Journal de géologie et géophysique
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Delineation of Saltwater Intrusion in Coaster Aquifer of Akuku - Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

Rasaq Bello*, Echezona SO ,Kuforiji HI

Vulnerability of groundwater aquifer to saltwater intrusion cannot be ruled out in any coastal part of the world. Naturally, underground water flow (hydrodynamic) often plays a major role in the saltwater intrusion of the coastal aquifers, which poses a threat to the availability of quality drinking water to the people in the community. Less attention had been given to the issue of saltwater infiltration into freshwater aquifers in Akuku-Toru Local government area of Rivers State, Nigeria such that lack of access to freshwater in the area is now becoming a major concern. Hence, this work delineated the saltwater intrusion problem in a coastal aquifer in the study area with the aim of making useful information available about the hydrogeology of the area. Electrical resistivity imaging (tomography) profiling was adopted with Schlumberger array configuration. The electrode spacing ranged from minimum spacing “a” to maximum spacing “6a” and inverted sections were generated using RES2DINV. The inverted section showed the top soil and an underlying clayey soil. Relative to the control units, the average top soil resistivity exhibited a reduction of 37 to 96% while the underlying clay section showed a decreased resistivity of 99%. The result thus, suggested saline water invasion of the top soil and critical invasion of the clayey layer of the study area.