INTEGRATION OF ASTER AND AIRBORNE GEOPHYSICAL DATA FOR EXPLORATION OF COPPER MINERALIZATION. A CASE STUDY OF SAR CHESHMEH AREA

摘要

Sar Cheshmeh area is located in the Central Iranian Volcanic Belt. Mainly the Eocene volcanic rocks that are intruded by the Oligo-Miocene intrusives cover the area. Copper mineralization in the area is mainly of porphyry type and is associated with extensive hydrothermal alteration. The area has a semi-arid type of climate with abundant rock exposure that makes it suitable for application of remote sensing technique. We have observed that neither ASTER nor airborne geophysical data can delineate all hydrothermally altered areas individually. Bands 5, 7 and 9 of ASTER are integrated with airborne geophysical data, which are K, Th and U counts, and total magnetic intensity. Two well-known copper mineralizations namely Sar Cheshmeh and Darrehzar are chosen as training sets. The integrated data has been classified by using fuzzy method. Ground sampling proved that this method could help hydrothermal alteration mapping in such area with more accuracy.