Ground-penetrating radar method used for the characterisation of ornamental stone quarries

Rey, J.; Martínez, Julián; Vera, Pedro Sánchez; Ruiz, N.; Canadas, F.; Montiel, Violeta

doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.12.076

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…; Rey et al . ) have been used to evaluate the potential of GPR for analysing the structures of stones, blocks, or quarries, which remains a challenging task. The analysis of stone quality by using non‐destructive techniques can help determine the locations and sizes of possible internal defects and identify the presence and characteristics of fabrics and sedimentary textures.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Characterization of the sedimentary fabrics in ornamental rocks by using GPR

Rey

Martínez

Montiel

et al. 2017

Near Surface Geophysics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, the use of ground-penetrating radar for characterising ornamental sedimentary rocks was tested. Specifically, the ability of this non-invasive geophysical prospecting method to identify fabrics and textures in rocks was investigated. Blocks mined from quarries were analysed, and ornamental rocks with the same lithologies as other widely utilised ornamental rocks with a variety of sedimentary fabrics and textures were selected. Rocks with clastic brechoid, cross-laminated sparitic, massive or layered micritic, and laminar bindstone textures were analysed. Antennas that provided the maximum detail and a sufficient depth of penetration were used. The low electrical conductivity of carbonates permitted the use of high-frequency antennas (800 MHz and 1.6 GHz), which were useful in studying the entire thickness of a boulder (up to 2 m).The cross-laminations in the oolitic limestones, the laminar bindstones of travertines, the differentiation between massive and brecciated fabrics, and the massive and slaty fabrics of the micritic limestones were examined using these two frequencies. In micritic textures without discontinuities (neither sedimentary nor diagenetic), the radargrams could detect facies with few reflections (Crema Marfil). In addition to analysing fabrics and textures, the ground-penetrating radar measurements could identify anisotropy in these rocks, which makes ground-penetrating radar an effective tool for evaluating the mechanical state of a boulder prior to its cutting. stratifications in dunes (Gómez-Ortiz et al. used GPR to detect fractures in carbonate quarries in Greece, Turkey, and Spain, respectively.However, few researchers have attempted to determine the lithology of a rock using GPR. Even fewer researchers have attempted to use GPR to characterise sedimentary textures. Sigurdsson and Overgaard (1998) studied limestone quarries to characterise textural variations between a bryozoan limestone and a coral limestone.In this study, we assess GPR as a non-invasive prospecting method for analysing carbonate rocks and identifying the presence of characteristic fabrics and sedimentary textures. Because of the importance of rocks as construction materials, this study focuses on the lithologies that are most common in ornamental rocks.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Porsani, Sauck and Junior () used GPR in granite quarries in Brazil, and Grandjean and Gourry (), Kadioglu (), and Rey et al . () used GPR to detect fractures in carbonate quarries in Greece, Turkey, and Spain, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of the sedimentary fabrics in ornamental rocks by using GPR

Rey

Martínez

Montiel

et al. 2017

Near Surface Geophysics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This includes the use of non-invasive geophysical imaging techniques [5], which have the potential to map subsurface property distributions that are linked to variations in density, porosity, moisture or mineralogy [6]. To-date, the most commonly applied geophysical approach in hard rock exploration is ground penetrating radar (GPR), which employs electromagnetic waves propagating through the rock that are reflected at discontinuities in the electromagnetic properties of the rock, e.g., at fractures or joints [5,[7][8][9][10][11]. Depending on the chosen operating frequency, GPR can achieve high resolution (a few cm) to a depth of a few metres, as attenuation of the electromagnetic waves is comparably small in highly resistive hard rock environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Electrical Resistivity Tomography in Ornamental Stone Mining: Challenges and Solutions

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, the use of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) as a tool to guide ornamental stone extraction is investigated. ERT is not conventionally used in highly resistive environments, such as on rock faces, due to the high contact resistances that can impede current injection. Here, the challenges of conducting ERT in such environments are discussed and possible solutions suggested. For this, an example of the application of ERT in a deep and narrow marble quarry is used. The marble deposit is affected by fracturing and karstification. Due to the nature of these features, they present a significant resistivity contrast to the background resistivity of the marble and thus excellent targets to test the application of ERT. Their location was mapped using field observations and complementary ground penetrating radar data. By using an appropriate sensor deployment, a suitable resistivity meter, and advanced data processing routines, the derived 3D resistivity model is in good agreement with the independent observations. This shows that despite the challenges, ERT can be used as a non-invasive tool to obtain information on the stone properties prior to extraction. This will help in guiding quarry operations and will allow for a targeted, safe and efficient extraction of high quality stone, thereby increasing sustainability and economical competitiveness.

show abstract

“…The Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is widely used and trusted for the detection of fractures in rock masses. Several studies dealing with GPR detection and characterization of fractures are present in the literature, addressing limestone [7,8], marble [9][10][11], gneiss [12], sandstone [13][14][15], and granite quarries [16,17]. In addition, a number of publications have taken into consideration the use of GPR to detect and model fractures in quarried stone blocks [7,9,[18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of a Fracture Modeling Strategy Based on Georadar Survey in a Large Area of Limestone Quarry Bench

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rock mass fractures adversely affect the cutting of commercial-size blocks and cause rock material loss in ornamental stone quarries. In order to obtain a reliable evaluation and an optimized production of ornamental stone deposits, it is fundamental to detect fractures in a non-destructive manner identifying them through 3D deterministic modeling. In this study, a recently published fracture modeling strategy, based on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey was implemented on a large area of bench (27.0 m × 65.0 m) in a limestone quarry in Italy. The survey was done using a dual-frequency GPR system (250 MHz and 700 MHz). The objective of this work was to investigate the large-scale applicability of the mentioned fracture model for future consideration in quarrying optimization studies. Only the 700 MHz radargrams were considered for the fracture modeling, as they provided a higher resolution than the 250 MHz radargrams and a penetration depth of about 4.0 m. The bulk dielectric constant of the rock mass of the bench was estimated by averaging the velocities obtained from fitting the hyperbolic diffractions of fractures at different depths. The model showed that fractures from the same family set can have noticeable spatial variations. The results allowed us to roughly estimate the sizes of the blocks exploitable from the different rock layers of the quarry bench.

show abstract

Ground-penetrating radar method used for the characterisation of ornamental stone quarries

Cited by 16 publications

References 20 publications

Characterization of the sedimentary fabrics in ornamental rocks by using GPR

Characterization of the sedimentary fabrics in ornamental rocks by using GPR

Applying Electrical Resistivity Tomography in Ornamental Stone Mining: Challenges and Solutions

Implementation of a Fracture Modeling Strategy Based on Georadar Survey in a Large Area of Limestone Quarry Bench

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About