Geoelectrical Schlumberger investigation for characterizing the hydrogeological conditions using GIS in Omalur Taluk, Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The increasing demand for freshwater has necessitated the exploration for new sources of groundwater, particularly in hard rock terrain, where groundwater is a vital source of freshwater. A fast, cost effective, and economical way of exploration is to study and analyze geophysical resistivity survey data. The present study area Omalur taluk, Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India, is overlain by Archaean crystalline metamorphic complex. The study area is a characteristic region of unconfined aquifer system. The potential for occurrence of groundwater in the study areas was classified as very good, good, moderate, and poor by interpreting the subsurface geophysical investigations, namely vertical electrical soundings, were carried out to delineate potential water-bearing zones. The studies reveal that the groundwater potential of shallow aquifers is due to weathered zone very low resistivity and very high thickness and the potential of deeper aquifers is determined by fracture zone very low resistivity and very high thickness area. By using conventional GIS method, the spatial distribution maps for different layer (top soil, weathered zone, first fracture zone, and second fracture zone) thicknesses were prepared. The geoelectrical approach was successfully applied in the study area and can be therefore easily adopted for similar environments.