Abstract. Some fractures in the crust are expressed at the surface as a field of point-like features that have developed in response to usually fluid processes within those fractures. We describe two complementary quantitative methods for analysing such point-like features from remotely-sensed imagery in terms of structural alignment. The two-point azimuth method is probabilistic and tests for the existence of regional and field-wide structural anisotropies. By contrast, the Hough transform method is deterministic and locates specific alignments. These methods have been applied to a Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) image of the Pinacate Volcanic Field in north-west Mexico. The point-like features of interest are cinder cones and maars. The results reveal a northerly structural anisotropy and specific alignments, trending mainly northerly and north-northwesterly, have been mapped. This application was limited by the relatively coarse spatial resolution of the MSS image used. However, although only 71 per cent of the cones mapped on the ground were detected on the MSS image, joint analysis of the two data sets yielded comparable results and a significant improvement on previous qualitative analysis of the ground data. The dual method used here could be applied to other fields of geological point-like features.