MAPPING TECTONIC TRENDS OF WADI MATULA, EGYPT

Wadi Matula is a dry stream course in the central Eastern Desert of Egypt. Its tributaries drain the Red Sea highlands during sporadic rainfall events and flow downhill where they join the Nile River at Qena. Integration of data from satellite images, Radarsat-1, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) allowed the mapping of tectonic trends and evolution. Field measurements and observations were conducted to validate the remote sensing data analysis and interpretation. Radarsat-1 images unveil fault trends (NW-SE and NE-SW) that display cross-cut relationships. The results of data integration, lineament analysis and lineament density mapping reveal that major tectonic trends affecting Wadi Matula region are arranged, with decreasing significance, as follows: NE-SW, NNE-SSW, N-S, NW-SE, and E-W. The main Wadi course may have originated along a fault line with a NW-SE trend in the Pliocene/Pleistocene, prior to Qena-Safaga shear zone. Both Wadi Matula and Qena-Safaga shear zone tectonic events affect the Nile’s pathway at the Qena bend. Evidences of tectonic reactivations are inferred from neo-fractures and the subsequent tectonic stream capture processes of both NW-SE (Gulf of Suez) and NE-SW (Gulf of Aqaba) trends, respectively. The study results indicate that the Red Sea tectonics impacted Wadi Matula formation and evolution, and that radar images provide powerful tools for mapping subsurface tectonic trends in arid regions.