Lithological and alteration mineral mapping in poorly exposed lithologies using Landsat-8 and ASTER satellite data: North-eastern Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula

Identifying areas of high economic-potential copper mineralization using aster data in the urumieh-dokhtar volcanic belt, Iran

Comparison of Landsat-8, ASTER and Sentinel 1 satellite remote sensing data in automatic lineaments extraction: A case study of Sidi Flah-Bouskour inlier, Moroccan Anti Atlas

This paper provides a review of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Advanced Land Imager (ALI), and Hyperion data and applications of the data as a tool for ore minerals exploration, lithological and structural mapping. Spectral information extraction from ASTER, ALI, and Hyperion data has great ability to assist geologists in all disciplines to map the distribution and detect the rock units exposed at the earth’s surface. The near coincidence of Earth Observing System (EOS)/Terra and Earth Observing One (EO-1) platforms allows acquiring ASTER, ALI, and Hyperion imagery of the same ground areas, resulting accurate information for geological mapping applications especially in the reconnaissance stages of hydrothermal copper and gold exploration, chromite, magnetite, massive sulfide and uranium ore deposits, mineral components of soils and structural interpretation at both regional and district scales. Shortwave length infrared and thermal infrared bands of ASTER have sufficient spectral resolution to map fundamental absorptions of hydroxyl mineral groups and silica and carbonate minerals for regional mapping purposes. Ferric-iron bearing minerals can be discriminated using six unique wavelength bands of ALI spanning the visible and near infrared. Hyperion visible and near infrared bands (0.4 to 1.0 μm) and shortwave infrared bands (0.9 to 2.5 μm) allowed to produce image maps of iron oxide minerals, hydroxyl-bearing minerals, sulfates and carbonates in association with hydrothermal alteration assemblages, respectively. The techniques and achievements reviewed in the present paper can further introduce the efficacy of ASTER, ALI, and Hyperion data for future mineral and lithological mapping and exploration of the porphyry copper, epithermal gold, chromite, magnetite, massive sulfide and uranium ore deposits especially in arid and semi-arid territory.

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ASTER, ALI and Hyperion sensors data for lithological mapping and ore minerals exploration

Geological mapping is one of the primary tasks of remote sensing. Remote sensing applications are especially useful when extreme environmental conditions inhibit direct survey such as in Antarctica. In this investigation, a satellite-based remote sensing approach was used for mapping alteration mineral zones and lithological units using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data in the Oscar II coast area, north-eastern Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. Specialized band ratios and band combinations were developed using visible and near infrared, shortwave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared spectral bands of ASTER for detecting alteration mineral assemblages and lithological units in Antarctic environments. Constrained Energy Minimization, Orthogonal Subspace Projection and Adaptive Coherence Estimator algorithms were tested to ASTER SWIR bands for detecting sub-pixels’ abundance of spectral features related to muscovite, kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, epidote, chlorite and biotite. Results indicate valuable applicability of ASTER data for Antarctic geological mapping.

Mapping alteration mineral zones and lithological units in Antarctic regions using spectral bands of ASTER remote sensing data

Remote sensing detection of gold related alteration zones in Um Rus area, Central Eastern Desert of Egypt

ASTER spectral analysis for alteration minerals associated with gold mineralization

Nine samples were chemically characterized and radiometrically analyzed for determination of 234U, 238U, 235U, 230Th, 232Th, 226Ra and 40K by γ-ray spectrometer Hyper Purity Germanium (HPGe detecto...

Physico-chemical conditions controlling the radionuclides mobilisation in various granitic environments

Radioactive risk assessment of beach sand along the coastline of Mediterranean Sea at El-Arish area, North Sinai, Egypt.

The sheared granite of El Sela represents one of the most promising uranium mineralization in the southern part of the eastern desert, in Egypt. The present work concerned in detailed with El Sela shear zone through ENE-WSW and NNW-SSE trends as a perfect way for ascending hydrothermal solutions and meteoric water that led to leaching of uranium from its bearing minerals and redeposit them in the altered granites. Activities of radionuclides were identified for 238U, 235U, 234U, 230Th, 232Th, 226Ra, 214Bi, 214Pb, 210Pb, and 40K in the studied samples by hyper-pure germanium detector. Furthermore, activity ratios 234U/238U, 230Th/238U, 230Th/234U, 226Ra/238U, 226Ra/230Th, 238U/235U, and 234U/235U were calculated. Additionally, the 238U/235U activity ratios range were evaluated from 20.99 to 22.4 with an average of 21.69 indicating a slight deviation from the natural ratio (21.7). The 234U/235U activity ratios range recorded from 4.866 to 121.39 with a reported average of 63.13 uranium migration (out / in). Finally, the age of uranium mobilization in the studied samples was calculated from 18.83 to 43.25 kyr. suggested a recent uranium mineralization.

Ahmed M. El Mezayen

Papers

Remote sensing detection of gold related alteration zones in Um Rus area, Central Eastern Desert of Egypt

ASTER spectral analysis for alteration minerals associated with gold mineralization

Physico-chemical conditions controlling the radionuclides mobilisation in various granitic environments

Radioactive risk assessment of beach sand along the coastline of Mediterranean Sea at El-Arish area, North Sinai, Egypt.

Recent uranium mobilization of late neoproterozoic El Sela sheared granites, South Eastern Desert, Egypt