Geophysical Assessment of Groundwater Potential: A Case Study from Mian Channu Area, Pakistan

Abstract

An integrated study using geophysical method in combination with pumping tests and geochemical method was carried out to delineate groundwater potential zones in Mian Channu area of Pakistan. Vertical electrical soundings (VES) using Schlumberger configuration with maximum current electrode spacing (AB/2 = 200 m) were conducted at 50 stations and 10 pumping tests at borehole sites were performed in close proximity to 10 of the VES stations. The aim of this study is to establish a correlation between the hydraulic parameters obtained from geophysical method and pumping tests so that the aquifer potential can be estimated from the geoelectrical surface measurements where no pumping tests exist. The aquifer parameters, namely, transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity were estimated from Dar Zarrouyk parameters by interpreting the layer parameters such as true resistivities and thicknesses. Geoelectrical succession of five-layer strata (i.e., topsoil, clay, clay sand, sand, and sand gravel) with sand as a dominant lithology was found in the study area. Physicochemical parameters interpreted by World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization were well correlated with the aquifer parameters obtained by geoelectrical method and pumping tests. The aquifer potential zones identified by modeled resistivity, Dar Zarrouk parameters, pumped aquifer parameters, and physicochemical parameters reveal that sand and gravel sand with high values of transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity are highly promising water bearing layers in northwest of the study area. Strong correlation between estimated and pumped aquifer parameters suggest that, in case of sparse well data, geophysical technique is useful to estimate the hydraulic potential of the aquifer with varying lithology.

Evaluation of groundwater potential in Kabirwala area, Pakistan: A case study by using geophysical, geochemical and pump data

“…; Majumdar and Das ; Niwas and Celik ; Sikandar and Christen ; Akhter and Hasan ; Hasan et al . ). In the above investigations, empirical relations were established to estimate the hydraulic parameters from surface geoelectrical measurements.…”

“…A direct correlation between borehole lithology and resistivity sounding data is very useful to study the hydrogeological properties (Akhter and Hasan ; Hasan et al . ). The surface resistivity methods are used to estimate Dar Zarrouk parameters for the hydrogeological mapping of shallow sub‐surface layers (Hasan et al .…”

“…Numerous publications show that the integration of geoelectric parameters estimated from surface resistivity measurements and hydraulic parameters calculated from the borehole data can be highly successful to assess the aquifer potential, since a relationship between electrical and hydraulic aquifer properties can be possible because both properties are related to the heterogeneity and pore-space structure (De Lima et al 2005;Niwas, Gupta and de Lima 2006;Hasan et al 2017a). The relations between geoelectric properties and aquifer parameters have been studied by several authors in past two decades (Hubbard and Rubin 2002;Soupios et al 2007;Batte et al 2010;Majumdar and Das 2011;Niwas and Celik 2012;Sikandar and Christen 2012;Akhter and Hasan 2016;Hasan et al 2017b). In the above investigations, empirical relations were established to estimate the hydraulic parameters from surface geoelectrical measurements.…”

“…Such techniques are extensively applicable to both low and high resistive formations (Hubbard and Rubin 2002). This approach can construct geoelectrical columns to characterize the lateral and vertical lithological changes with minimum boreholes (Hasan et al 2017b). A direct correlation between borehole lithology and resistivity sounding data is very useful to study the hydrogeological properties (Akhter and Hasan 2016;Hasan et al 2017b).…”

“…This approach can construct geoelectrical columns to characterize the lateral and vertical lithological changes with minimum boreholes (Hasan et al 2017b). A direct correlation between borehole lithology and resistivity sounding data is very useful to study the hydrogeological properties (Akhter and Hasan 2016;Hasan et al 2017b). The surface resistivity methods are used to estimate Dar Zarrouk parameters for the hydrogeological mapping of shallow sub-surface layers (Hasan et al 2017a).…”