CARTOGRAPHY AND GIS
Types of work performed:
- Systematization and digitalization of accumulated paper map archives;
- Integration of disparate spatial data into a unified information system;
- Creation and updating of thematic maps for various purposes;
- Support for geological and geophysical research at all stages.
- Data collection and analysis: Obtaining accurate and up-to-date data on the study areas using various sources, such as satellite images, field geophysical and hydrographic measurements, and accumulated historical geological and geophysical materials.
- Visualization of spatial information: Spatial referencing of geological and geophysical materials, structuring, vectorization and creation of GIS databases.
- Creation of thematic maps for various purposes: Creation of maps for various applications such as geophysics, engineering surveys, navigation, search for unexploded ordnance, pipeline monitoring, and planning of geophysical and hydrographic works.
- Processing and modeling: The use of digital databases and maps to analyse spatial patterns, including, for example, the location of mineral deposits, geological structures and potential fields (gravity, magnetic, electrical), or the topography of the Caspian Sea floor and the depth of pipelines, and their interconnections for monitoring and forecasting.
- Technology development: Improving the methodological foundations for creating maps, including the creation of models for automated data processing and visualization, and the automatic classification of objects based on UAV data and satellite images.
Visual and informative: 2D and 3D maps, cross-sections, and digital models simplify the perception of complex information and help better understand spatial relationships.
Ease of use and storage: all digital data and maps are integrated into a single space, making them easy to transfer and store across multiple devices.
Updatable: Digital cartography allows maps to be easily edited and updated periodically, keeping them current at all stages of various types of research.
Ease of reporting: Automatic generation of maps, diagrams and graphs for presentations and documentation.
Project progress monitoring: monitoring changes, tracking completed research stages.
Support for strategic decisions: Comprehensive analysis of spatial data enables the selection of the most effective and safe options for implementing project solutions.
The international project "GIS Atlas of Geological Maps of the Caspian Region" was initiated by Kazakhstan and Russia and launched in 2016 at the first meeting in Aktau with the participation of their representatives, as well as delegations from Uzbekistan and Iran. In 2021, a final report on the Russian portion of the Caspian region was prepared. For the Kazakh portion, work on creating the GIS Atlas of the Caspian Region was completed in 2021-2022. As part of this project, GEOKEN prepared a gravimetric map and an anomalous magnetic field map at a scale of 1:1,000,000. To compile the maps, the results of all standard gravimetric and aeromagnetic surveys completed in the study area as of 2021 were compiled. Most of the materials used had previously been digitized, and at this stage, only linking and consolidating them into a single spatial database were performed. Combined models of gravity anomalies in the Bouguer reduction with an intermediate layer density of β = 2.30 g/cm³ and an anomalous magnetic field with a cell size of 0.5 km were prepared, which formed the basis for the compiled maps. Geophysical field transformations were also performed, the most representative of which are reflected on the map, but at a scale of 1:2,500,000. Schematics of the gravimetric and magnetometric data used are also shown on the maps at this scale.
In addition, a zoning of the Caspian region was performed based on an analysis of the statistical characteristics of gravity and magnetic field anomalies. Zoning schemes based on structural-tectonic basement surface maps presented in the comprehensive study reports for the Caspian, North Ustyurt-Buzashinsky, and South Mangyshlak sedimentary basins are included on the corresponding maps at a scale of 1:2,500,000.
The compiled maps are accompanied by explanatory notes assessing the state of regional exploration, providing detailed information on the materials used, the processing technology used to create consolidated models of physical fields, the transformations performed, and the regional characteristics of the Caspian region's gravity and magnetic fields.
The obtained gravity-magnetometric data, combined with other geological and geophysical data, will enable a more informed approach to refining and adjusting existing structural-tectonic and petroleum-geological zoning schemes for the Caspian region, and to optimize future exploration programs.
This included the analysis and selection of 1:200,000 scale gravimetric maps for digitization, their initial processing and georeferencing, and the digitization of Bouguer gravity anomaly values (Bdp = 2.67 g/cm³), elevations, and terrain corrections at observation points from the gravimetric maps and their appendices. In addition, diagrams of the used gravimetric data were digitized, indicating the method for obtaining the elevation and its root-mean-square error for each survey.
As a result, georeferenced rasters of the gravimetric maps and their appendices were obtained, combined into single raster mosaics and a single array of vector information, loaded into a structured ArcGIS electronic database.
Based on the resulting database, digital models of Bouguer gravity anomalies were obtained. (bpr.=2.67 g/cm3) and in free air, altitudes across the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. For the first time in Kazakhstan, a map of free-air gravity anomalies in the Republic of Kazakhstan was compiled at a scale of 1:1,000,000.
The results of this work provide a reliable scientific and applied basis for determining an accurate geoid model, which is of strategic importance for solving geodetic, geophysical, and engineering problems in Kazakhstan.
To achieve these objectives, the following were completed in 2016-2017:
- analysis of geological and geophysical knowledge, collection and acquisition of geological and geophysical information, selection of relevant geological and geophysical materials necessary for digitization, taking into account the accuracy and detail of previous work;
- Digitization of geophysical and geological maps, creation of digital models based on geological and geophysical data of physical fields and other surfaces: thickness of Cenozoic deposits, depths of the roof of the Famennian stage, gravitational and anomalous magnetic fields, gamma fields, spectrometric fields (potassium, uranium, and thorium concentrations), and thickness of loose sediments based on electrical exploration results;
- Creation of a database and its populating with geological and geophysical data, and compilation of mapping projects based on the database.
The work was completed in stages. During the first stage, a digital forecasting and exploration framework was created based on geological and geophysical surveys at a scale of 1:50,000, and during the second stage, a digital forecasting and exploration framework was created based on geophysical surveys at a scale of 1:10,000.
The result was an ArcGIS database, including a set of georeferenced raster images of geological and physical field maps, vector data, digital models of physical fields, and other surfaces, both for the Zhailma basin area and for detailed sections. The resulting cartographic materials clearly demonstrate the completeness and quality of the collected information, providing a reliable foundation for subsequent exploration and exploration work.
Particular attention was paid to constructing three-dimensional models of the distribution of magnetic parameters in the geological environment, presenting the results as a data cube. An interpretation of anomalous magnetic fields was conducted, maps of the anomalous magnetic field, the most informative transforms, and interpretation schemes were compiled at scales of 1:200,000, 1:500,000, and 1:1,000,000.
The obtained results were integrated with seismic, gravity, thermal, and deep drilling data. Based on this comprehensive interpretation, petroleum geological zoning was performed, promising targets were identified, and priority areas for further research were proposed.
- collection of cartograms and cards for 12 types of exploration, vectorization of contours, and input of attribute information for each contour,
- creation of a database and diagrams of geological and geophysical exploration data,
- obtaining raster images of thematic maps (geological, mineral, factual, complex interpretation, gravimetric, magnetic, and geochemical), their georeferencing, and creation of mosaic overlays,
- coordinating map legends of various content, their vectorization, and creation of databases,
- creation of consolidated models of gravity and anomalous magnetic fields, including a summary of vector data for the frames of the corresponding maps or the linking of numerical models obtained from the digitization of adjacent maps,
- preparation of numerical models of isodepths and isothicknesses of rocks in the volcanic complex of the western Turgai Trough. The result is a structured spatial database, including materials on 12 types of exploration and 252 thematic maps, consolidated into a single space. These materials provide quick access to digital information and its subsequent use in subsequent stages of geological exploration.
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