Using geoelectric soundings for estimation of hydraulic characteristics of aquifers in the coastal area of Lagos, southwestern Nigeria

Electrical resistivity investigation was carried out at Ibeju Lekki, Southwestern Nigeria. The thrust of this study is to determine the geoelectrical parameters of the shallow aquifer and estimate the hydraulic characteristics of this aquifer unit from the surface geophysics. The area falls within the Dahomey basin of the Nigeria sedimentary terrain. Twenty-one VES were conducted using Shlumberger array with a maximum half current electrode (AB/2) of 100 m giving total spread of 200 m. Data were interpreted using partial curve matching technique and assisted 1-D forward modeling with WINRESIST software. The qualitative interpretation revealed KQ curves (ρ1 < ρ2 > ρ3 > ρ4) and KH curve (ρ1 < ρ2 > ρ3 < ρ4). The geoelectric section generated from the results of the VES revealed a four geo-electric layers; these include topsoil with resistivity ranging from 213-5404 Ωm, dry sand with resistivity values vary from 301to 17178 Ωm, saturated sand with resistivity varying from 110 to1724 Ωm and sand (saline water content) with resistivity values of between 8 and 97 Ωm. The major aquifer in the area occurs at the third geoelectric layer. The depth to this aquifer is of between 0.7m and 6.0m and the layer thickness is between 0.2 m and 19.9 m. The hydraulic characteristics of the aquifer estimated from the geoelectric parameters reveal that the aquifer has porosity values of between 29.4 % and 57.7 %, protective capacities of between 0.00013 and 0.015 mhos, transverse resistance ranges from 345-18502 Ωm2, transmissivity values vary from 13 to 310 m2/day and hydraulic conductivity ranges from 0.8-65 m/day. The results show that the aquifer is characterized by high porosity and low protective capacities of overburden layers indicating that it is highly vulnerable to surface contamination. It has high transverse resistance, high transmissivity, and high hydraulic conductivity indicating that the aquifer can transmit water at higher rate and sustain the need of the community. This study has demonstrated the efficacy of surface geophysics in estimating hydraulic characteristics of an aquifer where pumping test data are not available and also to determine its vulnerability to surface contaminants.