CONDUCTIVE BODIES AND GROUNDWATER INVESTIGATION USING VERTICAL

ELECTRICAL SOUNDING AND INDUCED POLARIZATION METHOD AROUND

FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN

BY

ADEWUMI HEPHZIBAH INIOLUWA

19/56FJ012

A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOPHYSICS,

FACULTY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ILORIN, NIGERIA

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR

OF SCIENCE (B.SC.) DEGREE.

JULY, 2024

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project work “Conductive Bodies and Groundwater Investigation using

Vertical Electrical Sounding and Induced Polarization Method around Faculty of Environmental

Science, University of Ilorin” represents the outcome of my independent research, conducted

under the guidance of Dr. A. K. Olawuyi. None of the content in this research project has been

previously submitted for any purpose other than the fulfillment of the requirements for the B.Sc

in Applied Geophysics at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. Proper acknowledgement

through citations and references has been given to the contribution of other researchers.

____________________

ADEWUMI, HEPHZIBAH INIOLUWA (19/56FJ012)

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 CERTIFICATION PAGE

This is to certify that this study was conducted by ADEWUMI, Hephzibah Inioluwa

(19/56FJ012) and has been read and approved as meeting part of the requirements of the

Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Physical Science, University of Ilorin, Nigeria for the

award of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Degree in Applied Geophysics.

________________ _________________

ADEWUMI, HEPHZIBAH INIOLUWA (19/56FJ012) DATE

________________ _________________
DR. A. K OLAWUYI DATE
SUPERVISOR

________________ _________________
PROF. S. OLATUNJI DATE
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

________________ _________________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER DATE

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 DEDICATION

This project work is dedicated to the Almighty God who has made it all possible and my dad

who provided me with everything I needed financially, morally and spiritually for the successful

completion of this project before his untimely departure. I love you now and forever Daddy.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and most importantly, I give God almighty all the glory for the successful completion of

this project work, for His help, grace, love, protection, comfort, wisdom and so much more that

He made available before, during and after this project work. In Him I live, move and have my

being.

My sincere appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr. A. K Olawuyi, his advice and guidance went

a very long way and contributed greatly to the successful completion of this project. Thank you

Sir.

My heartfelt gratitude goes to Dr. N. K Olasunkanmi, my seminar supervisor, who during my

time as his student imparted so much knowledge that proved invaluable to me in the course of

this research. His advice is forever appreciated.

My profound appreciation goes to the Head of Department, Prof. S. Olatunji, my able level

adviser, Dr Folorunsho and other lecturers, technologists and all non-academic staff of the

Department of Geophysics. Your immense contributions from the moment I became your student

did a lot in making me who I am today. God bless you all greatly.

Special thanks to my parents, Mr. Adewumi Kadir (of blessed memory) and Mrs C. B Kadir for

their untiring supports in my entire academic journey. To my mother, I pray you live really long

to reap the fruit of your labor of love and great strength. To my older siblings – Mrs F. Ajoda,

Mrs T. Olajide, Mrs F. Ayeni and Mrs O. Osafehinti together with their spouses, I can never

fully repay your love, encouragements and support. And to my younger siblings, Eunice and

Adewumi (Jnr), thanks for your love and care. I love you all. God bless you.

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I will not fail to acknowledge the prayers and encouragement of my pastor and his wife, Pastor &

Mrs J. O Adeoti for their prayers and to my spiritual parents, Mr & Mrs O.A Ajibola together

with their family, their encouragement and words of prayers will never be forgotten. To the

Popoola’s (Jnr and Snr), Bakare’s, and all NTCM family, God bless you all greatly for your

support and encouragement.

I will not fail to specially appreciate my sister and senior, an alumna of this great department and

school, Popoola Janet for her support, advice and encouragement during my course of study. I

am grateful.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to my friends for their tremendous help and company

throughout my course of study; Babarinde John, Adekunle Comfort, Efanga Overcomer, Atiku

Shalom, Oluwadaisi Peace, Abdullahi Oluwadamilare, Afolayan Abiola and all geophysics

students. God bless you.

Lastly but most importantly, I want to acknowledge all previous researchers and authors of

books and journals that contributed greatly to the achievement of my objectives. Your works

were like a pool of knowledge that I could draw from anytime.

ADEWUMI, HEPHZIBAH INIOLUWA

JULY 2024

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i

Declaration ii

Certification page iii

Dedication iv

Acknowledgements v

Table of Contents vii

List of Figures x

List of Tables xiii

Abstract xiv

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Statement 1

1.2 Location of the study 2

1.3 Statement of the problem 4

1.4 Aims and objectives of the study 4

1.5 Scope of the study 5

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Geology of Nigeria 7

2.2 Regional geology of Nigeria 8

2.3 Hydrogeology of Nigeria 13

2.4 Theory of electrical methods 16

2.5 Electrical Resistivity method 21

2.6 Induced polarization method 30

2.6.1 Theory and application of IP method 32

CHAPTER THREE: Materials and Methods

3.1 Instrumentation 34

3.2 Methodology 35

3.3 Precaution taken during field procedure 35

3.4 Electrical resistivity data processing 36

3.4.1 Resistivity data processing 36

3.4.2 Resistivity curve plotting and curve matching 38

3.5. Induced polarization data processing 41

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULT AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 Resistivity data and field curve analysis 42

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4.2 Induced Polarization data and curve 46

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion 59

5.2 Recommendation 59

References 60

Appendix 63

LIST OF FIGURES

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Figure 1.2: Base map of the location 3

Figure 2.2: Geological sketch map of Nigeria showing the major geological components

Basement complex, Younger Granite and sedimentary basin (Olusegun et al., 2018) 12

Figure 2.3: Hydrogeology of Nigeria at 1:5 million scale (MacDonald et al., 2012) 15

Figure 2.4.1: A figure showing the flow of current in the subsurface and the resultant potential

difference 18

Figure 2.4.2: Resistivity and conductivity values of some earth’s material (Palacky, 1988) 20

Figure 2.5: Diagram showing the Schlumberger array, the electrodes placement, spacing and

movement of current in the subsurface (Yasala et al., 2012) 23

Figure 2.6: Time domain IP showing the overvoltage (Wightman, W. E., Jalinoos, F., Sirles, P.,

and Hanna, K. 2003) 31

Figure 2.6.2: Movement of positive and negative ions on a metallic particle in electrolyte. (Seigel

1970) 33

Figure 3.1: The four major types of resistivity curves showing their number of layers and

resistivity 39

Figure 4.0: Contour maps showing all the VES station 44

Figure 4.1a: Geo-electric layers of VES station 2,3,4 48

Figure 4.1b: Geo-electric layers of VES station 5,6,7 and 8 48

Figure 4.2:Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 1 49

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Figure 4.3: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 2 49

Figure 4.4: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 3 50

Figure 4.5: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 4 50

Figure 4.6: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 5 51

Figure 4.7: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 6 51

Figure 4.8: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 7 52

Figure 4.9: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 8 52

Figure 4.91: Typical VES Resistivity curve at VES 9 53

Figure 4.92: Typical IP curve point 1 54

Figure 4.93: Typical IP curve point 2 54

Figure 4.94: Typical IP curve point 3 54

Figure 4.95: Typical IP curve point 4 54

Figure 4.96: Typical IP curve point 5 55

Figure 4.97: Typical IP curve point 6 55

Figure 4.98: Typical IP curve point 7 55

Figure 4.99: Typical IP curve point 8 56

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Figure 5.0: Typical IP curve point 9 56

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: Geo-electric section showing number of layers and lithology 47

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 ABSTRACT

This research work assessed conductive bodies and groundwater potential in the Faculty of

Environmental sciences area, University of Ilorin, using the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES)

and Induced Polarization (IP) methods. The purpose of this study was to understand subsurface

structures and lithology to locate water bearing formations.

The area of study in which this research was carried out is in the basement complex area of

Nigeria.

A total of nine VES and IP survey were carried out in the location with earth resistivity meter

using the Schlumberger electrode configuration to acquire data for both methods simultaneously.

The contour maps shows the nine VES stations along two profiles.

The VES interpretation was carried out by plotting the apparent resistivity against AB/2 using

curve matching and computer iteration using the Winresist software. The induced polarization

data were processed and interpreted using the IP2WIN software.

The interpretation shows a maximum of four geo-electric layers which means there are three

lithology layers: Top soil, Lateritic material, Weathered basement and the Fresh basement. The

top soil with relatively high resistivity values ranging from 800 ohm-m to 2000 ohm-m was

observed in the area of study. The resistivity of the lateritic material is ranging from 80 ohm-m to

196 ohm-m. The weathered basement ranges from 23 ohm-m to about 140 ohm-m. The fresh

basement was characterized by relatively high resistivity values which ranges from 324 ohm-m

(which is the lowest) to 35586 ohm-m

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This study shows that some of the VES station has thick overburden which is significant in

hosting perched aquifer or surface water and the weathered basement is also a potential of

groundwater flow in the study area because of its permeability and weathered basement is mostly

regarded as aquifer in basement complex areas.

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