3D DIGITAL GEOLOGICAL MAPPING AND LITHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE NORTHWESTERN MARGIN OF THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT BY INTEGRATION OF REMOTELY SENSING DATA

The various kinds of remotely sensed data that comprise the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) Advanced Land Imager (ALI), and Enhanced Thematic Mapper ETM+ are integrated in the frame of 3D digital geological mapping of the Northwestern margin of the Gulf of Suez rift. This has been achieved by employing the appropriate algorithms to characterize lithological and geomorphologic units and structures of the studied area. It was possible to discriminate and map thirteen exposed lithologies. Between the resultant RGB images, those with band ratios 5/4, 3/1 and 7/5 allowing discriminating the Oligocene clastics from rift related-basalts whose appearance in the field and on the other false color images are similar. The 2+4/3, 3+5/4, 7+8/9 transformation images allowed differentiating the Oligocene gravels and sands. Additionally, the DEM was used to delineate the soft and hard linkage patterns, en echelon arrays of this rift segment as displayed by the various structural blocks. These identified patterns are good signs on the prevailing of Gulf of Suez extensional structures in the study area. Both the new detailed geological map and images of the processed remote sensing scenes are available in digital formats (ARC GIS database and acrobat reader format) at the Geology Department Library of Faculty of Science, Cairo University