Deltas Niger

Growth faulted deltaic areas are highly prospective since they comprise of thick sections of good quality reservoir sands. Deltas usually overlay organic rich marine clays which can source the structures on maturation. Examples are the Niger, Baram or Mississippi Deltas. Clays, deposited within deltaic sequences may restrict the water expulsion during the rapid sedimentation / compaction. This can lead to the generation of overpressures. 

Porrenga, D.H., 1966. Clay minerals in Recent sediments of the Niger Delta. Clays Clay Minerals, Proc., 14 221-233. 

Olajire, A. A., R. Altenburger, E. Kuster, and W. Brack. 2005. Chemical and ecotoxicological assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon—contaminated sediments of the Niger Delta, Southern Nigeria. Sci. Total Environ. 340 123-136. 

Baskin D. K., Hwang R. J., and Purdy R. K. (1995) Prediction of gas, oil, and water intervals in Niger Delta reservoirs using gas chromatography. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 79, 337-350. 

Mineral resources have been found to be widespread in the savanna region but petroleum and natural gas have been the main resources of the Niger Delta. 

Ekweozor C.M., Telnaes N. (1990) Oleanane parameter verification by quantitative study of the biomarker occurrence in sediments of the Niger delta. Org. Geochem. 16, 401-13. 

Ekweozor C.M., Okogun J.I., Ekong D.E.U., Maxwell J.R. (1979) Preliminary organic geochemical studies of samples from the Niger delta (Nigeria). I. Analyses of crude oils for triterpanes. Chem. Geol. 21, 11—28. 

Ajao, E.A. Anurigwo, S. (2002). Land-based sources of pollution in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. AMBIO Journal of the Human Environment. 31, (5) 442-445. 

Spiff, A. I. Horsfall. M. Jnr. (2004). Trace metal concentrations in inter-tidal flate sediments of the upper new Calabar River in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. Scientia African. Vol 3.19-28. 

Avbovbo, A.A. 1978. Tertiary lithostratigraphy of Niger delta. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 62 235-240. 

Doust, H., and Osmatsola, E. 1990. Niger Delta. In Divergent/Passive Margin Basins, Edwards, J.D., and Santogrossi, P.A., eds., American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, Tulsa, OK, vol 48, pp. 201-238. 

Otokunefor, T. V. Obiukwu, C. (2005). Impact of Refinery Effluent on the Physicochemical Properties of a Water Body in the Niger Delta. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, vol. 3, pp. 61-72. ISSN 1589-1623. 

Niger- Delta South Eastern Nigeria 1100 Soil sorption of crude oil seems to have profound effects on the soil properties analyzed for this study. Uzoije and Agunwamba reported that soil properties such as the bulk density, organic matter content and porosity were appreciably influenced. 

Anyakora, C.A. et al., A screen for benzo[a]pyrene, a carcinogen, in the water samples from the Niger Delta region using GC-MS, Nigerian Journal of Hospital Medicine, 14, 288, 2004. 

Akinlua, A., Ajayi, T.R., Adeleke, B.B., (2007), Organic and inorganic geochemistry of Northwestern Niger delta oils, Geochem. J., 41,271-281. 

Kadiri, M.O. (2006). Phytoplankton flora and physico-chemical attributes of some water in the Eastern Niger-Delta Area of Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Botany. 19 188-200. 

Fig. 93.1 Eleven river basins in Nigeria. (Cartography by Stephanie Shaw, University of Kentucky) [Numbers 1 through 11 are Sokoto-Rima River Basin, Hadejia-Jama are River Basin, Chad Basin, Upper-Benue Basin, Lower-Benue Basin, Cross-River Basin, Anambra-Imo Basin, Upper-Niger Basin, Niger Delta Basin, Benin-Owena Basin, Ogun-Oshun River Basin]...

Forced displacements prior to 1960, which continue to this date, were eventually caused by harsh climate conditions combined with socio-economic, demographic, and political factors (Morrissey 2014). Major events in this regard have included the famines of 1900-3 and 1913 in the Niger delta and the dramatic droughts of the 1970s, which provoked the displacement, and sometimes forced sedentaiization of thousands of Moorish, Tuareg, and Fulani nomads leading to a dramatic increase in pressure on land in the Sahel. 

Fig. 21. Infrared albedo. Region of the Niger inland delta. - Nimbus 3, daytime channel 0.8-1.3 m, orbits 1074 (23 July, 1969) and 1772 (24 August, 1969).

We know that, about 3000-5000 years ago, the inland delta was finally emptied by capture to the benefit of an west-east flowing river tributary. This river tributary bears the name of the river, having created the inland delta, and, as a questionable feeder of the Senegal basin, has become the upper branch of the present Niger. 

Pouquet, J. 1970, Reports to ARA, Concord, Mass. 1st Report The Niger Inland Delta Situation in 1966 (Nimbus II HRIR) and 1969 (Nimbus III Daytime HRIR) 2nd Report The Rio Parana-Rio Paraguay Area, after Nimbus II and Nimbus HI HRIR 3rd Report First Results Obtainedfrom Nimbus IV THIR, Channel 11.5 (computer-produced grid print map). 

For reservoir permeabilities, Peters (2012) noted that they vary widely from 0.001 mdfor a tight gas sand in East Texas to 4000 mdfor an unconsolidated sand in the Niger Delta". 

The levels of PAHs released into the environment fix)m various human activities especially from industrial sources in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria shows that the most polluted medium is the air followed by the soil and water media. Comparing the study locations there is an indication that Eleme (the most industrialized) as compared to Ahoada East (one of the least industrialized) recorded PAH levels 7- million fold higher in the air. Levels of PAHs in Eleme were 3-fold higher in surface water and 7 -fold higher in soil than the levels found in Ahoada East as clearly shown in Fig. 1. 

Figure 1. Environmental levels of PAH in the Niger Delta Area.

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