Combination of Remote Sensing and Fractal Modeling for Identification of Alteration Zones in Tirka Area, NE Iran

Tirka area is situated in NE Iran as a part of the TCMB which consists of Paleogene sediments and volcanic rock units with a combination of Eocene intermediate to basic rocks. The research aim is to determine the alteration zones using C-N fractal model based on ASTER satellite images. First, the ASTER data was processed using SFF method for determination of iron oxide, propylitic, phyllic, and argillic alteration zones. The C-N fractal model is utilized for the separation of different parts of alteration zones. The results derived via the C-N fractal model showed that the main trend of the alteration zones is in NE-SW direction. Also, based on the C-N log-log plots, there are six geochemical populations for iron oxide alteration, four geochemical populations for argillic and phyllic alterations, and five geochemical populations for propylitic alteration. There is a high intensity of alteration zones commences with 223 for iron oxide, 204 for argillic, 199 for propylitic and phyllic alteration zones. In order to validate the results, field observations and petrographical studies based on thin-polish sections were carried out. These data confirmed the alteration zones obtained by the modeling. the data obtained from the combination methods, were verified by Logratio matrix,