Geological-Geophysical Investigations for Hydrological Studies in a Basement Complex Terrain, Southwestern Nigeria

Geological field mapping and vertical electrical soundings (VES) were conducted in Igbo-Ora, southwestern Nigeria in order to unravel the subsurface structures, as part of the preliminary investigations for groundwater resources assessment, development and management in a crystalline basement terrain, southwestern Nigeria. The geological survey was carried out to produce a local geological map with spatial distributions of different basement rocks and their structural trends. Metamorphic and igneous rocks make up 90 and 10%, respectively, of the rocks in the study area. They include the banded gneiss, biotite granite gneiss, quartzite/quartz-schist and granitic intrusions of varying grain sizes. Twenty-five VES surveys were conducted within the biotite granite gneiss terrain of the area, using Schlumberger array, providing layering and geoelectrical parameters. Three geoelectric layers delin- eated from the VES 1D inversion models are clayey sand/sandy clay top soil (overburden), partly weathered or fractured basement and fresh basement. The corresponding inverse model resistivity values ranges are: 209.7–2298.0, 45.1–346.2 and1013.7–33,124.0Xmwithbottomdepths ranges of 0.9–2.9 and 4.6–42.0 m, respectively. The topmost clayey sand/sandy clay layer will serve as the protective layer, while the saturated portion of the partly weathered or fractured basement, at depth, favors ground- water exploration and development in the study area

Anomaly effects of arrays for 3d geoelectrical resistivity imaging using orthogonal or parallel 2d profiles

The effectiveness of using a net of orthogonal or parallel sets of two-dimensional (2D) profiles for threedimensional (3D) geoelectrical resistivity imaging has been evaluated. A series of 2D apparent resistivity data were generated over two synthetic models which represent geological or environmental conditions for a typical weathered profile and waste dump site, respectively, commonly associated with geophysical applications for hydrogeological, environmental and engineering investigations. Several minimum electrode separations and inter-line spacing were used to generate the apparent resistivity data for each electrode array with a view to determining the optimum inter-line spacing relative to the minimum electrode separation. The 2D apparent resistivity data for each array were collated to 3D data sets. The effectiveness and efficiency of the arrays in 3D geoelectrical resistivity imaging were evaluated by determining the mean absolute anomaly effects of the electrodes arrays on the synthetic models. The anomaly effects observed in dipole-dipole (DDP), pole-dipole (PDP) and Wenner-Schlumberger (WSC) arrays were generally larger than that observed in other arrays considered. The least anomaly effect on the synthetic models was observed in pole-pole (PP) array. This indicates that DDP, PDP and WSC arrays are more sensitive to 3D features. In all the arrays, the anomaly effects observed in the data set generated using the conventional square grids were slightly larger than those from parallel or orthogonal 2D profiles. This slight increase is attributed to the increased data density and is insignificant when compared with those of parallel and orthogonal 2D profiles. Hence, the use of parallel or orthogonal 2D profiles for 3D geoelectrical resistivity survey is effective.Key words: Anomaly effects, orthogonal/parallel 2D profiles, 3D surveys, geoelectrical resistivity imaging, measurement effectiveness