Estimation of soil loss through water erosion is an essential exercise which can help decision makers and planners determine the severity of soil loss through rill and sheet erosion and also curtail the development of further gullies in an area already ravaged by gully erosion. While Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is the most commonly adopted model because it provides a straight forward approach for qualitative estimation of soil loss, however its rainfall erosivity component is found incompetent in most parts of the world. To overcome this deficiency, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was implemented using rainfall erosivity (R) values peculiar to tropical environment of the Anambra area of Nigeria. Rainfall erosivity (R-factor), soil erodibility (K-factor), slope factor (LS-factor), and cover management (C-factor) were generated in GIS environment and then integrated based on RUSLE equation to estimate the rate of soil erosion. The study indicated that about 1804.39 km 2 (39.49 %) of the study area have slight erosion rate of 0-10 t ha-1 year-1 , while the rates of erosion in 746.60 km 2
Kachia Local Government Area (LGA) is located at the southern part of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Quantitative and qualitative appraisals were carried out in order to have proper understanding of the aquifer system and ensure sustainable development by using geophysical, geological and pumping test data obtained from 32 producing boreholes across the entire LGA. Hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity and storativity values were computed, piezometric surface map and the basement relief map were prepared, geoelectric layer characteristics were delineated and two geological profile sections were constructed. The hydraulic conductivity values were found to range from 0.021 m/day at Walijo to 1.391 m/day at Iddah-Hanya with an average of 0.42 m/day. The transmissivity values ranged between 0.90 m²/day at Walijo to 25.37m²/day at Iddah-Hanya, with average value of 6.31 m²/day. Storativity values were lowest at Walijo with a value of 89.42 and highest at Iddah-Hanya having a value of 2877 with an average of 929.82. The lowest values of these three aquifer constants were observed to converge at Walijo at the extreme eastern part and they all peaked at Iddah Hanya on the western border of the study area. The piezometric surface contour map showed that static water level is generally deeper around the central part of the study area than at the southern and western parts. The basement relief map revealed that the depth to Basement rock is generally deeper at the central part than at the eastern, western and southern boundaries of the study area. Three-layer geoelectric horizons delineated agreed with the drilled sections. The two profile sections 1 and 2 suggested that the weathered layer constituted the major aquiferous unit, and it occurred within a depth of 1 m to as much as 35 m, except Kurmin-Sara with 80 m thickness. Groundwater prospecting can therefore be targeted to an approximately uniform regolith thickness across the entire study area.
The coverage of the groundwater potential was estimated using the geometry calculator, the potential groundwater zones were validated using geophysical surveyed points of some selected locations in Abeokuta and Ewekoro. Generally, the result of the study shows that the higher the aquifer thickness and depth the better the groundwater potential. In the basement part of the study area (Abeokuta), the Northwestern region is characterized by increase in overburden thickness (28.1 m at VES-9), weathered layer resistivity (546 Ω m at VES-7) and longitudinal conductance unit (0.193 S at VES-3 and 0.218 S at VES-7), reflecting high aquifer potentials. In this regard, the Northeastern part of the study area can be categorized as good groundwater potential; moving towards the Southwestern part from the northern, groundwater potentiality changes from good to moderate while the Southwestern/ central part is categorized as area with poor groundwater potential. In the Sedimentary part of the study area (Ewekoro), the northcentral region is characterized by increase in overburden thickness (93 m at VES-10), longitudinal conductance unit (3.644 S at VES-6), reflecting high aquifer potentials. In this regard, the northcentral part of the study area can be categorized as good groundwater potential; moving towards the northeastern part of the study area, groundwater potentiality changes from good to moderate while the southwestern part is categorized as area with poor groundwater potential. The area showed very good protective capacity at VES’s 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8; making 60% of the VES stations. Good protective capacity is observed at VES 1 and 6, making 15% of the VES stations in the town. The excellent protective capacity is observed at VES 9 and 10; making 15% of the study area.
Integrated investigations involving remote sensing and geology have been conducted with the aim of modeling groundwater potential zones within Akure metropolis, Ondo State, Southwestern Nigeria. Groundwater potential zones were delineated with the help of remote sensing and geology. Land sat imageries were used for land use/land cover mapping and lineament analysis for groundwater prospecting. Radar Digital Elevation Model was used for drainage network extraction, slope and geomorphological analysis. All the thematic maps were generated and analyzed in terms of hydrogeological importance and reclassified for integration using ArcGIS 10.5 software. The slope, landuse/landcover, drainage density, lineament density, geomorphology and geological maps generated were integrated with overlay weighted in ArcGIS environment. Suitable ranking and weighting factors were decided based on their capability to store groundwater. This procedure is repeated for all the other layers and resultant layers were reclassified. The groundwater potential zones are classified into five categories of very low, low, moderate, high and very high. The groundwater potential within Akure metropolis is rated as generally low.
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