Research paperAnalysis of SRTM data as an aid to hydrocarbon exploration in a frontier area of the Amazonas Sedimentary Basin, northern Brazil

•Analysis of SRTM-derived drainage network revealed anomalies in the Amazonia.•The drainage anomalies suggested the presence of buried geological structures.•This analysis aids early petroleum exploration in remote and densely forested areas.

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) provided an unprecedented source of space-borne topographic information that has shown to be of particular interest for studies in densely vegetated tropical areas, such as Central Amazonia. The digital elevation models produced in that region show subtle details of the terrain that usually appear blurred in conventional remote sensing images. Interpretation of an SRTM-derived drainage network and geomorphometric features revealed several drainage anomalies, which are possibly the surface expression of buried morphostructural features. Integration with geological and geophysical ancillary data strongly suggested that interpreted features constitute potential structural sites for hydrocarbon exploration. However, due to their inferred nature, the structures herein identified are not by themselves a justification for drilling. However, they do provide information for planning seismic surveys, thus reducing costs of the exploration campaigns, as well as minimizing potential environmental impacts of such an enterprise in areas of tropical rain forests. Despite the relatively small size of the study area, it is expected that procedures presented in this paper can be successfully applied throughout the approximately 1,000,000 km2 of sedimentary basins in the Brazilian Amazonian region.