Remote Sensing and Investigation for Geological Mapping of the Sabaloka Inlier Nile State Sudan

Abstract

Sabaloka region comprises some of the old basement rocks in Sudan surrounded with Cretaceous sediments forming an inlier, extending between Khartoum and River Nile States. The study area is located inside this inlier between latitudes N 16 00′ - 16 30′ and longitudes 32 40′ - 33 10′. The digital image processing of Landsat 8 (OLI) oriented to enhance the satellite images to discriminate the boundary between the different rock units in the inlier and their dimensions. Also to explain the structural features at macro scale, recognize and analyze them. The geological perspective of the area is the granulite rocks of Precambrian age exposed within the retrograded gneisses and migmatite rocks which are prevalent in the region of inlier. There are also batholitic rocks of Ban Gadeed, El-Soulik, Ba Bados, and Abu Gedium granites in their foliations. The granulite rocks are two types meta-igneous (enderbite), and meta-sediments (semi-pelitic and calc-silicate). Field observations, satellite image views, and microscopic studies of microstructures indicate that Precambrian rocks of Sabaloka inlier have orientations of shear foliations of Ban Gadeed-Gamrab Shear Zone (BGSZ) with general trend NW-SE, and it may be the last activity of the Precambrian deformations in the Sabaloka inlier. Ban Gadeed-Gamrab Shear Zone (BGSZ) has affected the Precambrian rocks only and did not affect the younger rocks of the region.