INDUCED POLARIZATION

• Anode and the cathode of an electrolytic cell

become polarized upon the passage of an
electrical current through the cell.
• This effect provides a means of detecting
metallic minerals in the earth, either in the
form of solid ore bodies or as disseminated
particles, and forms the basis for the Induced
Polarization (IP) method of geophysical
prospecting.
• IP is an artificial geophysical exploration
method involving measurement of the slow
decay of voltage in the ground following the
cessation of an excitation current pulse (time
domain method) or low frequency (<10 Hz)
variations of electric permittivity earth.
• Most of the stored energy involved with IP is
chemical, involving variations in the mobility
of ions (membrane polarization or the normal
IP effect) and variations because of the change
from ionic to electronic conduction where
metallic minerals are present (electrode
polarization, induced potential, or interfacial
polarization); the latter is usually the larger
effect (Sheriff, 2001).
• Sumner (1976) defined induced polarization as a current
stimulated electrical phenomenon observed as a delayed
voltage response in earth materials.
• The chargeability of earth materials is essentially an
electrochemical effect caused by many factors, viz.,
• 1. Grain size of particles in the sample
• 2. Types of minerals present
• 3. Type and mobility of ions within the pore fluids
• 4.Details of microscopic interactions between solid surfaces
and fluids
• 5.Amount of surface area within a specific volume
• 6.Microscopic effects cause macroscopic chargeability
• Chargeability - a property of the medium and
includes all polarization effects, but it depends
on the duration interval of the applied voltage.
• If ground is chargeable, a phase shift occurs as
the ground responds to an oscillating input
current and, thus, the response of the
chargeability is as if resistivity is a complex
quantity.
• Thus, chargeability can be measured in both
time and frequency domain.
• Factors affecting the chargeability suggest that
the surface physics will be an important part of
explaining the phenomenon.
• For example, clays tend to be chargeable while
sandstones are not, and the microphotographs
here illustrate one reason why this is true. In
addition to the high surface area, the surface
interactions between clay minerals and fluids
enhance the ability of these materials to hold
charge.
Illite (a clay mineral) with surface Quartz overgrowths in sandstone
area of 100m*m/g (1000 times greater with surface area of 0.1m*m/g
than sandstone)
• This method has application in metallic
deposits with low EM anomalies and high
resistivity; disseminated Cu, Pb-Zn ores, Au;
Pyrite, chalcopyrite, magnetite, clay, graphite,
etc.
• This method probably is the only geophysical
method for base-metal exploration of
disseminated (i.e., minerals scattered as specks
and veinlets through rock and constituting not
over 20% of the total volume) type ore
deposits.
• Primary causes of chargeability, namely,
membrane polarization and electrode
polarization.
• However, Olhoeft (1985) stated that apart from
these causes, IP also may arise due to reactions
involving organic materials.
• In both cases, the re-distribution of charges
(charging) takes some time to occur when an
external dc electric field is applied.
• Equivalently, it takes the same time to revert to
a balanced charge distribution (discharging)
once the electric field is removed.
• “Charging” is hard to measure in practice.
“Discharging” is measured using time domain
IP survey techniques.
• The effect of charging for a finite time on
sinusoidal signals at different frequencies also
can be measured using frequency domain or
phase IP surveys.
• Pyrite and clay minerals often are found as
alteration products due to hydrothermal
processes.
• Hence, the IP mechanisms of electrode
polarization and membrane polarization might
be expected to occur under such
circumstances.
• Clay minerals are common in aquitards and so
affect resistivities and induced polarization
values encountered in groundwater
exploration.
 SEE PERMITTVITY_IP.PDF 7-11
• SEE GEOM_7.PDF 4-6
• The total electrical transport (J*) is a
combination of both flow (Jc) and storage of
charge (JD). The flow is dependent on the
conductivity whereas storage on relative
permittivity (e)
•
Electrode Polarization
• Arises due to some sort of electrochemical
processes at the interface of metallic minerals,
such as pyrite or magnetite, and the pore fluid and
are often exploited to reveal the presence of ore
deposits.
• Outer most surfaces of most solids possess a very
small net attraction for either cations or anions.
• Next to this is a fixed layer due to an adsorption
of ions, and are not truly exchangeable.
• These two layers, i.e., the outer most surface of
solid and fixed layer constitute a double layer.
• Adjacent to the fixed layer is a diffusion layer.
• This diffusion layer is a group of relatively mobile ions,
either of the same or opposite charge, known as the
diffuse layer.
• The anomalous number of ions in this zone decreases
exponentially from the fixed layer outward to the
normal ion concentration of the liquid.
• While the fixed layer is relatively stable, the diffuse
layer thickness is a function of temperature, ion
concentration in the normal electrolyte, valence of the
ions, and the dielectric constant of the medium
• Charge can be carried away either by physically
crossing the interface or not crossing the
interface.
• The current can pass physically cross the interface
due to an electrochemical reaction such as the
oxidation or reduction of some ion, and may
involve the diffusion of the ions toward or away
from the interface.
• The path through which this type of interaction
takes place is called as faradic path.
• In the other path where the charged particles do not
cross the interface; rather, current is carried by the
charging and discharging of the double layer is
termed as non-faradaic path.
• This non-faradaic component, thus, may be
represented by a simple capacitance insofar as the
variation of its impedance with frequency is
concerned.
• Thus, the mode of current conduction changes, e.g.,
from ionic to metallic and energy is required to cause
the current to flow across the interface.
• This energy barrier constitutes electrical impedance.
• The impedance associated with the faradaic path is represented
by the reaction resistance.
• This ion-diffusion process cannot be explained by mere
combination of fixed capacitors and resistors.
• The process is customarily referred to as the Warburg
impedance and its magnitude varies inversely with the square
root of the electrical frequency.
• For frequencies higher than 1 KHz, for many metal-electrolyte
interfaces major part of the electric current is carried across the
interface by means of the non-faradaic path; and the interfacial
impedance varies with frequency as ~ 1/f.
• As the frequency is lowered, more and more current is carried
via the faradaic path, and so the low frequency impedance
varies 1/sqrt (f) frequency in the range to depending on the
magnitude of the impedance ratio W/R.
• Process can be compared with the resistor-capacitor circuit.
• Capacitor is a device for storing charge and measured by
capacitance.
• The charge on one of the capacitor plates is Q=C/V
• The charges +Q and –Q develops on either plate of the
capacitor once it is connected to battery.
• If the battery is removed from the circuit the capacitor is
connected to a resistor, then the capacitor will discharge
through the resistor.
• The voltage across the resistor is given by V=IR,
• I=V/R=Q/RC
• The current t at any time is given by
• I = Ioexp (-t/RC)=Ioexp(-t/tau)
• Where, Io is the initial value of the current, tau is the
capacitive time constant for the RC circuit and e = 2.71828.
• Figure compares the transient decay curves for resistor
capacitor circuit and rock sample due to electrode
polarization.
• The difference between these two is that at the current off
(t=0) RC circuit shows the exponential decay where as in
the IP decay curves at current off the voltage current off
(t=0) falls immediately to and then decays exponentially
Top: Electrode polarization,
Bottom: Resistor Capacitor Circuit.
 Membrane Polarization
• Arises due to exchange reactions in clay and shaly sands and has found
importance in rocks containing a few percent clays distributed throughout
the rock matrix.
• This type of polarization is quite helpful in hydro-geologic problems.
• Occurs when pore space narrows to within several boundary layer
thicknesses (which are the thickness of ions adsorbed to a surface).
• Charges cannot flow easily, so they accumulate when an electric field is
applied.
• The result is a net charge dipole which adds to any other voltages measured
at the surface.
• However, Ward (1990) explained the mechanism of membrane polarization
as: it arises chiefly in porous rocks in which clay particles partially block
the ionic solution paths.
• The diffuse cloud of cations (double layer) in the vicinity of a clay surface
is characteristic of clay-electrolyte systems.
• On the application of an electrical potential, positive charge carriers easily pass
through the cationic cloud but negative charge carriers accumulate (Figure 7.7b); an
ion-selective membrane, therefore, exists.
• Upon elimination of the electrical potential, all charges return to equilibrium
positions (Figure 7.7a).
• Consequently, a surplus of both cations and anions occurs at one end of the
membrane zone, while a deficiency occurs at the other end.
• The number of positive charges cannot deviate significantly from the number of
negative charges at any one point in space because large electric fields would result
if they did.
• These ion concentration gradients oppose the flow of current thereby reducing the
overall mobility of ions.
• This reduction in mobility is most easily observed for slowly varying potential
variations (e.g., 0.1 Hz) with respect to the time of diffusion of ions between
adjacent membrane zones.
• For potential variations which are fast (e.g., 1000 Hz) with respect to the diffusion
time, the mobility of ions is not substantially reduced. Hence, the conductivity of a
membrane system increases as electrical frequency increases.
• Most of the anomalous charge adsorbed adjacent to an
interface is contained within a distance from the
surface d=KekT/sqrt (2ne*e*v*V) {d is the double
layer thickness), n =normal ion concentration of
electrolyte, v = valence of the normal ions, e
=elementary charge, Ke =relative dielectric permittivity
of the fluid medium, k = Boltzman's constant, 1.38054
x10-16 Erg/K, and T =temperature.

• Thickness of d increases with Ke and T and decreases

with n and v.
• In contaminant plumes or landfills, toxic or
nontoxic fluids can markedly change d. The
greater the value of d, the greater the
probability that a rock pore path will be
blocked, totally or partially, by a diffuse layer
and larger will be the induced polarization.
This statement is true for either membrane or
electrode polarizations.
IP Measurements in Time Domain

Different measures of the

time-domain
. (a) millivolt per volt,
(b) decay time integral,
(c) chargeability
Frequency Domain Measurements
• FE = (rhodc-rhoac)/rhoac
• PFE= Percentage Frequency Effect
• Metal Factor (MF) =2pi*105*FE/rhodc
• Called as MF because of its correlation with metallic
mineral content. The frequency effect is divided by
the rhodc of the medium; the product is equal to the
difference of the rhodc and rhoac. Since this is a
measure of the amount of conduction that involves
polarization blockage, it is sometimes referred to as
the MF.
 Equivalence between Time Domain and
Frequency Domain Measurements
• M = (lim t tending to infinity V(t)-lim t tending
to zero V(t))/lim t tending to infinity V(t)
From Laplace transform
• Lim t tending to infinity V(t) = J rhodc
• Lim t tending to zero V(t) = J rhoac
• M = (J rhodc-Jrhoac)/J rhodc
• M = 1 – rhoac/rhodc=1-1/(1+FE)=FE/1+FE
• M~FE (for FE too much less than 1)
IP Noise
• Source < 1 Hz Micropulsation
• Source > 1 Hz Thunderstorm
• Signal strength is minimum between 1Hz to
0.1 Hz and is termed as dead-band.
• But below 0.1 Hz the amplitude increases
rapidly with decreasing frequency, which
effectively prevents measurements below
about 0.03 Hz.
• Further, the amplitude also increases rapidly
with the increase in frequency above 10 Hz,
and thus would not be advisable to make
measurements above 10 Hz.
• Theoretically, the IP effect could be detected at
any frequency upto several thousand Hertz.
• But as electromagnetic coupling is too high
above 3 Hz which also depends upon apparent
resistivity and dipole separations, IP
measurements with large arrays are usually
limited to the range 0.03 - 3 Hz.
 Capacitive coupling
• It couples the transmitter to the receiver
through wire-ground or wire-wire capacitance.
Capacitive coupling can occur in three ways,
(a) capacitive leakage current from the
transmitting wire can be picked up at the
receiver electrode; (b) current from the
transmitting electrode can capacitively leak
into the receiving wire; and (c) current can
leak directly from wire to wire.
• The capacitive effect is usually small enough
to be negligible, unless the insulation of the
wires is defective or the wires lie very close to
electrodes other than their own.
• These are also most likely to be noticeable
when operating at high frequencies and at
large spacings in damp or swampy areas.
 EM Coupling
• EM coupling between grounded wires gives
rise to frequency dependence of resistivity and
hence, spurious anomalies in induced
polarisation (IP) surveys.
• It results from mutual impedance between the
current electrodes having alternating current
through these electrodes, and the V is the emf
between the potential electrodes, both directly
and through the ground in their vicinity.
• This effect is composed of complex resistivity
contribution as earth-returns current and an
EM coupling contribution due to induction
between the wire loops above the ground
surface.
• The EM effect can become quite large when
long wire layouts or higher frequencies are
used.
• The EM eddy currents induced in the ground
by current in the transmitting circuit vary with
frequency, and their effects are similar to those
of sulfide mineralization.
• The first step in combating EM coupling is to
use an appropriate electrode array.
• Arrays such as the Schlumberger and Wenner
(Telford et al., 1990), where measurements are
made between widely spaced current
electrodes, generate large EM coupling and
• If along current line is necessary to increase
the signal in low-resistivity terrain,
measurements must be made perpendicular to
the current wire near one of the electrodes, as
in the three-array or the perpendicular pole-
dipole array.
• If the earth is homogeneous, there is no EM
coupling with a perpendicular array. But lateral
or vertical resistivity changes can produce
large, and sometimes negative, EM coupling.
• The commonly used in-line dipole-dipole array
offers both high earth resolution and lower EM
coupling, at the expense of low receiver
voltage levels.
• Double-dipole and pole-dipole spreads are
employed to reduce coupling due to long wires
and the frequencies are usually kept below 10
Hz.
• This effect is also influenced by the variation
of resistivity in a vertical plane. Coupling is
generally in the sense of normal polarization
when using the double-dipole array, although it
may be the opposite, or negative, with the
gradient system.
 Negative IP

• Negative IP response (positive phase angle)

can be caused by geometric effects with
normally polarizable materials and by
inductive coupling. Infact, it arises due to the
vectorial electrical field relationship of a
polarizing materials during polarizing and
depolarizing cycles. Figures 7.14 shows the
negative IP effect due to a polarizable buried
body.
 Sumner (1976) explained this by detecting the
reversal in flow direction during depolarizing
cycle.

Figure 7.14: Negative IP effects due to a buried body: (a) polarizing cycle, and (b) depolarizing cycle.
 Negative IP could be observed in
following situations
• Electromagnetic or inductive coupling
• The coupling decreases with decrease in
frequency but the amplitude of natural field
signal increases with the decrease in frequency
below 1Hz and thus reliable measurements
often cannot be made below 0.1Hz. Gradient
array is susceptible to capacitive and
electromagnetic inductive coupling.
• Time domain practitioners reduce the problem
by using high currents and large, perpendicular
arrays, and by allowing a-large time interval
between current shut-off and voltage
measurement. This technique usually is
successful because the EM coupling decays
more rapidly than the IP response.
• However, insitu IP measurements with short
electrode spacing show that the IP
phenomenon persists for frequencies below
0.01Hz, and that in most cases the IP phase
angle is approximately constant between
0.01Hz and 10Hz.
• The phase is the sum of two components: (1)
caused by IP, which is constant with frequency
and persists to very low frequencies; and (2)
due to EM coupling, which varies with
frequency and is negligible at very low
frequencies.
 Polarizable layered earths
In K or Q type sounding curves, where the last
layer is more conducting as compared to other
two layers lying above it, the induced-
polarization function of the first layer can be
negative .
As a result, if the first layer is polarizable the
response from deeper layers can be severely
masked solely as a function of the resistivity
distribution, thus limiting the depth of
detection of buried sources.
• Nabighian and Elliot (1976) has shown that for
an -layered earth, negative induced-
polarization functions can be expected for
those layers lying above a or type sequence in
the resistivity section.
• Any application of induced-polarization
surveys must thus be preceded by a thorough
evaluation of the resistivity data.
Near Surface Body
• On the application of an electrical potential, positive charge carriers easily
pass through the cationic cloud but negative charge carriers accumulate
(Figure b); an ion-selective membrane, therefore, exists.
• Upon elimination of the electrical potential, all charges return to
equilibrium positions (Figure a).
• Consequently, a surplus of both cations and anions occurs at one end of the
membrane zone, while a deficiency occurs at the other end.
• The number of positive charges cannot deviate significantly from the
number of negative charges at any one point in space because large electric
fields would result if they did.
• These ion concentration gradients oppose the flow of current thereby
reducing the overall mobility of ions.
• This reduction in mobility is most easily observed for slowly varying
potential variations (e.g., 0.1 Hz) with respect to the time of diffusion of
ions between adjacent membrane zones.
• For potential variations which are fast (e.g., 1000 Hz) with respect to the
diffusion time, the mobility of ions is not substantially reduced. Hence, the
conductivity of a membrane system increases as electrical frequency
increases.
 APPLICATION OF IP IN
HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION
• During the migration of hydrocarbons, the mineralized pore water
changes its chemical composition and acquires alkaline properties.
• Thus, a reduction zone appears in the area above oil or gas
reservoirs that are characterized by a remarkable increased intensity
of electrochemical reactions.
• IP effects are mapped caused by the presence of epigenetic pyrite
microcrystals in sedimentary rocks.
• These crystals occur in a shallow halo-shaped mineralogical
alteration zone, often overlying a deeper-seated hydrocarbon
accumulation.
• Local enrichment in pyrite results from reducing geochemical
conditions below an impermeable layer.
• The imperfect top seal of the accumulation permits minor amounts
of hydrocarbons to escape and migrate through the overlying rocks
to shallower levels.
• During migration, hydro-carbons encounter an impermeable barrier,
forming an alteration zone.
• In addition, biodegradation and bacterial activity might give
rise to an organic origin of pyrite in the sedimentary pile.
• Significant enrichment in pyrite often is related to
hydrocarbon occurrences at deeper levels.
• The seal of the hydrocarbon accumulation is often not
perfect.
• Minor amounts of hydrocarbons along with hydrogen
sulfide can escape and are dissolved in the surrounding pore
waters.
• They migrate upward through the overlying rock column
until they encounter an effective regional seal.
• Here, an alteration zone is formed.
• Retention and sufficient time are needed for
the critical reactions to take place.
• This alteration zone is characterized by various
mineralizations, among which pyrite
enrichment is of particular interest for the
geoelectric investigation method.
IP Results in the mid-Volga region
(onshore Russia).
• IP anomaly is marked in yellow and is slightly offset with respect to the
structural closure shown in the corresponding map.
• Projected non-productive and productive boreholes on the geo-electric
traverse are represented by blue and red triangle respectively.
• The comparison is made between the geo-electric data and a structural map
of the reflecting horizon.
• The productive borehole is indicated by a red circle; the nonproductive
borehole is marked by a blue circle.
• The well, which was drilled taking into account geo-electric data, is shown
as a red triangle.
• Outline of depth contours could be adjusted to get a better correspondence
between the geoelectric and the mapped structurally closed area.
• In addition, slanted leaking of hydrocarbons to shallower levels could
explain the offset of the alteration zone in respect to the mapped
accumulation.
• Green reflects a weaker anomalous response, red
intermediate and magenta is a higher anomalous
geoelectric response.
• The red curve along the nonproductive borehole is
impedance log response, and the yellow curve is
the modeled receptivity of section. Electrical
characteristics of section assigned in compliance
with logging.
• Similarity of the modeled and measured well-log
curves makes clear that the geo-electric results
have a high degree of confidence in this case.
 GROUNDWATER
• Saline clean gravels may be distinguished from clay-containing fresh water gravels
only by IP and resistivity measurements, and not by resistivity alone.
• In the search for rechargeable strata, this distinction is of importance.
• Solid clay horizons respond as resistivity lows but do not typically produce
induced-polarization highs.
• Since these horizons serve as impermeable barriers to water percolation, it is
important to map them electrically, and resistivity soundings and surveys usually
accomplish this.
• Bodmer et al. (1968) used the IP method to map a clay-rich zone in unconsolidated
sediments. Their results, shown in Figure 1, were later confirmed by seismic fan
shooting.
• The clay-rich zone reduced the fluid permeability of an aquifer in the region under
study and this was important to an assessment of the transmissivity and storativity
of the aquifer.

• Ogilvy and Kuzmina (1972) carried out IP surveys in Central Kazakhstan, the
Crimea, Mordovia, Armenia, and the Moscow area inorder to determine the
depth to groundwaters in sandy-clayey deposits, detecting accumulations of
fresh groundwaters, and specifying the position of the interfaces between
fresh and saline waters.
(a) PFE over a clay-rich lens in unconsolidated sediments, dipole-dipole array, n = 1.
(b) Inferred geological cross-section (after Bodmer et al., 1968).