Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 275-280, 1987 0731-7247/87 $3.00 + 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain (~) 1987 Pergamon Journals Ltd.

Application of radar imagery to structural and geological studies

in the Oban Massif, SE Nigeria
M. I. ODIGI and I. P. OKONNY

D e p a r t m e n t of Geology, Faculty of Science, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

(Received for publication 19 May 1986)

A b s t r a c t - - R a d a r imageries revealed three m a j o r geomorphological units and a series of long, short and arcuate
lineaments. The different lineament systems seem to delineate blocks containing folded structures. The
m e t a m o r p h o s e d terrain is easily recognisable as a highly deformed area. Including the m e t a m o r p h o s e d rocks,
three lithologic units have been recognised and demarcated in the area; consequently a radar-geological m a p at
1 : 50,000 scale of area 20,000 km 2 based on interpretation of radar imagery and a brief period of field work has
been produced from this study.
The radar imagery studies have disclosed regional lineaments of tectonic origin, and indicate that an
important tectonic episode occurred in the O b a n massif during and post the Precambrian period.

INTRODUCTION well-planned programme. This should also include the

use of aerial photographs and some geophysical
I s MOST suitable terrains, satellite imagery can be used techniques such as aeromagnetic surveys (which the
for the production of reconnaissance geological maps authors are currently working on). These methods
which contain a comprehensive range of lithological and simply help to accelerate actual field work by identifying
structure information. The method is based on that used areas of special interest or difficulty.
in aerial photogeological interpretation, which does not The Oban Massif (Fig. 1) is an area of interest in that
necessarily require extreme sophisticated image process- it constitutes part of the Nigeria Precambrian basement
ing and is most effective when supported by limited field block and formed a continuation of the northeastern
check. Maps produced by this method may be called portion of the South American Plate before continental
'geological maps' to distinguish them from (aerial) drift occurred. More than half the area, however, is
photogeological and conventional geological maps. rainforest region with difficult accessibility. Field work is
In regional mapping projects such as those currently slow and costly, and geological mapping is often
in progress in most parts of Nigeria and Africa, interpre- inefficient and unproductive. Consequently, compara-
tation of satellite imageries should be the first step for a tively little is known of the geology of this area. Radar

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Fig. 1. Generalized geological m a p of Nigeria.

275
276 M.I. ODIGIand I. P. OKONNY

LEGEND

, . ~ Fold axes - Antiforrn

~ ' Fold axes - Synform
~__ Circular Structure
~ Structural Trends or
Traces of Foliation
Wrench Fault
/ Fracture
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Metosediments. Gneisses
2 and Migmotites
Cretaceous- Recent
:3 sediments
i

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Fig. 2. Geological and structural map of the Oban Massif, S.E. Nigeria.

imagery gives good expression to morphology because
of the shadowing effects that result from the oblique
illumination of the terrain. Inasmuch as geology often
has reflection in morphology, radar imagery sometimes
lends itself to geologic interpretation that can capitalize
on the effective depiction of large areas apparent in
radar mosaics.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
The present geological map (Fig. 1, Western Oban
Massif) shows that part of the area under investigation is
underlain by what is known as the Precambrian Base-
ment Complex, made up of metamorphosed and de-
formed rocks of both sedimentary and igneous origin.
Overlying the Basement Complex in the northwestern
part of the area are the slightly deformed Albian and
Turonian sediments.
It has been suggested by Rahman et al. (1981) that the
metasediments were possibly deposited between 1000
and 800 Ma, although the age relationship between the
metasedimentary sequence and the gneissic rocks has
not been ascertained.
The Oban Massif has been subjected to periods of
regional metamorphism, tectonism and magmatism.
Regional metamorphism was followed by tectonic
events leading to the development of fractures, faults
and folds. Various rock types from the Western Oban
Massif have been reported by Rahman et al. (1981).
Lithologically, the following major groups of rocks are
recognised in the Western Oban Massif:
(1) Migmatite-gneiss complex; quartzites, para-
schist, amphibolites; foliated pegmatites and
aplites, etc.
(2) Synkinematic to late kinematic Older Granite
intrusive series comprising rocks ranging in com-
position from diorites, granodiorites and adamel-
lite to granitic rocks, unfoliated pegmatite, aplite
and quartz veins.
(3) Dolerite intrusives.
The general trend of foliation of the metasediments is
NW-SE and NE-SW with gentle dips. The metasedi-
ments show evidence of polyphase deformation prior to
pegmatite emplacement.
A number of geological events post-date the emplace-
ment of the metasedimentary and granitic rocks of the
Oban Massif. These resulted in periodic fracturing and
the fractures became filled with progressively acidic
bodies, including pegmatites.
MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Three major geomorphological units---landscapes of
structural origin, landscapes of denudation origin and
alluvial landscapes--are readily distinguished.
The principal landforms in the area consist of
(i) highlands;
(ii) plains;
(iii) valleys.
Radar imagery in structural studies of the Oban Massif, SE Nigeria 277

Fig. 3. Radar mosaic imagery of the Oban Massif (1 : 250,000).

Fig. 4. A portion of the Oban Massif with highly fractured and sheared rocks.
 Radar imagery in structural studies of the Oban Massif, SE Nigeria
The highlands occupy the north and central portion of
the area. The elevation increases northwards as the
topography becomes rugged. The north-central portion
comprises highlands made up of highly fractured rocks
(Fig. 1. Highly deformed rocks surround the northern
highlands. These plains are well drained by rivers
originating from the highly fractured, deformed high-
lands (Fig. 2).
The drainage system can be subdivided into two
categories: (1) the major rivers, namely the Calabar,
Cross and Udip Rivers, and (2) many minor streams.
The major rivers can be identified on the radar imagery.
The Cross River flanks the Oban Massif on the west and
constitutes the most prominent topographic landmark in
the area. Many tributaries flow south, west and north-
wards to join the Cross river. The drainage pattern of the
tributaries is dendritic and the area is well drained,
typifying a granitic terrain.
The radar imagery of the area of study facilitated the
demarcation of the following geological boundaries:
(i) basement granites;
(ii) metasediments/gneisses and migmatites com-
plex;
(iii) Cretaceous sediments (sandstones and shales).
Additional morphological features significant to the
structural geological interpretation by visual examina-
tion of the imagery are deep valleys, erosion scarps, the
alignment of knick points in stream courses and the
distribution of outcrops.
Regional lineaments--linear and curvilinear patterns
Lineaments are abundant in the area of investigation.
The length of the lineaments ranges between 5 and 25
km. The visual interpretation of the radar mosaics dis-
closed a series of long and curved lineaments often in
regular arrangement (Figs. 3 and 4). They can be sub-
divided into three major sets oriented in N-S, NE-SW
and NW-SE directions. The northern portion of the
imagery exhibits patterns all into high shearing. The
N-S, NE-SW and NW-SE lineaments occur together in
the heavily sheared area (Fig. 4). A quantitative exami-
nation of the lineaments around the shear outcrops was
made and a rose plot construction (Fig. 5) shows the
maximum stress distribution pattern. Curvilinear pat-
terns occur in various zones of the area. The curvilinear
structures may be caused by dragfolds along major
strike-slip faults or by doming as a result of igneous
intrusion and later collapsing. The repetition of long
lineaments' strike direction in a number of quite differ-
ent structures at totally different scales, and their associ-
ation with tectomagmatic phenomena of Precambrian
and Palaeozoic age, would suggest a relationship with
processes of considerable age; the major lineaments
inferred are shown in Fig. 2.
WNW-ESE lineaments--this group of lineaments is
based on a series of escarpments in the plutons and
metasediments, gneisses and migmatite complex.
Generally these rocks have a horizontal to sub-
horizontal attitude. The Western area is clearly reflected
279
Fig. 5. Directionalfrequencyrose diagramsof interpreted fractures
showingon radar imageryof the Oban Massif.
by the WNW-ESE oriented drainage courses, and some
of the rivers tend to flow along a major fold axis of the
metasedimentary sequence. The principle manifestation
of the fold system is the displacement of the limbs of the
complex folds into halves in a left-lateral sense. A few of
the lineaments trending WNW-ESE have been estab-
lished as probable faults.
NNE-SSW to ENE-WSW lineaments--these consti-
tute a tectonic system. Some of rivers and streams are
aligned along this group of lineaments.
The N-S trending lineaments appear prominent
within the metasedimentary belt typical of the Pan-Afri-
can orogenic mobile belt (Kogbe 1981). The NNW-SSE
and NNE-SSW lineaments truncate one another in
places, suggesting different ages for the lineament
groups. For example, the NNE-SSW lineament L1 is
older than the NNW-SSE lineament L 2. The N-S linea-
ments form another generation of tectonic system which
are older than the L 1and L2 lineaments. In other parts of
Nigeria, Kogbe (1981) has been able to establish that L1
and L2 trending lineaments are younger than the N-S
lineaments. These tend to suggest that an important
tectonic episode occurred in this part of West African
Craton during the post-Precambrian period. This is also
in an agreement with the work by Odigi and Oti (in
preparation) on the metamorphic and tectonic evolution
of some parts of the Oban Massif.
Generally, the different lineament systems seem to
delineate blocks containing folded structures. The
metasediments in the area have been affected by more
than one episode of folding involving complex deforma-
tion and superimposed folding during the Pan-African.
During the early episode, the NE-SW structures were
formed with corresponding fold axial traces. The later
folding produced WSW-ESE trending structures. The
deformational episodes resulted in isoclinal refolded
folds whose axial traces trend NW-SE and NE-SW
respectively.
The metasedimentary, gneiss and migmatite complex
belt is easily recognisable on radar imagery as the area
that is highly deformed. The granitic intrusion areas are
characterised by abundant fractures. The curvilinea-
ments seem to be associated with the metasedimentary,
gneiss and migmatite complex belts. Further field work
280 M . I . ODIGI and I. P. OKONNY
will be needed to confirm or otherwise disprove this
hypothesis. The Cretaceous sediments are recognizable
on the basis of sharp lithologic tone variation.
CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that the radar mosaic imagery (Fig. 3)
of the Oban Massif can be usefully applied by visual
examination to the delineation of regional lineaments of
tectonic origin. The study reveals that an important
tectonic episode occurred in the Oban Massif during and
post the Precambrian period. The tectonic episode
resulted in the presently established structural configura-
tion. Three lithologic units have been recognised and
demarcated in the area.
A regional investigation--especially airborne
(electro-) magnetic data--is necessary to assist in ascer-
taining any mineral potential of the inferred structures.
An image--geological map at a 1 : 500,000 scale of an
area 20,000 km 2 based on interpretation of radar imagery
and on a brief period of fieldwork has been produced
from this study.
REFERENCES
Kogbe, C. A. 1981. Geologicalinterpretation of Landsat imageriesof
part of Central Nigeria. J. Min. Geol. 18, 66--69.
Odigi, M. I. and Off, M. N. Metamorphic and structural evolution of
parts of Oban Massif, south-eastern Nigeria (in preparation).
Rahman, A. A. M. S., Ukpong, E. E. and Azmatullah, M. 1981.
Geologyof parts of the Oban Massif, south-eastern Nigeria. J. Min.
Geol. 18, 60-65.