Magneto-seismic studies of the eastern Qattara Depression, Northwestern desert, Egypt

The potential field data are considered the main supporting factor in the geophysical exploration process for detecting and evaluating the subsurface structures. Therefore, a detailed land magnetic survey was performed in an area subjected to seismic investigations. The main target of this study was to detect the deeper subsurface structures and to investigate their possible relationships with earthquake activity.The RTP aeromagnetic map was used to detect the regional extension of the structures interpreted from the land magnetic survey. The RTP land and aeromagnetic maps were interpreted by the filtering technique, least-squares separations, tectonic trend analysis, spectral analysis, Werner method, Euler method, and 2D techniques. The results show that the main tectonic trends are 35° N–45° W, 45° N–65° E, E–W, and Aqaba.Moreover, two seismic lines, WQ85-31B and 127, were interpreted, and their location was matched with the deduced tectonic map. The results show great matching between the location of the faults deduced from both the geomagnetic and seismic data. They agree completely with the well logging data.Furthermore, these structures are correlated with the earthquake activities recorded by the Egyptian National Seismological Network (ENSN). The correlation implies that the studied area is more stable than other adjacent areas in the northern parts of Egypt close to the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile River Delta.