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Dalati, Moutaz 
  
LINEAMENTS ON LANDSAT IMAGES-DETECTION 
MAPPING AND TECTONIC SIGNIFICANCE IN NORTH -WESTERN 
DEPRESSIONS OF SYRIA 
MOUTAZ DALATI 
GEGMR/General Establishment for Geology and Mineral Resources 
Damascus , Syrian Arab Republic 
KEY WORDS : Geology, Mapping, Analysis, Remote Sensing, Image understanding, Multi-spectral data 
ABSTRACT 
The objective of this investigation was to determine the feasibility of mapping lineaments on Landsat images of El- 
Rouge, and Al-Ghab depressions, north-west of Syria, and to determine the tectonic significance of these lineaments 
in order to evaluate the capabilities and limitations of spaceborne data to prove that El-Rouge depression is the 
extension of Al-Ghab depression and both of them in line with the African-Lebanon-Syrian rift system. 
The depressions are situated in the marginal part of the Arabian platform in the zone of the rift system. The 
investigations were carried out on the basis of multispectral data of Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper. Regional analysis of 
the images allows rapid evaluation of the structures. The surface expression of lineaments have been mapped and 
analyzed in terms of their style of deformation, thickness, size and potential influence. Digital masking was used to 
eliminate ambiguities due to water and shadows. Contrast Enhancement, involves a contrast stretch of the row digital 
information, and band rationing have been shown to be a useful tool for mapping structural unites and minimized the 
differences in illumination due to topographic slope changes. Principal components analysis has been utilized in 
statistical processing of data. The method produces new variables which are linear combinations of the original 
variables. Field identifications have been carried out to judge the effectiveness of the different spectral bands and of 
the digital processing of the data. 
1 INTRODUCTION 
The amount of data has increased from MSS to TM Thematic Mapper because of an increase in the number of 
spectral bands ( 4-7 ), in radiometric resolution ( 64-256 digital levels ) and in geometric resolution ( 80-30 m ). 
Using of Remote Sensing techniques shows the pronounced margin of the tectonical traces which can be traced 
clearly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefit of Landsat imagery in the mapping of tectonical phenomena 
in the Al-Ghab and El-Rouge depressions north-west of Syria. In particular, the work aimed to compare TM data with 
older Landsat MSS data from the same area, and the utility of space photographs in tectonical applications and 
evaluation of several landscapes. 
2 AREA OF INVESTEGATION 
The area of investigation is located north-west of Syria ( Figure 1 ) and includes an area of about 5000 km? 
sedimentary and volcanic rocks occupy most of the area. The age of the basalts was determined to be Quaternary. The 
age of sedimentary rocks is Jurasic, Cretaceous , Paleogen, Neogene, and Quaternary(Figure2). 
The area under study El-Rouge and Al-Ghab depressions is situated in the marginal part of the Arabian platform in 
the zone of the rift system which stretches from the Red sea across the Golf Aqaba, the Dead sea and the Jordan 
valley. It is limited from the west by jabal El-Wastani horst-anticline and from the east by Jabal Azzawiy range and 
from the north by Jabal Barisha horst-anticline. The geological study of north-western part of Syria was started by 
M.Blanckenhorn. According to this investigator, the stratigraphic systems became obsolete in many respects but his 
paleontological tables retain their significance up to now. E.Vaumas studied early volcanism in the region of Al- 
Ghab, El-Rouge, and Jabal Az-zawiy. He marked all the volcanic bodies known in this region. E. Vaumas performed 
a geomorphological subdivision of the north-west of Syria. He has forward interesting ideas about neotectonic 
movements and the idea about the young age of the Al-Ghab depression, in particular. The age of the lacustrine 
sediments filling Al-Ghab depression, according to E.Vaumas, in Upper Pliocene and Quaternary. The growth and 
development of the uplift in connection with the movements along the Lebanon-Syrian fault were of irregular 
character and this is illustrated by the arrangement of the facies and thicknesses of the Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary 
sediments on both limbs of the structure. It is known that the movements along the eastern fault of the Dead sea 
graben were reflected in the distribution and mode of occurrence even of the lower Cambrian deposit . 
  
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000. 301