Identification and analysis of the alignments of point-like features in remotely-sensed imagery:Volcanic cones in the Pinacate Volcanic Field, Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Abstract. Some fractures in the crust are expressed at the surface as a field of point-like features that have developed in response to usually fluid processes within those fractures. We describe two complementary quantitative methods for analysing such point-like features from remotely-sensed imagery in terms of structural alignment. The two-point azimuth method is probabilistic and tests for the existence of regional and field-wide structural anisotropies. By contrast, the Hough transform method is deterministic and locates specific alignments. These methods have been applied to a Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) image of the Pinacate Volcanic Field in north-west Mexico. The point-like features of interest are cinder cones and maars. The results reveal a northerly structural anisotropy and specific alignments, trending mainly northerly and north-northwesterly, have been mapped. This application was limited by the relatively coarse spatial resolution of the MSS image used. However, although o...