Lineament Traces within Arabian Shield, Sedimentary Cover, and Contact Zone, Middle of Arabian Plate; Their Possible Causes and Implication

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Abstract

1. Introduction
1.1. Objective
1.2. Location of Study Area
1.3. Lineament

2. Method of Study

3. Lineament Trend Analysis Results

4. Discussion and Conclusion

References

List of Illustrations

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Abstract

The analysis of lineaments from satellite images might detect the past and current tectonic trends within a geologic area. This study will try to find the possible stress regime(s) affecting lineament trends from the contact area between the Arabian Shield and Sedimentary Cover in the Middle of the Arabian Plate. The method included tracing, analyzing and plotting lineaments. It employed visual skills to trace lineaments. Google Earth Pro Software was used to image the contact area. A total of 4,213 lineaments were traced, their trends were measured and a lineament map was developed using ArcGIS software. The rose diagram of the Arabian Shield revealed two trends: NE (major trend) and NW (minor trend) direction. Similarly, the rose diagram of the Sedimentary Cover in this study area also showed a NE trend (major trend). This compatible NE trend might be caused by the current stress regime, which is due to Arabian plate movement in the NE direction and the produced Zagros stress regime is probably the more likely cause of those lineaments. In addition, the other NW trend lineament found in the Arabian Shield and less in the Sedimentary Cover is probably related to the Najd Fault system and other Arabian Shield structural signatures, respectively. The outcome of this study might be useful for hydrocarbon and mineral exploration and hydrogeological modelling.

Keywords: lineament, GIS, Arabian Shield, Sedimentary Cover.

1. Introduction

Trace analyses of lineaments from satellite images are used in different geological fields to define and delineate geological structures, for example, mineral and petroleum exploration and hydrogeological modelling (Hariri & Abdullatif, 2005). Several geological studies about lineaments in the Arabian Plate were published in scientific journals. Indeed, Hariri (2003) explored lineaments “Southern part of the Arabian Shield”, Hariri & Abdullatif (2005) and Hariri (2014) about the Dammam Dome, eastern Saudi Arabia. However, scant research might have been published about lineaments in the contact area between the Arabian Shield and Sedimentary Cover, Middle of the Arabian Plate. In this study, lineaments were imaged using Google Earth Pro (Landsat image) and traced digitally using geographic information system (GIS) software to measure their strike or trend numerically in degrees. Then, these numbers were plotted on a rose diagram using GeoRose software. The major trend observed from the plotted rose diagrams were compared with the possible compatible stress ellipses (Edgell, 1992) to suggest the possible stress regime(s) affecting the lineament trends in this study area. This study is potentially valuable for hydrocarbon and mineral exploration and hydrogeological modeling.

1.1. Objective

This study seeks to examine any compatibility in lineament trend between the Arabian Shield and Sedimentary Cover and to find out the possible cause of lineament trend within contact area between the Arabian Shield and Sedimentary Cover in the Middle of the Arabian Plate.

1.2. Location of Study Area

The study area is roughly 330,000 km2 (Google Earth Pro, 2016) at the contact of the Arabian Shield and Sedimentary Cover within Middle of the Arabian Plate. The Arabian Shield is exposed or outcrops in the west of the Arabian Plate, however, as we move eastward it is not seen, because it subsided long ago and was overlain by sedimentary rock layers. Hence, the Arabian Shield overlain by the Sedimentary Cover is a basement rock. Furthermore, the Arabian Shield rocks are Precambrian igneous and metamorphic, while the Sedimentary Cover rocks are Phanerozoic sedimentary (Powers et al., 1966).

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Figure 2: 4213 lineaments traced in the Arabian Shield and Sedimentary Cover (ArcGIS, 2016).

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Figure 3: All rose diagrams trend NE direction (GeoRose, 2016).

4. Discussion and Conclusion

The compatible lineament trend is more likely caused by the current stress regime, which is “due to the movement of the Arabian plate to the NE direction” and the produced Zagros stress regime. Furthermore, the other NW trend is probably related to the Najd Fault system and other Precambrian Basement structural signatures. The basement rocks are possibly giving a signature on the above overlain Sedimentary Cover and this signature might have affected the trend structures (faults, or folds) located in the contact area. The intersection of the NE and NW trends perhaps imply a potential fractured area that might be a useful geological area for mineral and petroleum exploration and hydrogeological modelling.

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Figure 4: Lineament compatibility and possible stress regimes.

References

ArcGIS. (2016). [Computer software]. United States: ESRI.

Edgell, H. S. (1992). Basement tectonics of Saudi Arabia as Related to Oil Field Structures. In Basement Tectonics 9 (pp. 169-193). Netherlands: Springer. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-2654-0_10

GeoRose. (2016). [Computer software]. Yong Technology Inc.

Google Earth Pro. (2016). [Computer software]. United States: Google Inc.

Hariri, M. M. (2003). Use of the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in Determining Relationship between Geology, Structures and Mineral Prospects, Southern Part of the Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia. Pakistan Journal of Applied Sciences, 3 (2), 92-96. http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/ES/mmhariri/New%20Folder/GIS-Arabian-Shield.pdf

Hariri, M. M., & Abdullatif, O. (2005). Use of the GIS to delineate lineaments from Landsat images, Dammam Dome, Eastern Saudi Arabia. In XXII International Cartographic Conference (ICC2005) A Coruna, Spain (pp. 11-16). Retrieved from http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/ES/mmhariri/Publications-All/Mustafa%2520M.pdf

Hariri, M. M. (2014). Fractures system within Dammam Dome and its relationship to the doming process, Eastern Saudi Arabia. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 7 (11), 4943-4956. Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12517-013-1125-9

O’leary, D. W., Friedman, J. D., & Pohn, H. A. (1976). Lineament, linear, lineation: some proposed new standards for old terms. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 87 (10), 1463-1469. Retrieved March 4, 2016, from http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/87/10/1463.short

Powers, R. W., Ramirez, L. F., Redmond, C. D., & Elberg, E. L. (1966). Geology of the Arabian Peninsula. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 560, 1-147. Retrieved from http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0560d/report.pdf

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