Generation of a detailed geological map of the Antarctic Peninsula applying remote sensing methods

• Main Author: C. Kraus
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Austral; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.487.4806; http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1047/ea/of2007-1047ea189.pdf

Summary Antarctica is one of the most difficult continents to work on geologic aspects because of its permanent ice shield covering over 98%. On the Antarctic continent geological field work can only be done during austral summer but nevertheless during this warm period some ice-free areas still stay inaccessible for field work. This project which is concentrating on the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands tries to solve this constitutional problem in applying a new methodology to gain the same results as a traditional geological mapping in unapproachable areas. Therefor satellite images from optical and radar sensors are used as well as aerial photograph. Whereas aerial photos only can give an overview with a preciseness depending on its spatial resolution images from optical sensors as ASTER or Landsat TM dispose of the ability to reveal chemical differences from the surface. Radar sensors instead are used to work on structural information as e.g. faults. The technique of using remote sensing data to discover geological fea-tures is already widely-used but has not been applied to any parts of the Antarctic continent because of difficulties in finding suitable datasets. High cloud coverage or non-existent datasets of specific areas for example are hindering factors in applying known methodologies on this area. For that reason this projects concentrates on discovering the best possible solution of a data combination leading to a precise and detailed geological map of the Antarctic Penin-sula and adjoining islands.