Geological Behavior (GBR)

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied with the aim of investigating the compositional profile of particulate matters in offices and residential areas in Bonny metropolis. A Gas-chromatography Mass spectrometer was used to evaluate PAHs bound in dust retained in air-conditioning unit filters from office and residential buildings in Bonny metropolitan. The results obtained show that office and residential areas had average summation (PAHs) of 39.52 and 21.14 mg/kg, respectively. Acenaphthalene and naphthalene were the most common PAHs in Bonny Metropolis. In addition, the carcinogenic summation (PAH) from the Bonny office and residential areas was found to be 14.87 and 8.10 mg/kg, respectively. Bonny metropolis has a greater concentration of PAH hazardous pollutants. This could be attributable to the metropolis’s intense industrial operations and uncontrolled activities coupled with continuous gas flaring which contributed significantly to the concentration of PAHs within Bonny metropolis. Thus, the government should enact and implement environmental restrictions that regulate industrial emissions in the city under study.

Geophysical investigations were carried out around the ministry of Justice building, Ekiti State Secretariat, Ado-Ekiti, with the aim of investigating the possible cause(s) of failures from the foundation of the building in the government Secretariat. The Electromagnetic and Electrical Resistivity methods were used for the investigation. The Electrical Resistivity method involves Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography using Schlumberger and dipole-dipole configuration. Three (3) VES points were conducted along the traverse within the investigated area with half current electrode separation (AB/2) varying from 2 m to a maximum of 65 m. The electromagnetic measurements were taken at distance separation of 10 m along the traverse line in the SE-NW direction. The VES curve types obtained in the area are H and HKH. Four geoelectric layers were delineated within the investigated area which includes the topsoil, lateritic clay, clay, and partly weathered basement which is a quartzite rock with resistivity values ranging from 47-280 ohm-m, 383-435 ohm-m, 47-78 ohm-m, and 239-4999 ohm-m and the thickness ranges from 1-1.6 m, 2.8-4.2 m, and 9.1-27.9 m respectively. The dipole-dipole results also delineate four geologic formations that revealed the differential settlement within the clayey zone of the building foundations. The electromagnetic method also delineated seven subsurface geologic formations which revealed that most of the materials characterizing the subsurface are of clayey composition. The integration of the results showed that the possible cause(s) of failures in part of the building is due to the presence of clayey formations and geologic fractures within the foundation of the studied area.

The Campanian-Ypresian (C-Y) fauna in the Southern Tethys (ST) include rich small benthic foraminifera (SBF) reveals significant biostratigraphic changes during the C-Y transition. A progressive evolutionary trend within the Verneuilina lineage allowed to establish the Campanian V. iraqensis Total Range Zone (TRZ), and three successive zones in the Maastrichtian-Ypresian, namely: the Maastrichtian V. aegyptiaca Interval Range Zone (IRZ), the Paleocene V. laevigata IRZ, and the Ypresian V. luxorensis TRZ, which may correlate with the standard planktonic foraminifera zones: Globotruncana aegyptiaca IRZ to Acarinina pentacamerata PRZ, and span about 23 M.Y. (75-52 Ma). On the other hand, a minor difference in the test morphology and differences in the stratigraphic ranges of the members of the genus Verneuilina are recognized as being of decisive specific value. For that, the Proterogenesis Rule can be applied here on the Late C-Y six species of the genus Verneuilina, and these are: Verneuilina aegyptiaca and V. karreri, V. laevigata and V. luxorensis. Another two species are believed here as new: Verneuilina iraqensis and Verneuilina jordanica. The identified species were recorded from many localities in the ST (Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Pakistan), and one of them are recorded in Spain, in the Northern Tethys (NT).

Contaminated sediment poses a serious environmental problem, therefore knowledge of the concentration of heavy metals in stream sediments is very important because of their significance to aquatic life and human health. The concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, As, Ni, Zn, Fe and Cu), in stream sediments of some parts of Warri River, Southwestern Nigeria were examined during the rainy and dry seasons using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, in order to assess their contamination levels using the environmental contamination indexes; Geoaccumulation Index, Enrichment Factor (EF), and Contamination Factor (CF). For both the rainy and dry seasons, the results revealed average heavy metal concentrations obtained in all samples in the study area in the order As>Cd>Pb>Ni>Cr>Zn>Cu>Fe. The trend in mean Igeo values was as follows: As (-0.66) > Zn (-4.93) > Cu (-5.8) > Fe (-5.31) > Cd (5.76) > Pb (-6.35) > Ni (11.25), showing that River Warri’s sediments were not polluted by heavy metals. Cu= Zn (0.08), Cd (0.34), Pb (0.02), As (0.01), and Ni (0.00) were the mean CF values across all measured locations, indicating a low contamination factor. The average EFs for the sediments were As (1.09) > Cd (1.10) > Cu (1.46) > Zn (1.61) > Pb (1.09) > Ni (1.09) > Fe (0.83), showing low enrichment (<2). Evaluation of enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index and contamination factor values showed that the stream sediments of the study area were unpolluted. Heavy metals in the sediments were found to be linked to anthropogenic activities in the study region, according to the results of the hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The metal concentrations in the sediment were found to be elevated at some sampled points, it is therefore recommended that annual monitoring of the stream sediments of the study area is undertaken. Also, sustainable practices should be employed in order to conserve the resources of the Warri River.

Slope stability is an important issue for the construction of roads on hill slopes. 24 slopes cuts have been investigated to determine the slope instability issues and mode of failure along the newly constructed road of Dir-Sheringal Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The major rocks are slates and tuffaceous siltstone which are weak to moderately strong in strength. The main objective of this study is to assess the application of rock mass classification systems and kinematic analysis which affects the slopes. The investigation shows that rock mass rating (RMR-basic), and slope mass rating (SMR) values range from 0 to 73 which is poor to normal while geological strength index (GSI) analysis classified the rock mass from poor to good conditions. The Kinematic analysis shows that three types (plane, wedge and topple) of failure mode are present in these slopes. Most of the slopes are unstable and weak where perspective tools and proper installation provide support and prevent future failure. This study shows a good relationship between RMR-basic, SMR, and GSI for different locations.

The study area is located at Melangkap area of Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia which comprises of Crocker Formation aged Late Eocene to Early Miocene and Quaternary alluvium deposits. This study focuses on groundwater potential using electrical resistivity method and water quality analysis of the study area. Schlumberger array using ABEM Terrameter LS instrument and Res2DINC software is used for data acquisition. Three survey lines were conducted in Kg. Melangkap, Kg. Kebayau dan Kg. Tambatuon. Water samples from existing boreholes from these locations were analysed based on Drinking Water Standard by Malaysian Department of Environment. Subsurface interpretation showed the layer of shale with resistivity value of 20 – 40 ohm-m, fractured sandstone with 20 -175 ohm-m, interbedding of shale and sandstones with 60 – 500 ohm-m, saturated sandstones with 40 – 1000 ohm-m, thick sandstones with 500 – 1000 ohm-m and gravel deposits with 175 – 1000 ohm-m. Each survey line showed 3 zones of different materials. Kg Kebayau shows the best potential for groundwater supply than Kg Melangkap and Kg Tambatuon, due to existence of 12 m thickness of sandstone aquifer. Water quality analysis shows the heavy metals concentration for all samples are within permitted range for drinking water consumption. However, water sample from Kg Kebayau borehole has the lowest value of electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, chloride content and heavy metals concentration made it the cleanest among all samples, which is widely used by the villagers of Kg Kebayau for drinking and external purposes.

This study deals with the taxonomy, stratigraphy, and paleogeography of ten Campanian-Paleogene diagnostic calcareous benthic foraminiferal species belong to three lagenid genera which were erected from many localities in the world (North America, Europe and North Africa). These taxa are: Lingulina (L. carinata, L. sliteri), Tristix (T. liasina, T. aubertae, T. sliteri, T. sztrakosae), Citharina (C. strigillata, C. polonica, C. plummerae, C. plumoides). Four of these species, were recorded from three different localities in the world (Mexico, Poland, France, Egypt) are believed to be new: (1) The Late Campanian Lingulina sliteri Anan, n. sp. from Mexico, (2) The Early Maastrichtian Tristix sliteri Anan, n. sp. from Mexico, (3) The Lutetian Tristix sztrakosae Anan, n. sp. from France, and (4) The Danian Citharina polonica Anan, n. sp. from Poland. These taxa show an affinity with Midway-Type Fauna (MTF). The paleogeographic distribution of the recorded species indicate an open connection between the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans in that time.

The species is Orbulinelloides kaminskii Anan, 2021 was described based on an illustration published by Kaminski & Huang in 1991. In this study we located and investigated the type specimen of O. kaminskii and confirmed that the outer wall displays randomly-placed openings that vary in size from 5–15 microns in diameter. The holotype specimen has been deposited in the collections of the European Micropaleontological Reference Centre, located at the AGH University of Science & Technology in Kraków, Poland.

Incessant road failures in Nigeria have become an issue of serious concern in recent times as a large portion of states and federal budgets are dedicated to revamping road infrastructures. In this study, we examined the geotechnical properties of clay samples collected from Ntak Inyang along Calabar-Itu highway, in Itu LGA of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria with the aim of ascertaining whether the earth material at the study location is suitable for road construction. We carried out proctor’s compaction test, sieve analysis, California bearing ratio test and Attenberg’s limit test to analyse the clay samples for moisture content, California bearing ratio, plasticity and plastic limit, dry density and particle sizes. Results obtained indicate that the clay sample has an optimum moisture content of 13.53 %, dry density value in the range: 1580 kgm-3-1650 kgm-3, plastic limit of 22.15 %, plasticity index of 23 %, liquid limit of 45.63 %, sieve of 43.36 % with particles less than 0.075 mm and no particle size up to 5.0 mm, California bearing ratios of 9.0 % at 10.0 % moisture content, 6.7 % at 12.0 % moisture content, 2.0 % at 14.0 % moisture content. Based on these results, the clay sample is regarded as a sub-grade material with the classification of A-7-6 according to AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) classification. These results make the sample unsuitable for road construction but qualify it as a potential raw material for production of ceramic wares and tiles.

The study investigated the physico-mechanical and petrographic properties of the basin-type granitoids of the Oyoko granitoid complex, to establish their strengths for engineering properties. The results obtained from this work will therefore be necessary in knowing the competences of the rocks for various engineering construction works. The purpose of this research is to determine the physico-mechanical and microstructural features of the granitoid suites of rocks at Oyoko. Thin sections were prepared and microscope used for the petrological studies of the rocks, whilst UCS test was conducted for the strength of the rocks. The Oyoko granitoid complex rocks were petrologically identified to be biotite gneisses, pegmatite and migmatite. The rocks at the study area have received little attention in mechanical and petrographic studies. These granitoid rocks have preserved porphyritic textures and consist of mineral assemblage such as biotite, quartz, plagioclase feldspar, alkali feldspar, amphibole, clino-pyroxene, chlorite, etc. The recrystallization of the plagioclase feldspar imply that these rocks have experienced some level of deformations. The foliated granitic gneisses intruded the older rock units, some of which had been subjected to earlier tectonism. The migmatite defines the area to be closer to a contact zone. The major structural features in the migmatite rocks were ptygmatic folds. The UCS value for the biotite gneiss of 91.6 N/mm2 gives a more representation of the general rock strength of the study area. The biotite gneisses at the study area may be classified to be mechanically strong and recommended for road construction and engineering works.