Abstract
This research was conducted with the aim of mapping the extent of soil and ground water hydrocarbon contamination from an oil pipeline leak point within the area. An integrated geophysical survey approach involving horizontal electrical profiling (HEP), vertical electrical sounding (VES) and Gravity Survey was applied. Resistivity and gravity lows were identified as aquifer zones confined within basalts and potential migration zones of Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPL’s). An integration of the geophysical findings showed two potential migration paths: one trending (SW-NE) and the other (NE-SW) both influenced by geologic factors. Key words: Resistivity, horizontal electrical profiling (HEP), vertical electrical sounding (VES), hydrocarbons, gravity, light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL’s).  
Highlights
Oil pollution is widespread and arises at all stages of the petroleum industry: extraction, transportation, refining and distribution (Shevnin et al, 2003)
horizontal electrical profiling (HEP) resistivity lows were interpreted as ground water aquifer zones confined within basalts and potential contaminant migration zones while resistivity highs, as regions of basement exposures
Observations in hand dug wells within the region of low resistivity from the HEP map, that runs from the leakage point in the direction of the river regime, show evidence of soil and ground water contamination to depths of up to 10m.It confirms this zone as a showed two potential migration paths: one trending (SW-NE) contaminant migration path
Summary
Oil pollution is widespread and arises at all stages of the petroleum industry: extraction, transportation, refining and distribution (Shevnin et al, 2003). Hydrocarbons move through unsaturated zone as discrete accumulations of the contaminants due to their non-uniform dispersion in the medium, which can be attributed to changes in the permeability of the soils in the unsaturated zone (Domenico and Schwartz, 1990). Hydrocarbons such as NAPLs exist as a separate, immiscible phase when in contact with water and/or air.
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