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1. Introduction
Water is a fundamental resource for human survival and development. According to the United Nations, approximately 2.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water, and nearly half of the global population lives in areas facing water scarcity (Pant, 2018). This critical issue is aggravated by factors such as climate change, population growth, and unsustainable water management practices (Nisar et al., 2024). The deterioration of surface water quality due to pollution and over-extraction hasled to a shift towards groundwater as a primary source of water supply (Martínez-Santos, 2017). The sub surface a quifer systemis complex deposition of permeable lithologies that store the ground water. Understanding these depositions is crucial for communities that are dependent on groundwater for livelihood.
As the demand for freshwater continues to rise, understanding the dynamics of aquifers becomes increasingly important for ensuring sustainable water resources (Khan et al., 2024). Pakistan ranks among the top ten countries affected by climate change is rushing towards water scarcity (Iqbal, 2020). The densely populated cities face the load of population migration from rural areas thus severely inflicting water resources. It is need of time to understand the aquifer dynamics and how water quality and quantity coupled with geological depos ition w orks for s us tainable w ater management (Alabi et al., 2022).
Geophysical, geological techniques and hydrochemical, have proven to be invaluable tools in exploring aquifer systems and assessing their dynamics (Nisar et al., 2024; Khan et al., 2024; Daud et al., 2024). Geophysical methods, such as electrical resistivity, Audio magneto telluric (AMT), Frequency Selection Method (FSM) in MT and seismic surveys, can provide information about the subsurface structure, including the location and extent of aquifers (Alaran, 2020). AMT being a passive geophysical method utilizes the naturally occurring electromagnetic fields that permeate the Earth's surface. These fields are generated by various sources on and below the surface of the earth. AMT instruments measure the variations in both the electric and magnetic fields at specific locations. These measurements are recorded over a range of frequencies, typically from a few hertz to several thousand hertz.
This method is economical and has now been widely used for subsurface paleochannels detection and contaminant plume identification (Adagunodo et al., 2023; Farzamian et al., 2019; Lu et...