Surface and subsurface structures of Kalabsha area, southern Egypt, from remote sensing, aeromagnetic and gravity data

Abstract

Kalabsha area is known to be the most seismo-active zone at the southwestern region of the Aswan High Dam, in southern Egypt. The main purpose of this work is the analysis and interpretation of satellite imagery, aeromagnetic and ground gravity data of Kalabsha area in order to reveal the subsurface lithology and structure. The Landsat ETM+ data were produced in a false-color composite image (bands 1, 2 and 3 in RGB) at the same scale as the geological map in order to reveal some extra geological and structural features. An attempt has been made to analyse the complex nature of gravity and magnetic anomalies over the Kalabsha area to reveal their relationship with surface geology, structure and tectonics setting. These analyses include isolation of anomalies into regional and residual components using the band-pass filter, second vertical derivatives (SVD), upward continuation, and shadowgrams technique. It was noticed that, there is close correlation between gravity, magnetic and many of the major surface geological features of the region. The basement structural map of Kalabsha area has been prepared from the integration of SVD of regional component maps of both gravity and magnetic. The interpretation of the basement tectonic map of the area indicated the presence of two sets of faults NNW–SSE to N–S which is dissected by an E–W to WNW–ESE fault system. These two sets of fault systems as deduced from the gravity and aeromagnetic data were found to match well with that obtained from the Landsat image and geological map.