Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33

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Geothermics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geothermics

Integrated geophysical investigation to map shallow surface alteration/ T

fracture zones of Atri and Tarabalo hot springs, Odisha, India
⁎
Animesh Mandal , Aurobindo Kumar Basantaray, Athul Chandroth, Utsav Mishra
Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: An integrated geophysical study consisting of magnetic, very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic and electrical
Hot springs resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys has been carried out in the vicinity of hot springs at Atri and Tarabalo in
Fractured zone central Odisha, India. The study aims to delineate near-surface structural settings of these regions (e.g., faults,
Magnetic fracture network etc.) that controls the flow of geothermal fluids. Processed magnetic data shows distinct low
VLF
anomaly as well as high-low transition zone near the hot springs and high anomaly away from the hot springs of
Resistivity tomography
both the regions. VLF current density sections along the selected profiles reveal existence of conductive fractures
near to the hot springs of both the areas. Resistivity study in both the areas advocates three layered subsurface
configurations: low resistive (< 80 Ohm.m) top layer, moderate resistive middle layer, and high resistive
basement (> 700 Ohm.m). Coincidence of low magnetic anomalies, and low resistivity (or high current density)
values at same location indicate the existence of alteration/fracture zones. Resistivity models at Tarabalo depict
a low resistive (∼75-100 Ohm.m) dipping faulted/fractured zone extending beyond a depth of 80 m. VLF depth
sections and reduced to pole magnetic anomaly maps also reveal high current density and low magnetic sig-
natures, respectively in this zone. This fracture zone is extending about 600 m in EW direction with the marshy
area at the center and may have acted as a conduit for the warm water movement from depth to surface.
Indication of faulted/fractured zones around the Atri hot spring are also there but the inferences are not as
conclusive as that of Tarabalo area due to the nearby power line hindrances. Thus, the study provides a cost
effective approach to delineate near surface fracture zones as well as helps to understand the thermal fluid flow
mechanism of the hot springs.

1. Introduction high concentrations of dissolved salts, thus, resulting in conducting

The ever growing demand for energy as well as growing concern for
the environment makes geothermal energy as a potential renewable
energy source not only in India but also globally (Razdan et al., 2008;
Axelsson et al., 2005). Thus, exploration of geothermal energy exhibits
some continuous growth in the last few decades (Bertani, 2010; Rybach,
2014). However, the successful development and utilization of geo-
thermal waters for direct uses or electricity generation requires proper
understanding of the geothermal systems, e.g., source of heat, fluid
recharge zones, permeable and impermeable horizons, and geologic
structures that control fluid circulation etc. These would help to un-
derstand the feasibility of the studied hot springs for proper develop-
ment of economic geothermal system (Barbier, 2002). This will also
provide an idea about the structural setup and dynamics of the region.
A geothermal system is generally composed of a region of faults/frac-
tures filled with geothermal fluids and altered rocks, which can have
electrolytes in a rock matrix. These zones can be easily delineated by
very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic and resistivity methods (e.g.,
Vargemezis, 2014). A low magnetic anomaly is also expected from a
magnetic survey over these hot water filled fractured zones due to
hydrothermal alteration. As a result, significant contrast in magnetic
susceptibility will exist between the host rock with high magnetic
property and fluid filled fractures zones and they can be inferred from a
magnetic survey (e.g., Ward et al., 1978; Bibby et al., 1992). Thus, an
integrated geophysical study using magnetic, VLF and 2D resistivity
tomography is indispensable in understanding a geothermal system.
India has a good number of promising geothermal areas and more
than 400 known hot springs are located at different parts of the country
(Chandrasekharam, 2000). One such promising zone for geothermal
resources lies within the Mahanadi rift basin of Eastern Ghats Belt in the
state of Odisha, India. Geothermal surface manifestations as hot springs
exist over this metamorphic Precrambian crystalline terrain of Eastern

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: animeshm@iitk.ac.in (A. Mandal).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2018.08.007
Received 1 May 2018; Received in revised form 13 July 2018; Accepted 22 August 2018
Available online 28 August 2018
0375-6505/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Mandal et al.
Ghats Belt. Present study areas at Atri and Tarabalo are also situated in
this region and the subsurface knowledge related to geothermal activity
of these two areas is very limited. Most of the previous studies in these
areas were carried out by Geological Survey of India (GSI) and were
related to surface investigation only. Baranwal and Sharma (2006) have
reported presence of subsurface fault at Tarabalo through magnetic,
VLF and resistivity sounding survey. However, resistivity sounding was
done at some discrete locations, thus, the lateral continuity of the fault
as well as depth structure was not conclusive. Beside this, the Atri area
is devoid of any geophysical investigation. Geochemical and geological
study over Atri and Tarabalo area also suggest that the springs are as-
sociated with faults that transect the NNE-SSW trending Eastern Ghats
Belt (Chandrasekharam and Chandrasekhar, 2010). However, the depth
and lateral extent of these faults are not known, yet. In this regard,
geophysical surveys can play an important as well as cost effective role
to delineate the detailed subsurface features, thereby, can provide sig-
nificant input in understanding the thermal fluid flow mechanism of
these regions (e.g., Thanassoulas and Xanthopoulos, 1991; Drahor and
Berge, 2006; Vargemezis, 2014). Thus, an integrated geophysical
survey using Magnetic, VLF electromagnetic and 2D electrical re-
sistivity tomography (ERT) method has been carried out in the vicinity
of the hot springs at Atri and Tarabalo villages in central Odisha, India.
The primary objective of the study is to delineate the detailed near-
surface structural settings of these regions (e.g., faults and fractures
network etc.) that control the flow of geothermal fluids, thereby, to
infer about the source of the geothermal energy.
2. Geological settings
The study area lies in the central region of the Eastern Ghats Mobile
Belt and is comprised of high grade metamorphic gneisses, i.e., khon-
dalites (garnet–sillimanite gneisses), charnockites (hypersthene bearing
granites) and porphyritic gneisses enclosing NW-SE trending Mahanadi
rift basin (Chandrasekharam and Chandrasekhar, 2010) (Fig. 1). In
some parts, megacrystic gneisses and quartzo-feldspathic gneisses are
found in association with metasedimentary rocks. Chetty (2010) sug-
gests that high grade gneisses are formed due to partial melting of the
metasedimentary rocks, which are marked by the parallel alignment of
the metasedimentary rocks with the foliation of host gneisses. Forma-
tion of these megacrystic gneisses and quartzo-feldspathic gneisses are
due to intrusion of melts during the hydrothermal phase followed by
magmatization of metasedimentary rocks (Chetty, 2014). In some re-
gions, like that of Rengali, isolated Dykes are seen, which suggests a
major tectonothermal event around 0.8Ga (Chetty, 2014). The region
near to Atri also shows weathered lateritic terrain (Fig. 1).
The thermal spring at Atri (20°12′24.28″N, 85°30′47.91″E) is lo-
cated in the eastern part of Khurdha district of Odisha and hot water is
discharged from a single spout (Fig. 2a). At Tarabalo (20°15′4.68″N,
85°19′15.57″E) (located in the northern part of Nayagarh district of
Odisha), several spouts are distributed over a marshy area (Fig. 2b). The
surface temperature of the thermal springs ranges from 55 to 60 °C
(Chandrasekharam and Chandrasekhar, 2010). Lateritic uplands, allu-
vial plains & hilly terrain are the major physiographic units seen in the
vicinity of these regions. Khondalite, charnokite (Precambrian), upper
gondwana semi-consolidated rocks (Mesozoic) and alluvium (Qua-
ternary) are the predominant geological formations of these region
(Central Ground Water Board, Govt. Of India, 2013a, 2013b). Based on
the major drainage pattern, the local strike direction at Atri and Tar-
abalo can be inferred as NS and EW, respectively.
3. Geophysical surveys
Previous studies (Kundu et al., 2002; Baranwal and Sharma, 2006)
and existing geological evidences (Chandrasekharam and
Chandrasekhar, 2010) suggest that most of the study area comprised of
fractured Precambrian rocks overlaid by thick quaternary sediments
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Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33
and weathered lateritic terrain in some parts (Mukhopadhyay, 2017).
Those fractures may act as a good feed of fluid to the hot springs, which
can be inferred by magnetic and electromagnetic/electrical studies.
Therefore, an integrated geophysical study using magnetic, VLF and
resistivity methods was employed to characterize and map the shallow
subsurface features (e.g., faults, fractures, alteration zones) of the re-
gion.
3.1. Magnetic
In the present study, GSM 19 T Proton Magnetometer was deployed
to acquire magnetic data from 388 and 537 observations around Atri
and Tarabalo hot spring regions, respectively. These magnetic surveys
were carried out along several NS and ES profiles with varying lengths
and station spacing of 10 m (Fig. 2a and b). The acquired magnetic data
was first corrected for the diurnal variation and the total magnetic field
(TMF) variation in Atri and Tarabalo was found to be 44,768–44,612
and 44,949–44,579 nT, respectively. The data were then subjected to
International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) correction and pre-
sented as residual contour maps using minimum curvature gridding
technique in geosoft software (Fig. 3a and b). Bipolar nature of mag-
netic field causes distortion in the location and shape of magnetic
anomalies at low geomagnetic latitude (Baranov, 1957; Roest and
Pilkington, 1993) (e.g., Atri: Inclination = 29.47°, Declination =
−0.43°; Tarablo: Inclination = 29.57°, Declination = −0.42°). These
distortions in magnetic anomalies have been removed by applying re-
duced-to-pole (RTP) transformation in geosoft software (Fig. 4a and b).
The RTP produces a magnetic map that more directly represents the
geology of the study region by bringing the anomaly vertically above
the anomalous body (Baranov, 1957; Roest and Pilkington, 1993; Pal
et al., 2016, 2017).
3.2. Very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM)
A T-VLF instrument (manufactured by Iris instruments) was used to
acquire VLF electromagnetic data. The instrument was operated in tilt
angle mode to get the in phase (real) and out of phase (imaginary)
components of the vertical magnetic field with respect to the horizontal
one. Depending on the local strike direction and accessibility, the
measurements were performed along selected EW (A1 & A2 at Atri
(Fig. 2a)) and NS (T1 & T9 at Tarabalo (Fig. 2b)) profiles with 10 m
station interval. Measurements along EW profiles were carried out at a
frequency of 17.1 kHz corresponding to the transmitter at Moscow
(UMS) (T-VLF User’s manual, 2006) located in a northerly direction
(i.e., along the NS strike direction of Atri) from the study area. Further,
along NS profiles the data were acquired at a frequency of 22.3 kHz
using the transmitter in Australia (NWC) (T-VLF User’s manual, 2006)
located in an easterly direction (i.e., along the EW strike direction of
Tarabalo) from the study area.
3.3. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)
The 2D electrical resistivity method or ERT is popularly used to
quickly map shallow subsurface altered/fractured zone based on re-
sistivity contrast in the subsurface (Metwaly and AlFouzan, 2013). In
the present study, ERT survey was carried out using an automated 72
electrode switching system (IRIS Syscal R1 plus) along various profiles
over the two study areas with 10-meter electrode spacing and using
Wenner-Schlumberger array. Data were acquired along seven profiles
(A1 to A5, A7 and A8) at around Atri and eight profiles (T1–T8) at
around Tarabalo hot spring regions (Fig. 2a and b). The profile lengths
were restricted to either 470 m or 710 m using 48 or 72 electrodes,
respectively, based on the availability of space along the spread.
A. Mandal et al.
Fig. 1. Regional geological set up (rock types and fault network) of the study area (Digitised after Chandrasekharam and Chandrasekhar, 2010; Chaudhuri, 2010; and
Sharma, 2009).
4. Results
4.1. Magnetic
In Atri region, total magnetic field anomaly map shows few high-
low anomaly patches at the middle along with a broad EW trending
high anomaly zone towards north-east and a similar EW trending low
anomaly zone towards south (Fig. 3a). EW trending broad high mag-
netic anomaly towards the northern part, broad EW trending low
anomaly in the south and few low anomaly patches at the middle are
also observed in Tarabalo area (Fig. 3b). Hot springs are located mostly
on the low anomaly patch or adjacent to the high-low transition zones
(Atri, Fig. 3a; and Tarabalo, Fig. 3b). RTP maps of both the regions (i.e.,
Atri and Tarabalo), deciphered several localized magnetic low anomaly
patches (AL1-AL4, Fig. 4a; and TL1-TL5, Fig. 4b) within a broad low
anomaly zone around the hot springs of the respective area. NW-SE
(between AL2 and AH3, Fig. 4a) and NS (between AH3 and AH4,
Fig. 4a) trending sharp high to low transition zones are observed ad-
jacent to the north of Atri hot spring (Fig. 4a). Similar transition zones
are also observed adjacent to Tarabalo hot springs along NE-SW (AA')
and NW-SE (BB') direction (Fig. 4b). The surface locations of the hot
springs are also coinciding with low magnetic anomaly patches, e.g.,
AL4 at Atri and TL2, TL4 at Tarabalo (Fig. 4a and b). Oxidation and
hydration at varying temperatures might have caused these transition
zones as well as low magnetic signatures by the process of oxidation of
magnetite to hematite (Henkel and Guzman, 1977). Thus, the magnetic
study indicates the possible existence of subsurface fractures around the
low magnetic zones near to the hot springs that feeds the hot water.
Based on local geology, the magnetic highs in Atri (AH1-AH4, Fig. 4a)
may be inferred as lateritic land, where as in Tarabalo (TH1-TH3,
Fig. 4b) may be inferred as high grade metamorphosed rocks, which are
26
Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33
overlaid by quaternary sediments.
4.2. VLF
Apparent current density (J) is computed using the in phase (real)
VLF anomalies by application of digital linear filtering approach
(Karous and Hjelt, 1983) and the current density pseudo-sections are
presented in Fig. 5a–d. High current density corresponds to conductive
zone (possibly altered/fractured zones) and low current density corre-
spond to resistive zones.
At Atri, the profiles A1 and A2 (towards north of A1) traverse from
West to East (Fig. 2a) and depict conductive zones at 200 m,
300–400 m, 550–800 m (at A1, Fig. 5a), and at 475–525 m (at A2,
Fig. 5b) locations along the profiles, respectively. Conductive zone at
∼200 m along A1 may be due to the water body exists beside the
profile (see Fig. 2a and 5a). All these conducting zones are extending
beyond ∼100 m depth (Fig. 5a and b). Along A1 and A2 a high con-
ductive zone is also observed at the end of these profiles (Fig. 5a and b)
correlating with the high to low NS trending magnetic transition zone
(Fig. 4a). The surface locations of the conductive zones at 300–400 m
and 550–800 m locations along A1 (Fig. 5a) reveal good correlation
with the high-low transition zone between AH2 and AL3, and broad low
zone between AL3 to AH3 of the magnetic anomaly map (Fig. 4a), re-
spectively. The conductive zone at 475–525 m along A2 (Fig. 5b) also
matches with the low magnetic anomaly at AL2 (Fig. 4a).
At Tarabalo, both the profiles T1 and T9 (towards east of T1) tra-
verse from south to north (Fig. 2b) and depict alternate bands of re-
sistive and conductive structures (Fig. 5c and d). Profile T1 mostly
passes through the low magnetic zone (see Fig. 4b). The surface loca-
tion of the conductive zones as observed ∼100 m, between
∼200–400 m, ∼550 m and ∼700 m locations along T1 (around 200 m
A. Mandal et al.
Fig. 2. Study area maps showing the geophysical survey locations, (a) Atri, (b) Tarabalo.
west of T9) correlate with the relative high-low transitions zones of
magnetic map (compare Figs. 5c and 4 b). Profile T9 is passing through
the marshy area (see Fig. 2b). The conductive zone between 75–175 m
location of T9 is correlating with the southern contact of marshy area
(see Figs. 2b and 5 d) as well as low magnetic anomaly patch TL4 and
surface location of hot spring 1 (see Figs. 2b, 4 b and 5 d). Similarly, the
conductive zone ∼325 m along T9 represent the northern contact of the
marshy area (see Fig. 2b and 5d).
Coincidence of the surface locations of these conductive zones in the
VLF current density sections with the magnetic low anomaly zones of
Atri and Tarabalo areas strongly indicate the existence of subsurface
fracture/alteration zones near the hot springs of these regions.
4.3. Resistivity
The observed apparent resistivity data were inverted and inter-
preted using the rapid two-dimensional (2D) resistivity inversion al-
gorithm RES2DINV, a software package for determining the subsurface
resistivity model (Loke and Barker, 1996; Loke, 1998). The inversion
technique used by the programme is based on the smoothness
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Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33
constrained Gauss-Newton least squares method. The Root Mean
Squared (RMS) errors of these inverse models were ranges between
0.93–1.66 % and 0.98–1.59% for the profiles at Atri and Tarabalo re-
gion, respectively.
The resistivity sections as produced after the inverse modeling are
shown in Fig. 6a,b according to the actual length of the profiles of Atri
and Tarabalo, respectively. In both the regions, the modeled resistivity
variations can broadly be categorized into three horizontal layers as
follows:
1 Low resistive layer: It is the top most layer of both the regions and
resistivity of this layer ranges between ∼5–80 Ohm.m. It mostly
comprised of highly porous alluvial sediments and weathered
granite. Consolidation of alluvial soil with increasing depth results
in decrease in porosity and water content which in turn increases
resistivity. Thus, a gradual increase in resistivity is observed with
depth. On an average the thickness of this layer is varying form
30–50 m at places along the profiles of both regions. This layer can
be collectively called as weathered or fractured formation (Kundu
et al., 2002).
A. Mandal et al.
Fig. 3. Total field magnetic anomaly maps of the study area, (a) Atri, and (b) Tarabalo.
2 Moderate resistive layer: This layer lies below the first layer and
resistivity value ranges between ∼80–700 Ohm.m. This zone may
be comprised of coarse grained sediments of the Quaternary de-
posits. Due to compaction, resistivity may have increased with
depth. Along some profiles the low resistive fracture zone is con-
tinuing through this layer and beyond the maximum depth of in-
vestigation (e.g., A1 and A4 at Atri, Fig. 6a; and T1-T4, T8 at Tar-
abalo, Fig. 6b).
3 High Resistive Layer: The basement of Precambrian crystalline rock
types like (Khodalites and Charnokites) is depicted at depth ranges
between ∼50–70 m at places along the profiles of both regions with
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Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33
resistivity values > 700 Ohm.m.
In Atri region, the high resistive basement layer depicted with
dipping structure from the central part of profiles A1 and A4 and to-
wards the hot spring (Figs. 6a and 7 ). This also coincides with high
conductive zone along VLF profile A1 (at 550–800 m, Fig. 5a). These
strongly suggest the existence of a subsurface fracture/alteration zone
adjacent to the Atri hot spring region.
A prominent localized steeply dipping low resistive zone with re-
sistivity ranges from 75 to 100 Ohm.m is observed in the central part of
the resistivity model along profiles T1, T2, T3, T4 and T8 of Tarabalo
A. Mandal et al. Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33

Fig. 4. Reduced to pole (RTP) magnetic anomaly maps of the study area. (a) Atri, and (b) Tarabalo. AL and AH represent the low and high magnetic patches at Atri.
TL and TH represents the low and high magnetic patches at Tarabalo. The VLF profiles along A1, A2 of Atri and T1, T9 of Tarabalo are marked as grey coloured lines.

region (Figs. 6b and 8 ). This zone also coincides with low magnetic
patches at TL1-TL4 (Fig. 4b) and high conductive zones along VLF
profile T1 (around 200–400 m, ∼550 m and ∼700 m locations) and T9
(between 75–175 m and ∼325 m locations) (Fig. 5c and d). This zone is
elongated in EW direction from profile T2 (west most) to T4 (east most)
covering a length ∼600 m and with NS width of ∼200 m. However, the
NS width of this low resistive zone is decreasing with depth and ex-
tending beyond ∼80 m depth (Figs. 6b and 8). Thus, the study has
delineated a fracture zone extending to deeper depth (beyond 80 m)
with EW strike. It can be inferred from the study that this fracture zones
might have given rise to the conducive path to feed the hot springs of
the Tarabalo region from deeper level.
5. Discussion
The existing geological evidences suggest that the present study
area is affiliated to high grade metamorphosed Precambrian rocks
(Chetty, 2010) of Eastern Ghats Belt (i.e., khondalites, charnockites),
which are covered by thick Quaternary sediments and lateritic terrain
at places (Kundu et al., 2002; Chandrasekharam and Chandrasekhar,

29
A. Mandal et al.
Fig. 5. Current density sections (lower panel) as computed from the VLF real anomaly (upper panel), (a) along profile A1, (b) along profile A2 of Atri region; and (c)
along profile T1, (d) along profile T9 of Tarabalo region.
2010). Khondalite is a typical metamorphosed rock, which is an
amalgamation of Fe, Mg, Na and K (Ghosh et al., 2015). Charnockites
comprises of minerals like orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole
and ilmenite-magnetite (Frost and Frost, 2008; Rajesh and Santosh,
2012). Laterite is sedimentary rock formed by chemical weathering of
the rock formation in the area by ground water flow with the removal
of Si, Ca, Mg, K, and Na oxides, while retaining the alumina and iron
oxides, which exhibits a high magnetic susceptibility of the rock
(Russel, 1889; Narayanaswami, 1992). The magnetic highs away from
the hot springs of both the regions may be due to the high iron content
of these country rocks that are overlaid by thick quaternary sediments
(Fig. 4a and b). However, the low magnetic signatures near to the hot
springs might have caused by the oxidation and hydration of these
country rocks at varying temperatures. Due to oxidation and hydration,
the iron rich rock gets weathered and loses its magnetic susceptibility
by the process of oxidation of magnetite to hematite (Henkel and
Guzman, 1977). Thus, give rise to low magnetic anomaly zones around
the hot springs. The present integrated geophysical investigation has
also delineated high conductive (i.e., low resistive) zones near to these
hot springs in the 2D VLF current density sections as well as resistivity
models. Therefore, coincidence of low magnetic anomaly and high
conductive (or low resistive) signatures at the surface near to the hot
springs of both regions strongly suggest the existence of altered/frac-
tured zone in the vicinity of hot springs.
Detail geochemical studies at Atri and Tarabalo (Kundu et al., 2002;
Zimik et al., 2017) suggest the existence of significant amount of
fluoride in the ground water system around the hot springs. Higher
fluoride concentration in ground water may arise due to the dissolution
of fluoride ions from fluorine bearing minerals in sedimentary as well as
ultramafic rocks (Wedepohl, 1978; Sengupta et al., 2012). In southern
India (Krishnagiri District of Tamilnadu), the high fluoride contents in
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Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33
the ground water is caused by the seepage of water through ultramafic
and gneissic rocks (Manikandan et al., 2012). Therefore, high fluoride
content in the present study area may also be attributed to the seepage
of ground water through the highly fractured/altered zones (as iden-
tified in the present study) of charnockite and khandolite group of rocks
at depth (below the thick sediments).
Apart from the low magnetic zones, sharp high to low magnetic
anomaly transitions zones are also observed adjacent to the hot springs
of both the regions (Fig. 4a and b). These contact zones also coincide
with the high current density zones and low resistive zones of 2D VLF
current density sections (along A1 & A2 and T1 & T9, Fig. 5a and b,
respectively) and resistivity models (along A1 & A2 and T1, Fig. 6a and
b), respectively. These observations strongly suggest the existence of a
subsurface fracture/alteration zone adjacent to the hot springs of both
the regions. At Tarabalo, all the resistivity profiles near to hot spring
(within 300 m radius from the hot springs) (i.e., T1, T2, T3, T4 and T8,
Fig. 8) show a low resistivity fracture zone (with resistivity ∼75-100
Ohm.m) and extending beyond a depth of 80 m. This is in accordance
with the findings of Baranwal and Sharma (2006) at Tarabalo area.
However, compared to their discrete resistivity sounding approach, the
present resistivity imaging (electrical resistivity tomography) has more
convincingly delineated the EW strike length (∼600 m), NS width
(∼200 m), and vertical extension (> 80 m) of this fracture zone. It can
be inferred from the present study that this fracture zone is providing a
conducive pathway to feed the hot spring from deep water reservoir at
Tarabalo. On the other hand, present study is the only geophysical at-
tempt to understand the subsurface configuration of the Atri hot spring
region and has also delineated subsurface fractured / altered zones (like
Tarabalo) around the nearby region of the hot spring. However, the
geophysical survey was not possible within a region of ∼100 m radius
around the Atri hot spring location due to the presences of buildings
A. Mandal et al.
Fig. 6. 2D resistivity inverse models, (a) along profiles A1 to A5, A7 and A8 of Atri region, and (b) along profiles T1 to T8 of Tarabalo region.
and power lines. As a result, the continuity of these fractured / altered
zones through the Atri hot spring is not conclusive.
The past studies in these regions were mostly limited to few geo-
chemical and only one documented shallow subsurface geophysical
interpretation (at Tarabalo only). However, the present integrated
geophysical investigation in the both the regions gives a clear under-
standing of the altered/fractured zones acting as conduit for hot water
circulation. Inverse models of the ERT data as well as 2D current den-
sity sections of VLF data have effectively delineated the depth extent of
these fractured zone as beyond 80 m. As the region does not lie on any
plate boundary or volcanic zone, therefore, it is inferred that the heat
source is not associated with recent magmatic intrusions but may be
due to the presence of hot rock at a greater depth.
6. Conclusions
The present integrated geophysical study has effectively brought out
the shallow surface configuration of both the study areas. The corre-
lation of low magnetic anomaly zones with the high current density or
31
Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33
low resistivity zones in the 2D subsurface current density and resistivity
models strongly indicate the presence of subsurface fracture zones
around the hot springs of Atri and Tarabalo area. The 2D electrical
resistivity tomography (ERT) has effectively delineated the depth and
later extent (∼600 m EW strike length) of the fracture zone that pass
through the hot springs of Tarabalo. This fracture zone is extending
beyond ∼80 m depth but its width (NS extent) is decreasing away from
the marshy area. Therefore, possibility of deep heat source cannot be
nullified at Tarabalo. Existence of such an elongated and broad fracture
zone passing through the Atri hot spring could not be established as the
area ∼100 m radius about Atri hot spring location was inaccessible for
geophysical survey. Therefore, it can be concluded that the hot spring at
Atri is may be localized and feeded by a single localized fracture
channel whereas at Tarabolo a network of several fractures are there.
This has produced the marshy area consisting of several springs as
observed over Tarabalo area.
A. Mandal et al. Geothermics 77 (2019) 24–33

Fig. 7. 2D resistivity inverse models along profiles A1 to A5, A7 and A8 of Atri region overlaid by magnetic contours. Depicted the gradual decreasing trend of
subsurface resistivity and a magnetic low (15–30 nT) towards the Atri hot spring (region between profiles A4 and A1).

Fig. 8. 2D resistivity inverse models along profiles T1 to T8 of Tarabalo region overlaid by magnetic contours. A low resistive EW channel passing through the
marshy area (Fig. 2b) with low magnetic zone is depicted in the subsurface of the region between profiles T2 -T4 and marked with a grey line.

Acknowledgements
Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by
the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science
and Technology, Govt. of India (Sanction no. DST/INSPIRE/04/2015/
000459). We would also like to thank Editor, and two anonymous re-
viewers for their constructive comments and suggestions that helped to
improve quality of the manuscript.
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