Geophysical Prospecting Of Clay Deposits in Abudu Area of Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The urgent need to prospect or search for clay deposits in Abudu Area of Edo State Nigeria, geophysically became imperative in view of the fact that clay as one of the natural resources aid the general economy by setting up industry/factory where the citizen of the area can be gainfully employed and hence combating crime rate in the area. The science of prospecting for clay deposits in the area actually entailed carrying out vertical electrical sounding (VES) of electrical resistivity survey method employing Schlumberger array. Ten (10) fairly distributed VES in eight (8) different stations in Abudu were carried out using six (6) points per decade with maximum current electrode spacing of 928.0m. The software IP12WIN utilizing computer iteration was used for interpretation of apparent resistivities data. The result of the geophysical survey showed that clay and clayey soil (mixture of clay and other rock types) were intercepted at depths varying from about 9.75m to infinity below sea level, with thicknesses varying from about 7.32m to infinity(infinity value means that the area is very rich in clay). Its resistivities varied from about 1.0 ohm - m to 500 ohm-m. Area of probable clay formation and their thicknesses have been identified especially for future mining of industries foundation, operations and drilling.

Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics, Volume 19 (November, 2011), pp 335 – 342