Dhabaa, Mahmood Salem , Gaber, Ahmed , Mohammed, Adel Kamel
2026-02-14 GEOSCIENCES 2026 16(卷), 2(期), (null页)
This study addresses a critical knowledge gap in quantifying strategic mineral resources within hyper-arid, tectonically complex terrains by establishing a recursive framework that reconciles deterministic resource estimation with the nonlinear dynamics of tectonically mediated metamorphic systems. Using Libya's Wadi El Shati as a case study, legacy lithological misclassifications are rectified through the fusion of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar, Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery, and Digital Elevation Model analytics within a unified geospatial workflow. The methodology synergizes atmospherically corrected optical data, processed via supervised Maximum Likelihood Classification, with calibrated radar-derived structural lineaments. Classified marble-bearing zones within the Al Mahruqah Formation are integrated with DEM data and field-validated thickness measurements using Triangulated Irregular Network models to resolve surface-subsurface dependencies and compute volumes. The results demonstrate a 91% lithological classification accuracy, rectifying a 22% error in legacy maps. Structural analysis of 1213 lineaments confirms a dominant NE-SW extensional regime (sigma(3)) that facilitated fluid conduits. The quantified marble-bearing horizon spans similar to 334 km(2) with a volume of 6.0 km(3) (+/- 9%). Spatial analysis reveals a causal link between high-grade marble clusters, basaltic intrusions, and NE-SW fault systems, refining models of contact metamorphism in rift-related settings.