PROCEEDINGS, Kenya Geothermal Conference 2011

Kenyatta International Conference Center, Nairobi, November 21-22, 2011

GEOPHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF HOMA HILLS GEOTHERMAL FIELD BASED ON

GRAVITY AND MAGNETIC SURVEY
Adero B. Otieno.1, Odek Antony.1,Willis J. Ambusso.1and Githiri J. Gitonga2
1

Kenyatta University, Physics Department, P.O. Box43844, Nairobi. 2Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture
and Technology, Physics Department, P.O. Box 62000, Nairobi
1
mcadero80@yahoo.com.1odekantony@yahoo.com.1wambusso@yahoo.com.2wagithiri@yahoo.co.uk

ABSTRACT
Gravity and ground magnetic surveys were conducted over an area of 76
Km2 in order to investigate thermal structures responsible for geothermal
manifestations such as hot springs in the Homa Hills geothermal prospect.
The two surveys show that the southern part of the prospect has a potential
for geothermal resource and should be investigated further to establish
presence of an exploitable hydrothermal system. The magnetic survey
indicates higher demagnetization in this part of the field compared to other
parts of the field. The gravity survey is relatively sharp with a classic dome
shaped profile associated with a large shallow dike.
Keywords: Gravity, Magnetics, Anomalies, Homa Hills, Thermal structure

INTRODUCTION
Homa Hills geothermal prospect is located in
Nyanza rift, (Figure 1). Its geothermal potential has
been studied previously using MT and TEM
surveys which revealed heat source of deep domelike magmatic intrusion with several sharp shallow
dikes (Lagat, 2010). This study using magnetic and
gravity method was intended to evaluate the
geothermal potential of the Homa Hills prospect.
Geology and Tectonic Setting of the Kenyan Rift
Kenya rift is part of the eastern arm of the East
African rift system. The segment referred to as the
Kenya rift extends from Lake Turkana in the north
to the north of Tanzania near Lake Natron (Figure
1). In this sector of the rift, the activity began about
30 million years ago in the Lake Turkana area and
then migrated southward being more intense about
14 million years ago. Formation of the graben
structure started about 5 million years ago and was
followed by fissure eruptions in the axis of the rift
to form flood lavas by about 2 to 1 million years
ago (Saggerson, 1952). During the last 2 million
years ago, volcanic activities became more intense
within the axis of the rift. During this time, large

shield volcanoes, most of which are geothermal

prospects developed in the axis of the rift. The
volcanoes include Suswa, Longonot, Olkaria,
Eburru, Menengai, Korosi, Silali, Emuruangogolak,
Barrier and Homa Hills in Nyanza rift. The N80 0E
trending Nyanza half-graben branches with the
main Kenya rift at Menengai where there is a triple
junction and disappears under Lake Victoria. The
rift floor is generally at 1100m, the immediate
shoulders being at 1600m.
Geology of Homa Hills
Homa mountain, the site of an active volcano in
Tertiary and Pleistocene times, dominates the
country west of Kendu Bay. The mountain
occupies most of the Homa peninsula, which
protrudes into the Kavirondo Gulf and forms the
east flank of Homa Bay (Fig. 1). The mountain is
composed of a number of separate peaks which
include Homa, Nyasanja, and Apoyo, the largest
being Homa which rises to a height of over 1584m.
Homa is situated along Kendu fault. The mountain
is covered, on its lower slopes, by a thick mantle of
Pleistocene and Recent sediments comprising, in
the main, Upper Pleistocene to Recent gravels and
soils on the western and southern slopes.

Figure 1: Location of Homa Hills

9962000

9961000

NORTHING (M)

9960000

9959000

9958000

9957000

9956000

9955000

9954000
664000

665000

666000

667000

668000

669000

670000

671000

1000

2000

3000

672000

EASTING (M)
0

METRES

Figure 3: Location of gravity and magnetic stations

Figure 2: Geological map of Homa Hills by

Saggerson(1952)

Due to inaccessibility of some parts of the study

area, especially the parts which are occupied by the
hills, thick bush and swamp, the profiles were
discontinued. A short station separation distance
was preferred to minimize the chances of missing
short wavelength bodies. The positioning of
stations was measured using a GPS while the
gravity and magnetic measurements were
conducted using a Sodin gravimeter and proton
precession magnetometer, respectively.
MAGNETIC SURVEY

The country rock to the south of the mountain is

composed of rhyolitic, andesitic, and basaltic
Nyanzian lavas which have been folded and form
an anticlinorium pitching south-westwards. From
an examination of the mountain it is apparent that
these Nyanzian rocks also extended northwards
where this research is to be carried out, and are the
rocks through which the Homa vent was formed,
(Saggerson, 1952). Hematite and magnetite are also
of common occurrence in the Homa hills area.
Field Measurements
The gravity and magnetic data was collected in the
month of April 2011, from 87 stations established
over an area of 76km2 in Homa Hills geothermal
prospect. Station spacing was taken as 500m. These
stations were located along 16 profiles normal to
the geological features.

Data Reduction and Analysis

Diurnal variation correction
Variation of earths magnetic field with time, due
to the rotation of the earth and with respect to the
solar wind, which may last for several hours to one
day, is called diurnal variation (Riddihough, 1971).
In order to correct for drift or diurnal effect in the
magnetic readings, a base station within the area of
the survey and free from magnetic interference was
selected.
Repeated
readings
were
taken
approximately after every one hour of the magnetic
measurement for the diurnal correction. After the
data collection, the diurnal effect was calculated
and the magnetic data were filtered by using the
following:

Where, Drift is the drift of measurement in a loop.

, are the final and initial total
magnetic
field
at
the
base
station.
, are the final and initial time
at the base station.

The drift corrected field at any station in the loop

for a given day was calculated from:
(
)
=

Magnetic field strength (nT)

Where
the drift is corrected magnetic field
at the nth station in the loop.
is the total magnetic field at the nth station.
is the measuring time at the nth station.
is the measuring time at the first station of
the loop.

Qualitative interpretation
The TMI map of Homa Hills shown in Figure 5
shows three regions of varying magnetic
signatures. High magnetic intensity signature
region trending NE-SW, with maximum magnetic
intensity of 640nT is evident from the map.

RAW MAG

Figure 5: TMI map of Homa-Hills

Time of day (hrs)

Figure 4: The diurnal correction curve for day 2
Base station readings corresponding in time to the
observed field readings were interpolated and
recorded. Figure 4 illustrates the diurnal correction
curve for day 2 as monitored in the area.
Removal of geomagnetic field
The regional magnetic field, often referred to as
geomagnetic field needed to be subtracted from the
acquired total magnetic field to obtain the magnetic
field anomaly caused by the local source.
After subtracting the diurnal effect from the
original magnetic data observed, the geomagnetic
field was calculated using the mathematical model
of earth magnetic field called International
Geomagnetic Reference Frame (I.G.R.F) model
2000-2015 in Potent software, a product of Geosoft
Oasis Montaj software. This model is calculated
based on the dates, elevation and geographical
locations (latitudes and longitudes) of the observed
magnetic data with the generated average
geomagnetic field of 33420nT, inclination of -22.3o
and declination of 0.9o. The IGRF values were
subtracted from the observed magnetic values for
each station to determine the residual magnetic
field due to anomalous contribution from local
magnetic sources in the area.

The probable cause of this high magnetic signature

could be the fact that Homa Hills were formed due
to volcanic eruptions and that the underlying rocks
within the region are volcanic rocks which have
high magnetic susceptibility and thus have
undergone little or no hydrothermal alterations
either due to absence or a few faults/fissures
running NE-SW hence minimum contact between
the hydrothermal fluid and the rocks for alteration
to occur. These anomalies are associated with
shattered Nyanzian volcanic rocks.
In the NW and SE regions, magnetic intensity
decreases gradually to 240nT. This is perhaps due
to the structurally controlled geothermal fluid flow
along fissures and fracture zones orienting NW-SE
and N-S within the Nyanza rift floor which alters
magnetic minerals within the subsurface rocks to
almost non-magnetic due to fluid-rock interaction.
This is in agreement with the geologic description
of the orientation of the faults and fractures within
the Homa region. The broad negative magnetic
anomaly on the profile AA (Fig. 6) in the southern
region is associated with a thermal structure that
demagnetizes the rocks within this region and heats
up the fluid. The structure has magnetic anomaly of
175nT. The location of the hot springs is
characterized by very low and negative anomaly as
revealed in the map. The hot springs on the
northern part of the Homa region and that on the
southern part lie on the relatively low magnetic
intensity regions, that is, 220nT and 260nT
respectively. The former known as Abundu hot
spring while the latter known as Kakdhimu hot

DIAL READING

DRIFT CURVE
293
292

TTL MAG
Bo
REGIONAL
MAG B
RESIDUAL
MAG(Bo-B)

291

Dial Reading

MAGNETIC ANOMALY (nT)

spring. Their orientation is NW-SE similar to the

orientation of the faults and fractures in the region.
Thus, these faults and fractures form the conduits
through which geothermal fluid flow in the Homa
region.

290
289
288

Drift

287
286
285

DISTANCE (M)

9.14 am

11.45 am

1.36 pm

4.18 pm

Time

Figure 8: Drift curve at base station for day 4

Figure 6: Residual anomaly on profile AA

MAGNETIC ANOMALY (nT)

The structure beneath profile BB (Fig. 7) has

magnetic anomaly of 200nT and has a high
magnetic gradient, thus could be associated with a
fracture zone.

Latitude correction
This was done by subtracting the theoretical value
of gravity at given latitude from the observed
absolute gravity. The theoretical gravity was
calculated by the GRS 67 equation.
g=9.78049(1+0.0052884Sin2 0.0000059Sin2) m/s2

TTL MAG
Bo

Where, is measured in radians.

Free air correction
It corrects for increase in gravity with height above
the sea level.
Free air correction=0.3086h

DISTANCE (M)
Where, h is the altitude in metres. This factor is
added to the observed gravity.

Figure 7: Residual anomaly on profile BB

GRAVITY SURVEY
Data Reduction and Analysis
Instrumental drift and correction
This is to correct for variations in gravimeter
reading at the same station during the day as a
result of changes in mechanical properties of the
gravimeter. It is done by establishing a base station
which is preoccupied periodically during the day.
The drift curve was then plotted (Fig. 8) and
readings made in one station assumed to have a
linear drift as fitted base readings. The first and the
last readings were often taken at the base station for
each survey day.

Bouguer correction
It corrects for the attraction of a slab of rock
present between the observation point and the
datum. B.C=0.1119h mgal from density of
2670Kg/m3. This factor is subtracted from the
observed gravity.
Terrain correction
With the station as the centre, concentric
compartments were overlaid on a topographic
sheet. The average elevation for each compartment
was computed and gravity contribution obtained by
the use of the computer program. These
contributions were summed for all the zones and
added to the observed readings to obtain complete
bouguer anomaly.

Qualitative Interpretation
With all the corrections done for the effects which
are not of direct geological interest, the bouguer
anomaly contains information about the subsurface
density alone. A contour map of the complete
bouguer anomaly was plotted as in Figure 9.

PROFILE AA'

9962000
mgal

9960000

B'

9959000

NORTHING

-168
-169
-170
-171
-172
-173
-174
-175
-176
-177
-178
-179
-180
-181
-182
-183
-184
-185
-186
-187
-188

9958000

C'

9957000

9956000

B
A'

9955000

9954000

9953000

665000 666000 667000 668000 669000 670000 671000 672000

EASTING

Figure 9: CBA contour map of Homa-Hills

The map shows high gravity values of about -170
mgal towards the southern region which coincides
with the magnetic lows. The high gravity region
could be as a result of high density body in the
subsurface covering an area of approximately
12Km2. This is probably due to magmatic intrusion
acting as a heat source. There is a high gravity
gradient trending NW-SE which probably is
associated with a fault line. This is in agreement
with the trending of faults and fractures in the
geological description of the area.
OBSERVED
REGIONAL

PROFILE AA'
-168

-170

CBA (mgal)

665000

666000

667000

668000

669000

670000

GRID EAST

Figure 11: Residual anomaly on profile AA

Conclusions and Recommendations
Gravity and magnetic survey conducted revealed a
possible heat source in the southern region of
Homa Hills which needs to be explored further.
The high gravity anomaly on profile AA (Fig. 11)
shows a sharp dense body at shallow levels which
could be interpreted as a dike. The broad negative
magnetic anomaly on the southern region and as
depicted by profile AA (Fig. 6) shows a
demagnetized body due to high temperature in the
subsurface, probably as a result of intrusion of a
thermal structure. Further forward modeling of
both gravity and magnetic profiles AA needs to be
carried out to estimate the depth, density and
susceptibility of the causative body at the
subsurface.
Acknowledgement
We wish to acknowledge Kenyatta University,
Physics Department for availing the survey
instruments. Also we acknowledge Department of
Mines and Geology for their geological report of
Homa Hills.
References
Baker, B.H. and Wohlenberg, J. 1971. Structure
and evolution of the Kenyan Rift Valley, Nature,
229, 538-542.
Crane, K. and Oconnel, 1983. The distribution and
implication of heat flow from Gregory Rift in
Kenya, Tectonophysics, 94, 253- 275.

-172

-174

Githiri, J.G., Stangl, R.L., Waithaka, J.W. and

Dindi, E.W., 1999. Ground magnetic survey of
Magadi geothermal field, Kenya.

-176

-178

665000

RESIDUAL GRAVITY (mgal)

D'

9961000

OBSERVED

666000

667000

668000

669000

670000

GRID EAST

Figure 10: Observed and regional anomalies on

profile AA

Lagat, J., 2010. A geothermal resource assessment

project report.
Leat. P.T., 1984. Geological evolution of the
trachytic caldera volcano Menengai, Kenya Rift
valley. Journal of the geological society of London.
Vol 141 issue 6, 1057-1069.

Mariita, N.O. and Keller, G.R., 2007. An integrated

geophysical study of the Northern Kenyan Rift.
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Magnetic Surveys. An assessment of Errors.
Geophysical Prospecting 19, 551-567.

Saggerson, E.P., 1952. Geology of the Kisumu

District.
Telford, W.M., Geldart, L.P., and Sheriff, R.E.,
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