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Electrical resistivity tomography along the Himalayan Frontal Thrust in the

northwestern Frontal Himalaya for active tectonics studies

Article  in  Modeling Earth Systems and Environment · December 2019

DOI: 10.1007/s40808-019-00604-z

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Modeling Earth Systems and Environment
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-019-00604-z

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Electrical resistivity tomography along the Himalayan Frontal Thrust

in the northwestern Frontal Himalaya for active tectonics studies
Gautam Rawat1   · G. Philip1 · N. Suresh1 · Medha1 · Rekha Yadav1

Received: 27 December 2018 / Accepted: 6 May 2019

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Abstract
Dependence of ground resistivity upon mineral content, porosity, degree of water saturation in the rock and fluid content
makes it ideal for imaging and understanding the subsurface. Results of resistivity imaging, used for active tectonics studies
at Kala Amb region in the northwestern Frontal Himalaya are discussed. Study area is selected across the exposed section of
the Himalayan Frontal Thrust based on a previous trench excavation survey. An electrical resistivity tomography 2D profile
survey is conducted along two lines in Kala Amb region. The lines are selected with the primary objective of extending the
features identified in the trench section into the subsurface. The study found to be helpful in understanding the efficacy of
this method for the recognition and geometrical characterisation of faults across morphotectonic scarps or fault traces in a
region which experienced late Quaternary tectonic activity. The inverted resistivity model has lateral and vertical resistivity
variations according to different depositional units in the area. The presence of a north dipping fault at 54-m distance from
zero electrode position towards south clearly distinguishes two separate lithological units. The liquefaction feature identi-
fied on the trench wall section which is also inferred from the resistivity section appears to be originated from greater depth.
Similarity of resistivity features and spatial distance of two profiles allow us to interpret the lateral continuity of subsurface
features and to identify the thickness of Quaternary deposit over river bed level.

Keywords  Electrical resistivity tomography · Active tectonics · HFT · Kala Amb

Introduction such as electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), ground-

One of the aspects of active tectonic studies in a seismo-
genic region is to identify and to characterize major active
faults. In doing so primary emphasis is made on geometri-
cal, kinematical, and chronological parameters of the mor-
pho-structural features, if any, on the surface or in a trench
(Caputo et al. 2003). Near surface geophysical imaging
can add another dimension to our understanding towards
the analysis of seismic hazard assessment of the region. It
can also offer reasonable information about the lithology
in terms of their physical properties. Different techniques
* Gautam Rawat
rawatg@wihg.res.in
G. Philip
gphilip@wihg.res.in
N. Suresh
suresh_n@wihg.res.in
1
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33 GMS Road,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India
penetrating radar (GPR) and seismic tomography (ST) can
be employed in these studies. ERT technique basically pro-
vides resistivity distribution of subsurface (Dahlin 2001).
These noninvasive techniques can provide more information
regarding extension of surface features as compared to the
information obtained from the deep trench excavation. Resis-
tivity of the subsurface depends upon the lithology, mineral
content, porosity, degree of water saturation in the rock, fluid
content, permeability and clay content. Wide variations of
resistivity in different lithological units make ERT technique
ideal for imaging and understanding the subsurface for a
wide range of applications (Li et al. 2015; Marescot et al.
2003, 2008; Szokoli et al. 2017, etc.). We present here the
result of an ERT survey which is carried out in Kala Amb
region of northwestern Frontal Himalaya. In the survey area
a trench was earlier excavated for active tectonic studies and
significant neotectonic observations have also been reported
(Philip et al. 2012). The purpose of the present survey is
to evaluate and validate the efficacy of ERT investigations

13
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towards the recognition and geometrical characterisation of
fault traces.
Study area
The study area is located in the vicinity of the Himalayan
Frontal Thrust (HFT) at Singhauli village near Kala Amb
located in the northwestern Frontal Himalaya (Fig. 1). In this
region, the general strike of HFT is NW–SE. North of the
HFT, the Siwalik foreland basin exists whereas the southern
side of HFT is the piedmont zone and widely known as the
Indo-Ganga Alluvial Plain (IGAP). At this place, Middle
Siwalik Tertiary rocks are thrusted over the IGAP. Siwalik
sediments consist of sandstone and mudstone, whereas the
alluvium is deposited by various streams emerging from the
Siwalik and is commingled of unconsolidated gravels, sand
and mud in the piedmont zone. The presence of discontinu-
ous fault scarps in the region indicates active deformation
along the HFT.
About the earlier trench excavation
For paleoseismological studies, a trench (32 × 4 × 8 m) was
excavated in the year 2010 along the left bank in Singhauli
Nala which exits to the IGAP at Singhauli village (Fig. 2). The
Singhauli Nala is mainly a monsoonal stream and as reported,
three different levels of terrace are observed around the stream.
The detailed geology of the area and findings of the trench
excavation survey are already reported (Philip et al. 2012).
Based on variations of color, matrix, size, and the distribution
of the clasts, it was possible to distinguish individual sedimen-
tary units within the excavated section. Besides the Middle
Siwalik sandstone, the lithological units composed of boul-
ders, pebbles, gravels, sand and mud units, which are divided
into seven separate principal sedimentary sub-lithological
Fig. 1  a Satellite image (SRTM) showing the location of the study area. b Geological map showing major lithological and structural features of
the Frontal Himalaya around Kala Amb (Srivastava et al. 1981; Philip et al. 2012)
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Modeling Earth Systems and Environment
units, from A (oldest) to H (youngest) (Fig. 3). The units are
comprised of sub-angular to angular, pebble to boulder clasts
and are matrix to clasts supported. The hand-log (Fig. 3) of
the trench wall has helped reconstruction of the litho-strati-
graphic succession of the deposits, which mainly consist of
clastic deposits of fluvial origin (Quaternary alluvium) over-
lying the Middle Siwaliks (Tertiary rocks). Compositionally
the clasts consist of gray and pink sandstone indicating its
derivation from the Tertiary mountain ranges. The thickness
of the individual sedimentary sub-litho-units ranges between
20 cm and more than 2 m. Three parallel to sub-parallel thrust
faults (Fault 0, I and II) within the HFT zone are clearly iden-
tified and marked within the exposed section of the trench.
Along Fault I, the Middle Siwalik sandstone has thrusted over
their counterpart in the Quaternary alluvial deposits. The
thrust Fault I is, therefore, the southern boundary of Siwalik
sandstone. The trench log also shows prominent upward sand
injection of fine-grained silty clay, gravel matrix with differ-
ent pebbles of shape and size and sandy clay material. Further
the Quaternary deposits consist of clayey sand, loamy sand,
large-sized boulders, pebbles are observed in the trench section
toward south of Fault II (Philip et al. 2012).
Methodology
Data acquisition
DC resistivity method conventionally requires four electrodes.
Two electrodes termed as current electrodes and are used for
current injection and remaining two electrodes known as the
potential electrodes, are used for the measurement of resulting
potential differences.
V
𝜌a = G , (1)
I
Modeling Earth Systems and Environment
Fig. 2  a Landform map of the area around the ERT survey carried
out at Singhauli. The rectangle (dotted line in black) shows cor-
responding area in figure b. Different levels of terraces (T1–T3),
abandoned course (Ac) of Singhauli Nala (shown in dotted arrows),
Active landslide (As), Denudo-structural hills (DsH) of the Middle
Fig. 3  Trench log of the left bank of Singhauli Nala near Kala Amb
showing repeated reactivation of the HFT in the frontal area. The dif-
ferent litho-units (A–B) are individually identified based on the clast
and matrix type and distribution. Three distinct faults recognisable
where V is the potential difference in mV, I is the current
intensity in mA and G is the geometrical factor that depend
on the electrode geometry. Conventional resistivity surveys
with four electrodes require change of electrode position and
distance between the electrodes manually as per the prede-
termined configuration of electrode array.
Development of microprocessor-based multichannel
electrical resistivity system conveniently allows fast and
accurate measurements using multiple electrodes (Dahlin
2001). Programming interface in data logger or control-
ler help setup of measurement parameters of selected
Siwaliks and Quaternary alluvium (Qt) are also mapped. b Goog-
leEarth image showing the array of electrodes along Singhauli Nala
(line A) and on the fluvial terrace T2 (line B). The probable trace of
the Himalayan Frontal Trust (HFT) in concurrence with the ERT sur-
vey is also marked on the image
in the trench log indicate the activities of the HFT. The large-sized
induced liquefaction feature (Unit-J) and the deformed and dismem-
bered units are also observable in the trench log (Philip et al. 2012)
electrode configuration. Thus, using ERT system, data col-
lection for many electrode configurations with optimized
array parameters can be achieved. In the present study, we
have used ARES II 10 channel ERT system with 48 elec-
trodes. The ERT 2D profile survey is conducted along two
parallel profiles which also aligned parallel to the earlier
excavated trench. The first ERT profile, line A, is along
the river bed and very close and parallel to the trench
excavated in the year 2010 (Fig. 2). We have deployed
48 electrodes with 4-m electrode spacing to delineate the
subsurface extension of prominent features such as thrust,
13
 Modeling Earth Systems and Environment

liquefaction feature exposed in the trench. The second line
‘B’ is selected on the Singhauli Nala’s terrace toward NW
of river bed profile (Fig. 2). The objective of this line is
to obtain information about the lateral continuation of the
geological features as identified in line A, with a possibil-
ity of estimating thickness of the fluvial terrace deposits.
Different ERT arrays have different imaging resolution and
sensitivity. Wenner Schlumberger (WS) and Wenner (WN)
configurations are less affected with noise as compared
to other configurations (Dahlin and Zhou 2004) and have
similar resolution. Berge (2014) has shown the effective-
ness of imaging using WS and WN electrode configura-
tion in paleoseismological studies in Izmir bay, Turkey.
We have also selected WS and WN configuration for both
the profiles. For profile A, 389 measurements made with
12 data level for WS configuration. The minimum geo-
metric factor used is 25.1 and maximum geometric factor
is 645.1. For profile B, there are total 529 datum points
and 23 data levels. The minimum geometric factor is 25.1
and maximum geometric factor used is 1372.2 for WS
electrode array. Figure 4 illustrates the pseudosection of
measured and calculated apparent resistivity along line A
and line B for WS configuration.
Visualization of measured apparent resistivity (top sec-
tions) in Figs. 4 and 5 indicates the quality of data. No
outlier values are present in the measured resistance data
which are clearly observed in smooth variation of meas-
ured apparent resistivity. The measured apparent resistiv-
ity pseudosection primarily indicates three zones of resis-
tivity variations.

Fig. 4  Measured (top) and calculated (bottom) apparent resistivity pseudosection along line A (on the riverbed)

Fig. 5  Measured (top) and calculated (bottom) apparent resistivity pseudosection along line B (on the terrace)

13
Modeling Earth Systems and Environment
Data processing
The processing of the data is performed using Res2Dinv
software (Loke and Barker 1996) from M/s Geotomosoft
software. Apparent resistivity values are inverted for 2D
resistivity section. Uniform half space of resistivity equal
to average of observed apparent resistivity is used as initial
model. Inversion parameters are optimized by performing
number of inversions by changing different parameters.
Iterative incomplete Gauss–Newton method is used to solve
the least square equations of inversion scheme. Smoothness
constraints are applied on model resistivity values as well as
on model perturbation vectors. This method thereby attempts
to fit observed and calculated data in iterative manner.
The final inversion is achieved in fourth iterations with
3.8 as absolute error of convergence. The inverted resistivity
model has lateral and vertical resistivity variations according
to lateral and vertical extent of different depositional litho-
logical units in the area (Fig. 3). The RMS error achieved
for Singhauli Nala (line A) is 3.8 and for resistivity profile
(line B) on the fluvial terrace, NW of Singhauli Nala is 1.91.
Results and discussion
The inverted resistivity model for both the profiles has
lateral and vertical resistivity variations which are reason-
ably comparable to lateral and vertical extent of different
depositional units in the area. From Fig. 6, both the ERT
Fig. 6  Resistivity sections obtained after inversion of ERT line car-
ried out a along Singhauli Nala (River bed) site and b or fluvial ter-
race situated NW of Singhauli Nala and sub-parallel to line A. Trench
lines show approximately near similar resistivity variations
except difference in their respective depth level. From north
to south, three distinguished zones of different resistivity
(A, B and C) values can be identified in the inverted section
of both ERT lines. The variability of litho-facies suggests
the possibility of resistivity variation across already identi-
fied thrust faults. Observing the litho-section as shown in
Fig. 3, the identification of thrust faults can be carried out
based on resistivity contrast. The resistivity zone marked
as C (Fig. 6) is a sub-vertical feature emerging from depth.
The width of this feature is nearly same as in the ERT line
B (Fig. 6b) and is horizontal at the top of zone A, whereas
in the ERT line A, this feature emerges from depth, with
some lateral extension mostly toward southward thereafter
trending sub-vertically to the surface, at 52–64 m distance
as marked along the profile (Fig. 6a). The sub-vertical emer-
gence of this feature to the surface is considered to be the
lithological boundary between the piedmont deposit (Qua-
ternary) in the south and the Siwalik (Tertiary) sandstone in
the north. As per the resistivity section image, a fault plane
is interpreted north of this emergence (marked with dashed
white line). This fault as interpreted in the resistivity sec-
tion also coincides with the Fault I marked on the trench log
(Fig. 3). Sub-vertical emergent feature also coincides with
the liquefaction feature observed in the trench log. The fea-
ture considered as the liquefaction, shows a resistivity in the
range of 50–80 Ω-m probably because of the moist sand. The
zone toward north of this fault plane, where Siwalik sand-
stones exposed, is highly fractured/sheared and coincides
log is aligned with resistivity section at a. The major three units as
per the contrasting resistivity are A and C. D is inferred as liquefac-
tion
13

with the HFT. It is suggested that the resistivity of this zone
is comparatively low owing to the presence of water filled
up in the secondary pore space of these fractured rocks as
compared to the dry sandstone. To the south of the fault
plane the Quaternary deposits, marked as ‘B’ in the pied-
mont zone are also inferred. Quaternary sediments belong
to the IGAP are imaged in this area as moderately resistive
features due to presence of matrix based conglomerate, boul-
ders and pebbles. The rectangular feature (Fig. 6), marked as
‘D’, appears to be the signature pertains to the liquefaction.
Although ERT survey is carried out as post-trench excava-
tion, if trench would not have been excavated earlier in such
situation based on the ERT images (Fig. 6), the recommen-
dation for trench excavation would have been made for the
segment nearly between 52 m and 64 m as marked on the
profile. The present study found ERT technique to be useful
to apply in the Himalayan region where such active struc-
tures presently exist.
Conclusion
The ERT technique is employed at a site where trench exca-
vation survey indicated three active fault zones in the Frontal
Himalaya in the HFT zone. The 2D inverted resistivity sec-
tion has represented subsurface geology in terms of variation
in resistivity. Three distinct zones of different litho units
based on resistivity estimation can be clearly identified. The
resistivity method helps in distinguishing each sedimentary
unit as a different resistivity zone and vertical displacements
in Quaternary. The fault plane is identified as a displacement
in resistive feature and could be correlated with faults delin-
eated in the trench log. The liquefaction feature as identified
in the trench is also correlated with sub-vertical emergent
low resistive feature from the subsurface. The results of
ERT studies clearly recommend that resistivity studies are
highly useful towards the studies on active tectonics. This
will surely serve as guiding reference towards planning and
finalizing a site for paleoseismological studies where trench
excavation is as integral component of the study.
Acknowledgements  The authors are grateful to the Chairman, ISRO
for sponsoring the study under the collaborative programme between
WIHG and ISRO-SAC. We are also grateful to the Directors of the
13
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Modeling Earth Systems and Environment
Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad and the Wadia Institute of Him-
alayan Geology, Dehradun for their continuous support and encourage-
ment for carrying out the study.
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