Abstract

Electrical resistivitymethods arewidely used for environmental applications, and they are particularly useful for thecharacterization and monitoring of sites where the presence of contamination requires a thorough understandingof the location and movement of water, that can act as a carrier of solutes. One such application is landfill studies,where the strong electrical contrasts between waste, leachate and surrounding formations make electrical methodsa nearly ideal tool for investigation. In spite of the advantages, however, electrical investigation of landfills posesalso challenges, both logistical and interpretational. This paper presents the results of a study conducted on adismissed landfill, close to the city of Corigliano d'Otranto, in the Apulia region (Southern Italy). The landfill is locatedin an abandoned quarry, that was subsequently re-utilized about thirty years ago as a site for urban waste disposal.The waste was thought to be more than 20 m thick, and the landfill bottom was expected to be confinedwith an HDPE (high-density poli-ethylene) liner. During the digging operations performed to build a nearby newlandfill, leachate was found, triggering an in-depth investigation including also non-invasivemethods. The principalgoal was to verify whether the leachate is indeed confined, and to what extent, by the HDPE liner.We performedboth surface electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and mise-à-la-masse (MALM) surveys, facing the severe challengesposed by the rugged terrain of the abandoned quarry complex. A conductive body, probably associated withleachate,was found as deep as 40 mbelowthe current landfill surface i.e. at a depth much larger than the expected20 mthickness of waste. Given the logistical difficulties that limit the geometry of acquisition,we utilized syntheticforward modeling in order to confirm/dismiss interpretational hypotheses emerging from the ERT and MALM results.This integration between measurements and modeling helped narrow the alternative interpretations andstrengthened the confidence in results, confirming the effectiveness of non-invasive methods in landfill investigationand the importance of modeling in the interpretation of geophysical results.

Autore Pugliese

• De Carlo Lorenzo , Caputo Maria Clementina , Vurro Michele

Tutti gli autori

• L. De Carlo; M.T. Perri; M.C. Caputo; R. Deiana; M. Vurro; G. Cassiani

Titolo volume/Rivista

Journal of applied geophysics

Anno di pubblicazione

2013

ISSN

0926-9851

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Scopus

Non Disponibile

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

Non Disponibile

Settori ERC

Non Disponibile

Codici ASJC

Non Disponibile