Structural and remote sensing analysis of the Betsimisaraka Suture in northeastern Madagascar

The Betsimisaraka Suture (B.S.) of Madagascar is an important structural zone defining the collision between Eastern and Western Gondwana. It is represented by highly deformed high-grade metamorphic rocks with mineral assemblages typical of ophiolitic material, including chromitite and nickel bearing rocks consistent with a suture zone setting. Analysis of satellite imagery coupled with field investigations has helped to elucidate the structure and evolution of the B.S. Digital image processing of Landsat ETM+ data was integrated with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to reduce the effects of the dense vegetation cover. Enhanced false color composite (7-4-2 and 4-2-3), single Landsat bands and band ratio composites including 2/7-1/7-2/5, 5/3-5/1-7/3, 5/1-7/1-4/1 and 5/7-5/1-5/4 × 3/4 (in RGB) improve the lithologic contrast, reduce the effects of topography and enhance the structural lineaments. Ductile deformation deduced from structural features mapped on Landsat enhanced images indicates three generations of folding (F₁, F₂, and F₃) coupled with shearing: (1) F₁ folds with NE striking axial surfaces; (2) F₂ related with N–S striking axial surfaces, (3) and F₃ associated with ENE–WSW axial surfaces, indicating NNW and SSE contractional strain similar to the deformation in the southern B.S. Mapping these structures enables three types of shearing to be delineated: (1) NW–SE dextral shearing as seen in the Befandriana region; (2) NW–SE sinistral shearing defined by sigmoidal bodies in Mandritsara and Ankijanilava-Marotandrano regions, (3) and NE–SW striking dextral shears recorded in the Lake Alaotra region. Several faults, joints and fractures represent brittle deformation events. Lineaments analyzed within the B.S. are divisible into two groups of brittle structures: (1) N–S trending lineaments correlated with the Gondwanan collision events and (2) much younger NE and NW trending lineaments that are mainly found in the Antananarivo block. The latter may represent an active tectonic event in the central plateau that bounds the western part of the B.S.