Technical note Application of autocorrelation function to structural lineaments in radioactive sample area in the central Eastern Desert of Egypt

Abstract

Most of the methods used by field geologists to represent measured structural lineaments assume that the variable is random and disregard the relationships which link them in distance and direction. This article is concerned with the application of the autocorrelation function analysis to structural lineaments as measured from aerial photos, over the granite pluton of Gebel El Missikat in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The results of such statistical analysis are compared with those of the traditional methods of stereonets and found to be generally coinciding but more definitive and clearly identify the poor trends. Also, they explain the relation between the resultant structural trends and the existing tension and shear planes. Thus the applied method, which is commonly used with magnetic data (Meleik 1982), overcomes the difficulties met with in interpreting the structural points of any investigated domain.