Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Fuzzy logic modeling for hydrothermal gold mineralization mapping using geochemical, geological, ASTER imageries and other geo-data, a case study in Central Alborz, Iran

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Earth Science Informatics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The study area is located ~50 km in the north of Tehran capital city, Iran, and is a part of central Alborz Mountain. The intrusive bodies aged post Eocene have intruded in the Eocene volcanic units causing hydrothermal alterations in these units. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images were used to map hydrothermal alteration zones. The propylitic, phyllic and argillic alteration and iron oxide minerals identified using Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) method. Structural lineaments were extracted from ASTER images by applying automatic lineament extraction processes and visual interpretations. An exploration model was considered based on previous studies, and appropriate evidence maps were generated, weighted and reclassified. Ore Forming Potential (OFP) map was generated by applying Fuzzy SUM operator on alteration and Pb, Cu, Ag, and Au geochemical anomaly maps. Finally, Host rock, geological structures and OFP were combined using Fuzzy Gamma operator (γ ) to produce mineral prospectivity map. Eventually, the conceptual model discussed here, fairly demonstrated the known hydrothermal gold deposits in the study area and could be a source for future detailed explorations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abedi M, Torabi SA, Norouzi GH (2012) Application of Fuzzy-AHP method to integrate geophysical data in a prospect scale, a case study: seridune copper Deposit. Boll Geofis Teor Appl 54:145–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Abedi M, Norouzi GH, Torabi SA (2013a) Clustering of mineral prospectivity area as an unsupervised classification approach to explore Copper Deposit. Arab J Geosci 6:3601–3613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abedi M, Norouzi GH, Fathianpour N (2013b) Fuzzy outranking approach: a knowledge-driven method for mineral prospectivity mapping. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinformation 21:556–567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agar B (2005) ASTER Alteration Mineral Mapping; Northwest Tasmania; Australia. Resource Finance & Investments Limited, Australian Geological and Remote Sensing Services, Annual Progress Report, pp 19

  • Alavi M R, Mozaffari A, Najaran M (2005) Geochemical Exploration of Precious Metals in Tehran Province. Geological Survey of Iran Research Report, Tehran, Iran (In Persian)

  • Allen M, Ghassemi M, Shahrabi M et al (2003) Accommodation of late Cenozoic oblique shortening in the Alborz range, northern Iran. J Struct Geol 25:659–672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almeida-Filho R, Vitorello I (1997) Remote sensing and field data integration in the definition of hydrothermally altered areas in vegetated terrain, central Brazil. Int J Remote Sens 18:1835–1842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amini M, Emami H (1993) Geological Map of Tehran. Geological Survey of Iran Research Report, tehra, Iran. (In Persian)

  • Asvadi B (2004) Precious metal mapping in Tehran Geological map quadrangle. Geological Survey of Iran Research Report, Tehran, Iran. (In Persian)

  • Axen GJ, Lam PS, Grove M et al (2001) Exhumation of the west-central Alborz Mountains, Iran, Caspian subsidence, and collision-related tectonics. Geology 29:559–562

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azizi H, Tarverdi MA, Akbarpour A (2010) Extraction of hydrothermal alterations from ASTER SWIR data from east Zanjan, northern Iran. Adv Space Res 46:99–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boleneus DE, Raines G, Causey J et al (2001) Assessment method for epithermal gold deposits in northeast Washington State using weights-of-evidence GIS modeling. US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonham-Carter GF (1994) Geographic information systems for geoscientists: modelling with GIS. Elsevier, The Netherlands.

  • Buckingham WF, Sommer SE (1983) Mineralogical characterization of rock surfaces formed by hydrothermal alteration and weathering; application to remote sensing. Econ Geol 78:664674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carranza EJM, Hale M (2001) Geologically-constrained fuzzy mapping of gold mineralization potential, Baguio district, Philippines. Nat Resour Res 10:125–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carranza EJM, Hale M (2009) Handbook of exploration and environmental geochemistry, Vol. 11. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 351

    Google Scholar 

  • Crosta AP, De Souza Filho CR, Azevedo F, Brodie C (2003) Targeting key alteration minerals in epithermal deposits in Patagonia, Argentina, using ASTER imagery and principal component analysis. Int J Remote Sens 24(21):4233–4240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eliasi M, Ahmadian S (2008) Inverse method discrimination for geometric arrangements of Kan-Karaj Faults. Geoscience (in: Farsi) 67(5):15–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrier G, White K, Griffiths G et al (2002) The mapping of hydrothermal alteration zones on the island of Lesvos, Greece using an integrated remote sensing dataset. Int J Remote Sens 23:341–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabr S, Ghulam A, Kusky T (2010) Detecting areas of high-potential gold mineralization using ASTER data. Ore Geol Rev 38:59–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghasemi A, Talbot C (2006) A new tectonic scenario for the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone (Iran). J Asian Earth Sci 26:683–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guest B, Axen GJ, Lam PS et al (2006) Late Cenozoic shortening in the west-central Alborz Mountains, northern Iran, by combined conjugate strike-slip and thin-skinned deformation. Geosphere 2:35–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalinowski A, Oliver S (2004) Aster mineral index processing manual. Remote Sensing Applications. Geoscience Australia. http://www.ga.gov.au/image_cache/GA7833.pdf. Accessed October 2004

  • Kruse F, Lefkoff A, Boardman J et al (1993) The spectral image processing system (SIPS) interactive visualization and analysis of imaging spectrometer data. Remote Sens Environ 44:145–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruse FA, Boardman JW, Huntington JF (2003) Comparison of airborne hyperspectral data and EO-1 Hyperion for mineral mapping. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 41:1388–1400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nykänen V, Salmirinne H (2007) Prospectivity analysis of gold using regional geophysical and geochemical data from the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, Finland. Gold in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt: Geological Survey of Finland, Special Paper 44: 251–269

  • Nykänen V, Karinen T, Niiranen T, Lahti I (2011) Modeling the gold potential of central Lapland, northern Finland. Geoscience for society, Vol. 125. Geological Survey of Finland, pp 71–82

  • Quadros TF, Koppe JC, Strieder AJ et al (2006) Mineral-potential mapping: a comparison of weightsof evidence and fuzzy methods. Nat Resour Res 15:49–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raines GL (1999) Evaluation of weights of evidence to predict epithermal-gold deposits in the great basin of the western United States. Nat Resour Res 8:257–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritz J-F, Nazari H, Ghassemi A et al (2006) Active transtension inside central Alborz: a new insight into northern Iran–southern Caspian geodynamics. Geology 34:477–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowan LC, Mars JC (2003) Lithologic mapping in the Mountain Pass, California area using advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) data. Remote Sens Environ 84:350–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowan LC, Goetz AF, Ashley RP (1977) Discrimination of hydrothermally altered and unaltered rocks in visible and near infrared multispectral images. Geophysics 42:522–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowan LC, Schmidt RG, Mars JC (2006) Distribution of hydrothermally altered rocks in the Reko Diq, Pakistan mineralized area based on spectral analysis of ASTER data. Remote Sens Environ 104:74–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabins FF (1999) Remote sensing for mineral exploration. Ore Geol Rev 14:157–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takashima T, Masuda K, Sano I et al (2001) Atmospheric correction for the ASTER visible data on Terra satellite. Adv Space Res 28:177–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tommaso I, Rubinstein N (2007) Hydrothermal alteration mapping using ASTER data in the Infiernillo porphyry deposit, Argentina. Ore Geol Rev 32(1–2):275–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Geological Survey of Iran (GSI) for preparing the data. We would like to thank the unknown reviewers for their constructive comments on early drafts of the manuscript, which helped us improve our paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Data and Remote Sensing, Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science, No. 3, Etemadzadeh St., Fatemi Ave, Tehran, 1411813389, IR, Iran

    Masoud Moradi & Keivan Kabiri

  2. School of Geology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Sedigheh Basiri & Ali Kananian

Authors
  1. Masoud Moradi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sedigheh Basiri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ali Kananian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Keivan Kabiri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keivan Kabiri.

Additional information

Communicated by: H. A. Babaie

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moradi, M., Basiri, S., Kananian, A. et al. Fuzzy logic modeling for hydrothermal gold mineralization mapping using geochemical, geological, ASTER imageries and other geo-data, a case study in Central Alborz, Iran. Earth Sci Inform 8, 197–205 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-014-0151-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-014-0151-9

Keywords