Determining the Basaltic Flow Direction at El Minya Area in Egypt Using Magnetic and Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility Measurements

Abstract

This study aims to determine the volcanic flow direction at El-Minya Area in south Egypt using the magnetic anisotropy and land magnetic measurements. Seventy four representative oriented rock samples were collected from six different locations in the study area. The rocks magnetic properties and magnetic anisotropy analysis were measured for all the collected samples. Based on these results we determined the magnetic lineation at the locations of the samples and the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) parameters. The volcanic flow direction in the area was determined based on the analysis of these results. In addition to that, the results helped in establishing the depth and orientation of many structural features affecting the basement rocks. Some deep sources and several faults, mainly striking NW-SE direction, were determined. A further data analysis using the Eular deconvolution analysis method was applied to the magnetic data to map depths and trends of the shallower subsurface structures. The processed data compare fairly well with the AMS results, and both data sets helped to determine the basaltic flow direction, which is consistent with the geological setting along the Nile Valley and El Minya area.