Combined use of remote sensing data, mineralogical analyses, microstructure studies and geographic information system for geological mapping of antiparos island (Greece)

Abstract

This study presents the combined use of field mapping, remote sensing data analysis, mineralogy, spectroscopy and GIS techniques for the geological mapping of Antiparos Island. Antiparos is part of the Cyclades Blueschist Belt located in central Aegean, where gneisses, schists and Pliocene volcanic rocks occurred. During the extended field work, a number of volcanic rock samples were collected from the southern part of Antiparos. The sampling strategy was to collect samples from the primary as well as the altered rocks in specific areas in which they were previously located from the remote sensing data processing. In this study, high resolution satellite images have been carried out in order to detect, allocate and separate the different geological formations. Furthermore, the existing geological map was georeferenced and all the tectonic lines and boundaries were digitized. All these features were implemented in a Mobile Mapper CE GPS using Arcpad GIS and checked in situ. The collected samples were analyzed in the laboratory using various techniques including XRD, Petrographic Microscopy and SEM. The qualitative mineralogical analyses were conducted by using XRD. The study was supplemented by the petrographic observations providing a detailed characterization of rock textures. In addition, SEM study and SEM-EDS analyses of the samples were emphasized on the genetic relations of the minerals. The laboratory results revealed that specific corrections should be made in the previous geological map of Antiparos concerning the volcanic rocks, especially at the southern part of the island. A significant conclusion is that the rock described as volcanic in the previous map proved to be a fossiliferous limestone which includes micritic matrix of calcite with an insignificant amount of fossils. All the analogical and digital data and the results of the petrographic analysis were imported in a geodatabase specially designed for geological data. After the necessary topological control and corrections, the data were unified and processed in order to create the final layout at 1/25.000 scale.