Listvenite occurrences in the fault zones of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica: Aster-based mapping approach

• Main Authors: Pour, AB, Park, Y, Hong, JK, Muslim, AM, Pradhan, B
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Bowers; Bowers Mountains; Robertson Bay; Victoria Land; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10453/149284

Listvenite, a Mg-carbonate-quartz-fuchsite±Cr-chlorite±pyrite±chromite rock, forms by hydrothermal/metasomatic alteration of mafic and ultramafic rocks and represents a key indicator for hydrothermal mineral deposits in orogenic belts. Hydrothermal/metasomatic alteration zones in the damage zones of accretionary plate boundaries are efficiently detected using multispectral satellite remote sensing data. In this research, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) multispectral remote sensing data are used to identify listvenite occurrences and alteration mineral zones in the poorly exposed damage zones of the boundaries between the Wilson, Bowers and Robertson Bay terranes in Northern Victoria Land (NVL) of Antarctica. Spectral information for detecting alteration mineral assemblages and listvenite zones were extracted at pixel and sub-pixel levels using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA)/Independent Component Analysis (ICA) fusion technique, Linear Spectral Unmixing (LSU) and Constrained Energy Minimization (CEM) algorithms. Mineral phases containing Fe2+, Fe3+, Fe-OH, Al-OH, Mg-OH and CO3 spectral absorption features were are distinguished in the damage zones through PCA/ICA fusion of ASTER visible and near infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands of ASTER. Silicate rocks are discriminated from the PCA/ICA fusion of the ASTER thermal infrared (TIR) bands. The extracted mineral images of goethite, hematite, jarosite, biotite, kaolinite, muscovite, antigorite, serpentine, talc, actinolite, chlorite, epidote, calcite, dolomite and siderite and listvenite occurrences were produced using the LSU and CEM algorithms. Listvenite occurrences are confined to mafic metavolcanic rocks (Glasgow Volcanics) in the Bowers Mountains. New field investigations verified the presence of listvenite in the mapped zones and further constrain on the efficiency of the integrative methodology used in this study.