STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION OF AIRBORNE RADIOMETRIC AND MAGNETIC SURVEY DATA, WADI TIMSAH AREA, SOUTHERN EASTERN DESERT, EGYPT

The airborne radiometric and magnetic survey data in Wadi Timsah area, Southern
Eastern Desert, Egypt, were used to deduce the surface and the subsurface structural lineaments.
Besides, they are utilized to identify the anomalous radioactive zones. The results of radiometric
data delineated anomalous zones, mostly connected with younger granites that seem to be
structurally controlled. The dominated fault system appears to play the most effective role in the
structural framework of the study area. Two main average magnetic interfaces at depths 1.10 and
2.65 km were deduced through the application of the two-dimensional power spectrum technique.
Filtering assisted in the discrimination between residual (shallow-seated) and regional (deep-seated)
magnetic components. Structural interpretation of the aeromagnetic data was achieved through the
application of advanced techniques, that provide estimation of the depths of magnetic structures.
These techniques include Horizontal Gradient Magnitude (HGM) and Euler deconvolution. The
results of the two methods confirm each other, under the assumption of vertical contacts of
anomalous sources and features of linear segments. The estimated depths varied between 215 m for
the near-surface structures and 2800 m for the deep-seated ones. The integration of results of the
aeroradiometric and aeromagnetic interpretations revealed that most of the recorded radiometric
anomalies lie over younger granites, which are distributed as isolated bodies aligned around huge
mother batholith. This batholith is dissected mainly by NE-SW, NNE-SSW, NW-SE and WNWESE
structural lineaments.