Geophysical and Structural Survey in the Diagnosis of Leaks at a Fuel Station in a Uranium Mine in Decommissioning Phase (Poços de Caldas, Brazil)

Mining enterprises are, in essence, landscape modifiers and sources of long-term environmental degradation. The development of activities within the mines requires a complex logistical system for better functioning. It is common to have gas stations in the vicinity of mining areas as a support for s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pure and applied geophysics 2021-09, Vol.178 (9), p.3489-3504
Main Authors: Moreira, César Augusto, Helene, Lívia Portes Innocenti, Hartwig, Marcos Eduardo, Lourenço, Rebeca, do Nascimento, Matheus Mistrinel Pacine Feitoza, Targa, Debora Andrade
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anomalies
Aquifers
Contamination
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Economic activity
Electrical resistivity
Environmental degradation
Fractures
Gasoline
Geology
Geophysics
Geophysics/Geodesy
Hydrocarbons
Minerals
Mines
Mining
Nuclear fuels
Service stations
Structural analysis
Structural surveys
Subsoils
Surveying
Surveys
Tomography
Uranium
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Summary:Mining enterprises are, in essence, landscape modifiers and sources of long-term environmental degradation. The development of activities within the mines requires a complex logistical system for better functioning. It is common to have gas stations in the vicinity of mining areas as a support for supplying vehicles and machines. Inadequate operation and the absence of monitoring, as well as a planned closure of the activities of these stations, may impose risks of contamination of the geological environment. This work presents the efficiency of using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to map aged hydrocarbon in the subsurface in a former gas station area in a uranium mine. The presence and flow of hydrocarbons in the geological environment are also investigated through structural analysis of the area integrated with the geophysical results. The ERT results show a clear connection between the low-resistivity anomalies contained in the subsoil and the presence of the rock mass. Of particular interest, the ERT results made it possible to model the fractures contained in the subsoil and that condition a certain flow orientation between porous and fractured systems. The integrated analysis of geophysical and structural surveys proved to be essential in cases of fractured aquifer contamination.
ISSN:0033-4553
1420-9136
DOI:10.1007/s00024-021-02828-6