Author(s)

Lhoussayn Ouhoussa¹, Abdessamade Ghafiri¹, Lakhlifa Ben Aissi², Brahim Es-Sabbar²

¹LGAGE Laboratory, Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences Ben M’sick, University Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco.
²Applied Geology Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technics, Moulay Ismail University, Errachidia, Morocco.

Mapping from remote sensing has become more effective in the field of geology, mainly in lithological discrimination and identification of hydrothermal alteration zones. The use of this technique consists in obtaining information about the rock mass and the main ones existing in the inaccessible areas. Satellite data from the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) sensor represent a favorable potential for detecting the spectral signatures of mineral zones and identifying their nature. These data are more reliable in places where the climate is arid with less abundant vegetation, as at the Oumjrane-Boukerzia mining district. This region which is part of the Eastern Anti-Atlas, is composed of several mineralized veins which still require detailed studies and exploration by the technique of remote sensing. In this work we applied several processing techniques on ASTER imagery such as Colored Composition, Principal Component Analysis and Ratio Bands. The use of the reports of the specialized Bands makes it possible to identify some hydrothermal alteration minerals within the mining district of Oumjrane Boukerzia. These minerals are represented mainly by iron oxides and hydroxides (Hematite, jarosite, limonite and goethite), carbonate minerals (dolomite, calcite), clay minerals (Illite, kaolinite and chlorite) and quartz minerals. This work allows us to produce a map of hydrothermal alteration zones which can be used as a valuable reference in the strategy of mining exploration for the base metals (Cu, Pb, Zn and Ba), in the mining district of Oumjrane-Boukerzia and in the entire Eastern Anti-Atlas.

Anti-Atlas, Oumjrane-Boukerzia, Alteration, Mineral, ASTER, Remote Sensing

Ouhoussa, L. , Ghafiri, A. , Aissi, L. and Es-Sabbar, B. (2023) Integrating Aster Images Processing and Fieldwork for Identification of Hydrothermal Alteration Zones at the Oumjrane-Boukerzia District, Moroccan Anti-Atlas. Open Journal of Geology, 13, 171-188. doi: 10.4236/ojg.2023.132008.