The permeability of Westerly granite was measured as a function of effective pressure to 4 kb. A transient method was used, in which the decay of a small incremental change of pressure was observed; decay characteristics, when combined with dimensions of the sample and compressibility and viscosity of the fluid (water or argon) yielded permeability, k. k of the granite ranged from 350 nd (nanodarcy = 10−17 cm2) at 100‐bar pressure to 4 nd at 4000 bars. Based on linear decay characteristics, Darcy's law apparently held even at this lowest value. Both k and electrical resistivity, ρs, of Westerly granite vary markedly with pressure, and the two are closely related by k = Cρs−1.5±0.1, where C is a constant. With this relationship, an extrapolated value of k at 10‐kb pressure would be about 0.5 nd. This value is roughly equivalent to flow rates involved in solute diffusion but is still a great deal more rapid than volume diffusion. Measured permeability and porosity enable hydraulic radius and, hence, the shape of pore spaces in the granite to be estimated. The shapes (flat slits at low pressure, equidimensional pores at high pressure) are consistent with those deduced from elastic characteristics of the rock. From the strong dependence of k on effective pressure, rocks subject to high pore pressure will probably be relatively permeable.

A method for detecting and locating leaks in the plastic liner of a waste disposal pond has been implemented and tested at a site near Budmerice in Slovakia. The method is based on detecting electric current flowing through holes in the insulating lining membrane. Unlike similar methods employed elsewhere, this implementation allows monitoring for leaks that may develop during and after filling the pond with electrically inhomogeneous solid waste. To accomplish this goal, sensing electrodes were placed below the membrane during construction. In operation, current was passed between an electrode inside the pond and another outside; the voltage caused by this current was observed on the buried sensing electrodes. The data were then processed to detect and locate any leaks in the membrane. An important practical concern is achieving acceptable detectability and location accuracy while using a sufficiently sparse grid of sensing electrodes. This problem was overcome by two processing steps: (1) calculating electrical potentials from the observed voltages and (2) performing a nonlinear inversion on subsets of the data. With this technique, observations made with a 10- × 8-m grid of electrodes, a relatively low‐power current source, and a simple receiver can provide accurate location information, even for small leaks. In a blind test, the system accurately predicted the locations of six leaks that were subsequently verified visually. Five of the leaks were cuts in the plastic typically measuring less than 2 × 0.1 cm, whereas the sixth leak was a group of many small holes. For the five, the typical location accuracy was about 30 cm, comparable to the basic survey location accuracy of the sensing electrodes.

We have field-tested an apparatus for measuring the electromagnetic impedance above the ground at a plurality of frequencies in the 0.3 -30 MHz range. This window in the frequency spectrum, which lies between frequencies used for GPR and those used for conventional loop-loop EM soundings, has not been used because of difficulties in fielding equipment for making absolute and accurate measurements. Model and physical parameter studies however confirm that data in this frequency band can be used to construct high-resolution maps of electrical conductivity and permittivity of near-surface material. Our equipment was assembled using commercial electric and magnetic antennas. The magnetic loop source is excited by a conventional signal generator -power amplifier assembly. Signal detection is accomplished using RF lock-in amplifiers. All system elements are appropriately isolated by optic -fiber links. We estimate a measurement accuracy of about ± 10% for an 8-m separation between source and detector. Field tests were done at the University of California Richmond Field Station where the near surface electrical structure is well known. The experimental data at this site are mainly a function of electrical conductivity. In this context, we have obtained good agreement with the known local variations in resistivity both with depth and with position along a 35-m traverse. Additional tests in more resistive regimes where dielectric permittivity is not negligible yield spectral data compatible with the less well known near-surface electrical properties.