Citation: | J M Kongol Malogo, Ende Wang. Mapping Supergene/Hypogene Alteration Signatures with Landsat ETM+ Data: Paishanlou Gold Mine, Liaoning Province, China. Journal of Earth Science, 2005, 16(1): 38-44. |
Noise-removal routines (destriping) were performed on Landsat ETM+ data as adjustments for atmospheric and distortion factors, prior to further image enhancement and interpretation. The image enhancement techniques were contrast stretching, density slicing, spatial filtering, Fourier analysis, brightness inversion, band combinations, and band ratioing. It has been revealed that, owing to the presence of gossans at Paishanlou, the mixture of iron oxide and clay minerals affects the spectral reflectance in satellite data. The mineral and hydrothermal composite images with band ratios 5/7+5/4+3/1 RGB and 5/7+3/1+4/3 RGB, respectively, yielded the best results for their sensitivity to lithologic variables, and lack of statistical redundancy. Ratio 3/1 clearly highlighted ferric (Fe3+) iron; 5/4 depicted ferrous (Fe2+) iron, and 5/7 depicted clays, carbonates, and hydroxyl-bearing minerals. Vegetation was also successfully discriminated by ratio 5/7. Finally, coupled with field surveys, petrographical and geochemical data, the observed anomalies led to the discovery of three new sites, which are gold-mineralized. The prime objective of this study was to map supergene and/or hypogene signatures in the gold-mineralized areas using Landsat ETM+ data at Paishanlou.
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