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Comas & Slater 2004
Comas, X. and Slater, L. (2004). Low-frequency electrical properties of peat. Water Resources Research 40: doi: 10.1029/2004WR003534. issn: 0043-1397.

Electrical resistivity/induced polarization (0.1--1000 Hz) and vertical hydraulic conductivity (Kv) measurements of peat samples extracted from different depths (0--11 m) in a peatland in Maine were obtained as a function of pore fluid conductivity (σw) between 0.001 and 2 S/m. Hydraulic conductivity increased with σw (Kv $propto$ σw0.3 between 0.001 and 2 S/m), indicating that pore dilation occurs due to the reaction of NaCl with organic functional groups as postulated by previous workers. Electrical measurements were modeled by assuming that bulk electrolytic conduction through the interconnected pore space and surface conduction in the electrical double layer (EDL) at the organic sediment-fluid interface act in parallel. This analysis suggests that pore space dilation causes a nonlinear relationship between the bulk electrolytic conductivity (σel) and σwel $propto$ σw1.3). The Archie equation predicts a linear dependence of σel on σw and thus appears inappropriate for organic sediments. Induced polarization (IP) measurements of the imaginary part (σ″surf) of the surface conductivity (σ*surf) show that σ″surf is greater and more strongly σw-dependent (σ″surf $propto$ σw0.5 between 0.001 and 2 S/m) than observed for inorganic sediments. By assuming a linear relationship between the real (σ'surf) and the imaginary part (σ″surf) of the surface conductivity, we develop an empirical model relating the resistivity and induced polarization measurements to σw in peat. We demonstrate the use of this model to predict (a) σw and (b) the change in Kv due to an incremental change in σw from resistivity and induced polarization measurements on organic sediments. Our study has implications for noninvasive geophysical characterization of σw and Kv with potential to benefit studies of carbon cycling and greenhouse gas fluxes as well as nutrient supply dynamics in peatlands.

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Abstract

Keywords
Hydrology, Wetlands, Physical Properties of Rocks, Magnetic and electrical properties, Marine Geology and Geophysics, General or miscellaneous, Hydrology, Groundwater hydrology, electrical conductivity, hydraulic conductivity, IP measurements, peat, pore dilation
Journal
Water Resources Research
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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