Abstract:Field investigations in the western part of Mukuru area indicate intense structural imprints and high HT/HP metamorphism, and some magmatism. The rock units in the area include migmatitic gneisses, granulites, amphibolites, schists, charnockites, epidiorites and granites. The charnockites which are common in the shear zone and boundary areas appear to mark the end of magmatism. However, relicts of magmatic rocks mapped at Ubong Community in the study area suggest earlier magmatism. The metamorphic rocks are strongly deformed in a N-S to NE-SW direction with ghost structures, pinch and swell structures, ptygmatic veins, showing evidence of extensional tectonics. No visible contact relationship between the migmatitic gneisses and schists was observed. Diagnostic metamorphic structures like fine banding/layering of alternating dark-and light-coloured layers are conspicuous in gneisses and some amphibolites while schistosity and deep weathering are present in schists. The geodynamic features prevalent in Mukuru area are deformation and metamorphism. They indicate a possible petrogenetic link to southern Obudu Plateau in the north, western Cameroon in the east than Bansara in the west.

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Abstract:The study area (Igarra) has been variously studied and is still receiving attention from workers on basement geology. Some investors in the quarry industry still make error in the selection of site for development and production of crushed rocks and dimension stone. The Octopol quarry in Igarra area was abandoned largely due to scanty information on the mineralogy of the schist quarried to ascertain the quality of the rock. However, granites, granite gneisses, charnockites and marbles present in the area can be suitable for dimension stone production. The marble should not be cleaned with wet cloth as the water will react with the rock to form a weak acid which attacks the polished surface and decolourize it to a dull and uninteresting surface. There is need to involve geoscientists in dimension stone site selection and production to ensure that proper rock is chosen, and also for quality control as mining progress rock quality varies.

The present study is focused on the comparison of petrophysical rock typing and zonation methods of the Valanginian age sandstone in the Pletmos Basin offshore South Africa, to produce a zonation scheme for the low-permeability shaly sandstone reservoirs from core porosity and permeability data. The Valanginian age sediments of the Lower Cretaceous consist predominantly of a shallow marine sequence with interbeds of siltstone, claystone, generally fine-grained sandstone, and glauconitic, with varying amounts of an argillaceous matrix. A core description report was used in conjunction with a gamma-ray log to group rock types into different facies based on texture and grain size. Three different facies were identified as facies 1, a moderately sorted fine to medium-grained glauconitic sandstone; facies 2, a fine to very fine-grained glauconitic sandstone, moderately sorted; facies 3, a very fine sandstone to siltstone, laminated, argillaceous and bioturbated. Three independent reservoir zonation methods (Winland r35 pore throat, Hydraulic Flow Unit, and Stratigraphic Modified Lorenz Plot) were applied to three wells (SW1, SW2, and SW3) for which wireline logs, core porosity, and permeability data are available. Results were analyzed and compared with facies used as a context for the identification of rock types and zones. The results revealed eleven zones, grouped as moderate, very-low, and tight zones. The moderate flow zone is the best reservoir quality rock composed of macroporous rock type, ranked, as good rock type associated with facies 1. Three very-low flow zones were identified, which are of a microporous rock type, ranked as poor quality rock, associated with facies 2. Eight tight zones were revealed, which are of nanoporous rock type ranked as an impervious rock. The tight flow zone is the most reduced rock quality associated with facies 3. This study has developed a zonation scheme that will be used to locate other flow zones as well as to investigate whether the units/zones identified extend to other parts of the field.

Satellite remote sensing has contributed immensely to the interpretation of linear features and other geological structures. In the study area, lineaments mapped were linear and planar features on satellite imageries that are expression of fractures, or faults within the subsurface. Image lines of different contrast may extend from a few centimetres to several of metres in length. The Landsat imagery used has a spatial resolution of 30 x 30 m, and eleven spectral bands covering the visible and thermal region of electromagnetic spectrum. Four spectral bands were selected and used for the purpose of structural mapping namely; thermal infra-red band (Band 11), 11.5 to 12.51 µm; Short-wave infrared (Band 6), 1.57 -1.65 µm; near Infrared (Band 5) 0.85 to 0.88 µm and Red (Band 4) 0.64 -0.67 µm. Lineaments extracted from the digital satellite scene are concentrated mostly on the sandstone belt in the North-East close to Amasiri area. A total of 116 lineaments were generated. Seven thematic maps were produced; digital elevation model (DEM) was used to create surface features maps, shaded relief and slope while the regional lineament map was digitized from the enhanced colour composites of Landsat ETM (bands 7, 5 and 2) image using ARCGIS 10.0 software for visual extraction and delineation of geological structures which were also ground-truth. The area indicates major NE -SW to minor E -W orientation of lineaments. The lineament density identified indicates regional lineaments are of great importance as indexes for groundwater exploration, mineralization targets, rocks quarrying and structural interpretation.