Geochemical processes influencing stream water chemistry: a case study of Ala River, Akure, Southwestern Nigeria
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(2020) 6:108
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Geochemical processes influencing stream water chemistry: a case study of Ala River, Akure, Southwestern Nigeria Olaoluwa Emmanuel Oluwaniyi1 · Yinusa Ayodele Asiwaju‑Bello1 Received: 16 August 2019 / Accepted: 9 October 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Ala River is the main river that drains Akure metropolis in southwestern Nigeria. The river takes its sources from deep-seated fractures in granite and charnockite rock bodies at the North and North-western regions of Akure town, flowing through quartzite and granite gneiss exposures. This study was carried out to assess the geochemical processes influencing the quality of Ala river water. The dendritic river system, covering an area of about 427 km2, was studied and water was sampled at thirty-seven (37) points for in-situ determination of some physicochemical parameters and dissolved concentrations of the major ions. pH values obtained varied between 7.16 and 7.75, electrical conductivity ranged from 123 to 520 µs/cm, total dissolved solids varied between 62 and 260 mg/l-CaCO3 while average temperature value was 26.65 °C. Relative concentration of cations and anions were in the order of Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ and HCO3− > SO42− > Cl− > NO3−. Mean values of dissolved Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+, Cl−, HCO3−, SO42−, NO3−, and PO42− were 34.028, 8.872, 34.175, 18.289, 0.428, 16.543, 56.41, 12.503, 0.495 and 2.029 mg/l, respectively. Two hydochemical facies namely Calcium-Bicarbonate facies and mixed calcium–magnesium–chloride facies dominated the chemistry of the water. CaHCO3 facies revealed the contribution of geogenic processes while the mixed Ca(Mg)-Cl type reflected domestically induced anthropogenic activities influencing chemistry of the water. Gibbs diagrams identified rock–water interaction as an important geochemical process in the study area. Silicate weathering of rocks and carbonate weathering were identified as the important geochemical processes which influence the water chemistry of the study area. Keywords Water chemistry · Hydrochemical facies · Ala river · Cluster analysis
Introduction Rivers are used as transportation route, source of hydroelectric power generation, fishing and recreational activities all over the world (Ibama et al. 2015). They usually contain large quantity of water but its use in terms of quality is limited due to pollution and contamination. Most opinions attributed the unsafe and poor quality of these waters to anthropogenic activities (industrial effluents, irrigation return flow, mine waste disposals and household waste disposals) (Xian et al. 2007; Raburu and Okeyo-Owuor 2006). Sadly, most of these effluents are discharged into surface water bodies untreated (Venugopal et al. 2009; Kayastha 2015). * Olaoluwa Emmanuel Oluwaniyi [email protected] 1
Applied Geology Department, The Federal University of Technology Akure, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
Anthropogenic activities are not the sole contributor to the undermining poor quality of surface water
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