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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Solid Earth Geophysics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1443764
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in Magnetotelluric Imaging View all articles

Study of response characteristics of cross-well induced polarization method in anisotropic media

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 School of Geophysics and Petroleum Resources, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
  • 2 Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China
  • 3 China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The borehole induced polarization method has been widely used in deep mineral exploration, oil and gas resource exploration, and water resource exploration because of its high efficiency and good exploration effect. At present, the related research on the cross-well induced polarization method assumes that the underground medium is isotropic, but the electrical characteristics of the actual earth medium are anisotropic. To analyze the influence of the anisotropic characteristics on the cross-well induced polarization method, in this paper, the anisotropic forward algorithm of conductivity and polarizability in different principal axis directions based on the finite element method is studied. A three-dimensional forward simulation of the cross-well induced polarization method in anisotropic media is realized. The effectiveness and correctness of the algorithm are verified by testing and comparing complex 3-D isotropic and anisotropic models. Anisotropic geological models of the horizontal plate and inclined plate are constructed to analyze the anisotropic influences of conductivity and polarizability in different principal axis directions on the cross-well induced polarization response. The results show that the emitter sources with different depths in the well have different influences on the electrical response of the plates. Anisotropic conductivity and polarizability in horizontal plates exhibit most pronounced characteristics in the x-direction, significantly influencing the apparent polarizability curves. However, when the resistivity and polarizability are both anisotropic, the change in the z-direction is the most complicated. When the plate is inclined, the amplitude of the electrical response curve decreases to a certain extent, and the position where the amplitude appears shifts to different degrees. Notably, the response curves of the y-direction anisotropy are basically consistent with the response curves of the isotropy, regardless of the anisotropy of the conductivity and polarizability or anomalous body tilts. The results of this study improve our understanding of the influence of anisotropy on cross-well induced polarization and provide theoretical support for the interpretation of cross-well induced polarization data considering anisotropy.

    Keywords: Cross-well induced polarization method, Anisotropy, Finite element method, Conductivity and polarizability, Three-dimensional forward

    Received: 04 Jun 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Zhou, Wang, Xie, Mao and LIANGJUN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lei Zhou, School of Geophysics and Petroleum Resources, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.