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.