Hydrothermal alteration mapping and structural features in the Guelma basin (Northeastern Algeria): contribution of Landsat-8 data

In this work, we use remote sensing tools to recognize and map outcrops of altered hydrothermal rock zones in the Guelma basin (Northeastern Algeria). This basin is characterized by many thermal springs which could be the origin of the hydrothermal alterations and the source of polymetallic mineralization of Zn, Sb, Pb, and As. Structural lineaments representing faults or faulted zones were successfully extracted using remote sensing processing. The superimposition of the known mineralization site map with the evidenced lineaments and hydrothermal alteration zones evidences that the zones of high fractures density and of great structural complexity are in agreement with the detected hydrothermal alterations zones.