Integration of Aeromagnetic Data and Landsat Imagery for Structural Analysis Purposes: A Case Study in the Southern Part of Jordan

Hani Al Amoush, Nezar Hammouri, Mohammed Al Farajat, Elias Salameh, Abdullah Diabat, Mohammed Hassoneh, Rida Al-Adamat

.
Al al-Bayt University, Mafraq, Jordan.

DOI: 10.4236/jgis.2013.53019                

Abstract

In this study, different digital format data sources including aeromagnetic and remotely sensed (Landsat ETM+) data were used for structural and tectonic interpretation of the southern part of Jordan. Aeromagnetic data were analyzed using advanced processing techniques (Spectral analysis, deconvolution). The aeromagnetic interpretation was carried out using the analytical signal, horizontal gradient, vertical gradient, Euler deconvolution. The results were improved by the study of enhanced Landsat ETM+ images and correlated with the extracted surface lineaments. Two main lineament sets are observed in the study area. The major lineaments strike NW-SE, NE-SW and the minor E-W. General coincidence of both landsat and aeromagnetic lineaments trends were observed in the study area, which reflecting the real continuous fractures in the depth. The 3D Euler solution of the study area shows that the depth of the magnetic source body ranges from hundreds of meters to more than 3000 m in the middle northern part of the study area. The combined interpretation of aeromagnetic data and Landsat ETM+, added several significant structural elements, that were previously unrecognized from the separate interpretations of aeromagnetic and remotely sensed data.

Keywords

Landsat TM; Aeromagnetic; Euler Deconvolution; Lineaments; Horizontal Gradients; Analytical Signal

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	A. S. Al-Zoubi and Z. Ben Avraham, “Structure of the Earth’s Crust in Jordan from Potential Field Data,” Tectonophysics, Vol. 346, No. 1-2, 2002, pp. 45-59. doi:10.1016/S0040-1951(01)00227-X
[2]	R. D. Hatcher, I. Zeitz, R. D. Regan and M. Abu-Ajamieh, “Sinistral Strike-Slip Motion on the Dead Sea Rift: Confirmation from New Magnetic Data,” Geology, Vol. 9, No. 10, 1981, pp. 458-462. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1981)9<458:SSMOTD>2.0.CO;2
[3]	M. Barjous and S. Mikbel, “Tectonic Evolution of the Gulf of Aqaba-Dead Sea Transforms Fault System,” Tectonophysics, Vol. 180, No. 1, 1990, pp. 49-59. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(90)90371-E
[4]	A. Diabat and A. Masri, “Orientation of the Principal Stresses along Zerqa-Ma’in Fault,” Mu’tah Lil-Buhuth wad-Dirasat, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2005, pp. 57-71.
[5]	F. Bender, “Geology of Jordan,” Borntraeger Press, Berlin, 1974.
[6]	Phoenix Corporation, “A Comprehensive Airborne Magnetic/Radiometric Survey of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” Final Report to Natural Resources Authority, Jordan, 1981.
[7]	M. Hassouneh, “Jordan Aeromagnetic Map, Scale 1:500,000,” Natural Resources Authority, Jordan, 1998.
[8]	R. O. Hansen and R. S. Pawlowski, “Reduction to the Pole at Low Latitudes by Weiner Filtering,” Geophysics, Vol. 54, No. 12, 1998, pp. 1607-1613. doi:10.1190/1.1442628
[9]	V. Chandler, J. Koski, W. Hinze and L. Braile, “Analysis of Multi Sources Gravity and Magnetic Anomaly Data Sets by Moving-Windows Application of Poisson’s Theorem,” Geophysics, Vol. 46, No. 1, 1981, pp. 30-39. doi:10.1190/1.1441136
[10]	R. J. Cooper, “GravMap and PFproc: Software for Filtering Geophysical Map Data,” Computer and Geosciences, Vol. 23, No. 1, 1997, pp. 91-101. doi:10.1016/S0098-3004(96)00064-7
[11]	J. D. Phillips, “Processing and Interpretation of Aeromagnetic Data for the Santa Cruze Basin-Patagonia Mountain Area, South Central Arizona,” US Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-98, 2001.
[12]	P. J. Gunn, “Linear Transformation of Gravity and Magnetic Fields,” Geophysical Prospecting, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1975, pp. 300-312. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2478.1975.tb01530.x
[13]	W. R. Roest, J. Verhoef and M. Pilkington, “Magnetic Interpretation Using 3-D Analytical Signal,” Geophysics, Vol. 57, No. 1, 1992, pp. 116-125. doi:10.1190/1.1443174
[14]	R. Lanza and A. Meloni, “The Earth’s Magnetism—An Introduction for Geologists,” Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2006.
[15]	P. V. Sharma, “Environmental and Engineering Geophysics,” New York, 1997. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139171168
[16]	A. B. Ried, J. M. Allsop, H. Granser, A. J. Millett and I. W. Somerton, “Magnetic Interpretation in Three Dimensions Using Euler Deconvolution,” Geophysics, Vol. 55, No. 1, 1990, pp. 80-91. doi:10.1190/1.1442774
[17]	R. J. Durrheim and R. J. Cooper, “EULDEP: A Program for the Euler Deconvolution of Magnetic and Gravity Data,” Computer and Geosciences, Vol. 24, No. 6, 1998, pp. 545-550. doi:10.1016/S0098-3004(98)00022-3
[18]	D. T. Thomson, “Euldph: A New Technique for Making Computer Assisted Depth Estimates from Magnetic Data,” Geophysics, Vol. 47, No. 11, 1982, pp. 31-37. doi:10.1190/1.1441278
[19]	M. G. El-Dawi, L, Tianyou, H. Shi and L. Dapeng, “Depth Estimation of 2-D Magnetic Anomalous Sources by Using Euler Deconvolution Method,” American Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2004, pp. 209-214. doi:10.3844/ajassp.2004.209.214
[20]	A. Diabat, “Paleostress and Strain Analysis of the Cretaceous Rocks in the Eastern Margin of the Dead Sea Transform, Jordan,” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, 1999.
[21]	A. Diabat, M. Atallah and M. Salih, “Paleostress Analyses of the Cretaceous Rocks in the Eastern Margin of the Dead Sea Transform,” Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 38, No. 5, 2004, pp. 449-460. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2004.04.002