Identification of Phyllosilicates in the Antarctic Environment Using ASTER Satellite Data: Case Study from the Mesa Range, Campbell and Priestley Glaciers, Northern Victoria Land

• Published in: Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Amin Beiranvand Pour, Milad Sekandari, Omeid Rahmani, Laura Crispini, Andreas Läufer, Yongcheol Park, Jong Kuk Hong, Biswajeet Pradhan, Mazlan Hashim, Mohammad Shawkat Hossain, Aidy M Muslim, Kamyar Mehranzamir
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2020
• Subjects: phyllosilicates; alteration; ASTER; Antarctic environments; mesa range; Priestley Glacier; northern Victoria Land; Antarctica; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Victoria Land; Priestley; Granite Harbour; Mesa Range; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13010038

In Antarctica, spectral mapping of altered minerals is very challenging due to the remoteness and inaccessibility of poorly exposed outcrops. This investigation evaluates the capability of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite remote sensing imagery for mapping and discrimination of phyllosilicate mineral groups in the Antarctic environment of northern Victoria Land. The Mixture-Tuned Matched-Filtering (MTMF) and Constrained Energy Minimization (CEM) algorithms were used to detect the sub-pixel abundance of Al-rich, Fe3+-rich, Fe2+-rich and Mg-rich phyllosilicates using the visible and near-infrared (VNIR), short-wave infrared (SWIR) and thermal-infrared (TIR) bands of ASTER. Results indicate that Al-rich phyllosilicates are strongly detected in the exposed outcrops of the Granite Harbour granitoids, Wilson Metamorphic Complex and the Beacon Supergroup. The presence of the smectite mineral group derived from the Jurassic basaltic rocks (Ferrar Dolerite and Kirkpatrick Basalts) by weathering and decomposition processes implicates Fe3+-rich and Fe2+-rich phyllosilicates. Biotite (Fe2+-rich phyllosilicate) is detected associated with the Granite Harbour granitoids, Wilson Metamorphic Complex and Melbourne Volcanics. Mg-rich phyllosilicates are mostly mapped in the scree, glacial drift, moraine and crevasse fields derived from weathering and decomposition of the Kirkpatrick Basalt and Ferrar Dolerite. Chlorite (Mg-rich phyllosilicate) was generally mapped in the exposures of Granite Harbour granodiorite and granite and partially identified in the Ferrar Dolerite, the Kirkpatrick Basalt, the Priestley Formation and Priestley Schist and the scree, glacial drift and moraine. Statistical results indicate that Al-rich phyllosilicates class pixels are strongly discriminated, while the pixels attributed to Fe3+-rich class, Fe2+-rich and Mg-rich phyllosilicates classes contain some spectral mixing due to their subtle spectral differences in the VNIR+SWIR bands of ASTER. Results ...