Induced Polarization as a Proxy for CO2-Rich Groundwater Detection—Evidences from the Ardennes, South-East of Belgium

CO2-rich mineral groundwaters are of great economic and touristic interest but their origin and circulation paths in the underground are often poorly understood. A deeper understanding of the system plumbery and the development of non—to minimally—invasive near-surface geophysical methods for the prospection of potential productive areas is therefore of great interest to manage future supply. The objective of this contribution is to assess the ability of the time-domain induced polarization (TDIP) method, combined with the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method, to make the distinction between CO2-rich groundwater from non-gaseous groundwater. Three combined ERT/TDIP tomographies were performed above known uplift zones in the south-east of Belgium where thousands of CO2-rich groundwater springs exist. On all profiles, important contrasts in both electrical resistivity and chargeability distributions were observed in the vicinity of the upflow zone, also reflected in the normalized chargeability sections computed from the measured data. Low resistivity vertical anomalies extending in depth were interpreted as a saturated fracture network enabling the upflow of deep groundwater to the surface. High chargeability anomalies appearing directly close to the CO2-rich groundwater springs were inferred to metallic oxides and hydroxides precipitation in the upper part of the aquifer, linked to pressure decrease and changing redox conditions in the up-flowing groundwater approaching the land surface. The combined interpretation of electrical resistivity and induced polarization datasets provides a very promising method for a robust prospection of CO2-rich groundwater.