Open AccessA nonlinear controlling function of geological features on magmatic–hydrothermal mineralization
Author(s) -
Renguang Zuo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/srep27127
Subject(s) - hydrothermal circulation , geology , mineral deposit , mineralization (soil science) , massif , multifractal system , nonlinear system , mineral exploration , geochemistry , mineral , mineralogy , soil science , mathematics , chemistry , seismology , mathematical analysis , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , fractal , soil water
This paper reports a nonlinear controlling function of geological features on magmatic–hydrothermal mineralization, and proposes an alternative method to measure the spatial relationships between geological features and mineral deposits using multifractal singularity theory. It was observed that the greater the proximity to geological controlling features, the greater the number of mineral deposits developed, indicating a nonlinear spatial relationship between these features and mineral deposits. This phenomenon can be quantified using the relationship between the numbers of mineral deposits N ( ε ) of a D -dimensional set and the scale of ε. The density of mineral deposits can be expressed as ρ ( ε ) = Cε −( D e− a ) , where ε is the buffer width of geological controlling features, D e is Euclidean dimension of space (=2 in this case), a is singularity index, and C is a constant. The expression can be rewritten as ρ = Cε a −2 . When a < 2, there is a significant spatial correlation between specific geological features and mineral deposits; lower a values indicate a more significant spatial correlation. This nonlinear relationship and the advantages of this method were illustrated using a case study from Fujian Province in China and a case study from Baguio district in Philippines.