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Introduction to Geophysics

The Induced Polarisation (IP) Method

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 Induced Polarisation
“equivalent circuits”

• DC Resistivity • Induced Polarisation

- + - +
I I

completely +
C
described by Ohm’s -
law

𝑼 resistance R “capacitance ”
𝑹 =
𝑰 (charge / voltage)

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 Induced Polarisation
Three main causes
1) Electrochemical processes at the interface
of metallic minerals / pore fluid:
 presence of ore deposits.
2) Exchange reactions in clay and shaly sands:
 hydrogeological applications.
3) Reactions involving organic materials:
 hydrocarbon exploration.
IP - Main Applications:
 disseminated metallic ores
⁻ porphyry coppers,
⁻ bedded lead/zinc
⁻ sulphide-related gold deposits
 environmental related studies
 geothermal exploration
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Veeken et al., 2009 ; Reynolds, 2011
Induced Polarisation

• The earliest observation (~1913) of the induced polarization phenomenon

associated with sulphide mineralization is attributed to Conrad
Schlumberger who observed that if he passed a DC current through rocks
containing metallic sulphides and interrupted the current abruptly, the
resultant voltages in the Earth decayed slowly rather than instantly.

• Today IP is the primary tool used to explore for several important types of
mineral deposits—especially porphyry coppers, bedded lead/zinc and
sulphide-related gold deposits.

• IP is unique among the controlled-source geophysical methods employed in

mineral exploration in that it is based on an interface electrochemical
phenomenon, rather than on a purely physical property of rocks or minerals.

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Seigel et al, 2007
Induced Polarisation

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Seigel et al, 2007
Induced Polarisation
DC & IP over polymetallic deposit in the
Altai region (USSR) in the late 1960s

(Schlumberger array
with AB = 1200 m and
MN = 20 m ).

Charging current was 2 minutes and the integration time was 0.5 s. [...] The
deposit does show as a minor resistivity depression, but is much more clearly
indicated by its IP response, both in the time and frequency domains.
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Seigel et al, 2007
Induced Polarisation

Principally with the same equipment as Resistivity Measurements:

C1 P1 P2 C2

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Induced Polarisation

• DC resistivity
→direct electrical connection (electrodes)
→ flow of current
→ electrical potential in the ground

• IP methods C1 P1 P2 C2

→direct electrical connection (electrodes)

→ flow of current switched off
→ decay of electrical potential

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 Induced Polarisation
• Reconnaissance or deep IP surveys often use large current electrodes buried
in deep, saline-filled holes (Hence the benefit of electrode arrays where the
current electrodes do not need to be moved for each reading).

Small IP surveys often use

porous-pot type electrodes
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(Telford, 1990)
Induced Polarisation

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Induced Polarisation
• IP surveys usually use a separate transmitter and receiver
• Power requirements are higher than for DC res. surveys
• Cables and electrodes must be watched. If a passer-by or
animal touched the current electrodes during data
acquisition, this could be fatal

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IP Effect

IP-Effect: (below 1kHz or greater than 1 ms)

• If a DC current injected into the ground is abruptly switched

off, the voltage measured at the potential electrodes does
not immediately drop to zero!
C1 P1 P2 C2

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IP Effect

charge time
Steady state voltage: Vp
(primary voltage)
IP effect
Residual voltage: Vs
(secondary voltage)

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IP Effect

• Voltage shows a large initial decrease, then decays slowly over

a timescale of seconds (minutes). This is the IP effect
• The rate of decay depends on the electrical properties of the
ground and the presence of metallic minerals
• The decay voltage is the result of storage of energy by the
ground during the period when the DC current is on
• The effect cannot be explained in terms of the atomic or
molecular structure of the material, but depend on the macro-
structure.

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IP Effect – Sources

• Chemical energy is the main source of the IP effect which is

stored by subsurface structures in two main ways:
Electrode polarisation (overvoltage) (~below 1kHz)
– Related to the transition between electrolytic and electronic
conduction at the interfaces between pore fluids and metallic minerals
in the rock
– Larger than the normal IP effect
– Requires presence of metallic minerals (or graphite)

Membrane polarisation (electrolytic) (~below 1Hz)

– Due to variations in the mobility of ions contained within pore fluids
– Called the “normal” IP effect
– May occur in rocks which contain no metallic minerals

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IP Effect – Electrode Polarisation
Electrode (or grain) polarisation
• same process as self-potential.
Metal electrode in an ionic solution:
No voltage applied:
• charges with different polarities separate
• potential difference between electrode and
solution.
With voltage applied:
• currents start flowing
• change in potential difference
Voltage turned off:
• ions diffuse back to equilibrium
The total magnitude of the potential is the
Nernst potential and the adsorbed layer gives
rise to the Zeta potential
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Reynolds, 2011, p.374
IP Effect – Electrode Polarisation
Electrolytic conduction only
(no IP)

Electrode polarisation occurs when

electricity is conducted partly
electrolytically and partly electronically

Electrolytic and
electronic conduction

 When metallic mineral grains block the pore spaces in a rock, an

electrochemical barrier must be overcome in order for current to flow across
the grain surfaces
 Ions accumulate at grain surfaces and the grains become Polarised
 When the current flow is interrupted, ions return to their equilibrium
positions  voltage decay
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IP Effect – Membrane Polarisation
• Many minerals (e.g. clays) have a net -ve charge at the
interface between mineral surface and pore fluid
• +ve ions are attracted to the surface and -ve ions repelled
• Build-up of a layer (“cationic cloud”) of +ve ion concn which
may extend 1 mm into the pore fluid
(Equilibrium: No applied electrical field)

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IP Effect – Membrane Polarisation

( Applied electrical field)

• Zone of +ve ion concn may extend 1 mm into pore fluid: if the pore has
diameter < 1 mm, then, when a voltage is applied, -ve ions will accumulate
on one side of the pore and leave the other
• When the voltage is removed, the ions return to their equilibrium positions
 voltage decay
• Membrane polarisation is largest when a rock contains clay materials
scattered through the matrix in small (~10%) concentrations and in which
the electrolyte has some salinity
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IP Effect – Electrode Polarisation

IP observed in mixtures of pyrite and

• IP effect depends on grain size
quartz sand for various pyrite grain sizes • Large sulphide grain → large amount of
current through it, but small
surface/volume ratio
• IP however is a function of the amount
of grain surface exposed to the
electrolytic solution
• Therefor, as the grain size is reduced,
the IP effect increases
• However for very small grain sizes, the
surface resistance is too large
→ greatest IP effect for intermediate
values of sulphide grain sizes
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(Keller and Frischknecht, 1966)
IP Effect – Sources

• In practice, it is not possible to distinguish between

membrane and electrode polarisations on the basis of
geophysical IP measurements

• Membrane polarisation may give rise to a “background” IP

effect equivalent to 0.1% - 10% conductive minerals (typically
1% - 2%)

• IP is a bulk effect: it does not depend on atomic-scale rock or

mineral properties

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 IP Effect – Sources
Time-domain IP profile using a pole–dipole array
over the Gortdrum copper–silver body in Ireland

• Electrode polarisation depends Chargeability Apparent resistivity

strongly on the surface area
• The IP method is more
sensitive to disseminated
conductors than to massive
ones
• This sets the IP method apart
from the DC resistivity and EM
(electromagnetic) methods,
which typically give a weak
response over a disseminated
target

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(P. Kearey et al., 2007)
Time-Domain IP Measurements

• IP measurements can be made in either the time-domain or

frequency-domain (frequency-domain IP won’t be covered today)
– An advantage of time-domain systems is that measurements can be
made over several transmitter cycles and then averaged (or stacked).
This process reduces the effect of random noise.

• Current and potential electrodes are arranged as for a

normal DC resistivity survey

• In time-domain (TD) systems, the transmitter current is

abruptly switched off, and the decaying voltage due to the IP
effect is measured at a series of delay times

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Time-Domain IP Measurements

Typical transmitted and received waveforms in time-domain

Charging
time

Off-time

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Time-Domain IP Measurements

• Effect of chargeable ground

University of British Columbia (UBC-GIF)

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Time-Domain IP Measurements

• In time-domain IP, the main parameters used to present and

interpret data are apparent resistivity (ra) and chargeability (m)

• m is a macroscopic physical parameter which represents all of the

microscopic phenomena.
• The apparent resistivity is calculated as for DC resistivity using the
voltage measured before the transmitter is switched off (denoted Vp)
VP depends on the
𝑉𝑃 K = geometric factor
𝜌𝑎 = 𝐾
“charging time” 𝐼 (depends on electrode array)

• The measured Vp for a short charging time will be less than that
measured for a long charging time - this means that ra calculated for
a high frequency Tx waveform will be less than that for a low
frequency Tx waveform (the frequency-domain IP effect)

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 Time-Domain IP – Chargeability

• The ratio Vs/Vp is called the chargeability (Units: millivolts per volt)

• In practice it is impossible to measure Vs (the voltage at current switch-off)

• Instead, after an initial delay (500 msec), the decay voltage is measured at a
series of (typically four) delay times.
• Measured voltages are then used to approximate the area under the decay curve

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Time-Domain IP – Apparent Chargeability
• The apparent chargeability, ma, is defined by
tn


1
ma  V (t ) dt (Units: milliseconds)
Vp
t1
• where tn is the time corresponding to the last voltage
measurement (on the previous slide, n = 4) and V(t) is the
decay voltage at time t
• The apparent chargeability is the area under (part of) the
voltage decay curve, divided by the “primary” voltage Vp
• In practice, the units are milliseconds (ms)
• The apparent chargeability depends on the actual values of t1
and tn, and may be different for different field instruments
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Time-Domain IP – Apparent Chargeability

• Apparent chargeability also depends on the charging time

(long charging times give larger decay voltages)
• A highly polarisable earth will give rise to a longer IP decay
and hence a large chargeability
• Because of the practical considerations outlined, the apparent
chargeability isn’t equal to the actual chargeability of the
ground, even in the case of a uniformly polarisable earth.
• Note that the DC resistivity measurement made in the course
of an IP survey is useful data. Chargeability is usually
interpreted together with the resistivity data.

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 Chargeabilities of rocks

material m (ms) material m (ms) mineral m (ms)

1% Volume concentration
Charging time 1 minute Charging time 3 seconds
Charging time 3 seconds
Integration 1 minute Integration 0.02 to 1 second
Integration 1 second

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(from Telford et al., 1990)
 Electrode arrays: Gradient
• Any of the common DC resistivity electrode arrays may be used for
IP surveys - the two most commonly used are the dipole-dipole and
gradient arrays.
• For mineral exploration, the gradient array is similar to the
Schlumberger array, except that the potential electrodes do not
have to be kept in-line with the current electrodes
Plan View
A,B current electrodes (fixed)
M,N potential electrodes (roving)

Because the current electrodes are not moved,

the gradient array is useful for reconnaissance
surveying of relatively large areas

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 Electrode arrays: Dipole-dipole

• With the dipole-dipole array, measurements of apparent resistivity and apparent

chargeability are made at several “n-spacings” for each current electrode setup

n = 1, 2, 3, etc.

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2D electrical imaging surveys
• Dipole-dipole IP data are commonly displayed as separate
pseudosections of apparent resistivity and apparent chargeability

Rocky’s Reward, WA (NiS), 1986, dipole-dipole

24 msec (n=4)
n-spacing

15 ohm-m
n-spacing

(Mutton and Williams, 1994)

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 2D electrical imaging surveys

• Combine vertical (sounding) and lateral (profiling) survey method

– This provides a 2D geoelectrical model of the subsurface:

• vertical and horizontal changes in electrical properties

• assumption: no changes perpendicular to survey line

– Typical 1D sounding surveys involve 10 – 20 readings

– Typical 2D imaging surveys involve 100 – 1000 readings

– In comparison, 3D would involve several 1000’s of readings

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 2D electrical imaging surveys

• Pseudosections are a convenient means of plotting data acquired

using a variety of current and potential electrode separations in a
single plot
• They do not represent true cross-sections of ra and ma, except in
the sense that the depth of penetration increases as the “n-
spacing” increases
• As a rough rule-of-thumb, the depth of investigation is ( na / 2 )
for the dipole-dipole array
• Although pseudosections are useful for displaying data and for
assessing data quality, the resistivity and chargeability
pseudosections do not provide a realistic portrayal of the true
subsurface distributions of these parameters
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2D electrical imaging surveys
Dipole-Dipole – combine Sounding and Profiling

45°

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2D electrical imaging surveys

• Horizontal location of data point at mid-point of set of

electrodes used
• Vertical position (pseudo-depth) of data point at a depth
proportional to electrode spacings
• The measured parameter is plotted at the intersection of 45°
lines extending from the mid-points of the transmitter and
receiver pairs
• Note that this is a convention only and does not constitute the
depth of investigation

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2D electrical imaging surveys
Centenary gold deposit, WA (disc. 1996)
• The Centenary gold deposit is a concealed ore body located 110 km north
of Leonora, Western Australia ore body
survey line

• The ore body is associated with sulphides and is hosted in the magnetic
drill holes
portion of the Mount Pickering Dolerite.

• Due to its sulphidic nature, both gravity and induced polarization (IP)
high chargeability (ore body)
were trialled soon after discovery.
conductive overburden
• A dipole–dipole IP and resistivity survey detected a significant
chargeability anomaly over Centenary. low resistivity (ore body)

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Pittard and Bourne, Exploration Geophysics, 2007, 38, 200–207
2D electrical imaging surveys
Centenary gold deposit, WA (disc. 1996) Example electrode polarisation

survey line
ore body

drill holes

high chargeability (ore body)

conductive overburden

low resistivity (ore body)

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Pittard and Bourne, Exploration Geophysics, 2007, 38, 200–207
IP Data Interpretation

• The most common method of interpretation of IP data is via automatic

two-dimensional inversion

• Inversion of IP data results in cross-sections of resistivity and chargeability

vs depth, which are similar to geological cross sections

• Inversion of the data is performed in “real time” by some instruments, and

inverted sections are now a standard product delivered by geophysical
contractors

• NB Remember resolution, suppression of features and model equivalence

apply to any best-fit geophysical model, so be prepared to supply the
relevant modelling information (or ask your contractor to do so)

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IP Data Interpretation Example electrode polarisation

• The Century deposit, approximately 250 km north-northwest of

Mt. Isa in northwest Queensland, Australia, is hosted
observed data by
relatively flat-lying middle Proterozoic siltstone and shale
units. Mineralization occurs preferentially within black shale
units as fine-grained sphalerite and galena2Dwith minor pyrite.
inversion

• The recovered model after inversion shows the superposed

geologic section. The inversion nicely delineates the resistive
observed data
overburden of limestones on the right.

2D inversion
• The resistivity at depth is not correlated with mineralization,
however.

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IP Data Interpretation Example electrode polarisation

observed data

2D inversion

observed data

2D inversion

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http://www.eos.ubc.ca/ubcgif/iag/casehist/century/intro.html
 IP Data Interpretation Example membrane polarisation

Induced-polarization detection and mapping of contaminant plumes

• 2D time-domain IP & DC Resistivity

mapping of a contaminant plume at
EDB (10) the Massachusetts Military
EDB (100) Reservation.
monitoring wells
• The plume consists of approximately
265 m3 of fuel that erupted from a
EDB (0.02) survey line broken underground pipeline in the
early 1970s.
• Benzene and ethylene dibromide (EDB)
are the primary contaminants
exceeding the allowed maximum
concentration levels.

Plan view of the plume site, indicating existing wells; geologic section line CC',
IP survey line, as well as the ethylene dibromide (EDB) concentration plot
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Sogade et al, 2006
IP Data Interpretation Example membrane polarisation

Geological Cross-Section

EDB (0.02)

EDB (10)

EDB (100)

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Sogade et al, 2006
IP Data Interpretation Example membrane polarisation

EDB (100)

Dipole-dipole pseudosection,
electrode separation a = 24.38

Extrapolated plume concentration

data for benzene and EDB based on
ground-monitoring wells

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Sogade et al, 2006
IP Data Interpretation Example membrane polarisation

2D resistivity Section
Conductive zone ~1000 𝛺 ∙ 𝑚 (Groundwater?)
EDB (100)

Conductive zone ~300 𝛺 ∙ 𝑚 (Clays?)

Log Resistivity (𝛺 ∙ 𝑚)

2D IP Section
EDB (100)

Chargeability Anomalies
(Contaminants ?)

Chargeability (mV/V)

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Sogade et al, 2006
Summary

• The IP effect, voltage decay after switching off a DC voltage

and membrane polarisation and electrode polarisation
mechanisms a sources of this effect.
• Time-domain IP measurements, Tx and Rx waveforms
• Determination of apparent chargeability
• Display of IP data, pseudosections and depth of investigation
• Inversion and interpretation of resistivity and chargeability
results

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References
Veeken P.C.H., Legeydo P.J., Davidenko Y.A, Kudryavceva E.O, Ivanov S.A., Chuvaev A.:
“Case History: Benefits of the induced polarization geoelectric method to
hydrocarbon exploration”, 2009, Geophysics, V74, p. B47–B59

Telford, W.M, Geldart, L.P., Sheriff, R.E.: “Applied Geophysics”, 1991, Cambridge
University Press

Reynolds, J.M., "An Introduction to Applied and Environmental Geophysics", 2011, John
Wiley & Sons

Seigel H., Nabighian M., Parasnis D., Vozoff K., “The early history of the induced
polarization method”, March 2007, The Leading Edge, pp. 312

Sogade, J.A, Scira-Scappuzzo F., Vichabian Y., “Induced-polarization detection and

mapping of contaminant plumes”, 2006, Geophysics, V71, p. B75–B84

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 • Supplementary slides

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 IP Data Interpretation
• Assumption: the ultimate effect of chargeability is to alter the effective
conductivity (resistivity) when current is applied (Seigel, 1959).
• This assumption permits the IP responses to be numerically modelled by
carrying out two forward modellings using a DC resistivity algorithm

measured potential
in the absence of potential including
chargeability effects chargeability effects
the apparent chargeability can be computed by carrying out
two DC resistivity forward modellings with conductivities
𝜎 1 − 𝜂 and 𝜎

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D.W. Oldenburg and Y. Li, 1994, "Inversion of induced polarization data", Geophysics, 59, P.1327-1341
IP Data Interpretation

DC / IP data are DC
gathered together

Invert potentials for

conductivity (background)
model
IP
Use 𝜎-model for forward
mapping of chargeability

Least-Squares
Inversion
Invert for chargeability
models
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