Environmental applications of gravity surveying
- Illinois State Univ., Normal, IL (United States)
- KEMRON Environmental Services, Novi, MI (United States)
- Environmental Science Engineering, Phoenix, AZ (United States)
The Allis Park Sanitary Landfill Company developed a new landfill near Onway, Michigan in an area which has glacial alluvium and glacial till overlying limestone. There are several solution karst features in the region and some critics had maintained that a new karst collapse could rupture the liner system and allow escape of leachate into the groundwater. The gravity survey was conducted to determine the extent of any karst development at the site. The first portion of the survey was two profiles over some karst features located about five miles southeast of the proposed landfill. These showed negative gravity anomalies. The survey of the proposed landfill site resulted in a 50 microGal contour map of the area and also showed a negative anomaly. This could be due to either elevation variations on the till to limestone bedrock surface or to karst development within the limestone. Because there was no evidence of historic development of new karst features in the region, the gravity anomaly was not further investigated. In another gravity survey, a large retail department store had been remodeled and extended over an area previously occupied by an auto service center. The removal of a waste oil storage tank (UST) had not been documented and the environmental consultant (KEMRON, Inc.) proposed that a gravity survey be used to find the tank location. This proposal was based on calculations of the gravity effects of a UST. The survey resulted in a four-microGal contour map which showed a couple of anomalies which could be due to a tank or a backfilled tank excavation. During the survey, a store employee identified the previous location of the tank and explained that she had personally witnessed its removal. Based on the employee's eye-witness account of the tank removal and the coincidence of her indicated tank location with one of the gravity anomalies the authors recommended the site be granted clean closure.
- OSTI ID:
- 6974702
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9404217-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 26:5; Conference: 27. annual conference of the North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Kalamazoo, MI (United States), 28-29 Apr 1994; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GRAVITY SURVEYS
DATA ANALYSIS
MICHIGAN
SANITARY LANDFILLS
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MANAGEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
SURVEYS
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
580000* - Geosciences
540250 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)