Determination of Soil Moisture Content at Bukit Bunuh Meteorite Impacted Area using Resistivity Method and Laboratory Test

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Federal University, Lafia, Nigeria

2 Associate Professor, Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University Sains Malaysia, Pinang, Malaysia

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University Sains Malaysia, Pinang, Malaysia

4 Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Nigeria

5 Ph.D. Student, Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University Sains Malaysia, Pinang, Malaysia

6 Professor, Centre for Global Archeological Research, University Sains Malaysia, Pinang, Malaysia

Abstract

Determination of soil moisture content is of vital importance to many fields of study; civil engineering, hydrology, agriculture, geology, ecology and forestry. The occurrence of impact crater in Bukit Bunuh, a meteorite impacted area, made it an area of great interest to many researchers. In view of the process of impact cratering, the subsurface soil characteristics such as moisture content of the impacted area are prone to change and therefore prompted for this study. 2-D resistivity survey, borehole and laboratory test were used for the study. The outcome revealed that the subsurface soil inside the crater has high moisture content of 29 – 59 %, which corresponds to low resistivity values of < 300 Wm at a depth of < 20 m. This is probably caused by the geological processes involved in the impact cratering, which made the soil to be loose, porous and permeable, thus enhancing the moisture content. The soil overlying the crater rim and outside the crater has higher resistivity values > 300 Wm, which is indicative of low moisture content (< 29 %). The highly resistive soil is more pronounced on the crater due to the reclaimed soil during the impact cratering. Based on the data analysis, significant correlation between the soil moisture content and the electrical resistivity was established.

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Main Subjects

References

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Journal of the Earth and Space Physics
Volume 45, Issue 4
February 2020
Pages 77-87

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