GEOCARTO INTERNATIONAL

1 https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2022.2116490
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5 Determining metamorphic grade from greenschist to
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7 amphibolite using Hyperion data: the case of an inverted
8 metamorphic gradient of Almora nappe (lesser Himalaya)
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10 Soumendu Shekhar Roya, Lokesh Kumar Sinhab, Javed Mallickc and
11 Chander Kumar Singha
12 a
13 Department of Energy and Environment, Analytical and Geochemistry Laboratory, TERI School of
Advanced Studies, New Delhi, India; bSnow & Avalanche Study Estt (SASE), Defence Research and
14 Development Organization, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi, India; cDepartment of Civil Engineering,
15 King Khalid University, ABHA, Saudi Arabia
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18 ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY
The intricate nature of metamorphic terrain remains a complex Received 5 December 2021
19 Accepted 18 August 2022
problem for many remote sensing scientists. The metamorphic
20 rock assemblages are composed by intrinsic mixtures of index
21 KEYWORDS
minerals which are defined at different pressure and temperature
Hyperion; metamorphic;
22 zones. Metamorphic assemblage’s nature and geothermal gradi- geothermal gradient;
23 ent can be identified using reflectance spectroscopy. The study reflectance; single
aims to determine the nature and gradient of metamorphism scattering albedo
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using spectral identification of the index mineral phases. A model
25 for metamorphic assemblage was developed to predict the nature
26 and grade of metamorphism in order to address the problem
27 with the inadequate quantification of mineral spectral mixing. The
28 study addresses the problem by incorporating semi-empirical
method of classification of metamorphic rock assemblage based
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on reflectance characteristics. We use the simulated spectral
30 library of Hyperion satellite data which is favourable for classifying
31 geological outcrops in metamorphic terrain of the Almora nappe
32 of lower Himalayas. The Hyperion data analysis reveals the nature
33 and trend of change of the metamorphic grades within different
zones based on mass proportion of index mineral assemblages.
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An inverse thermal grade of the metamorphic Almora group is
35 observed along North Almora Thrust and South Almora Thrust,
36 where reverse thrusting might have resulted in lowering of pres-
37 sure and temperature condition. The developed model can be uti-
38 lized for geological survey’s involving metamorphic terrain in
inaccessible areas.
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43 Introduction
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45 The use of spectral reflectance to characterize mineral composition has been widely used
46 in the field of geoscience (Kruse et al. 1990; Clark and Swayze 1995; Longhi et al. 2001;
Aslett et al. 2017). The index mineral assemblage are the representative minerals of any
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CONTACT Chander Kumar Singh chanderkumarsingh@gmail.com
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