Fracture network mapping using Landsat-8 OLI, Sentinel-2A, ASTER, and ASTER-GDEM data, in the Rich area (Central High Atlas, Morocco)

Geological mapping using remote sensing is one of the most important applied methods in natural resources exploration. The objectives of this study are mapping and analyzing of fractures distribution in the Rich area in order to understand the influence of lithology and geodynamics on fracture density. For this purpose, we relied on automatic lineament extraction using four types of satellite imagery: Landsat OLI, Sentinel 2A, ASTER L1B, and ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) in order to extract the maximum of lineaments affirmed significative in structural interpretations. After image corrections, the processing of these images is based on the highlighting of structural lineaments and their automatic extraction using the algorithm line of Geomatica software. The validation of linear structures was made based on existing data. The finding showed that each produced map shows systematically a similarity in terms of concentration and orientation with three preferential system-oriented NE-SW, NEE-SSW, E-W, and NNE-SSW. Lineaments mainly follow that of major fault zones, with a high concentration in the North-East part of the study area. This might be due to the importance of the Alpine orogeny deformation as well as the diapirism phenomenon of the Triassic formations in the hiner zone of the Atlas belt. However, the observation shows that the number and total length of structural lineaments could be extracted by using the sentinel 2A then Landsat OLI, ASTER-GDEM, and ASTER L1B set. The automatic extraction allows better mapping of structural lineaments. It shows a good agreement and more information compared with previous geological data, confirming the efficiency of applied techniques in geological studies.