title: Assessment of diesel contamination in groundwater using electromagnetic induction geophysical techniques.
abstract: Determining hydrocarbon plumes in groundwater is typically accomplished through the installation of extensive monitoring wells. Issues of scale and site heterogeneities tend to introduce errors in delineating the extent of contamination and environmental impact. In this study, electromagnetic induction survey was investigated as an alternative technique for mapping petroleum contaminants in the subsurface. The surveys were conducted at a coal mining site near Gillette, Wyoming, using the EM34-XL ground conductivity meter. Data from this survey were validated with known concentrations of diesel compounds detected in groundwater from the study site. Groundwater data correlated well with the electromagnetic survey data, which was used to generate a site model to identify subsurface diesel plumes. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to use electromagnetic survey techniques for mapping hydrocarbon contamination in groundwater. Results from this study indicate that this geophysical technique can be an effective tool for assessing subsurface petroleum hydrocarbon sources and plumes at contaminated sites.
authors.affiliation: Western Research Institute, Laramie, Wyoming 82072, USA. sjin@uwyo.edu
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fallgren
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Urynowicz
mesh_terms: D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005742:Gasoline / Q000032:analysis*; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D010825:Physics; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014959:Wyoming
chemical_list: D005742:Gasoline; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical