Hydrogeophysical Investigation for Groundwater Resources from Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Self-Potential Data in the Méiganga Area, Adamawa, Cameroon

Abstract

Exploration and production of groundwater, a vital and precious resource, is a challenging task in hard rock, which exhibits inherent heterogeneity. A geophysical survey was conducted in Méiganga, Mbéré department, in the Adamawa region, Cameroon. High-resolution electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and self-potential (SP) dataset were collected in a gneissic terrain to solve the groundwater problem as people are facing acute shortage of drinking water in the study area. The analysis and interpretations based on resistivity models revealed substantial resistivity contrast between the altered gneiss that might contain water and massive gneiss and delineated five deeper groundwater prospects zones located at Yelwa, Ngoa-Ekélé, Sabongari, Ngassiri, and Gbakoungué, respectively. Nevertheless shallow groundwater zones (<13 m) are located in the northern part of the study area at high elevation while best prospect and productive groundwater zones lying between 20 and 25 m depth are at low elevation in the southern part. On the other hand, analysis of SP negative peaks along with groundwater head and groundwater vector maps revealed areas of recharge and discharge across the study area. The discharge areas serve as groundwater collection center and are good groundwater potential zones. In addition these maps revealed that groundwater flow pattern shows inward flow from the flanks to center and south central parts of the study area.

Characterization of Pan-African Aquifer Layers by the Least Squares Inversion Method Applied on Geoelectric Data

“…The second zone is a weathered zone which, in the majority of cases constitutes a superficial aquifer with a resistivity range between 81 Ω•m and 960 Ω•m and thickness range between 12. As a result, the inverted resistivity models have revealed productive groundwater zones at depths of 20 to 25 m and are considered to be deeper groundwater zones with depths of about 10 to 13 m, for shallow groundwater [13]. However, some differences are observed when the results are compared, this may be due to the greater investigation area which is more extensive in the case of our study but also the type of data exploited.…”

“…This study establishes unequal distribution of transmissivities by an alternative approach based on the interpretation of vertical electrical sounding data. Another study based on electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and self-potential data was carried out at Meiganga in the Department of Mbere, in the Adamawa region [13]. This made it possible to delimit the groundwater producing areas in this locality and the resistivities of the geological formations encountered.…”

Determination of Groundwater Flow Pattern in the basement complex terrain of Ado-Ekiti, Southwestern Nigeria

“…Conducting geolectric measurements on a regional basis is admittedly not cost effective. Interpretation of data demands expertise to avoid ambiguities (Olorunfemi et al, 1999;Adeyemo et al, 2014;Arsène et al, 2018). The method of determining the direction of groundwater movement by measuring the elevation of groundwater at multiple locations over the aerial extent of an aquifer has been widely acknowledged (Hendrayana et al (2021).…”

Hydrogeophysical and aquifer vulnerability zonation of a typical basement complex terrain: A case study of Odode Idanre southwestern Nigeria

“…( Adeyeye et al., 2019 ). Comprehensive understanding of the groundwater system is necessary for sustainable development ( Arsene et al., 2018 ). The availability of groundwater depends primarily on the geology.…”