Papers - Electrical Methods - Correlation of Earth Resistivity with Geological Structure and Age (T. P. 829, with discussion)

The geophysicist is interested greatly in the resistivities of different formations or parts of the earth's crust; sometimes he is interested in a single figure in the nature of an average, or what may be called the effective resistivity, of all the formations or parts of the crust at a given location to a certain depth. Conversely, the engineer whose work is concerned with the coordination of power and communication lines in such a manner as to avoid electrical interference between these two types of facilities is concerned very much with this effective resistivity; to a lesser extent he is interested in the resistivities of individual formations. In connection with his work the coordination engineer often estimates the effective resistivity of the earth from measurements of the mutual impedances of lines; in other instances he derives from measurements of a different type the resistivities of different layers of the crust and synthesizes these to obtain an estimate of the effective resistivity. In connection with problems concerning the coordination of power and telephone lines, measurements from which earth resistivities can be estimated have been made at many points in the United States by the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. and its associated companies, in cooperation with various power companies and with railroad companies having electrified sections of line. Other such measurements have been made by the Joint Subcommittee on Development and Research of the Edison Electric Institute and the Bell Telephone System. A study has been made of the correlation of these data with the ages and types of materials of the strata of the earth's crust at each of the test locations. The purpose of this study has been primarily to provide information to assist in predicting the order of magnitude of effective resistivities to be used in the preliminary consideration of problems concerned with the coordination of power and communication lines. To make the results of such a study most useful, it is essential that the geological data to be secured when such a prediction is wanted be readily obtainable. Data on the ages of strata and the types of materials composing geological structures can usually be obtained, therefore particu-