A tool for semi-automatic geostructural survey based on DTM

Abstract

Tectonic movement along faults is often reflected by characteristic geomorphological features such as linear valleys, ridgelines and slope-breaks, steep slopes of uniform aspect, regional anisotropy and tilt of terrain. In the last years, the remote sensing data has been used as a source of information for the detection of tectonic structures. In this paper, we present a new approach for semi-automatic extraction and characterization of geological lineaments. The overall positive aspects of this semi-automatic process were found to be the rapidity of preliminary assessment, the possibility to identify the most interesting portions to be investigated and to analyze zones that are not directly accessible. This method has been applied to a geologically well-known area (the Monferrato geological domain) in order to validate the results of the software processing with literature data. Results obtained are discussed and preliminary remarks are put forward.