MORPHOTECTONIC INVESTIGATIONS USING LANDSAT 8 AND ASTER GDEM DATA IN THE GEBEL EL-ZEIT AREA, GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

Applications of remote sensing in geology are developing very fast due to the rapid increase in the technology curve. Extraction of morphotectonic features from satellite remotely sensed data is an important one of these applications. In the present study, a (semi) automatic methodology for linear feature extraction from the spectral bands of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor on Landsat 8 (L8) has been applied in the Gebel El-Zeit area, located at the southwestern shore of the Suez Gulf of Egypt. And from the ASTER GDEM data, the drainage networks and watersheds of the Gebel El-Zeit area have been automatically generated and delineated.

From the semi-automatically to fully automatically extracted morphotectonic features, we have found that the tectonic processes have had a major influence on the geomorphology of the Gebel El-Zeit area. The lineaments created by recent and earlier tectonic processes have controlled, to a great extent, the alignment of Wadi Kabrit; the main valley, and the other secondary valley systems of the Gebel El-Zeit area. Major percent of all straight surface lineaments is within a sharply defined orientation of NW-SE, suggesting a strong system of extensional structural fabrics that help creating the Gulf of Suez rift. By comparing the drainage lines of the Gebel El-Zeit watersheds no. 1 and 2 with the locations of major lineaments, it has been found that these drainage lines generally follow the traces of major lineaments. Moreover, directional analysis of drainage line frequencies of these watersheds shows clusters dominated by NW-SE (rift- parallel). This result is consistent with the major trend of the lineaments. This consistence reveals the significance of the NW-SE oriented lineament set, which is related to the main Late Cenozoic extension occurred perpendicular to the Gulf of Suez rift axis, in controlling the geomorphology of the Gebel El-Zeit area.