Geostatistical calculation for clay reserve in Azraq Basin in Jordan

Abstract

Industrial minerals in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan are vital to both economical and industrial development and
this is true as far as the estimation of the reserves is carried out appropriately. The aim of this study was to
geostatistically investigate the clay spatial behavior and geological reserve in Qa' Al-Azraq area in north east Jordan
through known seventy four random drilled boreholes. Quanti-fication of spatial arrangement or dependence was
investigated through defining the best variogram model using optimal unbiased geostatistical tools of ArcGISGeostatistical
Analyst, and MINEX. Clay thickness kriged map indicates a central concentration distribution of clay.
Variations in kriged map tones comply with the major local fault systems allocated at the center of the study area
forming pond structure bounded by the four faults. Two east-west cross sections were implemented using MINEX
software. They provide visual maps for clay thickness distribution along the impurities of diatomite and interburden
layers of silt, sand and gypsum. Clay reserves estimated using Inverse Distance Method (IDM) and Ordinary Kriging
Method (OKM) were 6.1 and 5.94 Billion Cubic Meter respectively. The results of this study indicate that the area is a
promising future target for economic investment in the local raw materials.