International Journal of Geosciences, 2017, 8, 869-887

http://www.scirp.org/journal/ijg
ISSN Online: 2156-8367
ISSN Print: 2156-8359

Subsurface Structural Mapping Using Combined

Terrestrial and Grace Gravity Data of the
Adamawa Plateau (North-Cameroon)

Bouba Apollinaire1,2*, Kamguia Joseph2,3, Tabod Charles Tabod2, Yap Loudi2, Nouayou Robert2,
Kande Houetchak Ludovic3, Oyoa Valentin1
1
Department of Physics, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Maroua, Maroua, Cameroon
2
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon
3
National Institute of Cartography, Yaounde, Cameroon

How to cite this paper: Apollinaire, B., Abstract

Joseph, K., Tabod, T.C., Loudi, Y., Robert,
N., Ludovic, K.H. and Valentin, O. (2017) In order to analyze and determine the geological structures of the Adamawa
Subsurface Structural Mapping Using Com- plateau, the terrestrial gravity data were combined to data computed from
bined Terrestrial and Grace Gravity Data of GGM02C gravity model. The dense gravity net obtained were further intro-
the Adamawa Plateau (North-Cameroon).
duced into qualitative and quantitative interpretations. The resulting Bouguer
International Journal of Geosciences, 8,
869-887. anomaly map obtained from combined data shows NE-SW direction which
https://doi.org/10.4236/ijg.2017.87050 nearly coincides with the main direction of the fractures affecting the base-
ment in the region and indicates strong gradients marking the presence of
Received: May 27, 2017
discontinuities between heavy and negative gravity anomaly. In order to con-
Accepted: July 14, 2017
Published: July 17, 2017
duct the quantitative interpretation of the combined gravity data, three pro-
files were drawn on the residual Bouguer anomaly map and therefore were
Copyright © 2017 by authors and interpreted using spectral analysis method and 3D density inversion. The
Scientific Research Publishing Inc. knowledge of the depth and density of the geological structures show an uplift
This work is licensed under the Creative
of dense rocks under the granite-gneiss substratum. This dense material found
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0). in the ENE-WSW direction of the Adamawa Plateau is interpreted as basaltic
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ intrusion probably resulting from tectonic processes. According to this study,
Open Access the depths of 3.83 km and 9.62 km are the new values of depths obtained for
futures investigations in the Adamawa plateau.

Keywords
GGM02C, Adamawa Plateau, Bouguer Anomaly, 3D Density Model, Spectral
Analysis

1. Introduction
The study area lies over the Adamawa Plateau (northern Cameroon) between

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B. Apollinaire et al.

latitudes 5˚ and 8˚N, and longitudes 13˚ to 15˚E. Previous geophysical and geo-
logical studies have been conducted in this area. These include the works of [1]
[2] [3] [4] [5]. Some of the above mentioned studies are based on the geophysi-
cal signatures of geological units deduced from gravity analyses and their quan-
titative interpretation. However, a closer look to the terrestrial gravity net of the
study area shows that there are many gaps. This might lead to many approxima-
tions in geophysical gravity anomaly analyses and interpretations in the region.
Hence, the analyses and interpretations should be based on maps showing the
real signatures of the geological features. To achieve this goal, a dense gravity net
is needed. New gravity campaigns are indicated to fill the gaps. A global geopo-
tential model can also be a solution. Merry [6] showed that GRACE models are
more representative of geoid undulations and gravity anomalies in Africa. From
statistical studies, [7] [8] showed that gravity data from GGM02C and terrestrial
ones have the same precision. In this work, GGM02C gravity data combined to
terrestrial ones will be exploited to reinforce the precision of the previous works.
The main objective in this work is to interpret a new Bouguer anomaly map
obtained from combined terrestrial and GRACE gravity model GGM02C, then
determine the depth and density of the geological structure associated with the
crustal formation from a dense gravity net in the study area. On residual Bougu-
er anomaly map, spectral analysis technic and 3D density inversion were ob-
tained. This method has already been successfully used by [9] [10] to determine
the major subsurface structure in the northern edge of the Congo-Craton. With
these approaches, we complete the previous geophysical works which used only
the terrestrial gravity data.

2. Geological Setting
Previous geological and geophysical studies conducted in the Adamawa plateau
(Figure 1) indicated that this area is predominantly composed by Precambrian
rocks such as migmatic, gneisses and granites that were granitized during the
Pan-African tectonic event [12] [13]. It is covered by a sequence of tertiary ba-
saltic lavas [14] (Figure 2). These lavas are alkaline, indicating affinity with con-
tinental rifts [15]. Sedimentary formations consist mainly of conglomerates, ar-
kosic sandstone and limestone from the Cretaceous Djerem basin and Mbere
ditch [14]. These formations have undergone intense volcanic activity leading to
the establishment of the basin structure, covered by volcanic materials which
reach the surface through deep fractures. These fractures have a location at the
base of major crustal lineaments [16]. Three major tectonic structures are asso-
ciated with the Adamawa Plateau: the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL), the
Foumban Shear Zone (FSZ) and the South Adamawa Trough (SAT). The CVL is
a chain of intra-plate volcano shaped Y which extends from the island of Pagalu
in the Atlantic Ocean west of Africa until about 2000 km [17]. The first branch
(north) corresponds to the Benue through and the second branch (east) the Ada-
mawa plateau. Volcanic rocks on this line are composed of alkali basalt, trachyte

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

Figure 1. Location map of the Adamawa region-Cameroon modified after [11].

lavas and tuffs. The Foumban Shear Zone is a succession of major accident cov-
ered by a series of tertiary volcanoes that one follows from Sudan, through the
Central African Republic and Chad up to Foumban in Cameroon [18]. To the
west, it is an extension of the pernambuco fault in the north-east of Brazil [19].
The FSZ in Cameroon center displays a dextral sense of displacement [13] [18].
The South Adamawa Trough includes the Cretaceous Mbere ditch and Djerem
basin. It is a deep scarps bounded by two faults up to 600 m high command [14].
This gap is due to the movement of the south Atlantic to the Upper Cretaceous
[16] [20].

3. Gravity Data and Methods

In this study terrestrial gravity data and data from the global geopotential model
GGM02C are available.

3.1. Terrestrial Gravity Data

In this study, terrestrial gravity data were obtained by the “Office de la Re-
cherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer” (ORSTOM) [12] [21]. This

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B. Apollinaire et al.

Figure 2. Geological map of the Adamawa region-Cameroon modified from [14].

organization has a very large database and excellent quality recognized interna-
tionally. These data were acquired with the Worden and Lacoste Romberg gra-
vimeters. All gravity measurements are tied to the International Gravity Stan-
dardization Network 1971 (IGSN71) datum after correction of luni-solar effect
and instrumental drift. To determine the free air anomaly, the linear vertical
gradient of 0.3086 mGal/m was used to approximate free air correction. Coor-
dinates stations were determined from topographic maps. Elevation values were
obtained with Wallace and Tiernan altimeters. An average rock density of 2.67
g/m3 was introduced for simple Bouguer reduction. Due to the presence of rela-
tively smooth topography, no terrain correction was added. The resulting Bouguer
anomaly contour map in the study area Figure 3 constructed using the Generic
Mapping Tools (GMT) [22] shows three gravity sectors.
The first sector, located in the central part of the study area consists of a vast
negative anomaly that goes from Garoua-Boulai to Djohong passing through

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

Figure 3. Bouguer anomaly map of the region obtained by using terrestrial gravity data.

Meiganga, covers the entire city of Ngaoundere. An overview of the configura-

tion of anomalies shows a dominant direction NE-SW, which corresponds to the
large fault that extends from Foumban to the Mbere Ditch. The magnitude of
these anomalies is approximately −100 mGal with minimums reaching −120
mGal. They can be interpreted as the effect of low density formations. The
second sector, situated in the southern part of the study area consists of heavy
gravity anomaly. This anomaly with amplitude of about −50 mGal can be link to
the presence of dense rocks in this sector. The third sector, situated in the
northern part of the region, between parallels 7.30˚ to 8˚N, which covers the
Ngaoundere mountain zone is characterized by negative anomaly (−75 mGal)
with dominant EW trend. This anomaly does not indicate any geological forma-
tion, because the zone is composed of basaltic rocks inside the basement. It is
due probably either to the lack of gravity data in the region, or the effect of
neighboring formations. The orientation of iso-lines of anomalies in this zone
does not objectively identify the direction of the Ngaoundere mountain. The

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B. Apollinaire et al.

Bouguer anomaly map shows some limitations making a difficult to do the

proper gravity investigations. The structure of Adamawa plateau remains poorly
knows. To solve this problem, terrestrial gravity data must undergo using data
from the global geopotential model GGM02C [7] [23].

3.2. Global Geopotentiel Model: GGM02C

In this part of study data from the Global Geopotential Model were used [23]
[24]. The GGM02C model has been publicly released by Deutsches Zentrum für
Luftund Raumfahrt (DZLR). This model has several advantages: (1) It provides
good information in areas previously inaccessible or having terrestrial data gaps
and extends across natural and artificial boundary; (2) it incorporates data from
different sources including satellite altimetry over oceans, satellite gravity and
the terrestrial gravity [20]. In addition, this model represents better the gravity
anomalies in the Adamawa plateau. The GGM02C model is complete to spheri-
cal harmonic degree and order 200 [7] [8] [25]. The data are first obtained as
free-air gravity anomalies and then corrected to underline topographic effects
using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) GLOBE [24]. A reduction density of 2.67
g/m3 was used for the Simple Bouguer correction. According to [7] [8], the
GGM02C gravity data and terrestrial ones have the same precision; so they are
stackable and can be superimposed. The better coverage of gravity data has un-
doubtedly permitted us to draw a better simple Bouguer anomaly map of the re-
gion. This map has strengthened some hypotheses already supported by the
geological data but not addressed by previous geophysical studies carried out in
the study area so far. The orientation of the anomalies agrees well with the over-
all direction of the tectonic and geological structures. Same as the previous map,
the Bouguer anomaly map obtained by combination of terrestrial and GGM02C
gravity data (Figure 4) reveals three gravity sectors.
The first sector, located in the middle part of the study area is constituted by
negative anomaly with NE-SE direction that goes from Betare-Oya to Djohong
passing through Graoua-Boulai and covers the entire city of Ngaoundere and
Belel. This anomaly with amplitude of −120 mGal can be considered as the effect
of the low densities formations. In this sector heavy anomalies (−20 to −30
mGal) appear in the Mbere basin area. The shape of these anomalies indicates
that they would have been affected by folding which occurred during different
tectonic phases that have affected the region [26]. The presence of heavy anoma-
lies with NE-SO direction is due to the presence of dense formations under the
sedimentary environment. These results are in agreement with geological obser-
vations which show that the entire sedimentary series is swung northward [13]
[14]. The second sector that covers the south-west of Kongolo is characterized
by heavy anomalies (−40 mGal) indicating the presence of dense formations. It
is composed mainly of migmatic rocks. The third sector, which situated in the
south of Mbe and covers the Volcanic mountain zone, consists of heavy anoma-
lies (−20 mGal) and weak anomalies (−140 mGal) with NE-SO direction. This

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

Figure 4. Bouguer anomaly map of the region obtained after densification of gravity data.

map shows that weak anomalies appear in the central part of the massif. These
anomalies are due to the collapsing of the crust or are due to the presence of
granitic rocks constituting the socle. Heavy anomalies appear in the northern
and southern slope of the mountain corresponds to the basaltic intrusion in this
area. The direction of anomalies in this map is visibly more developed than that
before densification. This direction coincides perfectly with ENE-WSW direc-
tion of the Adamawa Plateau and suggests that the intrusion could have been
controlled by the tectonic processes.
In gravity method, the Bouguer anomaly map generally overshadow the ef-
fects of density contrasts, deep and shallow, wide and local. Regional-residual
separation allows to isolate the anomaly due to deep sources and extended than

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B. Apollinaire et al.

those from density contrast reduced and shallower extension. This separation
was made in our previous works and the residual of order 5 was the best amena-
ble for the geological structures near surface in the Adamawa plateau [7]. In the
present work the residual of order 5 will be exploited.
The regional anomaly map (Figure 5) is characterized by a negative gravity
anomaly in the center bounded by gradients increasing towards the north. These
observations show that the basement is deepening towards the south of the re-
gion. Indeed, using geophysical analysis of gravity data, the crustal thickness be-
neath the northern edge of the Adamawa plateau is about 23 km and 33 km in
the north and south respectively [5] [27]. We noticed that, the regional Bouguer

Figure 5. Fifth-order of regional Bouguer anomaly map of the region obtained after den-
sification of the gravity data.

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

anomaly is dominated by the effect of structures located beyond the Moho. At

the level of Mbe the iso-lines of anomalies were NE-SW direction then passed
EW to ESE-WNW in the center of study area. This multiple direction of iso-
lines indicates that the basement has found at great depth [13] [16]. To the east
of meridian 6˚N, the region is constituted by the −100 mGal contour line within
which is Garoua-Boulai and Meiganga. This contour line is close and represents
the thinning of the lithosphere due to asthenospheric uplift under the Adamawa
[2] [27].
Residual Bouguer anomaly map of the study area (Figure 6) shows two dif-
ferent sectors: positive sector and negative sector which amplitudes are respec-
tively (+40 and −70 mGal). The positive sector is founded between Ngaoundere

Figure 6. Fifth-order of residual Bouguer anomaly map of the region obtained after den-
sification of gravity data.

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B. Apollinaire et al.

and Mbe (P1), north-east of Ngaoundere (P2) and north-east of Djohong (P3)
localities indicates uplift basement and lateral high dense rocks. In geological
considerations, at level of Djohong the positive residual Bouguer anomaly is as-
signed to the thinning down of the crust on the one hand and on the other hand
to the existence of invisible basaltic rocks under the granite-gneisses basement.
Between Ngaoundere and Mbe and north-east of Ngaoundere, the positive ano-
maly corresponds to the intrusion of dense rock of high density under the low
density formation. The negative sector observed around Ngaoundere and north
of Belel trending NE-SW. A comparison of this negative anomaly with the geo-
logical map shows that, this anomaly is due to the collapsing of the crust and the
effect of low density formation. In south and east of Mbe, three peaks of negative
anomalies appear in the central part of the massif, the average value of these
Bouguer anomalies is −30 mGal. In general Bouguer anomalies are usually nega-
tive in the massif and mountains because of the isostasy. The rock density of
their root is lower than that of the surrounding earth’s mantle. The presence of
these peaks of anomalies indicates that, the massif has a variable thickness and is
more rooted in these areas than elsewhere. The setting of this massif is linked to
a general collapse of the socle in the region. The positive and negative sector is
separated by a steep gradient, which corresponds to the effect of discontinuity
between two different structures. In order to provide more information in the
study area and to show the capability of densified data to detect unknown geo-
logical structures, spectral analysis and 3D density inversion based on the geo-
logical map were used along three profiles drawn on the residual Bouguer ano-
maly map.

4. Method
4.1. Power Spectrum Analysis
Spectral analysis as described by [28] is a technical method based on the proper-
ty of the energy spectrum of the gravity data. It estimates the depths of perturb-
ing bodies. Generally extended anomaly with amplitude which decreases rapidly
is characterized by high frequency. However, large anomaly which amplitude
decreases slightly is characterized by low frequency spectrum [29] [30]. The es-
timation of the depths is controlled by the choice of the line defining the slopes.
When the energy spectrum logarithm is plotted versus wavenumber, we choose
the straight-line segments whose slopes are proportional to the depth of the
perturbing body according to the following relation [31] [32]:
∆LogE 2π∆k
h= (1)

where ∆LogE is the variation of the logarithm of the energy spectrum ∆k a

wavenumber and h (km) is the depth of perturbing bodies. In this case, h1 cor-
responds to the deep density contrast plane and h2: shallow density contrast
plane. According to [33] the errors value on each profile is 5% of the mean depth
value.

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

4.2. 3D Density Inversion

For 3D density inversion of the structures in the Adamawa plateau we used
GRABLOX2 (version 2.1) by [34]. This program calculates the gravity field for
3D block model. A block model is a block divided into cubes. For each cube we
note constant density. The program uses two methods: Occam inversion and
Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) [35]. For each method there are three op-
tions for setting the model (density, height and density + height) [9] [10]. Oc-
cam inversion needs to solve much larger matrix system than the SVD. The SVD
inversion creates a smooth and continuous model if the gravity data are dense.
In such situations the Occam inversion gets unstable and generates very rugged
structures. In this study, the Singular Value Decomposition will be used for 3D
density inversion. The coefficients of the base of anomaly can be optimized sep-
arately for the gravity and gradient data. Spectral analysis is used to constrain
depths of bodies responsible for positives anomalies which correlated to the sur-
face geology. The residual and regional anomalies were read with separated for-
mat. The inversion will resolve residual density where the mean density of the
modeled volume should be added to give geologically realistic density values. For
our study densities of the blocks fixed by recent works [9] are used to define the
initial model. In this case, the background value should be set to the mean of the
density value used in Bouguer corrections (2.67 g/m3). We used Grablox2 pro-
gram to optimize densities of the minor blocks model then compare it with the
observed Bouguer anomaly. When the observed and calculated Bouguer anoma-
ly is realized, the inversion is obtained. After inversion the distribution of the
densities inside the resulting blocks models can be used in geological interpreta-
tions.

5. Results and Discussions

5.1. Power Spectrum Analysis
To estimate the average depths of perturbing bodies responsible for gravity data,
we used spectral analysis of three profiles (P1, P2, P3) drawn on the residual
Bouguer anomaly map. These profiles are executed perpendicular to the main
direction of the structure under study and crossed largely the zone where the
structure is suspected [29]. For the three previous profiles Figure 7 presented
the power spectrum curves. Two major discontinuities of densities have been
identified, the first h1 represents the low frequency associated to deep-seated
bodies and h2 represents the high frequency causes by bodies near surface. The
deepest discontinuity result of profile P1, P2 and P3 are 8.64 km, 14.41 and 5.80
km respectively for a mean of 9.62 km. These depths could be correspond to the
Moho depth in the study area. These results agree with those obtained by [33].
According to this author, the discontinuity of structure in the Adamawa uplift is
between 7 and 13 km (with a mean of 11 km). Our result and those obtained by
[33] have few differences.
The depths obtained by [33] are based on only terrestrial gravity data while

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B. Apollinaire et al.

Figure 7. Power spectrum of profiles P1, P2 and P3 from spectral analysis program.

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

our results are integrating new gravity data in the existing. The second disconti-
nuity associated with the shallowest depths for profiles P1, P2 and P3 is respec-
tively 3.52 km, 5.86 and 2.10 km for a mean of 3.83 km. This value indicates that
the sources of anomalies are not deep in the sedimentary basin. These depths are
probably due to the base of Mbere sedimentary basin which could be associated
with volcanic intrusions due to the positive gravity anomaly. These bodies may
be due to the intrusions of dense materials in the basement and could be the
boundary between the lower crust and the upper crust. The depths of 3.83 km
and 9.62 km are the new values of depths obtained for futures investigations in
the Adamawa plateau.

5.2. 3D Density Inversion

The 3D density inversion was obtained using three profiles P1, P2 and P3 trend-
ing NE-SE. This inversion informs us to the structure of the Adamawa Plateau.
The structural model associated with profile (P1) (Figure 8) consists of three

Figure 8. Interpreted 3D density model of profile (P1) from Grablox2 program showing
different formations: 1: Granites; 2: Gneisses; 3: Basaltic rocks.

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B. Apollinaire et al.

bodies with different compositions. The first body (1) with lower densities be-
tween 2.60 g/m3 and 2.73 g/m3 is situated at 5 km in the middle and 8 km in the
north and south of the model. This formation corresponds to the granitic rock
under the crust which the signature is due to the negative Bouguer anomalies
observed in this zone. The second body (2) located at the end of the model has a
lateral extension and roof that can reach 4 km. This formation with densities
ranging from 2.75 g/m3 to 2.78 g/m3 can be associated to the gneisses forma-
tions. The third body (3) extended laterally beneath the granites in the study area
has high density between 2.8 g/m3 and 2.8 g/m3. This body corresponds to the
basaltic intrusion which the signature is due to positive gravity anomaly ob-
served on the Bouguer anomaly map.
The structural model of the second profile (P2) (Figure 9) consists of three
bodies with different shapes, positions and thicknesses. The body (1) starts and

Figure 9. Interpreted 3D density model of profile (P2) from GRABLOX showing differ-
ent formations: 1: Granites; 2: Gneisses; 3: Basaltic rocks.

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

ends of the model, is constituted with lower density ranging from 2.60 g/m3 to
2.73 g/m3. This body corresponds to the granitic intrusion at great deep with an
extension of about 40 km. The second body (2) with density ranging from 2.75
g/m3 to 2.78 g/m3 designed gneisses formations in the basement of the study
area. This body begins from surface area and reaches at 8 km in the middle of
the model. A layer with density between 2.80 g/m3 and 2.90 g/m3 corresponds to
the high basement structure body (3) located in the middle of the model. This
body constitutes the main pluton of the complex, extends laterally at depth
beyond the gneisses and corresponds to the basaltic formations. These forma-
tions have been put in place with the aid of the asthenospheric rise which leads
to a lithospheric bulge. They are responsible for the positive Bouguer anomaly
observed in this area.
Like the other profiles, the general features of profile (P3) (Figure 10) have
three principal bodies. The first body (1) with lower density ranging from 2.20 to

Figure 10. Interpreted 3D density model of profile (P3) from GRABLOX showing dif-
ferent formations: 1: Sedimentary formations; 2: Granites; 3: Basaltic rocks.

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B. Apollinaire et al.

2.45 g/m3 is located in the north and south extremity of the model. This body
begins at 6 km and 4 km respectively at the start and at the end of model. The
negative Bouguer anomaly observed in the northern and southern border of the
profile can be attributed to the sedimentary deposit with low density in the study
area. The second body (2) with density ranging from 2.68 to 2.78 g/m3 in the
middle of the model can be associated with gneiss formation. This formation is
at the origins of the positive Bouguer anomaly observed in this zone and related
the crustal thickening of the region followed by the fracturing which must have
lead to the collapse of large blocks of crust with dimensions of several kilome-
ters. The third body (3) with density between 2.84 g/m3 and 3.00 g/m3, corres-
ponds to the main pluton of the complex and extends laterally at depth beyond
granites. This body with high density has a depth beyond 6 km and an extension
of about 18 km under the basement. This body is interpreted as a rise of the ba-
saltic rocks in the socle. It generates a positive Bouguer anomaly observed in this
area and it installation is carried out in the following way: During a volcanic
eruption, the magma crystallizes in deep into magmatic pockets without com-
pletely crossing the crust. In this study we observed a spectacular ascent of
magmatic rocks, whose roof is about 2.5 km. The topographic expression of this
process is the formation of the Adamawa plateau which is accompanied by brit-
tle tectonics characterized by cracks and fractures.

6. Conclusion
In this work, the main objective is to analyze the new Bouguer anomaly map and
to determine the depth and density of subsurface structure of the Adamawa pla-
teau by using combined gravity data. The resulting residual Bouguer anomaly
map shows positive and negative anomaly. Positive residual anomalies are due to
the basaltic structures under granite-gneisses basement while negative gravity
anomalies are due to the granite formations or the sedimentary basin. Spectral
analysis and 3D density inversion show the depths and densities of geological
structures associated with the positive residual Bouguer anomaly. The depths of
3.83 km and 9.62 km are the new values of depths obtained for futures investiga-
tions in the study area. This area is composed by granitic formation with density
ranging from 2.60 to 2.73 g/m3, sedimentary formation with density ranging
from 2.20 to 2.45 g/m3, gneisses and basaltic rocks with density between 2.75 to
2.78 g/m3 and 2.84 to 3.0 g/m3 respectively. Our results contain more additional
information than those obtained from terrestrial gravity data. Some recent mod-
els such as GOCE are also available, but have not yet been fully tested in the
study area. For future investigation we will compare several field models from
GOCE to choose the one that represents the best gravity data in order to im-
prove the gravity analysis in the Adamawa plateau.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Markku Pirttijärvi (Universty of Oulu Finland)

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 B. Apollinaire et al.

for helpful the 3D density inversion and Late Henry Duquenne (LAREG,
France) for putting at our disposal the GGM program. The authors also ac-
knowledge all the reviewers for their constructive comments.

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DOI: 10.4236/ijg.2017.87050 887 International Journal of Geosciences