Integration and analysis of airborne geophysical data of the Darrehzar area, Kerman Province, Iran, using principal component analysis

This paper describes a methodology for the integrated interpretation of airborne magnetic and airborne gamma -ray spectrometer data. The Darrehzar porphyry copper deposit is situated in the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic assemblage of Central Iran. Phyllic and propylitic alterations are pervasive in the area but potassic and argillic alterations are not readily recognized on the surface. The spatial distributions of geophysical data resemble the lithological and alteration patterns in the area. The Darrehzar porphyry copper deposit is considered as a control site for determination of the degrees that the geophysical data is correlated with the mineralization zone. Airborne magnetic/radiometric, and geochemical/alteration data sets have been integrated and analyzed using principal component analysis. This technique is found to be useful for the delineation of hydrothermally altered areas and data compression. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.