Objective interpretation of induced polarization tomography using a quantitative approach for the investigation of periglacial environments

The objective interpretation of induced polarization tomography for applications in periglacial environments is sometimes challenging using smoothness-regularized least square inversion because strong resistivity contrasts are often present. Ambiguities arise from the regularization process which smooths the contrast between layers and from artifacts created by the inversion. In periglacial environments, where frozen and thawed ground can coexist with large resistivity contrasts, such artefacts are often found in the models of electrical resistivity. To assess reliable cryohydrogeological models from the inversion of induced polarization tomography, quantitative interpretation criteria are needed. The present work describes a methodology based on forward-inverse modeling to build a cryohydrogeological model from induced polarization data and prior information using the resistivity and chargeability gradients to map transitions between adjacent layers. This methodology is tested on field-data acquired over a coarse grained aquifer within a glaciomarine deposit and ice-rich permafrost mounds within marine sediments. Delineation of the permafrost base is achieved despite the presence of an inversion artefact. The results of the interpretation are used to further constrain the inversion in order to map the ice-content based on the resistivity model and an empirical relationship. The proposed methodology provides a way to extract quantitative information even in difficult environmental settings. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.