RMZ – MATERIALI IN GEOOKOLJE

The groundwater potential evaluation at industrial estate Ogbomoso, ...365Groundwater has become immenselyimportant for human water supply inurban and rural areas in developed anddeveloping nations alike (Omosuyi,2010). Using this method, depth andthickness of various subsurface layersand their water yielding capabilitiescan be inferred. Therefore, evaluationof groundwater potential at industrialestate Ogbomoso was done in order toknow the groundwater yielding capabilitiesor groundwater conditions ofthe study area. In basement complex,unweathered basement rocks containnegligible groundwater. Significantaquifers however, develop within theweathered overburden and fracturedbedrock. This research is particularto know feasibility of potable waterborehole in the industrial estate (i.e. toknow the promising areas for groundwaterprospects within the study area).This was done in order to advise thebuilding engineers and the users ofthe estate not to build factories, warehouses or administrative buildings onthe available zones for groundwaterexploration and to know the promisingzones for groundwater exploration inthe study area. However, the groundwaterconditions of industrial estatewhen properly understood could beused as an effective tool in the planningof reliable water borehole in thestudy area.The study area is underlain by Precambrianrocks of the Nigerian BasementComplex where aquifers are both isolatedand compartmentalized. Theserocks in their deformed state posses littleor no primary intergranular porosityand permeability and thus the occurrenceof groundwater is due largely tothe development of secondary porosityand permeability by weathering and/or fracturing of the parent rocks (Acworth,1987; Olorunfemi & Fasuyi,1993; Olayinka et al, 1997). Groundwaterlocalization in this region is controlledby a number of factors whichinclude the parent rock type, the depth,extent and pattern of weathering,thickness of weathered materials, andthe degree, frequency and connectivityof fracturing, fissuring and jointing, aswell as the type and nature of the fillingsin the joint apertures (Oluyide a&Udey, 1965; Bianchi & Snow, 1969;Asseez, 1972; Odusanya, 1989; Esu,1993; Eduvie & Olabode, 2001).Considering the limited characteristicsof the groundwater reservoirs inthe Basement Complex, the full benefitof the aquifer system can only beexploited through a well coordinatedhydrogeophysical and geological investigationprogram of the prospectivearea. Geoelectrical techniques arepowerful tools and play a vital role ingroundwater investigations particularlyin the delineation of the aquiferconfiguration in complex geologicalenvironments. A planned geoelectricalinvestigation is capable of mapping anRMZ-M&G 2012, 59