RESEARCH ARTICLE - APPLIED GEOPHYSICS Application of electrical and electromagnetic methods to study sedimentary covers in high mountain areas Sylwia Tomecka-Suchon ´ 1 • Bogdan _ Zogala 2 • Tomislaw Gole ˛biowski 3 • Gra _ zyna Dzik 4 • Tomasz Dzik 5 • Krzysztof Jochymczyk 2 Received: 5 May 2017 / Accepted: 9 August 2017 / Published online: 22 August 2017 Ó Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences & Polish Academy of Sciences 2017 Abstract The results of geophysical studies conducted with selected electrical and electromagnetic methods in the Kondratowa Valley in the Tatra Mountains (the Carpathian Mountains, Poland) are presented in the article. The sur- veys were performed with the following methods: electri- cal resistivity tomography (ERT), georadar (GPR) and conductivity meter (CM). The objective of the noninvasive geophysical measurements was to determine the thickness of the Quaternary postglacial sediments that fill the bottom of the valley and to designate the accumulation of boulders deposited on Quaternary sediments. The results of ERT surveys conducted along the axis of the valley allowed to determine the changeability of the thickness of the post- glacial sediments and allowed to designate a few areas of occurrence of boulders. The ERT, GPR and CM surveys conducted across the valley allowed to designate with high accuracy the thickness of the accumulation of boulders sliding down the valley bottom from the couloirs sur- rounding the valley. Keywords ERT  GPR  Conductivity meter  The Tatra Mountains Introduction The geophysical studies were conducted in the Kondratowa Valley (Fig. 1a), which is located in the central part of the Tatra Mountains (the Carpathian Mountains, Poland). The mountain glaciers formed in the Pleistocene (Fig. 2a) were of great importance for the final shaping of the Tatra Mountains. Denudation that accompanied their development was the source of a large amount of rock material, which was transferred by the movement of gla- ciers and had mechanical impact on the bedrock, carving characteristic U-shaped valleys, such as, for example, the Kondratowa Valley (Fig. 2b). The loose rock material was washed out with the waters of the melting glaciers and formed fluvioglacial cones near the mouth of the valley, and after melting of the glaciers remained as the filling of & Sylwia Tomecka-Suchon ´ tomecka@agh.edu.pl Bogdan _ Zogala bogdan.zogala@us.edu.pl Tomislaw Gole ˛biowski goleb@wis.pk.edu.pl Gra _ zyna Dzik gd@emag.pl Tomasz Dzik tomasz.dzik@gk.com.pl Krzysztof Jochymczyk krzysztof.jochymczyk@us.edu.pl 1 Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Cracow, Poland 2 Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Silesian University, Be ˛dzin ´ ska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland 3 Division of Geodesy, Geophysics and Engineering Geology, Department of Geotechnics, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland 4 Institute of Innovative Technologies EMAG, Leopolda 31, 40-189 Katowice, Poland 5 Geofizyka Krako ´w SA, Lukasiewicza 3, 31-429 Cracow, Poland 123 Acta Geophys. (2017) 65:743–755 DOI 10.1007/s11600-017-0068-z