An Electrical Resistivity Survey in the Area South of Suswa Volcano
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AN ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY SURVEY IN THE AREA SOUTH OF SUSWA VOLCANO f i m m s n r ©F NATRVM tUll&OMO BY OMONDI C. JUMA fHIS THESIS BAS BEEN THE DEGREE \ND A COPY MAT BE PLACED IN THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Science (Geology) in the University of Nairobi •SS** NAIROBI 1992 DECLARATION This is my original work and has not been submitted for a degree in any other University Signed. OMONDI C. JUMA The thesis has been submitted for examination with our knowledge as University su pervisors Signed PROF. I. S nYAMBOK ABSTRACT The area south of Suswa volcano is underlain by volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Pliocene-Pleistocene-Recent Periods. These rock types are common water bearing formations, especially the weathered, fractured or transition zones along faults and at interfaces of the various volcanic flows. Consequently, any groundwater investi gations are usually based on methods aimed at detecting such underground structures. Electrical resistivity studies conducted in the area have indicated low resistivities which appear to be associated with geothermal fluids migrating from the Suswa volcano re gion. Hot grounds and fumaroles within the perimeter of Suswa caldera indicate that the geothermal system is likely to be directly beneath Suswa volcano. The resistivities are further noted to increase southwards. The low resistivities are attributed to high fluid temperatures and/or conductive minerals within the water-bearing units which are either weathered or fractured. The actual temperatures of these reservoirs are be tween 70° and 100° C which are considerably below those expected for high temperature geothermal systems. High temperature geothermal areas normally border low temper ature geothermal areas and the present area of study borders the more productive high temperature Olkaria geothermal fields. The analysis of resistivity data was first done by partial curve matching prior to the use of linear inverse theory ii>the determination of the most probable physical parame ters of the subsurface layers necessary for two-dimensional interpretation of the under lying geology. From the results, three distinctive layers overlying a resistive half-space were recognized in terms of their resistivities and thicknesses. The main conductive layer, which is one of those three layers, immediately overlies the resistive half-space. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisors Dr. J. 0. Barongo and Prof. I. 0. Nyambok for their invaluable help and advice during the course of my studies. Special thanks are expressed to Dr. J. 0. Barongo for his guidance and encouragement and for introducing me to computer analysis of geo-resistivity data. I benefitted greatly from his experience in the application of electrical methods to subsurface investigations. I am grateful to the Ministry of Energy for lending me the field equipment during my fieldwork. In particular, I wish to thank Mr. D. K. Kilele who allowed me access to most of the literature quoted in this thesis. I am deeply indebted to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) who made my studies possible by providing the M.Sc. scholarship through the University of Nairobi. The encouragement received from Mr. E. W. Dindi during my first part of the M.Sc. course is greatly acknowledged. My gratitude also goes to my friends and colleagues for their support, especially during the fieldwork. Finally, I wish to thank members of my family, especially my father Juma and my mother Akumu for their concern, encouragement and understanding during my studies. n Contents TITLE PAGE Abstract...................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements.................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents....................................................................................................... iii List of Figures............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables............................................................................................................... viii List of P lates............................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 General........................................................................................ 1 1.2 Location and accessibility.......................................................... 2 1.3 Physiography and land u s e ....................................................... 4 1.4 Geological exposure................................................................... 5 1.4.1 Qv: Volcanic soil and pyroclastics from Susw a..................... 6 1.4.2 Sa: 01 Doinyo Onyoke lavas .................................................... 6 1.4.3 Sb: Agglutinates and lavas....................................................... 6 1.4.4 Sc: Pumice.................................................................................. 8 1.4.5 Sd: Ignimbrites ......................................................................... 8 1.4.6 Se: Lavas not faulted................................................................ 8 1.4.7 Plh3: Plateau trachytes............................................................. 9 1.5 Stratigraphy............................................................................... 9 1.6 Previous w ork............................................................................ 10 1.7 Objectives of the study............................................................. 13 iii CHAPTER 2 THEORY 2.1 General........................................................................................ 15 2.2 The vertical electrical sounding m ethod.................................. 16 2.2.1 The forward problem................................................................ 16 2.2.2 The inverse problem................................................................... 22 2.3 Limitations of the resistivity method . ...................................24 CHAPTER 3 FIELDWORK 3.1 General........................................................................................ 27 3.2 Field equipment......................................................................... 27 3.2.1 Terrameter SAS 300 ................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Terrameter SAS 2000 Booster ................................................. 30 3.2.3 Other components...................................................................... 30 3.3 Field measurements................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 General........................................................................................ 34 4.2 Qualitative analysis................................................................... 35 4.2.1 General characteristics of sounding curves............................... 35 4.2.2 Synopsis..................................................................................... 45 4.3 Quantitative analysis....................................................................45 4.3.1 Partial curve matching............................................................. 45 4.3.2 Least squares inversion............................................................. 52 4.4 Summary..................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER 5 INTERPRETATION 5.1 General........................................................................................ 64 5.2 Iso-resistivity contour maps....................................................... 64 5.3 Geoelectric sections................................................................... 71 * 5.4 Other geophysical models.......................................................... 84 IV 5.5 Hydrogeology ............................................................................ 85 5.6 Summary..................................................................................... 87 CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 6.1 Discussion.................................................................................. 93 6.2 Conclusions ............................................................................... 98 6.2.1 Groundwater potential ............................................................. 98 6.2.2 Geothermal potential................................................................ 99 REFERENCES.............................................................................................. 101 APPENDIX I ................................................................................................. 108 APPENDIX I I .............................................................................................. 112 v List of Figures FIGURE PAGE 1.1 Location map of the area south of Suswa volcano and other geothermal areas within the Kenya Rift valley............................................................. 3 1.2 Geological map of the area south of Suswa volcano................................. 7 2.1 The Schlumberger array of resistivity sounding with A and B as the current electrodes, and M and N as the potential electrodes, where AB > M N.............................................................................................................. 17 2.2 Point source of current at the surface of homogeneous, isotropic