Detection of seepage paths in small earth dams using the self-potential method (SP)

Abstract The application of geoelectric methods, such as induced polarization (IP), the electrical resistivity and the self-potential (SP), presents an important indirect study methodology in several areas of geology, such as mining, geotechnics and environmental geology. The present study deals with the results of the application of the self-potential method (SP) in small earth dams in the cities of Cordeirópolis and Ipeúna, both in the state of São Paulo. Studies of the Engineering of Dams intensified at the end of century XX, due to alarming number of dam disruptions. In Brazil, small da...