MUD VOLCANOES ON THE DRY LAND OF NIGERIA

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dc.contributor.authorKIZITO, Musa Ojochenemi
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-30T09:43:28Z
dc.date.available2016-03-30T09:43:28Z
dc.date.issued2015-09
dc.descriptionA DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA. IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN GEOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIAen_US
dc.description.abstractMud volcanoes are some of the most mysterious geological features. Occurrence of mud volcanoes could signify presence of hydrocarbons or sudden endogenetic events. Mud volcanoes exist worldwide in areas of rapid sedimentation, lateral tectonic compression and recent magmatic activity or hydrocarbon occurrence. In this study, about 200 of onshore mud volcanoes were found and documented in Nigeria.A critical study on the occurrence of recently found onshore mud volcanoes in Nigeria was undertaken with emphasis on documentation and mapping of the onshore mud volcanoes with the view of understanding the geological control on their distribution. The study approach involves reconnaissance survey, fieldwork, field sampling and insitu measurement of physico – chemical parameters. In this study, through reconnaissance survey, about 200 of onshore mud volcanoes were investigated and documented in Nigeria. The fieldwork revealed that onshore mud volcanoes are located within Cretaceous Upper Benue Trough, filled with Early Cretceous continental deposits and Late Cretaceous marine deposits, having a history of magmatism dating from Albian to Pleistocene. The onshore mud volcanoes occur mostly on Yolde Formation and Upper Bima Sandstone in groups of 5 – 30 volcanoes (mud volcano fields). They occur along the NE – SW trending Kaltungo fault zone and other minor N – S and NW –SE trending faults. The physical characteristic of the onshore mud volcanoes found are mostly of small sizes, having cones not exceeding one and half metres in height and diameters ranging from 0.5 m to 8 m at base, with pools of water and mudflows from the craters. Temperature of the mud at the neck of the volcano ranges between 22°C to 26°C which is below the local mean annual temperature of the surrounding at 29°C. The XRD analysis of the clays from the mud volcanoes reveal the presence of traces of marine mineral content such as smectite, bentonite, calcite and evaporites in the clay in some of the mud volcanoes, and complete absence of the listed elements in other mud volcanoes reveals that the clays being extruded by the mud volcanoes are mostly from the Yolde Formation and the Upper Bima Sandstone. Results of hydrochemical analysis on the water samples from 14 mud volcano fields show that the cationic and anionic concentration varies as follows: Ca2+ (8.26 to 46.4 mg/l), Mg2+ (1.16 to 20 mg/l), Na+(18.6 to 4789 mg/l), K+ (9.4 to 134 mg/l), Fe (0.02 to 5.74 mg/l), HC03– (126 to 3111 mg/l), Cl– (5 to 2625 mg/l), S042– (12.5 to 16.9mg/l), C032– (3 to 2040 mg/l) and SiO2 (7 to 45.6 mg/l). Physico - chemical parameters of water from the mud volcanoes, is most highly alkaline (pH ranges from 7.94 to 8.99), saline (TDS varies from 249 to 12757 mg/l), very hard (TH varies from 102 to 1180 mg/l CaCO3). The dominant hydrochemical facies is Na (K) – HCO3 while Ca–Na–HCO3 is the minor water type. The chemical composition of water from the mud volcanoes shows high mineralisation which is an indication of connate mixed with meteoric water. With the exception of Ca2+, Mg2+ and S04 2-, all other parameters are far above the World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) standards for drinking water which may be important in environmental context as the local people sometimes drink the water. This group of onshore mud volcanoes found in Nigeria are structurally controlled and characterised as small mud or often sand volcanoes from which material ejected to the surface is derived from shallow depths, usually only a few tens of metres. The occurrences of onshore mud volcanoes along the fault zones within the study area suggest a surface manifestation of neotectonism in the area.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/7570
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectMUD VOLCANOES,en_US
dc.subjectDRY LAND,en_US
dc.subjectNIGERIAen_US
dc.titleMUD VOLCANOES ON THE DRY LAND OF NIGERIAen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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