Application of remote sensing and GIS for mineral predictive mapping, Deseado Massif, Southern Argentina / Применение дистанционного зондирования и ГИС для прогнозного картирования полезных ископаемых, горный массив Десеадо, Южная Аргентина

The study of geological characteristics of low-sulfidation epithermal deposits (LSED) elsewhere and in the Deseado Massif, and Fry analysis (point pattern analysis) of spatial distributions of LSED in the study area were carried out to determine geological controls on LSED that could be used as spatial evidences for predictive mapping of LSED potential on regional and district scales.
The Fry analyses indicate that the LSED are structurally controlled and there are differences in strengths of regional structural controls on LSED in different parts of the area. In the western half of the area, fractures with azimuth orientations of 145-170º and of 105-125º were the principal structural controls. In the eastern half of the area, fractures with azimuth orientations of 40-60º were the principal structural controls although structural controls by fracture systems with NW trends are apparent but weaker. The differences in strengths of structural controls by different fracture systems in different parts of the area are probably due to migration in time of volcanism, fracture generation, and mineralization from ENE to WSW and by the changes in the stress directions during the Jurassic. <...>