A Cartographic and Remote Sensing Comparison of Zabadani Geological Maps: from Stratigraphic Synthesis to Structural Cartography

Abstract

This study reconstructs and compares two major mid-20th-century geological maps of the tectonically complex Zabadani area (at a 1:50,000 scale) to assess their spatial and lithologic consistency. Modern GIS workflows allow for scanning, georeferencing, digitizing, and harmonizing using a unique historical sheet legend by Louis Dubertret and Vladimir Ponikarov. The results of the overlay analysis show that spatial differences accounting for about 20% of the study area are located along the fuzzy boundaries between the Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic sequences. While Dubertret’s regional chronostratigraphic continuity, Ponikarov’s structural approach captures much more lithomechanical detail and fault density. To address these inconsistencies, we applied zonal statistics on NASA’s EMIT Level 2B mineral-fraction products (60 m resolution). Both maps show the regional carbonate platform. EMIT images show a diverse mineral landscape at the subpixel scale, including halloysite, Clinochlore, hectorite, muscovite, and dickite. This hyperspectral fingerprinting confirms Ponikarov’s more detailed stratigraphic subdivisions in a direct way. This integrated workflow ultimately demonstrates that combining legacy cartography with advanced imaging spectroscopy effectively isolates real ground-level mineralogical variations from cartographic artifacts, providing an empirical roadmap for future field verification.