Oil spills mapping via electrical resistivity tomography technique: a coastal case study of Alexandria, Egypt | ||
| Bulletin of Faculty of Science, Zagazig University | ||
| Article 13, Volume 2025, Issue 2, June 2025, Pages 154-166 PDF (1.51 M) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/bfszu.2024.322251.1430 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Mohamed Attwa1; Mohamed Shehata2; Ahmed Talal* 3 | ||
| 11 Zagazig University, Faculty of Science, Geology Department, Zagazig, Egypt 2 Division of Geological Applications and Mineral Resources, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Cairo, Egypt | ||
| 21 Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt | ||
| 31 Zagazig University, Faculty of Science, Geology Department, Zagazig, Egypt 3 Capital Drilling Company | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Oil spills have detrimental effects on aquatic life, leading to the mortality of fish, crustaceans, and other marine organisms. The toxic compounds in oil can bioaccumulate up the food chain posing health risks to higher-level predators, including humans. On land, oil contamination can render soil unsuitable for agricultural use and disrupt terrestrial ecosystems, impacting vegetation and wildlife. Nowadays, oil spills from refinery factories have devastating impacts on both aquatic and terrestrial environments. In Alexandria City, Egypt, the presence of several oil refineries near the coastal and the shipping activities poses a significant risk of oil contamination to the surrounding ecosystems. Oil spills characterization at coastal populous cities is particularly difficult due to large chemical and physical soil heterogeneities and saltwater intrusion. This study aims to investigate the effects of oil spills from these refinery facilities on the local environment and the potential use of 2D electrical resistivity tomography (2D-ERT) to characterize and map oil-plumes. The findings of this research will provide valuable insights into the environmental impact of oil spills and demonstrate the utility of 2D-ERT as a tool for characterizing and monitoring oil-polluted sites. Obviously, the oil spills constitute a wedge-like form where the oil moves gradually downward, and it then shifts horizontally towards the shoreline with thinning in oil-contaminated zones. Consequently, in-situ trenches/monitoring wells are suggested to withdraw the oil-contaminated water at the maximum deduced oil-contaminated soil thickness. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Oil spills detection; 2D-ERT; Environmental sustainability; Coastal pollution | ||
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