The vulnerability of the aquifer units in the flood-affected areas of the east coast Peninsula Malaysia

Abstract

During the periods of strong winter monsoon, the occurrence of extensive floods in the low-lying areas mostly in the east coast part of the Peninsula Malaysia continually results in huge destruction to public and private utilities, damage to farmlands, and in addition, leads to loss of lives with outbreak of epidemic which prompted evacuations of hundreds of thousands from their homes and communities. This paper presents research results on the impacts of subsurface water on the east coast Peninsula Malaysian floods, therefore complementing the existing data on the flooding events in this area. In our finding, we present the vulnerability of the aquifer units in the flood-affected communities to floods during intense precipitations and then proffer suggestions to prevent near future occurrence. The partial coverage of the alteration zone that is completely nonexistent in this area should have provided the needed essential storage and transmissivity if present in the east coast Peninsula Malaysia environments. Most of the aquifer units in this part are unconfined and are opened to surface water. We applied electrical resistivity tomography methods of geophysical prospecting and borehole lithologic logs to study the subsurface structures prone to flooding in addition to the information on the rainfall data. However, the GOD vulnerability Index rating method was modified and improved upon with the additions of fluctuations of borehole water heights FBWH and the river bank heights RBH together with the topography parameters to produce the GOD-FBRT Index that better refine the method by considering the literal movement of fluids within the subsurface. The configuration of the Kelantan River basin land system as delineated by this study makes the entire east coast areas vulnerable to flooding with the degree of vulnerability as computed in the study area that ranged between 0.1 (very low) and 1.0 (very high).

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Electrical geophysical evaluation of susceptibility to flooding in University of Nigeria, Nsukka main campus and its environs, Southeastern Nigeria

“…Floods have been occurring throughout Earth's history, and are expected to persist so long as the water cycle and soil moisture dynamics continue. Understanding the geological characteristics of an area is crucial for assessing flood risk, developing flood management strategies, and designing infrastructure to mitigate flood impacts (Tehrany et al 2014;Kayode et al 2019;Wu, 2020;El-Zein et al 2021;Osei et al 2021, Kim andKang, 2021).…”

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