Аннотация
The increased number of earth dam failures raises the question of the relevance of early determination of the internal condition and causes of erosion of the dam body. The paper deals with the results of using the self-potential method in order to assess the physical condition of the earthen dam of the K-25 reservoir in Kazakhstan. The specificity of this study is that several cycles of measurements were made at different water levels in the reservoir. Based on the results of field data processing, the isoline maps were drawn and their interpretation was carried out. The general regularity in the distribution of self-potential values is their increase to the downstream of dam, which is associated with intensive water seepage, especially in its flanks and central part. The formation of anomalous zones may be due to the complex influence of the inhomogeneity of the dam body and the possible water leakage from the operational pipeline and emergency spillways. Based on the calculated self-potential dispersion, it was established: a) the intensity of seepage and the size of water-saturated zones depend on the hydrodynamic regime of reservoir; b) the change in the intensity of the potential difference and the anomaly sizes depend on the water level in the reservoir. The study results have shown the effectiveness of the self-potential method for determining the erosion zones in the dam body associated with water flows. The method can be used in the geotechnical monitoring in order to ensure the safe operation of earth dams.