Geological Mapping, Petrography and Ground Magnetic Survey in Gidan Doya, Lokoja, North Central, Nigeria

The geological mapping, petrographic and ground magnetic Survey in Gidan-Doya, Lokoja, North Central, Nigeria was carried out. The geomagnetic data were acquired along 8 traverses using 3 axes MCL6 Proton Precession Magnetometer and Magnetic Susceptibility Meter. The data were processed using Surfer 11 software, corrected for variations in geomagnetic fields as well as upward continuation and residual magnetic field. The anomaly patterns identified in the upward continued map revealed distinct structural zones. The North Eastern and South Western zones have the maximum magnetic intensity values ranging from 700 nT to 1100 nT suggesting shallow basement while the North Western zone is characterized by relatively low magnetic intensity values ranging from -300 nT to 700 nT suggesting a deeper basement. The direct measurement of magnetic susceptibility varies between 0.36 x 10-3 SI to 39.00 x 10-3 SI. The contour map shows the relative thickness of the overburden to be between 15 to 40 m. The study concludes that magnetic potential of the survey area is controlled principally by the subsurface structures, thickness of the overburden and mineral composition. The faults, fractures, and lithological contacts provide channels for mineralization fluids and flow of underground water. Petrographic study shows that the area is dominated by Migmatite and granite. The major minerals include feldspar, quartz and biotite, while magnetite, ilmenite and hematite occur as accessory minerals. Keywords: Magnetic Susceptibility, Petrography, Paramagnetic, Structures, Residual magnetic map and shallow Basin

Assessment of Surface and Ground Water Quality in Ganaja, Lokoja, North-Central, Nigeria

The increasing rise in population, poor sanitation habits, massive flooding and lack of enforcement of environmental Sanitation laws in the study area have contributed immensely to the pollution of water sources. Thus, water samples were obtained from river Niger, hand-dug wells and a bore-hole in Ganaja, Lokoja, north-central, Nigeria for water quality analyses. The hydro-geochemical results showed that the pH values range from 6.70-7.70 indicating alkaline water type. The water hardness of the hand dug wells range from 7.46 - 241.09 with an average value of 110.30 indicating soft to moderately hard water. The hardness value range from 7.47 to 10.78mg/l in the river samples, 56.88 to 207.78mg/l in hand dug wells and 57.35mg/l in borehole sample respectively. The results show values are all above the World Health Organization (WHO) admissive limit and Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality guideline for drinking water. The value of Mg ranges from 1.11 – 10.74mg/l in all the samples, this is above Nigeria Standard for drinking water. The values of the physico-chemical parameters such as the ToC, Ec, BOD, COD, HCO3, CO3, SO4 Cl, NO3 Na, Ca, and the heavy metals including Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn as well as the concentration of TDS, Ca and K  in all the other waters samples are within the allowable limits. TDS is linked to taste, hardness, corrosion properties and tendency for incrustation by water. Hard water can cause aesthetic problems including include alkali taste (making morning coffee taste bitter), formation of deposit on dishes, utensils, laundry basins, difficulty in getting soup and detergents to lather, formation of insulating precipitate on clothing, characteristic blue-green staining of sinks, household pipes choking, scaling, incrustations on kitchen utensils and increasing soap consumption. Hardness of water can create both nuisance and economic burden to individual and community. It is advisable that the water be treated against hardness, TDS, Ca, Mg and K before consumption or other domestic use. They should be regular routine monitoring by concerned authorities, as this, will ensure compliance and safety. Keywords: Water quality, Hardness, pH, Hydrochemistry, Heavy Metal and Public Healt

Multivariate analysis of groundwater around Solous lll dumpsite, Lagos, South- West Nigeria

The study of changes in groundwater quality across different areas is necessary so as to track the sources of the contamination in the water sources. Assessment of the physiochemical parameters of groundwater samples obtained from both borehole and hand-dug wells were conducted around the Solous III dumpsite, Lagos, South-western, Nigeria. Multivariate statistics such as correlation coefficient analysis, Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analyses (PCA) were utilised to assess the mode of association of parameters and their interrelationships to establish possible sources of groundwater contamination. Eight groundwater samples were obtained around the dumpsite during the wet and dry seasons for analysis of their physicochemical properties. The results of the analyses of water samples indicated seasonal changes for the various elemental constituents analysed. There was generally an increase in mean concentration of total dissolved solid (TDS), pH, temperature and hardness in the dry season study, and a corresponding increase in the mean concentration of Ca 2+, Mg 2+, Na+, SO42-, NO3 2-, Pb, and Cr, when compared with the wet season. On the other hand, there was reduction in the mean concentration of electrical conductivity (EC), K + , Cl -, PO43-, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Ni in the dry season when compared with the wet season. Some of the water sample parameters exhibited high concentration when compared with WHO/SON standard, which may be due to the impact of leachate migration from the dumpsite. Five varimax rotated factor loadings and communalities were responsible for 30 % and 35 % of the total variance in the data set during wet and dry seasons respectively. The PCA parameters identified to be influencing the quality of water are perhaps related to anthropogenic activities from the dumpsite, soluble mineral dissolution, rock–groundwater interaction and weathering activities while PCA performed on samples of groundwater during wet and dry seasons indicated 2 and 3 important clusters, respectively. The clusters of parameters as observed in the parameters dendrograms clearly validates the results earlier obtained in the correlation analysis component of this research. The dendrogram was also able to reflect variation in the quality of water with season as indicated in the difference in the number of clusters during both wet and dry seasons