encouraging results. This technique was tested, working in the time domain through an electrical tomography profile of resistivity and chargeability data, which was conducted at a site contaminated by hydrocarbons located in the north of Mexico City, where stratigraphy and distribution of the contaminant were complex. The hydrocarbons were found in a free and dissolved phase, which provided the conditions for taking soil and water samples. These samples were sent to a laboratory for chemical analysis, which depicted benzene concentration in four wells. The obtained results show that it is possible to define areas of large concentration of pollutants, by correlating electrical information, capacitive and qualitatively, with the information from the Cole-Cole parameters, demonstrating the potential of induced polarization method in pollution problems.

Palavras-chave : electrical resistivity tomography; polarization; chargeability; hydrocarbons; pollution.