Abstract
The ironstone succession at El Gedida-Ghorabi-Naser area of El Bahariya depression is subdivided into lagoonal manganiferous mud and fossiliferous ironstone consisting mainly of hematite and goethite-hydrogoethite. The application of the ASD field spectroradiometer measurements (spectral range) in the ASTER data led to the interpretation of the presence of ferruginous units as quartzitic sandstone, gluconitic sandy clay, and pink marly limestone. The existing iron ore minerals in the iron ore localities were also classified into high Mn hematite, low Mn hematite, goethite, hydrogoethite as well as low- and high-grade Hematite and Barite. Quartz, feldspars, rutile, and clay minerals (e.g., kaolinite and illite) are mainly associated with the iron ore. Accessory minerals of manganese, e.g., psilomelane and pyrolusite, were also present. The Barite mineral is recorded as a common mineral association with the iron ore deposits at El Gedida and Ghorabi localities. The stratigraphical units investigated in the study area include the oldest gravely clayey sandstones of the Bahariya Formation overlain by the fossiliferous and oolitic limestones of the El-Hamra, Qazzun, and Naqb Formations. Quartztic sandstones and clayey sandstones of the Radwan Formation and youngest Quaternary sediments of sandy-clayey materials were often found as intermittent cover and overburden in unconformity surfaces over the iron ore bands.
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Acknowledgements
Great thanks to the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) for providing the hyperspectral data and chemical analysis to this study. Thanks also to NARSS team work of the iron project supervised by Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hussein and Prof. Dr. Mamdouh Abdeen.
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Salem, S. ASD field hyperspectral measurements for discrimination of the ferruginous rocks and the iron ore types at El Gedida-Ghorabi area, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt. Arab J Geosci 10, 166 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-2944-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-2944-x