Abstract
Abstract. Geological investigations in Antarctica confront many difficulties due to its remoteness and extreme environmental conditions. In this study, the applications of Landsat-8 data were investigated to extract geological information for lithological and alteration mineral mapping in poorly exposed lithologies in inaccessible domains such in Antarctica. The north-eastern Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula (AP) was selected in this study to conduct a satellite-based remote sensing mapping technique. Continuum Removal (CR) spectral mapping tool and Independent Components Analysis (ICA) were applied to Landsat-8 spectral bands to map poorly exposed lithologies at regional scale. Pixels composed of distinctive absorption features of alteration mineral assemblages associated with poorly exposed lithological units were detected by applying CR mapping tool to VNIR and SWIR bands of Landsat-8.Pixels related to Si-O bond emission minima features were identified using CR mapping tool to TIR bands in poorly mapped andunmapped zones in north-eastern Graham Land at regional scale. Anomaly pixels in the ICA image maps related to spectral featuresof Al-O-H, Fe, Mg-O-H and CO3 groups and well-constrained lithological attributions from felsic to mafic rocks were detectedusing VNIR, SWIR and TIR datasets of Landsat-8. The approach used in this study performed very well for lithological andalteration mineral mapping with little available geological data or without prior information of the study region.
Highlights
Remote sensing satellite imagery has high potential to provide a solution to overcome the difficulties and limitations associated with geological field mapping and mineral exploration in Antarctic environments
The main objectives of this study is to introduce and test the most suitable image processing techniques for detecting poorly exposed lithologies and alteration mineral assemblages in inaccessible regions without prior information or little available geological data of the study area using Landsat-8 and reflective and thermal bands
Landsat-8 band 10 records the variation of silicate content, which is generally associated with the transition from felsic to mafic lithologies
Summary
Remote sensing satellite imagery has high potential to provide a solution to overcome the difficulties and limitations associated with geological field mapping and mineral exploration in Antarctic environments. Landsat-8 was launched on 4 February 2013, carrying the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) sensors. These two instruments collect image data for nine visible, near-infrared, shortwave infrared bands and two longwave thermal bands (Roy et al, 2014). They have high signal to noise (SNR) radiometer performance, enabling 12-bit quantization of data allowing for more bits for better land-cover characterization. Landsat-8 provides moderateresolution imagery, from 15 meters to 100 meters of Earth’s surface and Polar Regions
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