Near-surface ambient noise tomography in the Baogutu copper deposit area

The Baogutu copper deposit region is located in the northwestern margin of the Junggar basin, controlled by the NE-SW trend Darbut fault. This region developed mid-late Hercynian (330-320 Ma) intermediate-acid small porphyry bodies. Hosted in the lower carboniferous volcano-sedimentary sequences, the Baogutu porphyry copper deposit has experienced two epochs of fluid metallogenesis after the adakitic magma diagenesis. In the copper deposit area, the orebody distributes in the strata of the Baogutu and Xibeikulasi group, and the ground surface is covered by tuffaceous siltstone. The clear structure of the copper deposit has not been revealed yet. In this paper, we utilize the technique of ambient noise tomography (ANT) to image the phase velocity anomaly maps of different frequencies in the deposit area. Then, we invert the shear (S-) wave velocity structures by using a damped least squares inversion algorithm. The pattern of the tomographic images indicates that the copper deposit mainly distributes in the range of 0.3-0.5 km depth. The major orebody is identified as an obviously high-velocity anomaly. In addition, a small high-velocity anomaly is observed at a depth greater than 0.4 km in the northeast of the study area, and it might associate with another orebody of the Baogutu copper deposit, which has not previously been reported.