Utilization of lineaments extraction from satellite imageries in structural mapping and mineral exploration of central Wadi Araba, Southwest Jordan

Abstract EN

This study utilizes the extraction of lineaments from digital satellite imageries in structural mapping and minerals exploration along the eastern part of Central Wadi Araba in southwest Jordan.

Lineaments have been automatically extracted from the digital data of panchromatic Landsat ETM and panchromatic SPOT imageries under the selective optimal parameters of PCI-Geomatica software Package.

The total numbers of the extracted lineaments from Landsat and SPOT imageries were 342 and 784, respectively, so the lineaments map extracted from the SPOT imagery is selected to produce the structural lineaments map of study area.

The structural lineaments map is corrected and verified by field investigation finally.

The structural framework of the study area has been achieved, where most of the lineaments are related to the Dead Sea transform and transverse fault systems, while the Syrian Arc System is less dominant.

On the other hand, it was found that gold and copper mineralization are controlled by (NE, N-NS, for gold and NW, N-S & NE for copper).

This is due to the low special resolution of both Landsat and SPOT images.

The image processing and field verifications reflect that the gold and copper mineralization in the study area are mainly associated to Ahaymir Volcanic Suite and Abu Khushayba Sandstone Formation respectively.

The Gold and Copper mineralization are controlled by trends of structural lineaments in the NE and N-S directions and in the NW, N-S and NE directions respectively.