Basement Tectonic Structures Delineated from Aeromagnetic Survey Data South Eastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract

A structural interpretation of aeromagnetic data of the North Wadi Abu Marow area. South Eastern Desert, Egypt, is presented. Calculated horizontal phase angle and horizontal magnetic gradient techniques were applied to aeromagnetic survey data to locate the fault zones. These zones were correlated well with the faults shown on the geologic map. Two main average interfaces at 0.9 and 2.0 km below the survey flight level were calculated through the computation of the local power spectrum of the aeromagnetic data. Filtering combined with analytical downward continuation of the reduce-to-the pole (RTP) magnetic map at two interfaces, was also conducted to produce four maps: one for the regional and the other for the residual component of the magnetic field at each interface. In addition, the normalized horizontal and total vectors gradients maps were computed at the stated interfaces. Moreover, variation of the horizontal phase angle were calculated and additional two maps were prepared.

The integration of the results obtained from the magnetic data, aided by geological information led to the construction of the basement tectonic maps for the area under consideration. The structural elements affecting the basement complex at the two assigned interfaces with faults and folds (down-faulted and uplifted blocks) are delineated. This study revealed the existence of several sets of fault zones trending in five directions E-W, NW, NE, ENE and WNW.