Delineation of Groundwater Saturation Indicators and their Distributions in the Complex Argillaceous Geological Units of Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Twelve vertical electrical soundings (VES) employing Schlumberger electrode configuration were carried out in parts of Ezza north local government area of Ebonyi state, Nigeria, where extraction of potable groundwater has posed challenges to the dwellers of the area who are currently relying on surface water sources and some scattered seasonal open wells that cause health problems. The present study was undertaken to determine the hydrogeological characteristics, indicators that predict groundwater potential of the study area. The study indicates that the aquifer resistivity ranges between 12 and 504 Ωm with an average value of 95.42 Ωm. Water resistivity ranges between 9.6 and 73.0 Ωm with an average of 26.34 Ωm. The aquifer thickness ranges from 34.1 to 214.7 m with an average of 71.97 m. Also, the formation factor varies between 1.25 and 6.9 with an average of 2.76. Porosity ranges between 5.34% and 29.47% with an average of 15.91%. Similarly, hydraulic conductivity ranges from 1.1645 to 38.0491 m/day, the average being 12.8312 m/day, and Kσ values range between 0.0023 and 3.1695 S/day with a mean value of 0.6273 S/day. Using surfer software package, contour distributions of geo-hydrodynamic properties were generated which show the distribution of the aquifer parameters in the study area. The distributions of these properties reflect the regions with high and low potential groundwater in the area. The diagnostic models and the inherent and intrinsic constants can be employed in quantitative prediction of groundwater potential in the adjoining regions of the study area which show similar hydrogeological properties.