Application of electrical resistivity tomography for imaging seawater intrusion in a coastal aquifer

Following previous geoelectrical researches initiated in 2009 for the delineation and characterization of seawater intrusion a freshwater aquifer Sarmatian (late Middle Miocene) age, subsurface imaging survey via 2-D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was conducted 2019 on outskirts Vama Veche resort—Romanian Black Sea southern coast. The organized framework field camp sponsored by Foundation Society Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)–Tulsa, OK, USA, with participation teams from University Bucharest—Department Geophysics Geological Institute Romania. A number eight ERT profiles N–S, W–E, NNE–SSW, WNW–ESE orientation 155–315 m length were imaged SuperSting R8/IP instrument (Advanced Geosciences Inc.), using deployments 32–64 electrodes at 5 spacing, Wenner, Schlumberger, dipole–dipole array configurations. processing interpretation high-resolution data indicated that intrusion, evidenced as very low (5–10 Ω m) anomalous zones starting approximately 45–49 depth, has advanced least 500 inland. results also allowed identification system fractures or faults an approximate NW–SE/WNW–ESE and, possibly, N–S orientation, might have provided potential pathways saline water intrusion.