Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508
DOI 10.1007/s12517-016-2536-1
ORIGINAL PAPER
Application of 3D Euler deconvolution and improved tilt angle
to the aeromagnetic data of In Ouzzal terrane, western
Hoggar, Algeria
Lakhdar Harrouchi 1,2 & Mohamed Hamoudi 1 & Abderrahmane Bendaoud 3 &
Lilia Beguiret 2
Received: 30 June 2015 / Accepted: 31 May 2016
# Saudi Society for Geosciences 2016
Abstract The study area is located in the western Hoggar
Shield (southern Algeria). It includes the In Ouzzal terrane,
which consists of Archaean metamorphic rocks. By contrast
to other rocks of the Hoggar Shield, the In Ouzzal terrane
represents an exception of being neither deformed nor meta-
morphosed during the Pan-African event, remaining as a rigid
block since 2 Ga. Although, previous geophysical works in
the area include an airborne magnetometer and gamma-ray
spectrometric survey as well as ground gravity and
magnetotelluric survey structurally, the study area has not
been very well understood. In this paper, we present the inter-
pretation results of the airborne magnetic data by using the 3D
Euler deconvolution and the improved Tilt-angle methods.
These results reveal the existing of fault systems (FS) occur-
ring within the center of the study area and along the latitude
of 22°; the results also suggested that the deepest fault system
is oriented NE–SW and is represented by parallel major faults
splitting the In Ouzzal terrane into two different parts: north-
ern and southern. The northern part moved northwards,
whereas the southern part moved southwards colliding with
the Iforas unit. The interpretation confirms that the In Ouzzal
terrane and the surrounding Pan-African structures are bound
two by two sub-vertical lithospheric faults with the existence
* Lakhdar Harrouchi
harrouchi_lakhdar@yahoo.fr
1
Geophysics Department, FSTGAT/USTHB, P. O., Box 32, Bab
Ezzouar, 16111 Algiers, Algeria
2
Sahara Geology Laboratory, Kasdi Merbah University, P. O., Box
511, 30000 Ouargla, Algeria
3
Geology Department, FSTGAT/USTHB, P. O., Box 32, Bab
Ezzouar, 16111 Algiers, Algeria
of dextral and sinistral faults in the west and east of the terrane,
respectively.
Keywords Euler deconvolution . Improved tilt angle .
Aeromagnetic data . In Ouzzal terrane . Hoggar
Introduction
Euler’s equation has been used by a number of authors for
analyzing both magnetic and gravity data. Hood (1965)
showed that Euler’s relation could be used to calculate depth
to point pole or point dipole, given a measured vertical gradi-
ent. Thompson (1982) developed the technique and applied it
to profile data. Reid et al. (1990) developed the technique
more widely used version for grid-based data. Also, recent
improvements in the technique had occurred which includes
the estimation of the structural index (Barbosa et al. 1999).
Hansen and Suciu (2002) developed a multiple-source gener-
alization of Euler deconvolution (ED), which is capable of
handling complex systems that the single-source algorithm
can only deal with approximately. In this present study, we
will implement the ED, the tilt angle derivative (TAD), and the
improved tilt angle (ITA), to a synthetic magnetic model with
the purpose of having the good choice of the parameters which
offer a better interpretation, before their implementation to a
real case of the aeromagnetic data of the In Ouzzal terrane.
The analytical method ED is based on a mathematical devel-
opment represented by the Euler’s homogeneity equation
(Thompson 1982).
The TAD has the attractive property of being positive over
the sources. It crosses through zero at or near the edge of a
vertical sided source, and it is negative outside the source
region (Miller and Singh 1994). Salem et al. (2007) have
shown that half-distance between +45° and −45° contours
508 Page 2 of 11 Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508

Fig. 1 a Plan view of synthetic

magnetic model composed of
dyke (a) and prism (b). The top of
the dyke (a) is located at a depth
of 3.5 km and the top of the prism
(b) at a depth of 4.5 km. b Total
magnetic intensity (TMI)
anomaly map for synthetic model
described in text. The inducing
field has an inclination of −10°
and a declination of 30°

provide an estimate of the source depth for vertical contacts. ∂M ∂M ∂M

The TAD overcomes the problem of the shallow and deep
sources by dealing with the ratio of the vertical derivative to
the horizontal derivative. The ITA is defined as being the
inverse of the tangent of the ratio of the magnetic field module
over the square root of the square of the sum of Hilbert trans-
form in the x and y directions. Instead of using the derivatives
of the magnetic field, the method uses its Hilbert transform.
Methodology
The ED method applied to the potential field data finds the
location of parameters of the local magnetic sources. It is
based on a mathematical method represented by Euler’s ho-
mogeneity equation (Thompson 1982). If we consider a mag-
netic source, located at the point of local coordinates (x0, y0,
z0), the total magnetic intensity at the point (x, y, z) can be
written in the form:
K mation is given by:
M ðx; y; zÞ ¼ rhffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
iN
ðx−x0 Þ2 þ ðy−y0 Þ2 þ ðz−z0 Þ2
where K is a parameter independent of (x, y, z) and N is struc-
tural index, in the case of the magnetic data. Thompson (1982)
and Reid et al. (1990) showed that N takes the values of 0, 1, 2,
and 3 (N = 0 for a contact, N = 1 for a dyke, N = 2 for a
horizontal or vertical cylinder, and N = 3 for a sphere).
According to Reid et al. (1990), the expression (1) of Euler’s
homogeneity equation is given in the form:
ðx−x0 Þ þ ðy−y0 Þ þ ðz−z0 Þ ¼ N ðB−M Þ ð2Þ
∂x ∂y ∂z
where B represents a local constant which characterizes the
regional field and are first-order derivatives magnetic field M
in the x, y, and z directions, respectively. The principle of the
ED is based on the resolution of the preceding equation (2)
which contains four unknown parameters (x0, y0, z0, B).
Within a selected window, there are n data points available
to solve the four unknown parameters (Zhang et al. 2000). We
consider a square window size w × w = n on the grids of the
gradients of field. This window gives a system of n linear
equations. Solutions of the equation system in the sense of
least square are derived by resolving the inverse problem
(Menke 1989). Detailed numerical development may be
found in (Mushayandebvu et al. 2004; Reid et al. 1990). Let
∂M/∂x, ∂M/∂y, and ∂M/∂z be the partial derivatives of the
magnetic field M. Following Miller and Singh (1994) and
Verduzco et al. (2004), briefly recall that this TAD transfor-
ð1Þ
2 3
∂M
6 ∂z 7
TAD ¼ tan−1 4 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
  ∂M 2 5 ð3Þ
∂M 2
∂x þ ∂x
All tilt angles obtained belong to the [−π/2, π/2] range. This
transformation has many interesting properties (Cooper and
Cowan 2006; Salem et al. 2007). An important application
for the 3D Analytic signal defined by Roest et al. (1992) is
calculating the total gradient. As described above, the analytic

Table 1 Physical Table 2 Physical

parameters of the dyke Depth 3.5 km parameters of the prism Depth 4.5 km
model Magnetic susceptibility 0.015 SI units model Magnetic susceptibility 0.010 SI units
Magnetization 3 A/m Magnetization 1 A/m
Total magnetic field F = 37,000 nT Total magnetic field F = 37,000 nT
Declination D = −10° Declination D = −10°
Inclination I = 30° Inclination I = 30°
Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508 Page 3 of 11 508

Fig. 2 a Gaussian noise with

standard deviation of 0.4 nT. b
Gaussian noise with standard
deviation of 0.4 nT contaminated
TMI anomaly. c Gaussian noise
with standard deviation of 2.0 nT.
d Gaussian noise with standard
deviation of 2.0 nT contaminated
TMI anomaly. e Gaussian noise
with standard deviation of 6.0nT.
f Gaussian noise with standard
deviation of 6.0 nT contaminated
TMI anomaly

signal amplitude (ASA) can replace the total gradient, which
is defined as (Luo et al. 2011; Cooper 2015):
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ASA ¼ M 2 þ H x 2 ðM Þ þ H y 2 ðM Þ ð4Þ
where M is a total magnetic intensity (TMI) and Hxy are the
Hilbert transforms of the TMI in the x and y directions, respec-
tively. The ITA based on the ASA can be expressed as (Luo
et al. 2011; Cooper 2015).
2 3
6 M 7 The dyke and contact models can be said to represent two
ITA ¼ tan−1 4 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 5 ð5Þ
H x ðM Þ þ H y ðM Þ
2 2
Synthetic magnetic model
The preceding methods ED, TAD, and ITA were implemented
on a synthetic magnetic model composed of two sources with
simple geometry (Fig. 1a): the first source is represented by a
thick vertical dyke (A), at 3.5 km depth. It has a magnetic
susceptibility and magnetization of 0.015 SI units and 3 A/
m, respectively (Table 1). This source simulates dykes or fault
systems. The second source is represented by a rectangular
prism (B), having a depth of 4.5 km and the large depth ex-
tension to be regarded as infinite, its magnetic susceptibility is
0.010 SI units, the value of magnetization is 1 A/m (Table 2).
extreme, simplified models of real geologic structures (Beiki
and Pedersen 2010). This model simulates geological contact
508 Page 4 of 11
Fig. 3 The depths obtained by
the ED method for the synthetic
magnetic model using different
structural index N (Gaussian
noise with standard deviation of
6.0 nT contaminated TMI
anomaly). a Estimated depths
using by N = 0. b Estimated
depths using by N = 0.25. c
Estimated depths using by
N = 0.5. d Estimated depths using
by N = 0.75
and tectonic block which are often met in the study area. The
magnetic response TMI of the synthetic magnetic model has
been calculated (Fig. 1b), by using the value of the declina-
tion, the inclination, and the total magnetic field of −10°, 30°,
and 37,000 nT, respectively.
In this study, the synthetic magnetic model data (Fig. 2b, d,
f) has been corrupted by Gaussian noise with standard devia-
tions of 0.4, 2.0, and 6.0 nT (Fig. 2a, c, e), respectively. The
higher noise levels are included to allow us to demonstrate the
stability of the method. Note that calculating the ED (requiring
first derivatives) amplifies the noise. These data were proc-
essed to estimate the structural index and depth using a mov-
ing window size. The ED method has been applied assuming
two models (dyke and prism) were performed using various
structural indices; (N = 0, N = 0.25, N = 0.5, N = 0.75, N = 1,
N = 1.25, N = 1.50 and N = 1.75) by choosing a window size
of 11 × 11 grid points (Figs. 3 and 4).
In case of N = 0 and N = 1, the ED method gives poor depth
estimates, showing that N = 0 and N = 1 are the wrong struc-
tural index (Figs. 3a and 4a). For N = 0.25 and N = 1.25, this
method gives good grouping and acceptable depths as shown
in Figs. 3b and 4b, respectively. Using N = 0.5 and N = 1.5, we
got bad solutions depths as illustrated by Figs. 3c and 4c while
using N = 0.75 and N = 1.75, we got bad clustering around the
theoretical model (Figs. 3d and 4d). The solutions
Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508
corresponding to the parameters of ED are represented in
Figs. 3b and 4b for contact and dyke structure, respectively.
For the dyke (A), we obtained the average depth of 3.47 km
(Fig. 3b and Table 3) whereas the depth of prism (B) is about
4.47 km (Fig. 4b and Table 3).
The magnetic improved tilt angle (ITA) map generated
from the data is shown in Fig. 5. The region enclosed by
the 45° and −45° contours is gray, and the zero contour
shown by the dashed line indicates an approximate loca-
tion of the source edges. The contact coincides with the
zero crossing and the part of the ITA between ±45° is
highlighted (Salem et al. 2007), the new ITA method is
less sensitive to noise than the method for TAD (Fig. 5a,
b). Figure 5c represents ITA solution applied to the re-
duced to the pole (RTP) upward continued to a distance
of 1 km. The RTP simplified the interpretation because
for subvertical prisms or subvertical contacts (including
faults), it transforms their asymmetric responses into sim-
ple symmetric and antisymmetric forms.
The examination of the derived solutions gives an estimate
depth close to the theoretical values (Figs. 3b and 4b).
Synthetic magnetic examples (prism and dyke) have shown
the high resolving power of the proposed technique. This ap-
proach has also given very good results when applied to the
aeromagnetic data of In Ouzzal terrane.
Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508 Page 5 of 11 508

Fig. 4 The depths obtained by

the ED method for the synthetic
magnetic model using different
structural index N (Gaussian
noise with standard deviation of
6.0 nT contaminated TMI
anomaly). a Estimated depths
using by N = 1. b Estimated
depths using by N = 1.25. c
Estimated depths using by
N = 1.5. d Estimated depths using
by N = 1.75

Field data
Geological setting
The In Ouzzal terrane, also known as In Ouzzal Granulitic
Unit (IOGU) is located in the western Hoggar, southern
Algeria, about 300 km to the west of Tamanrasset (Fig. 6). It
is one of the 23 (Roest et al. 1992) terranes, defined by Black
et al. (1994) in the Tuareg shield, which includes Hoggar
(Fig. 7b). The Hoggar is composed of both juvenile
Neoproterozoic terranes and Archaean/Paleoproterozoic
blocks variably remobilized during the Pan-African (850–
550 Ma) orogeny (Black et al. 1994; Caby 2003; Liégeois
et al. 2003). The In Ouzzal terrane consists of two Archaean
units, a lower crustal unit made up essentially of enderbites
and charnockites, and a supracrustal unit of quartzites, banded
iron formations, marbles, Al–Mg and Al–Fe granulites com-
monly associated with mafic (metanorites and garnet pyroxe-
nites) and ultramafic (pyroxenites, lherzolites and
harzburgites) lenses (Ouzegane et al. 2003). It forms an elon-
gated N–S trending block, 450-km long and 70 to 80-km wide
in the north around the In Hihaou massif (Fig. 7a). It is sepa-
rated into two parts by cretaceous formations making more
than 1.5-km thickness deposited in a Mesozoic basin.

Table 3 Tentative structural

index and estimated depth for Structural Index (N) Estimated depth for prism model (km) Estimated depth for dyke model (km)
prism and dyke model,
respectively 0.00 3.18 1.99
0.25 4.47 2.54
0.50 4.83 3.00
0.75 5.59 3.16
1.00 6.36 3.27
1.25 7.05 3.47
1.50 7.15 4.50
1.75 8.39 5.51
508 Page 6 of 11 Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508

Fig. 5 a Tilt angle derivative

(TAD) map from Gaussian noise
with standard deviation of 6.0 nT
contaminated TMI anomaly,
projected on synthetic model
from (1a). b Improved tilt angle
(ITA) map from Gaussian noise
with standard deviation of 6.0 nT
contaminated TMI anomaly The
new ITA method is less sensitive
to noise than the method for TAD
shown in Fig. 3a. c Solutions
from ITA applied to the RTP of
the synthetic model and upward
continued by 1 km, dashed lines
show the 0° contour of the tilt
angle. Solid lines are contours of
the tilt angle for −45° and 45°

Aeromagnetic data structures. The distance between lines varies from 2 to 5 km

Aeromagnetic data of the study area (Fig. 8a) is a subset of an
airborne geophysical survey covering the whole Algerian ter-
ritory which was carried from 1969 to 1974 by the
Aeroservice Corporation, in order to give information on the
regional geology of the country and the possibilities of
prospection for minerals and oil (Aeroservice 1975). Design
parameters of the airborne aeromagnetic survey over the In
Ouzzal terrane were constrained by the geology. The E-W
flight-line direction was perpendicular to the geological
according to the areas, but on average it is about 2 km. The N-
S tie-line spacing varies from 25 to 40 km. The average of the
flying height was fixed at approximately 150 m above ground
level. Along a flight line, the sampling interval of the obser-
vation points is approximately 46.2 m. The Cesium optically
pumped magnetometers used during the survey achieved 0.02
nT resolution (Aeroservice 1975). The raw data plotted on
Fig. 8a is actually preprocessed one. Indeed, in the In
Ouzzal area, the magnetic field intensity is around 37,000
nT on average. One can notice that the measured field is of

Fig. 6 Location of In Ouzzal

terrane, southern Algeria, in
northern Africa
Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508 Page 7 of 11 508

Fig. 7 a Geological map of the

study area (after Caby 1996), 1
Mesozoic sediments, 2 Paleozoic
sediments, 3 Cambrian molasse, 4
Cambrian volcanics, 5 Granites
intruding the IOGU, 6 Pan-
African metamorphics and
granitoides, 7 Neoproterozoic
andesites, 8 Late Paleoproterozoic
sediments and magmatics, 9
Paleoproterozoic basement, 10
Major shear zone. b Geological
map of the Hoggar, southern
Algeria (after Black et al. 1994),
Tim (Timetrine), Til (Telemsi), Ki
(Kidal), Tas (Tassendjanet), Ugi
(Iforas), Ou (In Ouzzal), Tir
(Tirek), Tch (Tchilit), Ta (Tazat),
Se (Serouenout), Eg-Al (Egere-
Alekzod), Az (Azrou-N’Fad), Is
(Issalane), Te (Tefedest), La
(Laouni), Ba (Barghot), Ao
(Aouzequeur), Ed (Edembo)

the order of 34,000 nT. The difference of ~3000 nT is proba- always positive in the area relatively to the reference field.
bly related to a constant value subtracted by Aeroservice Co Taking into account the low accuracy of the IGRF models of
from raw measurements in order to keep the anomaly field the preMAGSAT era (Langel and Estes 1982), of the order of

Fig. 8 a Total magnetic intensity

map (raw) of the study area. b The
polynomial P(x, y) of the first
degree
508 Page 8 of 11
Table 4 Estimates of the
first degree coefficients A 34,076 nT
B 0.04818 nT/m
C −0.04722 nT/m
hundred nT especially for geographically limited area like In
Ouzzal, we determined the aeromagnetic anomaly field using
polynomial approximation of the core field and long-
wavelength regional field (Hamoudi et al. 2011). In this study,
we calculated a first-degree polynomial surface P(x, y), the
trend function (Fig. 8b), is given by P(x, y) = a + bx + cy:
where a, b, and c are coefficients to be determined by adjust-
ment using the least-squares method (Martínez-Moreno et al.
2015). The results of the least squares procedure applied to
first degree are summarized in Table 4; (x, y) are UTM coor-
dinates of the observation points.
The residual anomaly (Fig. 9a) is then obtained by
subtracting the regional P(x, y), values from the preprocessed
Aeroservice data (Fig. 8a). In order to consider an analytic
method and in particular, this technique assumes the residuals
to be random errors with zero mean (Fig. 9b). Unlike the
gravity field which is vertical, the shape of the magnetic
anomaly is closely related to the combination of two vectors:
(1) the normal core field vector direction which is vertical only
at the magnetic poles and (2) the magnetization vector of the
magnetic crustal sources. Baranov (1957) introduced a math-
ematical transformation called the reduction to the pole (RTP)
to correct the distortion of the magnetic anomaly field. In this
study, we derived the RTP anomaly map using an inclination
of 27° and a declination of 4.7°W for the normal field in the
center of the area assuming that the magnetization is induced
Fig. 9 a The magnetic residual
anomalies obtained by subtracting
the regional P(x, y), values from
the original of the Aeroservice
data of the In Ouzzal terrane. b
Histogram of the estimated
assumes the magnetic residual
anomalies
Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508
(Blakely 1995). The magnetic anomaly field was also upward
continued to a height of 0.5 km (Fig. 10a). The comparative
study of the RTP anomaly map and the geological map of the
study area showed a good correlation, this indicates that the
magnetic structures generally follow the direction of the geo-
logical structures.
The analysis of energy spectrum allows identification of
three cutoff frequencies related to the change of spectrum
slope (Fig. 11), so it is possible to classify magnetic anomalies
in three categories, according their wavelengths and corre-
spond to distinct geological units; the first one is characterized
by short-wavelength: Depth (Z) ≺ 2.5 km (green solid line),
the second one is characterized by middle-wavelength: 2.5 km
≺ Depth (Z) ≺ 6 km ( red solid line). The last one is charac-
terized by long-wavelength: Depth (Z) ≻ 6 km (blue solid
line).
Results and discussion
Figure 12 represents Euler solution, projected on geological
map of In Ouzzal terrane shows a perfect accordance of the
positions of the Euler solutions with anomalies of short and
large wavelengths related to several tectonics events and lith-
ological formation. In this study, we calculated two types of
solutions; prism (geological contact, tectonics blocks…)
and dyke (lineaments, fault systems...), by using Euler
parameters (Fig. 12a, b), respectively. In this part, we
get the following results: lithologic contact the In
Ouzzal terrane and the adjacent terranes coincide with
the solution of medium depth (14 km). According to the
Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508 Page 9 of 11 508

Fig. 10 a Reduced to the pole

(RTP) magnetic anomaly data
from In Ouzzal terrane using a
magnetic inclination of 27° and a
declination of 4.7°W, and upward
continued to a distance of 0.5 km.
b Improved tilt angle (ITA) map
of the study area. White solid lines
are the major faults of the study
area, WOF West Ouzzalian Fault,
EOF East Ouzzalian Fault, AF
Adrar Fault, TF Tirek Fault, IOF
Intra-Ouzzalian Fault, and FS
Fault Systems

ITA map (Fig. 10b), the edges of In Ouzzal terrane (EOF and
WOF) with the branches of the Pan-African structures
which surround it are delimited by two subvertical ma-
jor shear zones.
In part NW of In Ouzzal terrane, there is excellent agree-
ment between the Pan-African magmatism (granites) and
Cambrian volcanic with sources surface (blue). The western
limit of In Ouzzal terrane with Tassendjanet terrane (Tas)
shows solutions of great depth (more than 6 km); probably
is a subduction area. Solutions located in the NE of In Ouzzal
terrane are limited by Ahnet terrane (Ah), characterized by a
very major structure which corresponds to granites Pan-
African on the level of the contact between the crystalline
basement and the sedimentary cap, and also at the volcanic
formations in the west of central area of In Ouzzal terrane, due
probably to magnetic deeply sources. In this part, sources
surface up to 3–4.5 km (blue and green) underline part of
the Adrar fault (AF) area which limits it In Ouzzal to the east

Fig. 11 Energy spectrum applied

to the RTP of the aeromagnetic
data of the study area
508 Page 10 of 11 Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508

Fig. 12 Solutions of the ED

projected on geological map of In
Ouzzal terrane. 1 Mesozoic
sediments, 2 Paleozoic sediments,
3 Cambrian molasse, 4 Cambrian
volcanics, 5 Granites intruding
the IOGU, 6 Pan-African
metamorphics and granitoides, 7
Neoproterozoic andesites, 8 late
Paleoproterozoic sediments and
magmatics, 9 Paleoproterozoic
basement, 10 major shear zone. a
Solutions of the ED of contact
model using by structural index
N = 0.25. b Solutions of the ED of
dyke model using by structural
index N = 1.25

the major sources are concentrated in the southern part (red),
where they underline in particular the two faults EOF and
WOF, respectively. The AF which located in the east of the
In ouzzal terrane is vertical (Fig. 10b). The center of north part
is characterized by almost absence of Euler solution due to an
important lack of the magnetic anomalies in this area. In the
western central area (along the latitude of 22°), a couple of
solutions of medium depth, in a real form, is characterized the
contact between the adjacent terranes pit and the In Ouzzal.
In the central part of the study area (along the latitude of
22°) is affected by sets of fault systems (FS), which are mainly
trending the NE–SW directions (Fig. 10b), with a high depth
(more than 10 km). According to the ITA map (Fig. 10b), the
FS of the adjacent areas are subverticals, it can be interpreted
as a major fault that separates In Ouzzal terrane into two com-
partments: northern and southern, with the existence of dextral
and sinistral faults from the west to the east of the terrane,
respectively.
Another important concentration of major sources is locat-
ed within the cretaceous basin which separates In Ouzzal into
two parts. This event suggests that the constitution of this
graben was accompanied by the installation by an
important magmatic. One of the discoveries of these
results is the identification of the prolongation of the
EOF (the southern part) under the cover cretaceous of
this basin. The surface sources (blue) are primarily
intra-ouzzalian. They are correlated for example with
the Pan-African granites and the basic ultrabasic complex of
In Allarene. In the two parts of In Ouzzal, the surface sources
show alignments (NNE–SSW with NE–SW) which corre-
spond to faults and lineaments.
Conclusion
The application of the analytical method of the ED and ITA to
the aeromagnetic data of In Ouzzal terrane led to the very
interesting results in the geological cartography. The solution
obtained with ED gives better-focused depth estimates, which
are closer to the real position of sources; In the central part of
the study area; existence of a fault system oriented NE–SW
rather more deep with the lower parts of the Paleozoic cover.
This system separates the In Ouzzal terrane in two parts: this
last interpretation confirms that In Ouzzal terrane, the setback
Arab J Geosci (2016) 9:508
is dextral, while in the west, it acts rather of a sinister setback.
According to the method of ITA, the edges of In Ouzzal with
the branches of the Pan-african structures which surround it
are delimited by two subvertical fault systems, probably lith-
ospheric. They are very clear in the southern part which in-
cludes the northern part.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Draria Nuclear
Research Center (CRND), Algeria, for providing the aeromagnetic data
shown in Fig. 8a. Thanks are due to the anonymous reviewers who helped
improving the final version of this paper. Thanks to GRJ Cooper from
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, for their help. Sincere
thanks to N Bournas from Geotech Ltd. for his constructive comments
on the manuscript. Thanks to the Editor of AJGS for his kind cooperation
and help.
Reference
Aeroservice (1975) Aero-magneto-spectrometric survey of Algeria. Final
report, vol 3. Houston, Philadelphia
Baranov V (1957) A new method for interpretation of aeromagnetic
maps: pseudo-gravimetric anomalies. Geophysics 22:359–383
Barbosa VCF, Joao BC, Medeiros WE (1999) Stability analysis and im-
provement of structural index estimation in Euler déconvolution.
Geophysics 64:48–60
Beiki M, Pedersen LB (2010) Window constrained inversion of gravity
gradient tensor data using dike and contact models. Geophysics 76:
I59–I72
Black R, Latouche L, Liégeois JP, Caby R, Bertrand JM (1994) Pan-
African displaced terranes in the Tuareg shield (central Sahara).
Geology 22:641–644
Blakely RJ (1995) Potential theory in gravity and magnetic applications.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Caby R (2003) Terrane assembly and geodynamic evolution of central-
western Hog-gar: a synthesis. J Afr Earth Sci 37:133–159
Caby R (1996) A review of the In Ouzzal granulitic terrane (Tuareg
shield, Algeria): its significance within the pan-African trans-
Saharan Belt. J Metamorph Geol 14:659–666
Cooper GRJ (2015) Using the analytic signal amplitude to determine the
location and depth of thin dikes from magnetic data. Geophysics 80:
J1–J6
Cooper GRJ, Cowan DR (2006) Enhancing potential field data using
filters based on the local phase. Comput Geosci 32:1585–1591
Page 11 of 11 508
Hamoudi M, Quesnel Y, Dyment J, Lesur V (2011) Aeromagnetic and
marine measurements. In: Mandea M, Korte M (eds) Geomagnetic
observations and models, (IAGA special Sopron book series 5).
Springer, Berlin. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9858-0_4
Hansen RO, Suciu L (2002) Multiple source Euler deconvolution.
Geophysics 67:525–535
Hood P (1965) Gradient measurement in aeromagnetic surveying.
Geophysics 30:891–902
Langel RA, Estes RH (1982) A geomagnetic field Spectrum. Geophys
Res Lett 94:250–253
Liégeois JP, Latouche L, Boughrara M, Navez J, Guiraud M (2003) The
LATEA metacraton (central Hoggar, Tuareg shield, Algeria): behav-
ior of an old passive margin during the pan-African orogeny. J Afr
Earth Sci 37:161–190
Luo Y, Wang M, Luo F, Tian S (2011) Direct analytic signal interpretation
of potential field data using 2D Hilbert transform. Chin J Geophys
54:551–559
Martínez-Moreno FJ, Galindo-Zaldívar J, Pedrera A, Teixidó T, Peña JA,
González-Castillo L (2015) Regional and residual anomaly separa-
tion in microgravity maps for cave detection: the case study of Gruta
de las Maravillas (SW Spain). J Appl Geophys 11:1–11
Menke W (1989) Geophysical data analysis, Discrete inverse theory.
Academic, New York
Miller HG, Singh V (1994) Potential field tilt-a new concept for location
of potential field sources. J Appl Geophys 32:213–217
Mushayandebvu MF, Lesur V, Reid AB, Fairhead JD (2004) Grid Euler
deconvolution with constraints for 2D structures. Geophysics 69:
489–496
Ouzegane K, Kienast JR, Bendaoud A, Drareni A (2003) A review of
Archaean and Paleoproterozoic evolution of the in ouzzal granulitic
terrane (western Hoggar, Algeria). J Afr Earth Sci 37:207–227
Reid AB, Allsop JM, Granser H, Millet AJ, Somerton IW (1990)
Magnetic interpretation in three dimensions using Euler
deconvolution. Geophysics 55:80–91
Roest WR, Verhoef J, Pilkington M (1992) Magnetic interpretation using
the 3-D signal analytic. Geophysics 57:116–125
Salem A, Williams S, Fairhead JD, Ravat D, Smith R (2007) Tilt-depth
method: a simple depth estimation method using first-order magnet-
ic derivatives. Lead Edge 26:1502–1505
Thompson DT (1982) ‘EULDPH’-a new technique for making
computer-assisted depth estimates from magnetic data. Geophysics
47:31–37
Verduzco B, Fairhead JD, Green CM (2004) New insights into magnetic
derivatives for structural mapping. Lead Edge 23:116–119
Zhang C, Mushayandebvu MF, Reid AB, Fairhead JDF, Odegard ME
(2000) Euler deconvolution of gravity tensor gradient data.
Geophysics 65:512–520