Imaging the saline/fresh water interface at Bafra, Turkey using joint inversion of seismic ERT data

Abstract

A geophysical survey was conducted at Bafra, Samsun, Turkey, Greece in order to support the geological and hydrogeological studies of the existing phenomenon of seawater intrusion. This survey employed seismic refraction tomography (ST), time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) and geoelectrical methods. The later, consisted of Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). The objective of this survey was to image the saltwater intrusion at this area and map possible favorable sea water pathways. We present the interpretation of geophysical data obtained under the research project ClearWater project. We applied both individual and joint inversion of electric and seismic data from Bafra. At Bafra, the geophysical survey provided images of the saltwater intrusion which is present at the north eastern of the study area. These geophysical methods proved useful as prediction and prevention tools in qualitative characterization of water bearing formations for an optimum groundwater management plan for the Bafra basin.