This session is merged from the originally proposed sessions GI3.7: “Integrated Geophysical Examination of Karst Phenomenon in Arid Environments”, GI3.2:”Instrumentation for downhole and hazardous environment”, and GI3.3: “Instrumentation for Polar Regions Research”

The session promotes discussions between scientists who develop and apply new methodologies and instruments in difficult sub-surface and surface environments and use these data in various branches of geosciences.

Karst is found on particularly soluble rocks, especially limestone, marble, and dolomite (carbonate rocks), but is also developed on gypsum and rock salt. Subsurface carbonate rocks involved in karst groundwater circulation considerably extend the active karst realm, to perhaps 14% of the world’s land area. The phenomenon of the solution weathering of limestone is the most widely known in the world. Active sinkholes growth appears under different industrial constructions, roads, railways, bridges, airports, buildings, etc. Regions with arid and semi-arid climate occupy about 30% of the Earth’s land. The total annual economic damage from the karst phenomena in the world is estimated as 30 billion US $. Subsurface in arid regions is characterized by high variability of physical properties both on lateral and vertical that complicates geophysical surveys acquisition and analysis. Some typical problems cause physical properties limitations (e.g., very low resistivity in some arid regions limits employment of such methods as GPR and very low frequency (VLF)). Therefore, for reliable delineation of karst phenomenon and its monitoring an integration of geophysical methods should be applied. We want to present in this session application of various geophysical integrations in any possible variants (surface, subsurface, borehole, remote applied vehicles, airborne and satellite) with using various advanced algorithms and software allowing karst (sinkhole) detection, visualization and contouring. Modelling and simulation examples for the following geophysical methods are especially welcome: ground penetration radar, electric resistivity tomography, seismic, time-domain electromagnetic, microgravity, magnetic, nuclear magnetic resonance, VLF, induced polarization, self-potential, near-surface temperature, radon (gamma ray), piezoelectric and any other methods (including dowsing) applicable for the karst phenomena recognition and for large-scale ice formations in the polar regions.

Examples are ice and gas hydrate drilling, low environmental impact tools, high pressure and high or low temperature tools, logging in high angle/ horizontal wells, formation evaluation in conventional and non-conventional plays, ice logging, geophysical measurements in tunnels, and non-conventional applications of classical logs.

Drilling, coring, measurement and logging technological developments for difficult environments like slim bore holes, sub-surface and surface measurements in Polar Regions are presented and discussed in this session. Welcome are also theoretical approaches modelling and simulating the related geophysical phenomena and thereby possibly extending the utilization of the existing instrumentation to areas and topics so far too difficult to reliably observe.