Geodynamic framework of large volcanic fields highlighted by SRTM DEMs: Method evaluation and perspectives exampled on three areas from the Cameroon Volcanic Line

Abstract

This study is a part of a wider investigation to evaluate how much can be learnt by using low-cost methods such as systematic moderate-resolution remote sensing to map and quantify geological structures at the regional scale on very large volcanic provinces only partly studied in the field. Volcanic-centre and cinder-cone distribution, faults and structural lineaments are mapped combining Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and Landsat satellite images. As an example of the method, we present the interpretation of structural data and morphological features of three contrasted areas from the Cameroon Volcanic Line (Tombel graben, Upper Benue valley, and Ngaoundéré area) for which local field studies are available for comparison. At a local scale, this remote-sensing method of mapping displays good to excellent correlations with previously published data and, by itself, it allows one to constrain the structural setting of each area. Numerical treatment of vent and cinder-cone localisation can be related to tension fractures ( T direction), whereas numerical treatment of the lineaments constrains the associated fault system to a single transtensional (strike-slip + extension) Riedel type fracture network. The first results on the Cameroon Volcanic Line are promising and could be used at a larger scale on numerous volcanic provinces for which field data are not yet available.