The Relationship Between Lineaments And Fractures In Chad Basin

Abstract

One of the problems facing drought stricken parts of the world is the location of potable sources of water. The apparent increase in global temperature is also of great concern in those areas that are thirsty and as a result any available source of water needs to be monitored and understood for management purposes. Recent studies in the drought striken Sahel region (especially Chad Basin) indicate the presence of fractures within and near Lake Chad. This paper looks at the use of geophysics to determine a fracture near the lake shore and how this might be related to geochemical water quality of the region. In the summer of 1991, a transect twenty kilometers in length was chosen perpendicular to a lineament that was inferred from Landsat images. This was mapped using electrical resistivity method (using Strata Scout and ABEM Terrameter) that utilized both the Wenner and Schlumberger arrays for both sounding and profiling. The profile shows a number of minor anomalies with a major anomaly that corresponds to the fracture that was mapped from the Landsat images. There is no topographic feature that corresponds to the anomaly or lineament in the field. Water samples were also collected in the field to see the influence of the fracture on the water quality of the region.