The availability of digital elevation models produced by the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission) opened new possibilities tor studies of geological remote sensing in the Amazônia, since these models enhance subtle details of the terrain and drainage system, usually masked in conventional orbital images. Using as a case study an area located in the Amazonas sedimentary basin, this article discusses an approach to use these data as an aid to oil exploration in that region. The analysis of the drainage network automatically extracted from that product, combined with altitude information provided by the digital elevation model, revealed a number of drainage anomalies, which may indicate surface expression of buried geological features. One of these drainage anomalies is located exactly within the limits of the Azulão Gas Field, and may correspond to the surface expression of the hydrocarbon trapping structures in that area. The methodological approach discussed in this study can be replicated elsewhere in the Amazonas and Solimões sedimentary basins, which together comprise about 1,000,000 km² covered by rainforest.
SRTM elevation data; morphostructural analysis; petroleum exploration; Amazonas Basin
