Geothermal reconnaissance of the area between Marsa Alam and Ras Banas, northern Red Sea, Egypt, using aeromagnetic data

• The using of magnetic anomalies to estimate the geothermal gradient basis.
• Determination of the Curie-point depth.
• The Integration of spectral analysis and 2-D inverse modeling.

Aeromagnetic data of the area between Marsa Alam and Ras Banas were interpreted to estimate the Curie point isotherm, investigate the geothermal gradient and to determine its surface heat flow. Appling spectral analysis and 2-D inverse modeling techniques to aeromagnetic anomalies has provided equitable promising geological results, useful to further geothermal exploration. Spectral analysis indicates that, the area is underlined by an average Curie-point depth of about 10.58 km. This implies an average thermal heat flow (137 mW/m2) greater than the average heat flow of the Red Sea margins (116 mW/m2). The investigated area was divided into three subregions and the average depth to centroid was estimated for each subregion. 2-D inverse modeling technique indicated that the magnetic sources can be interpreted by a set of dykes dipping to the NE and SW. The integration of radially power spectrum and 2-D inverse modeling was used to estimating the depths to the bottom of these magnetic bodies (equivalent to the Curie-point depth). It indicated a general decrease from 24 to 10 km from west to east toward the Red Sea rifting zone. The calculated surface heat flow increases from 55 mW/m2 to >150 mW/m2 in the same direction. Consequently, the offshore area between Ras Banas and Marsa Alam is a promising area for further exploration of geothermal resources.