Geophysical methods can provide insight into subsurface conditions and lithology such as mineral deposits, gravel deposits, thickness of peat, depth to bedrock, mass ice, and clay layers, to name a few. Geophysical data provides spatially extensive information, compared to drilling boreholes, and so gives more insight at a lower cost - a win-win! These investigations can be conducted from the surface and within previously drilled boreholes.
We’ve recently demonstrated the success of geophysical tools to find gravel in northern Alaska. We're excited to offer this capability to promote cost-effective, rapid exploration for gravel resources, a vital resource for northern Alaskan villages which is expensive to import and difficult to source locally using conventional geologic mapping alone.
Example of geophysical data results from an exploration campaign in northern Alaska; the IP anomaly will be further delineated in future work.
Surface-based methods are non-invasive, and therefore often safer, cheaper, and quicker than traditional sampling methods like drilling. Our tools and expertise are able to delineate many subsurface boundaries:
Gravel deposits
Potential mineral deposits
Depth to water table
Stratigraphic sequences/layers, such as peat, gravel, and sand layers
Mapping permafrost depth and variability
Depth to bedrock and bedrock quality
Shear-wave velocity profiles
Karst/void detection and delineation
Identifying ice wedges, layers, and mass ice
Bedrock imaging in central Alaska; the 8000 foot-per-second contour line was interpreted as the bedrock interface and correlated with the borehole log. Areas above that level with higher velocities may be isolated pockets of bedrock or less weathered regolith