Assessment of Groundwater Potentiality of Northwest Butana Area, Central Sudan Elsayed Zeinelabdein1, K.A., Elsheikh2, A.E.M., Abdalla, N.H.3
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Assessment of groundwater potentiality of northwest Butana Area, Central Sudan Elsayed Zeinelabdein1, K.A., Elsheikh2, A.E.M., Abdalla, N.H.3 1Faculty of Petroleum and minerals – Al Neelain University – Khartoum – Sudan 2 Faculty of Petroleum and minerals – Al Neelain University – Khartoum – Sudan, [email protected], 3Faculty of Petroleum and minerals – Al Neelain University – Khartoum – Sudan, [email protected] Abstract Butana plain is located 150 Km east of Khartoum, it is the most important area for livestock breeding in Sudan. Nevertheless, the area suffers from acute shortage in water supply, especially in dry seasons due to climatic degradation. Considerable efforts were made to solve this problem, but little success was attained. Hills, hillocks, ridges and low lands are the most conspicuous topographic features in the studied area. Geologically, it is covered by Cenozoic sediments and sandstone of Cretaceous age unconformably overlying the Precambrian basement rocks. The objective of the present study is to assess the availability of groundwater resources using remote sensing, geophysical survey and well inventory methods. Different digital image processing techniques were applied to enhance the geological and structural details of the study area, using Landsat (ETM +7) images. Geo-electrical survey was conducted using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique with Schlumberger array. Resistivity measurements were conducted along profiles perpendicular to the main fracture systems in the area. The present study confirms the existence of two groundwater aquifers. An upper aquifer composed mainly of alluvial sediments and shallow sandstone is found at depths ranging between 20- 30 m, while the lower aquifer is predominantly Cretaceous sandstone found at depths below 50 m. The seasonal streams represent the main source of groundwater recharge in the study area. Groundwater movement within the Cretaceous Sandstone aquifer shows different flow directions, among which the south and northeast are the dominant. The aquifers are characterized by average hydraulic conductivity of 8.0x10-3 m/min and the transmissivity (T) of 3.85x10-2 m²/min. Groundwater samples obtained from each of the aquifers are totally different in terms of hydrochemical properties. The groundwater in the upper aquifer is characterized by TDS of 150-1800 ppm. This water is mainly dominated by alkaline earth with calcium and magnesium increasing with the flow direction. The groundwater in the sandstone aquifer is predominantly of the chloride- calcium type that reflects deficiency of recharge. Key words: resistivity measurements; remote sensing; water scarcity; hydrogeology; water chemistry; Butana area; Sudan. 1. INTRODUCTION In arid and semi-arid regions, rainfall distribution is not uniform in all seasons. In such areas, groundwater plays an important role and provides the water demands for various purposes such as domestic, agricultural, and industrial usage (Khodaei and Nassery, 2011). The Butana plain is located in central Sudan, about 150 Km east of Khartoum, occupying the area between the River Nile and River Atbara and bounded by latitudes 15° 45' - 16° 00' N and longitudes 33°30'-34°00'E (Fig. 1). It represents an important pastoral area in the country, from which great amount of the livestock of Sudan comes. Nevertheless, the area suffers from acute shortage of water, especially in dry seasons. Considerable studies were made to solve this problem (e.g. Saad, 2001; Kheiralla and Ibrahim, 2004), but little success was attained. Thus, the objective of the present study is to assess and evaluate the groundwater resources in the area in terms of quantity and quality. Low lands are the most conspicuous topographic features in the study area, with scattered hills, hillocks and ridges. Geologically, the area is a transitional zone between the sedimentary formations to the west and northwest and the basement terrain to the east. It is covered by Cenozoic sediments (Butana clays) and sandstone of Cretaceous age, unconformably overlying the Precambrian basement rocks (Ahmed, 1968). Nile Basin Water Science & Engineering Journal, Vol.5, Issue 2, 2012 48 Assessment of groundwater potentiality of northwest Butana Area, Central Sudan Figure 1: Location map of the study area. The area is located within the northern part of savanna belt, in which the rainy season extends from July to September with average annual rainfall ranges from 100– 250 mm. In the recent years, considerable degradation in the precipitation rates was noticed. This climatic degradation strongly influenced the agricultural and livestock activities. The average annual temperature in summer is around 40Cº (March – October) and 25Cº in winter (November-February). Vegetation includes short grass, bushes and short shrub trees of acacia type. The region is characterized by dendritic drainage pattern which appears to be controlled by geological structures. The seasonal streams are dry almost all of the year, but they carry considerable runoff water during the short rainy season. 2. DATA TYPES The following materials were made available for the present study: - Landsat 7 ETM+ image acquired on 24-12-2000 (path 173 and row 49) in digital format, obtained from the Global Land Cover Facility, University of Maryland, USA. - Resistivity survey data including 30 Vertical Electrical Sounding VESs. - Well inventory data. 3. METHODS OF INVESTIGATION The methodology adopted in the present study involves synthesis of various Landsat 7 ETM+ images through a number of digital processing techniques such as different combinations of color composites and spatial filtering aiming at enhancing the geological and structural details of the study area. Geo- electrical survey was conducted using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique with Schlumberger array. The measurements were conducted along six profiles perpendicular to the main Nile Basin Water Science & Engineering Journal, Vol.5, Issue 2, 2012 49 Assessment of groundwater potentiality of northwest Butana Area, Central Sudan fracture systems in the area. The resistivity data was processed and interpreted using IP2win software. Well inventory was performed including measurements of water level, pumping test and water quality sampling and analysis. 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 Geophysical Data Interpretation The electrical resistivity method is one of the most popular geophysical techniques that are used in groundwater exploration. Geophysical studies have attempted not only to relate resistivity to the hydraulic properties of the aquifer (e.g. Mazac et al., 1990; Cassiani and Medina, 1997), but also as a means of assessing water chemistry (e.g. Mhamdi et al., 2006; Al-ahmadi and El-Fiky 2009). In the present study, Schlumberger array was used in which the electric current was introduced into the ground by means of the current electrodes and the potential difference between two potential electrodes was measured. Then the resistance was calculated and converted to the apparent resistivity. As mentioned above, the VESs were measured along 6 profiles crossing the main structural elements detected from the interpretation of satellite images (Fig. 2). Figure 2: Vertical Electrical Sounding location map Vertical Electrical Sounding resistivity data was converted into a three dimensional (3D) diagram for the area under investigation Figure (3). The blue color represents the relatively low resistivity values ranging between 1 and 100 Ohm-m caused by the top clayey soil occurring in the eastern and southeastern parts of the study area. The dominated green color in the model represents the relatively medium resistivity values that range between 100 to 600 Ohm-m and refer to the sandstone aquifer. The yellow color is interpreted as weathered basement horizon. The red color represents the basement rocks at different depths. In the southern and southeastern parts of the area, the basement crop out at the surface, or occurs at shallow depths with increasing depth towards the north and northwest by the effects of faulting. Nile Basin Water Science & Engineering Journal, Vol.5, Issue 2, 2012 50 Assessment of groundwater potentiality of northwest Butana Area, Central Sudan Figure 3: 3D model obtained from resistivity values. The lateral variations at four different depths were extracted (Fig. 4). Accordingly, the alluvial deposits are encountered at depth ranging between 20 to 30 meters from the ground surface, underlain directly by the Cretaceous Sandstone. The alluvial deposits representing shallow groundwater aquifers are confined to the seasonal streams. The sandstone aquifer starts with a limited thickness near Abu Deleig village and increases towards the north and northwest, where the existence of the sandstone in the area is structurally controlled. Figure 4: Resistivity distribution at four different depths. 4.2 Hydrogeological Investigations 4.2.1 Groundwater occurrence Considerable quantities of groundwater are known to occur in alluvial deposits which are confined along and around the main seasonal streams. The seasonal streams represent the main recharging source of the Dug wells, in which the water table ranges from 15 - 20 m below the ground surface Nile Basin Water Science & Engineering Journal, Vol.5, Issue 2, 2012 51 Assessment of groundwater potentiality of northwest Butana Area, Central Sudan (b.g.s). The Cretaceous sandstone covers about 50% of the total surface area under investigation, and represents the deeper aquifer. This aquifer