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Item Petrographic Analysis of the Sandstones and Mudstones in Alice, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa: Implications for Groundwater Potential(MDPI, 2023-07-21) Adesola, Gbenga Olamide; Gwavava, Oswald; Liu, Kuiwu; Martínez, J.Aquifers’ storability potential in Alice, comprising rocks of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Supergroup, is examined based on the mineralogical and diagenetic implications of sandstones and mudstones. This investigation is focused on SEM + EDX analysis, petrographic study, porosity, and density determination. The SEM + EDX and petrographic studies show that the rocks are fractured and porous and contain minerals like quartz, feldspar, lithics, mica, kaolinite, calcite, and illite. The primary diagenetic processes that affect the groundwater storage of the rocks are cementation via authigenic minerals, mineral replacement, the dissolution of minerals, and recrystallization. The existence of fractured and dissolution pores improves the groundwater storage capacity. Ten rock samples were selected for density and porosity measurements. The porosity result shows that mudstone has the highest porosity value of 2.56%, while sandstone has the lowest porosity value of 0.85%. This is due to mudstone having numerous pore spaces compared to sandstone. The density of mudstone ranges from 2.5763 to 2.6978 g/cm3 , while the density of sandstone ranges from 2.5908 to 2.6820 g/cm3. The secondary porosity is the main porosity for the reservoir rocks. The pores and fractures observed in the rocks act as channels for groundwater, which influence the aquifers’ storability in the study area. The techniques used in this research help us to efficiently understand the factors that control aquifers’ storability to assist with groundwater exploration.Item Hydrological Evaluation of the Groundwater Potential in the Fractured Karoo Aquifer Using Magnetic and Electrical Resistivity Methods: Case Study of the Balfour Formation, Alice, South Africa(Wiley, 2023-09-06) Adesola, Gbenga Olamide; Gwavava, Oswald; Liu, Kuiwu; Szalai, S.The study is aimed at evaluating the groundwater accumulations present in Alice using magnetic and electrical resistivity measurements to examine the trends of structural elements and characterize the groundwater resource for borehole drilling. The magnetic maps show a low magnetic linear structure moving northwest to southeast direction, which may be caused by fractures. The linear high intensities were probably caused by dolerite dykes, while dolerite sills caused broader high-intensity areas. The depth slices show that the near-surface magnetic structures are visible to a depth of about 19 m, and the deep-seated structures are found at a depth of about 31 m, possibly deeper. Twenty-five vertical electrical soundings (VES) of the Schlumberger array were measured with AB/2 varying between 1.5 m and 250 m across the study area. The VES interpretation showed four geoelectric layers composed of HK and HA curve types. The geoelectric layer’s thicknesses are (1) topsoil from 0.4 to 1.8 m, (2) weathered layer from 0.8 to 17.5 m, and (3) weathered/fractured layer from 9.9 to 143.9 m; the third layer could be the productive water-bearing zones, and (4) bedrock layer has an infinite thickness. The layers have resistivity values of 20-5752 Ωm, 3-51 Ωm, 136-352 Ωm, and 44-60428 Ωm, respectively. A correlation of the VES with the borehole log indicated a well-matched result. The magnetic and electrical resistivity surveys provided a detailed subsurface structure and helped identify possible fractures that could act as a passage for groundwater.