Review of Recent Satellite Image Analyses of the Ghadames Basin (Libya) and the Tassili Region of S Algeria

The Ghadames Basin is a prolific hydrocarbon province with a complex and long petroleum geology history. An integrated approach to understanding its regional structure is essential for exploration success in the region. The remote sensing analysis of Earth Observation (EO) data for the surface expression of sub surface structures is a very cost-effective method for a refinement of the interpretation of sub-surface data for the geometry, interaction, timing and distribution of structures, lithologies and sedimentary features. This study is based on new work carried out on several different types of satellite imagery at different resolutions. A major analysis of the EO data was also undertaken in order to better understand the Late Ordovician glaciogenic deposits in the region with a view to using them as direct analogues to assist in the interpretation of the equivalent horizons in the subsurface data. The Late Ordovician sediments appear to be a channelised, reworked, sheet complex containing associated sedimentary features, which are consistent with having been deposited in a fluvial to marine regime coeval within a glaciation environment. The outcrops show evidence for multiple phases of glaciation, with older sediments being eroded and reworked by subsequent glacial forces.