Geophysical Surveys Near Tucson International Airport

摘要

The Tucson International Airport Area (TIAA) Superfund site is an approximately ten square mile area in southeast Tucson, Pima County, Arizona in which several known contaminated water plumes have been identified, which are the result of improper disposal of industrial waste from multiple sources during the past sixty years. The most prominent of these contaminants are 1, 4-dioxane, hexavalent Chromium, and trichloroethylene (TCE), which exist in varying concentrations throughout the site. Groundwater contamination in Tucson was first identified in the 1950’s; however TIAA was not recognized as a Federal Superfund site until 1982. Since then, much work has been carried out in an attempt to fully understand and remediate the contamination in the area. This study focusses on four areas within the TIAA: Samsonite North, Aero Park Blvd South (EW line), Aero Park Blvd South (NS line), and EPA-03. Several geophysical techniques have been used to understand the subsurface structure in the area and to better understand the contamination plume and its movement. Using the Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) technique at three sites: Samsonite North, Aero Park Blvd South (NS line and EW line), and EPA-03, it was found that there was a low-resistivity region going through the EPA-03 site, two low-resistivity regions through Aero Park Blvd South (NS line), and three low-resistivity zones through Aero Park Blvd South (EW line). These channels were consistent with the overall orientation of water flow in the region which is toward the Northwest. These zones may indicate higher moisture content, and this may be caused by porous, water-filled channels passing through the sites. These zones could also indicate non-porous clay-rich regions, which would also be low resistivity. The effect of a pipeline on the measurements in the Samsonite North area made it difficult to reach any useful conclusions at this site.