PETROLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND REMOTE SENSING-BASED MAPPING OF WADI EL GHUZA AREA, NORTH EASTERN DESERT, EGYPT

Abstract

Wadi El Ghuza area is located north of Safaga-Qena asphaltic Road and covers an area of about 450 km, dominated by different Late Neoproterozoic plutonic and volcanic complexes. The area comprises metavolcanics, serpentinites, metagabbros, older Granitoids, volcanosedimentary succession, felsitic intrusions, younger Granites, and post granitic dykes, respectively from the oldest to youngest rock units. Six consecutive sections were measured for the first time on the Wadi El Ghuza volcanosedimentary successions and exhibited stratigraphic intercalation between the Dokhan-type volcanics and the Hammamat sedimentary rocks. A new detailed geological map of the study area was prepared using remote sensing techniques and conventional and unconventional fieldwork. The false color composite 157 in RGB derived from ETM+ data and the composite 421 in RGB derived from ASTER principal component analysis technique discriminated and distinguished the lithology of different rock units in Wadi El Ghuza area. Geochemical studies of the Late Neoproterozoic units including the Dokhan volcanics and the Younger Granites indicate that they are high-K calc-alkaline affinity and were produced from A-type magmas in post-collisional settings. The studied A-type magma has been assumed to be generated by melting of crustal rocks of tonalite composition.