Understanding the structural framework controlling the sedimentary basins from the integration of gravity and magnetic data: A case study from the east of the Qattara Depression area, Egypt

Abstract

Determining the main structures that control sedimentary basins from magnetic and gravity data is an important step for hydrocarbon exploration. In this study, the structural features of the area, east of the Qattara Depression, was deduced utilizing the gravity and magnetic data. Regional-residual separation, lineament analysis, tilt derivative and spectral analysis techniques were utilized to realize this main goal. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) was used for regional and residual separation. The structural patterns of the area were outlined by lineament analysis. The bedrock depth was calculated by applying the spectral analysis method on twenty gravity and magnetic profiles. The coupled 2D and 2.5D modeling along the three gravity and magnetic profiles indicated that the region consists of horsts and grabens blocks, consisting of both acidic and basic rocks. Consequently, a structural map was made to identify the main basins and highs. Besides, it was observed that the thickness of the sedimentary cover varies between 2.5 and 5.5 km in the study area.

Keywords

• Western Desert
• FFT
• Modeling
• Tilt derivative
• Structural map