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Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830
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Detection of hydrothermal alteration zones using ASTER data in

Nimu porphyry copper deposit, south Tibet, China
Zhenghai Wang ⇑,1, Cong Zhou 2, Haoyang Qin 3
School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China

Received 20 May 2019; received in revised form 29 December 2019; accepted 10 January 2020
Available online 21 January 2020

Abstract

Advanced space-borne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) data were evaluated for the hydrothermal alteration
mapping of the Nimu porphyry copper deposit, southern Tibet. According to the metallogenic model for porphyry copper, we chose
hydrothermal alteration mineral association and then established a remote sensing model. Relative absorption-band depth (RBD)
and simple band combination methods in visible near infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands were used to retrieve infor-
mation about lithological distributions. Principal component analyses (PCA) were applied to extract the prospecting information based
on the spectral information of argillization mineral association, propylitization mineral association, and iron stained (limonite) effects.
Results of the study match up well with known copper occurrences and a circular structure in study area, while circular structures usually
have close relationship with mineralization. Combined with field validation, ASTER data are proved able to characterise the alteration
zone of these porphyry deposits. With VNIR and SWIR bands, argillic, propylitic and ferritization alterations in a single deposit can be
effectively discriminated.
Ó 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.

Keywords: ASTER; Porphyry copper deposit; Principal component analyses; Alteration mineral association

1. Introduction feldspar, quartz, sericite, kaonilite, chlorite, epidote. This

Porphyry copper deposits are generated due to the
chemical composition of hydrothermal fluid and minerals
(Tapia et al., 2016). Classic porphyry copper deposits have
clearly layered alteration zones: Lowell and Guilbert (1970)
built an alteration model of a porphyry copper deposit
(Fig. 1), the zones are: a potassic alteration zone, a phyllic
alteration zone, an argillization alteration zone, and a
propylitization alteration zone (propagating from the cen-
tre outwards). Representative minerals include potassium
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: wzhengh@mail.sysu.edu.cn (Z. Wang), zhouc2@
mail2.sysu.edu.cn (C. Zhou), 492546303@qq.com (H. Qin).
1
No. 135, Xingangxi Road, Guangzhou 510275, China.
2
Cong Zhou No. 135, Xingangxi Road, Guangzhou 510275, China.
3
Haoyang Qin No. 135, Xingangxi Road, Guangzhou 510275, China.
model is regarded as the classic alteration model. The alter-
ation zones can be seen as important markers for prospect-
ing (Hunt et al., 1976).
Since the 1970s, remote sensing data have become an
important means to extract mineralization information.
First Landsat satellite was launched in 1972 and most
recent Landsat 8 was launched in 2013. Data from sensors
of Landsat series satellites, such as TM and ETM+ , are
widely applied in mineral exploration. The governing prin-
ciple is that different minerals have different spectral fea-
tures in VNIR and SWIR, so the TM and ETM+ data
can be used to distinguish these and extract alteration
information. Crosta and Moore (1989) made use of TM
data for the first time and successfully extracted mineral
alteration information in Minais Gerais, Brazil. By the
end of the 20th century, Researchers extracted mineral

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2020.01.008
0273-1177/Ó 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.
 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830
Fig. 1. Classic alteration model of porphyry copper deposit (Pour and
Hashim, 2012).
alteration information by principal component analysis
(PCA) and band ratio method using TM images (Ma,
1997; Zhao et al., 1991). Entering the 21st century, many
researchers developed new methods of extracting alteration
information, which led to successful prospecting outcomes
(Pour et al., 2019a; Pour et al., 2019b; Zoheir et al., 2019a;
Zoheir et al., 2019b; Abubakar et al., 2019; Guha et al.,
2019; Govil et al., 2018; Safari et al., 2018; Shi et al.,
2016; Adiri et al., 2017; Rajendran and Nasir, 2017; Wu
et al., 2013).
The Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and
Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a high-level optical sen-
sor on the TERRA satellite, which include 14 bands in
VNIR, SWIR, and TIR: it can take 550 photos (on aver-
age) every day (Tommaso and Rubinstein, 2007). ASTER
data has some advantages: (1) very short period of data
updating (15 days per period), (2) huge width of its spectral
bands, (3) high resolution imagery, and (4) its low purchase
price (Mao et al., 2005). ASTER data therefore gradually
became the main data source used for remote sensing stud-
ies as they offer great prospects in resource exploration and
prospecting, disaster prevention and control, and monitor-
ing applications. Crosta et al. (2003) used ASTER data and
PCA to deduce alteration information in Patagonia,
Argentina. Later, other researchers also achieved apprecia-
ble results in many areas by utilizing ASTER data (Noori
et al., 2019; Qi et al., 2019; Pour et al., 2018a;
Fereydooni and Mojeddifar., 2017; Eldosouky et al.,
2017; Kumar et al., 2015; Zoheir and Emam, 2014; Yang
et al., 2012; Dai et al., 2012).
Recent years, ASTER data is widely used to discrimi-
nate informtion of mineralization (Son et al., 2019; Ge
et al., 2018; Zahra et al., 2018; Safari et al., 2017;
Alimohammadi et al., 2015). ASTER is pretty efficient in
shortwave length bands to distinguish the altered minerals
(Mujabar and Dajkumar, 2019). Like the alteration model
1819
(Fig. 1) shows, the minerals in phyllic zone, argillic zone
and propylitic zone are made up by different minerals. Ions
in the minerals have absorption peaks and dips that corre-
spond to different bands of ASTER while TM and ETM+
do not provide enough bands in this range. For example, in
propylitic zone, the absorption features of Mg-OH (epi-
dote, chlorite and lbite) is at 2.30 lm, which correspond
to band 8. Therefore, ASTER is a great choice to analyze
porphyry copper mineralization. The high altitude at study
area makes the field investigations have high costs and low
effectiveness. So before the field investigation, it is mean-
ingful to use remote sensing methods to extract alternate
information and delineate some target areas to greatly
improved the effectiveness of field investigation.
This research combines PCA, band ratio and threshold
segmentation to extract alternation information. The study
area in this research is a plateau area with 4000–5000 m
altitude. The whole region is arid and nearly no vegetation
cover, so it is a ideal region for remote sensing research.
PCA reduces the dimension of information, rearrange
highly correlated bands to some uncorrelated bands, has
been successfully implied in the desert and the area without
much vegetation covered (Pour et al., 2019c; Amer et al.,
2015; Tesfamichael and Ndlovu, 2018; Pour and Hashim,
2014; Pour and Hashim, 2011). Band ratio may be highly
affected by vegetation but can enhance minor differences
in spectral reflectance (Pour et al., 2018b; Pour et al.,
2018c; San and Suzen, 2010), so it could provides abundant
information on mineral identification in arid area like
Nimu. Traditional geologic study methods, like geophysics
and geochemistry, have been applied in this area for a long
time. However, the large-scale remote sensing study is lim-
ited in this area, so our research is constructive to the over-
all prospecting work in the study area. The field work will
help verify the results of remote sensing methods by iden-
tify some alternated minerals.
The main objective of this research is, basing on the
results of remote sensing methods, providing significant
prospecting guidance for subsequent geologic exploration
in Nimu copper-polymetallic ore deposits area. In order
to achieve the objective, This research takes advantage of
remote sensing data interpretation methods, considering
the porphyry copper deposit alteration mineral association
as the core, using ASTER data to extract the argillization
alteration and propylitization alteration information.
2. Geologic settings
The Nimu diggings are located in the northeast of Nimu
county, southern Tibet, China. Between longitudes E80°
500 and 90° 100 and latitudes N29° 200 and 29° 400 . The area
is mountainous with deep gullies, the terrain is steep, and
the altitude is generally between 4000 and 5000 m
(4500 m on average), the peak altitude is 5916 m. This land
has a continental plateau climate, is arid, and has a large
diurnal and annual temperature range, with and long days
in summer, and an annual average temperature of 7 °C.
1820 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830
Layers in study area includes Cretaceous, Tertiary and
Quaternary. From south to north, the layers become older
and older. The lithology of metamorphic rocks here include
amphibolite, plagioclase amphibole gneissm, plagioclase
gneissm, granulite, marble (Wang et al., 2013; Xu, 2006).
Volcanic activity is intense in study area. The collision
of Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate plus the subduction of
Tethys-Himalaya oroganic zone cause the frequent vol-
canic activity here. Therefore, intrusive and extrusive rock
develops pretty well in the study area. The relationship
between intrusive rock and extrusive rock here is close:
they shows a intrusive contact and have similar composi-
tion. There are several different kinds of rock in study area.
For example, acid Fine-grained alaskite rocks and
intermediate-acid rocks are found in Nimu. Among the
Cenozoic batholith, medium-grained hornblende biotite
monzonitic granite is most widely distributed and have a
close relationship with copper mineralization. They usually
are found as the host rocks or directly surrounding rocks
(Hu, 2011).
Nimu lies in the north of a brittle ductile shear zone,
which shows a direction from west to east due to the plate
collision in north-south direction. The mineralization-
related structures grow well, which promote the mineraliza-
tion. The study area covers part of the Gangdis magmatic
arc, the exposure strata include a pre-Sinian system, Paleo-
zoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic formations and the petrolog-
ical features encompass a mass of igneous and intrusive
bodies (Fig. 2) most of which are biotite monzonitic granite
and dacite porphyry. Four major fault orientations occur
in the regional study area: WNW/NW, ENE-WSW,
NNW-SSE, and NE/NNE. A regional scale extensional
fault is located in the south that is composed of WNW-
ESE to ENE-WSW trending arcuate linked segments.
WNW/NW trending major faults are prevalent to the
north. The most prominent thereof is a district-scale struc-
ture that can be traced for 50 km. It undergoes strike
swings, ranging from NNW-SSE to WNW-ESE. WNW/
NW trending faults within the central part of the study
area appear to be part of a 30 km-wide zone of structures
that can be traced for 175 km along the strike direction.
The most prominent NNE-SSW trending fault can be
traced for 40 km and crosses the Nimu area. This area lies
at the eastern end of a Cu-Mo-Au porphyry belt which is
known to host several large copper deposits (Zhou et al.,
2014). Copper deposits in study area show classic feature
of porphyry copper deposits. Field work has shown that
the occurrence of mineralization in this area is linear, which
fit the development of geologic structure, like dyke and
fracture (Li, 2007).
As the result of faulting, explosion on the top of por-
phyry and the intrusion of basic rock, rocks are strongly
brecciated and fractures develop pretty well. This is a great
advantage for rock weathering and eluviation. This area is
a favorable district of prospecting enriched porphyry cop-
per deposits. Most intermediate-acid rock mass show dif-
ferent degree of hydrothermal alteration, which include
potassic alteration, silication, sericitization, chloritization,
pyritization (Wang et al., 2002).
Generally, according to the research and field investiga-
tions in the past, The ore bodies in northwest Nimu are
typical porphyry copper molybdenum deposits those are
controlled by monzonite porphyry in Himalayan Epoch.
The alteration of surrounding rock include potassization,
silicification, argillization, pyritization and sericitization.
Some alteration are mixed with each other, which can be
roughly divided into four zones: the potassic zone, the pyri-
tized sericitized zone, the argillization zone and the propy-
litization zone (Tian et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2018) (Table 1).
3. Data processing
3.1. ASTER data
According to the public data from NASA, The 14 bands
of ASTER data are divided into three parts: there are three
bands in VNIR, between 0.52 and 0.86 lm with 15 m res-
olution; six bands in SWIR, between 1.60 and 2.43 lm with
30 m resolution; and five bands in TIR, between 8.15 and
11.65 lm with 90 m resolution (Lyu et al., 2009). Currently
research shows that data in VNIR and SWIR are effective
with regard to their ability to be used to distinguish miner-
als subject to hydrothermal alteration, such as alunite,
kaolinite, dickite, pyrophyllite, chlorite, epidote, calcite,
dolomite, and albite (Sheikhrahimi et al., 2019; Feng and
He, 2016; Geng and Yang, 2008).
One scene of the Level 1B products was selected for this
study, the number of scene is SC:
AST_L1B.003:11042001045119, dated 11 April 2001. Data
processing was done in ENVI, which include data pre-
processing, PCA, band ratio and threshold segmentation.
In the pre-processing stage, we re-sampled the data in
VNIR from 15 m resolution to 30 m resolution using the
nearest neighbour method to obtain alteration informa-
tion. The VNIR, and SWIR, data were merged into one
image file which was used in this research.
After re-sampling the data, atmospheric calibration is
needed (Kenta O. et al., 2017). Alternation information is
based on the reflective intensity of minerals, so the influ-
ence of atmosphere and light must be eliminated to show
real surface reflectivity (Hao et al., 2008). FLAASH mod-
ule in ENVI is applied to do the work (Kayadibi, 2011).
Selecting typical surface features to verify the results of
atmospheric calibration, it shows that the spectrum curves
are high-degree matched with true curves.
The spectral data of the VNIR and SWIR bands need to
be optimised, because the information about the altered
mineral spectrum, as detected by the sensors, have been
affected by many factors, such as shadows and ground
reflectivity (Wu et al., 2015). Based on the spectral charac-
teristics of VNIR and SWIR bands in the representative
alteration minerals of the study area, we intend to use the
methods of extracting principal components and band
ratio in the analysis. The alteration of the porphyry copper
 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830 1821

Fig. 2. Geologic map and false-color ASTER image of Nimu, South Tibet. (a) Geologic map, (b) false-color (R = 4, G = 6, B = 8) composite ASTER
image.

deposits in the study area includes potassic, silicification, argillization alteration minerals include kaolinite, pyro-
argillization, and propylitization: the latter two exhibit phyllite, alunite and other minerals. And the main propy-
more obvious altered characteristics as found by examina- litic alteration minerals include epidote, chlorite, albite,
tion of the USGS Digital Spectrum Library (Fig. 3). The calcite, and dolomite.
1822 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830

Table 1
Classic alteration mineral association in Nimu diggings.
Zones Potassic Phyllic Argillization Propylitization
Classic Alteration Potassium feldspar, biotite, quartz, sericite, Sericite, quartz, potash feldspar, Clay minerals, Chlorite,
Mineral Association magnetite, anhydrite, sodium feldspar chlorite, gypsum and fluorite quartz, sericite, epidote, calcite
pyrite

that corresponds to band 5; in addition, there is a relatively

low amplitude absorption peak at 0.58 lm, which lay
within band 1. Therefore, we chose bands 1, 4, 5, and 7
for principal component analysis; Table 2 lists the resulting
feature vectors, PC1 is the albedo factor, the weighted sum
of the reflectivities of the bands. PC2 is called the form fac-
tor which reflects the difference between the near-infrared
and short-wave infrared (Wu et al., 2018). The selected
alteration information contained in PC3 and PC4 and the
mineralogical information can be identified by the eigenval-
ues matrix. The argillization alteration minerals have
absorption peaks in bands 4 and 7, and an absorption val-
ley in band 5. We regard the relationship among PC and
Fig. 3. The relative reflectivity plot of selected argillization minerals
bands as a function that there are four independent vari-
(alnite, pyrophyllite, kaolinite, dickite) in spectral library. ables (bands). If one band is at the peak while another is
at the dip, then the plus or minus of their coefficient should
be opposite (one > 0 and another < 0). So when deciding
3.2. Principal component analysis which principal component should be selected, the princi-
ple is that both eigenvalues of bands 4 and 7 have opposite
3.2.1. Method coefficient with that of band 5. That is because the opposite
Principal component analysis (PCA) in ENVI5.3 is a contribution of minerals’ valleys and peaks (Tohid et al.,
widely applied method which isolates noise and extract 2018; Jin et al., 2013). The eigenvalues (Table 2) indicate
mineral information by choosing several sets of principal that PC4 has a high negative parameter (0.732871) in
components and reducing dimension. Different minerals, band 5 and a high positive parameter (0.679978) in band
which have undergone the same alteration, have been sub-
jected to similar geologic processes and have similar chem-
ical compositions. Therefore, researchers can compare the Table 2
PCA Eigenvalue matrix for argillization alteration.
mineral spectrum information to look for commonality
and select the sub-band for principal component analysis Eigenvalues Band 1 Band 4 Band 5 Band 7
(Liu et al., 2018; Ahmadfaraj et al., 2016; Golchin et al., PC1 0.997973 0.058409 0.017753 0.017977
2014; Feizi and Mansuri, 2013; Malekzadeh et al., 2009). PC2 0.063478 0.941505 0.240526 0.227345
PC3 0.004492 0.331100 0.636185 0.696865
The method is called Crosta method (Liu et al., 2018;
PC4 0.000558 0.022995 0.732871 0.679978
Tangestani and Moore, 2000; Loughlin, 1991). This study
tried to improve Crosta method by extracting mineral asso-
ciation information related to various kinds of mineral
alteration. The ASTER bands those correspond to the
absorption peak and valley of the mineral are usually
selected to enhance spectral differences and extract the
information of the specific mineral researchers look for.

3.2.2. Argillization alteration

The spectral characteristics of argillization alteration
minerals: dickite, kaolinite, pyrophyllite, and alunite are
obtained by extracting the information about mud-rock
alteration. Through the analysis of the common character-
istics of the spectral reflectance of the altered mineral in
Fig. 3, there are two obvious absorption peaks at around
1.625 lm and 2.250 lm, corresponding to bands 4 and 7 Fig. 4. The relative reflectivity plot of selected propylitizaion minerals
of the ASTER data; one absorption valley is at 2.15 lm (dolomite, calcite, albite, chlorite, epidote) in spectral library.
 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830 1823

Table 3 7. Therefore, PC4 was chosen as the extraction result rep-

PCA Eigenvalue matrix for propylitization alteration. resenting argillization alteration.
Eigenvalues Band 1 Band 5 Band 8 Band 9
PC1 0.999690 0.017451 0.014487 0.010260 3.2.3. Propylitization alteration
PC2 0.024877 0.715931 0.552558 0.426032 The spectral characteristics of the typical propylitization
PC3 0.000618 0.691210 0.646342 0.323219 alteration minerals are shown in Fig. 4. There is a strong
PC4 0.000641 0.096784 0.526034 0.844938
absorption peak at 2.125 lm corresponding to band 5,
while weak absorption peaks found at 0.55 lm and
2.425 lm, corresponded to bands 1 and 9, respectively;
there was an absorption valley between the absorption
peaks at 2.325 lm corresponding to band 8. Accordingly,
we selected bands 1, 5, 8, and 9 for principal component
analysis. The principle to select the main components of
propylitization alteration was the same to that of argilliza-
tion alteration. The propylitization alteration showed high
reflectivity in band 5 and strong absorption in band 8: its
eigenvalues for PC3 (Table 3) indicated a strong negative
influence on band 5 (0.691210) and a strong positive
influence parameter (0.646342) on band 8. So PC3 was cho-
sen as the eigenvalues representing propylitization alter-
ation (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. The relative reflectivity plot of limonite in spectral library. 3.2.4. Limonite
As one of the common outcrops (Kowalik, 1982) in
Table 4 study area, limonite was extracted as another object of
PCA Eigenvalue matrix for limonite. study. Limonite (Fe3+) has an absorption valley in band
Eigenvalues Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 3 and two absorption peaks in bands 2 and 4, so bands
PC1 0.043794 0.709205 0.589533 0.384137 1, 2, 3, and 4 were selected to make principal component
PC2 0.482348 0.501218 0.103940 0.710857 analysis. Based on the eigenvalues matrix, PC4 was selected
PC3 0.849100 0.338173 0.276157 0.297331 since band 3 have an opposite value with band 2 and 4
PC4 0.210835 0.362557 0.751921 0.508641 (Table 4).

Fig. 6. PCA results for argilization and propylitization. (a) Argillization alteration, yellow: slight, red: severe, (b) Propylitization alteration, green: slight,
blue: severe. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
1824 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830

3.3. Band ratio method to determine which alteration level an area belongs to (Xie
et al., 2015; Zhang and Yao et al., 2009). In this study,
The band ratio method uses an algebraic operation to mean + 1.5r and mean + 2.5r were selected as two points
divide the corresponding pixel grey value of the band or for threshold segmentation. Slight alternation locates at
two resulting bands obtained after the operation. This values between mean + 1.5r and mean + 2.5r; Severe alter-
method can increase the probability of identification/differ
entiation between similar tones and enhances the difference
between lithological information (Deng et al., 2017; Trinh
and Vu, 2015). The results of the extraction operation are
acceptable in uncovered bedrock and in the few afforesta-
tion areas in Nimu, although false anomalies will occur
and these warrant further study. For argilization, band 4/
band 5 are used for image enhancement in the mud-
altered part because their spectral characteristics are
located at the reflection and absorption valleys, respec-
tively. For propylitization, part of altered minerals, such
as chlorite, have absorption peaks in bands 7 and 9, the
absorption valleys in band 8. So bands (7 + 9)/band 8
was used to enhance the image (Salem et al., 2016).

3.4. Threshold segmentation

To get the alteration information obtained from princi-

pal component analysis, threshold segmentation is needed
for quantification and classification (Mahanta and Maiti,
2018). This method is based on the density values of altered
minerals in ENVI. Mean value plus standard deviation is
always applied to show the degree of dispersion. In the
study of alternation, mean + n*r (where r denotes the stan-
dard deviation and n > 0) are used to set several degree of Fig. 8. Distribution map of the alteration and the comparison to known
alternation. Usually, 1.5r, 2r, and 2.5r are ideal thresholds copper occurrence.

Fig. 7. Band ratio method results for argilization and propylitization. (a) Argillization alteration, yellow: slight, red: severe, (b) Propylitization alteration,
green: slight, purple: severe. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830 1825

Fig. 9. Distribution map for limonite and the comparison to field photographs. (a) PCA results for limonite, (b) distinct view of limonite in study area.
1826 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830

Fig. 10. Distribution map for propylitization minerals and the comparison to field photographs. (a) PCA results for limonite, (b) Altered rocks with
chlorite found at PCA’s target area.

nation locates at values greater than mean + 2.5r. This from the use of a principal component analysis. Fig. 7
decision is made according to practical situation of values. shows the alteration information arising from the use of
Two levels represent slight alteration and severe alteration, the band ratio method. Different colors are filled to show
respectively. Fig. 6 shows the alteration information arising the slight or severe degree of alternation.
 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Comparison with known occurrence
The ability to extract information from the ASTER data
in VNIR bands is weak since there is less bands. While it is
possible to use them to extract limonite alteration informa-
tion, it could not be applied to most of other alteration
minerals. SWIR bands constitute the biggest range of
ASTER data, In this range, the ability to acquire reliable
conclusion is far more better than TM and ETM+. Most
alteration minerals will be at least one pair of absorption
peak and absorption valley within SWIR. Normally, the
work can be done better by combining the data in the
VNIR, and SWIR, bands (Garcı́a-Rivas et al., 2018; Cui
et al., 2014; Shi et al., 2010; Fujisada et al., 2001). The data
in the TIR bands are often used to distinguish silicification
and potassic alteration, but this technique is more applica-
ble to a larger scale due to its low resolution (90 m) (Bedini,
2019; Ninomiya, 2003;Ninomiya, 2002).
Comparing two figures shown in Fig. 6, we know that
the degree for both argillization and propylitization is high.
Fig. 7 shows that the band ratio method offered poor con-
sistency between the two kinds of alteration. According to
the classic alteration model, the extraction ability of the
PCA approach was better than that of the band ratio
method.
Visual interpretation has shown that there are some cir-
cular structures in study area (Fig. 8). Geological pro-
cesses, such as volcanic eruption, magmatic intrusion and
fold structure are often shown as circular structure on
remote sensing images. The structure plays an important
role in controlling the concentration of ore fluid and can
provides critical information for geologic exploration.
According to the origin of circular structure, the interpreta-
tion marks can be divided into two types: circular structure
formed by crustal tectonic movement and circular structure
formed by magmatic activity. The former type includes the
structure formed by rotation and torsion structure, ellipti-
cal fault, uplift, depression basin and fold structure, the lat-
ter includes the structure formed by small-to-medium-sized
magmatic rocks, magmatic complexes (such as volcanic
ring structure, rock strain and branch), migmatization
and ancient intrusions. (Duan et al., 2019; Ma et al.,
2019; Bai and Li, 2018; Liu et al., 2015; Chen, 2007).
The zones on or near the circular structure suffered
stronger concentration and release of stress, the magmatic
intrusion and volcanic activity here lasted long and thor-
ough, which is one of best conditions to develop porphyry
copper mineralization, so those places are key research
areas. Actually, in study area, copper occurrences are dis-
tributed most intensively at the edges of sub-structural
units, such as the edges of circular structures and other
intersections between circular structures and linear struc-
tures. The PCA interpretation match up pretty well with
the circular structure and known copper occurrence, prov-
ing that the methods and results of this study are reliable.
1827
4.2. Field validation
To verify the findings of this study further, field work
was undertaken. Fig. 9 shows the comparison between
the ASTER result of limonite and field work image (thresh-
old, 1.5r). Two well-developed limonite outcrops were
found during field exploration. Moreover, chlorite, a typi-
cal propylitization alteration mineral, was also found in
abundance in study area. And the place that found well-
developed chlorite is exactly one of the identify regions
by PCA (Fig. 10). Most alteration minerals develop in
ore-bearing rock bodies and around copper deposits, which
is in accord with the results from the ASTER data.
4.3. Shortcomings and future prospects
There are some shortcomings in this research: 1. While
ASTER data offer outstanding information extraction
potential, the results would have been more convincing if
a comparison with the ETM+ data in the VNIR bands
were made. 2. The band ratio method cannot provides
additional explanation offered by analysis of the PCA
results, so further research may aimed at achieving more.
The circular structure could be the focus for the future
research, since there is a higher possibility for mineraliza-
tion developing around there. The difficulty of geologic
exploration in this area proves that remote sensing inter-
pretation can be one of the most effective means of analysis
and prospecting. With more and more satellite launches
and innovations come up in data processing, alteration
information extraction will be more accurate in the future
and provide more reliable data for prospecting.
5. Conclusions
By comparison with findings arising from field work, the
results of remote sensing methods were proved to be reli-
able. So the proposed research method can be generalized
to apply in any other porphyry copper deposits to extract
alteration information and undertake metallogenic
predictions.
This research showed that ASTER data were helpful
and accurate when abstracting and mapping mineral alter-
ation. VINR data and SWIR data were sensitive to the
presence of hydrothermal alteration minerals such as alu-
nite, dickite, kaolinite, pyrophylite, chlorite, epidote, cal-
cite, dolomite, and albite. High spectral and spatial
resolutions make ASTER imagery a useful tool in ore
deposit exploration. In this way, alteration zones are deter-
mined efficiently compared to those ascertained by pure
field evaluation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
1828 Z. Wang et al. / Advances in Space Research 65 (2020) 1818–1830
Acknowledgments
This study received financial support from the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41572316),
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