New Data on Coal, Gypsum, Iron and Silica Sand Deposits and Geochemical Exploration (Pakistan): Revision of 25 Years History of Dinosaur Discoveries from Pakistan

Discoveries of many coal seams at depths by drilling carried by Geological Survey of Pakistan in Sor Range and Harnai Gochina, extended the coal seams at depth which is challenge for mine owners to exploit feasibly. Bed to bed gypsum samplings (and their chemical analyses) of huge gypsum deposits from Sulaiman foldbelt is a base for industrialist and also planers to develop cement and gypsum industries to increase export and foreign exchange for the development of area and Pakistan. Low and high grade sedimentary iron deposits, silica sand and uranium host rocks and their extensions in Sulaiman and Kirthar foldbelts are presented. Anomalies of a few base metals arise as a result of geochemical exploration carried at part of Loralai District of Balochistan. Theropod dinosaurs were frequent in India, while Poripuchian titanosaurs (Sauropoda, Dinosauria) were frequent in Pakistan. Besides some ichnotaxa, many bone taxa such as 1 titanosauriform, 14 titanosaurian sauropod (including one new titanosaur), and 3 theropod dinosaurs are established from Pakistan. Among these 12 titanosaur species and 3 theropod species are named in about 10 km2 area of Vitakri dome and 2 titanosaur species are named in about a few hundred square meter area of Mari Bohri (Kachi Bohri) which is about 10 km westward from Vitakri dome. Pakistan is a unique country which discoverd 14 diversified titanosaurs in a short area and also in a short period (67 - 66 million years ago/Ma). About 400 bones found from a few meter thick upper part of upper shale horizon of latest Maastrichtian Vitakri Formation which is base for titanosaur taxa. Cranial material is in low fraction (but include significant diverse snouts), caudal vertebrae are prominent, the cervicals, dorsals and sacrals have significant numbers, forelimb and hind limb bones have balanced fraction. Humeri, femora and tibiae are most common. To know the position of Pakistani titanosaurs among titanosaurs and sauropods, there is a need to extend list of characters for phylogenetic analyses. This broad feature list should include main characters of titanosaurs from Pakistan and also from global world.

Application of Wavelet Analysis toInterference Elimination for Geochemical Hydrocarbon Exploration

Interference in the data of geochemical hydrocarbon exploration is a large obstacle for anomaly recognition. The multiresolution analysis of wavelet analysis can extract the information at different scales so as to provide a powerful tool for information analysis and processing. Based on the analysis of the geometric nature of hydrocarbon anomalies and background, Mallat wavelet and symmetric border treatment are selected and data pre-processing (logarithm-normalization) is established. This approach provide good results in Shandong and Inner Mongolia, China. It is demonstrated that this approach overcome the disadvantage of backgound variation in the window (interference in window), used in moving average, frame filtering and spatial and scaling modeling methods.

A Study of the Method for the Recognition of Anomalies in Geochemical Hydrocarbon Exploration

The greatest difficulties in recognizing geochemical hydrocarbon anomalies are: (1) how to objectively and accurately separate anomalies from background; (2) how to distinguish hydrocarbon pool related apical anomalies from lateral anomalies controlled by faults; and (3) how to eliminate interferences. These uncertainties are serious obstacles for the wide acceptance and use of geochemical techniques in hydrocarbon exploration. In this paper, the features of hydrocarbon anomalies were analyzed based on the micro migration mechanisms. In most cases, there are two anomalous populations or point groups, which are produced by two distinct mechanisms: (1) a population that directly reflects oil and gas fields, and (2) one that is related to structures such as faults. Statistical studies show that background anomalous populations and the boundaries between them can be described by the population means, prior probabilities, which are the proportions of population sizes, and covariance matrices, when background and anomalous populations have normal distributions. When this normality condition is met, a series of formulas can be derived. The method is designed on the basis of these allows: (1) univariate anomaly recognition, (2) elimination of interferences, (3) multivariate anomaly recognition, and (4) multivariate anomaly combination which depicts a more representative picture of morphology of the anomalous target than individual anomalies. The univariate and multivariate anomaly recognition can not only separate anomalies from background objectively, but also simultaneously distinguish the two types of anomalies objectively. This method was applied to the hydrocarbon data in Yangshuiwu region, Hebei Province. The interferences from regional variation of background were eliminated, and the interpretation uncertainty was reduced greatly as the anomalous populations were separated. The method was also used in Daxing region within the confines of Beijing City, and Aershan and Jiergalangtu regions in Inner Mongolia.

Geochemical and Geophysical Data Processing Aided by“Multifractal-Spectrum”Filters for GIS-Based Mineral Exploration

A recently developed method, on the bases of “multifractal spectrum” filters for mineral exploration, is introduced in this paper. The “multifractal spectrum” filters, a group of irregularly shaped filters that are constructed on each processed datum, can be used to separate various types of geochemical and geophysical anomalies. The basic model, with an emphasis on the GIS based implementation and the application to the geochemical and geophysical data processing for mineral exploration in southern Nova Scotia, Canada, indicates its advantage in the separation of multiple anomalies from the background.

Important Achievement and Advance of Natural Gas Geology and Geochemical Exploration in China

Academician Dai Jinxing has long been engaged in natural gas geology and geochemical researches,and has made prominent contributions to the establishment and development of China’s theory of coal-derived gas.He has opened up new areas of coal-derived gas exploration,natural gas formation theory and formation“ control conditions of large ” medium gas fields.

Application of Lead Isotopes to Geochemical Exploration of Gold Deposits in Baoban,Hainan Province, China

Lead isotopes have been widely applied in geochemical explora tion and evaluation of ore deposits, as well as in ascertaining the age of miner alization and the source of ore fluids. Long-term practice showed that the meth od of lead isotope targeting is somewhat efficient for macroscopic evaluation of forecasting areas, but not powerful enough for forecasting concealed orebodies. As the contents of U and the variation of U/Pb ratio sharply decrease with dept h in the lithosphere, U-Th-Pb isotopic differentiation must have occurred duri ng the crust-mantle evolution. Lead isotopic ratios show a wide variation range , varying in the front of mineralization and shallow-derived ores, but maintain ing very stable in the major orebody and being usually close to the average isot opic composition of the crust and mantle of the continent block from which the o res were derived. Therefore, the lead isotopic composition can serve as a measur e for identifying the position of mineralization. The lead isotope geochemistry was applied to the exploration and evaluation of the Baoban gold deposits of Hai nan Province, China. The analytical results of ore veins and adjacent rocks show ed that there is a correlation between the lead isotope data and the position of orebody. Based on the experience from the Baoban gold deposits and other ore de posits in Yunnan Province, an exploration principle has been established, that i s, positive anomalies of lead isotope eigenvectors for prospecting deep-seated orebodies and negative anomalies of eigenvectors for enlarging lateral explorati on surrounding the known deposit. The ore beds in the Erjia and Beiniu mining di stricts should be assigned to the deep part of the orebody and those in the Tuwa ishan mining district should be the shallow part, so ore beds corresponding to t hose in the Erjia and Beiniu mining districts may be found in the Tuwaishan mini ng district.

Application of Tectono Geochemical Study in Deep Concealed Ore Body Exploration--As the Huize Super-Large Lead-Zinc Deposit an exemple

1 Geological Background of Minerlization or Geologic Setting The northeast of Yunnan1 Pb-Zn-Ag-Ge polymetallic ore district is an important part of the southwestern margin of the Yangtze block Sichuan-Yunnan-Guizhou

Unconventional Geochemical Exploration for Gold Deposits

Conventional geochemical exploration for gold deposits has not always been very satisfactory, especially for buried and blind ones. New considerations and methodology in sampling, analysis and interpretation have been developed in China during the past decade. Important considerations for unconventional gold exploration in this paper are that (1) gold is active in surface environments; (2) gold occurs not only as discrete grains, but also as ultrafine particles (submicron?to nanometer-sized particles of gold) and other complex forms; (3) regional low anomalies and superimposed anomalies over buried gold deposits are produced by ultrafine gold grains and other complex forms of gold. The methodology based on these considerations has been developed both in regional and in local geochemical exploration for gold. Examples of the preliminary application of these methods in two areas covered by transported overburden are given.

Geochemical Exploration for Gold and the Association of As-Cu-Pb-Sn-Zn-Li in the Upper Proterozoic Granitoids of the Wadi Rumman Area, Southwest Jordan

The geochemical studies were conducted in an area covering about 15 km2?of the south side of the Wadi Rumman area, SW Jordan. The study area included a part of a basement of complex exposed rocks in southwestern Jordan. The complexes comprised igneous and metamorphic suites, mostly from the late Proterozoic age. A systematic geochemical sampling was conducted using rock and heavy mineral-panned concentrate of geochemical samples. Fifty rock samples were collected from the granitic rocks, simple pegmatite dyke, quartz veins and alteration zone, which covered the area. Next, 45 heavy mineral-panned concentrate samples were collected from the alluvium in the stream sediment within the catchment area, and the dray was sieved to less than 1 mm grain size. The geochemical samples were analyzed for their trace elements and gold by using Ione Conductive Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) at Natural Resources Authority (NRA) Labs. The results of the geochemical analysis indicated the presence of gold and heavy minerals in the study area, a result considered abnormal in the rock samples. A strong positive correlation was recorded of Au with As, Cu and W (r =?0.82, 0.7 and 1.0), as with Mo (r = 0.83), Cu with Pb (r = 0.83), Sn with Mo (r = 0.73), Mo with W (r = 0.97), Zn with W (r = 0.71), and Li with Bi (r = 0.7). These correlations revealed gold associated within the hydrothermal alteration, quartz veins and pegmatite dyke. Abnormal metals such as As and Bi were good path-finders to find Au. The HM samples showed low positive linear correlations among the concentrations of Au with As, Zn and Li, and negative linear correlations of Au with Pb, Sn, Bi and W. The combination of both rock and heavy mineral concentrate samples shows four geochemical anomalous areas of gold and heavy minerals. The geochemical signatures of Au and As in the Wadi Rumman appear to be in the hydrothermal alteration, quartz veins and pegmatite dyke, respectively. Heavy mineral concentration sampling delineated the Au geochemical anomaly in area 1 specificities with the rock geochemical anomaly of area 1.

Geochemistry of Termite Hills as a Tool for Geochemical Exploration of Glass Sand in the Iraqi Western Desert

Sand glass deposits was located in the mid of the Western Desert of Iraq. It is situated within Rutba Formation (Ceno-manian). Ancient traditional mining method is still used in exploitation the unconsolidated white glass sand from glass sand quarry. The overburden thickness ranges from 2 to 4 m in average. Termite hills were observed around the glass sand quarry extending far from the quarry area. Termites could burrows down and penetrate the sand glass bringing it up to the surface. The depth of penetration reaches more than 35 m. The field observation of the white color of termite hills which are built up by sand glass gave a good indicator for the hidden subsurface deposit and it appears to be a surface signature for finding glass sand directly under the termite hills. The scattered white hills of glass sand on the surface with high content of SiO2, concordant Zr/Hf and Th/U ratios and heavy mineral distribution in both of quarry and termite hills provide a strong evidence of that those termite hills could be an effective tool for exploring subsurface hidden glass sand up to 35 m depth.

Research and Application of New Methods to Oil-Gas Geochemical Exploration

Based on the results of researches and applications for many years, it has been discovered that new methods and techniques for geochemical exploration of oil and gas such as δC, altered carbonate, Hg in absorption phase, Ks, Fe2+, δ13C, fluorescence in two and three dimensions, and N2 and O2 in heat release can give full play in the following five fields: (1) optimization of the favourable target or hollow zones and structural zones in a region; (2) evaluation of oil traps and delineation of prospective oil and gas areas; (3) prediction of deep-seated oil-bearing horizons; (4) evaluation of the genesis of oil and gas geochemical anomalies and determination of the types of oil and gas accumulations; (5) forecast of the burial depths of oil and gas pools.

Advanced geochemical exploration knowledge using machine learning: Prediction of unknown elemental concentrations and operational prioritization of Re-analysis campaigns

In exploration geochemistry,advances in the detection limit,breadth of elements analyze-able,accuracy and precision of analytical instruments have motivated the re-analysis of legacy samples to improve confidence in geochemical data and gain more insights into potentially mineralized areas.While a re-analysis campaign in a geochemical exploration program modernizes legacy geochemical data by providing more trustworthy and higher-dimensional geochemical data,especially where modern data is considerably different than legacy data,it is an expensive exercise.The risk associated with modernizing such legacy data lies within its uncertainty in return(e.g.,the possibility of new discoveries,in primarily greenfield settings).Without any advanced knowledge of yet unanalyzed elements,the importance of re-analyses remains ambiguous.To address this uncertainty,we apply machine learning to multivariate geochemical data from different regions in Canada(i.e.,the Churchill Province and the Trans-Hudson Orogen)in order to use legacy geochemical data to predict modern and higher dimensional multi-elemental concentrations ahead of planned re-analyses.Our study demonstrates that legacy and modern geochemical data can be repurposed to predict yet unanalyzed elements that will be realized from re-analyses and in a manner that significantly reduces the latency to downstream usage of modern geochemical data(e.g.,prospectivity mapping).Findings from this study serve as a pillar of a framework for exploration geologists to predictively explore and prioritize potentially mineralized districts for further prospects in a timely manner before employing more invasive and expensive techniques.

Sedimentary environment and organic matter accumulation of Wufeng-Longmaxi shales,southwest Yangtze Plate,China:Insights from geochemical and petrological evidence

Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian Wufeng-Longmaxi Formation is the most developed strata of shale gas in southern China.Due to the complex sedimentary environment adjacent to the Kangdian Uplift,the favorable area for organic-rich shale development is still undetermined.The authors,therefore,focus on the mechanism of accumulation of organic matter and the characterization of the sedimentary environment of the Wufeng-Longmaxi Shales to have a more complete understanding and new discovering of organic matter enrichment and favorable area in the marginal region around Sichuan Basin.Multiple methods were applied in this study,including thin section identification,scanning electron microscopy(SEM)observations and X-ray diffraction(XRD),and elemental analysis on outcrop samples.Five lithofacies have been defined according to the mineralogical and petrological analyses,including mudstone,bioclastic limestone,silty shale,dolomitic shale,and carbonaceous siliceous shale.The paleo-environments have been reconstructed and the organic enrichment mechanism has been identified as a reduced environment and high productivity.The Wufeng period is generally a suboxic environment and the early Longmaxi period is a reducing environment based on geochemical characterization.High dolomite content in the study area is accompanied by high TOC,which may potentially indicate the restricted anoxic environment formed by biological flourishing in shallower water.And for the area close to the Kangdian Uplift,the shale gas generation capability is comparatively favorable.The geochemical parameters implied that new favorable areas for shale gas exploration could be targeted,and more shale gas resources in the mountain-basin transitional zone might be identified in the future.

Regional Geochemical Division—A Tool for Delineating Geochemical Block

Regional geochemical division is a mapping technique to divide an area into slices where the associations between geochemical elements are relatively simple and uniform. The result of division is expressed on a 2 D map. The scheme of regional geochemical division includes non supervised pattern recognition, elementary statistics and factor analysis. A practical example in a gold prospecting area in Jilin, China, and the corresponding explanation are presented. Regional geochemical division is a basic approach to the delineation of the geochemical blocks as well.

Discovery of Wolitu Pb-Zn deposit through geochemical prospecting under loess cover in Inner Mongolia, China

We report the finding of the Wolitu Pb-Zn deposit in Inner Mongolia, China, through a series of geochemical surveys. The Wolitu area, located in the loess-cover area in the Hure Banner, Tongliao City,Inner Mongolia, and neighboring the Horqin Sandy Land to the north, had no previous history of Pb-Zn mining or record of Pb-Zn mineralization. Our study identified a large Pb-Zn anomaly with potential zones of mineralization by stream sediment survey. Random rock sampling reveals limonitization at sporadic outcrops in the gullies. The high concentrations of Pb in the residual debris provided guidelines to fix the position for exploratory trench. Oxidized concealed orebodies were identified by trenching.Blind orebodies in veins hosted within the structural zone between slates and marbles of the upper Carboniferous Shizuizi Formation and the Permian granite were discovered by drilling. It is computed that the ore reserve may reach up to 540,000 tones with Pb grade of 1.27% and Zn of 1.9%. This case study is an excellent example for identifying potential polymetallic deposits in loess covered terrains using geochemical exploration.

Geochemical and Environmental Evaluation of Um Shashoba Gold Mine Area,Southeastern Desert,Egypt

A suite of elements（Ag,Au,Ba,Bi,Cd,Co,Cr,Cu,Ga,Hf,Hg,Mn,Mo,Ni,Pb,Rb,Sb,Se, Sr,Te and Zn）,total organic carbon（TOC）and pH were analyzed in stream sediment and tailing samples from Um Shashoba area,in order to evaluate Au placer and the sediments being impacted by old mining activities.Analytical results were examined using statistical,graphical and mapping methods.In spite of the results revealing that Au and most of the elements in sediments were in general significantly lower than those in tailing,Au was concentrated in the NE and SW parts forming Au placer.It is remarkably a close association of Au with Hg and Sb;both are useful as pathfinder elements for Au placers.Values of pH could not control a fate of analyzed elements,whereas TOC and Mn oxides and hydroxides could uptake some elements Au,Ba,Co,Cr,Hg,Ni,and Sr.The results also indicated that the sediments were contaminated by anthropogenic factors causing moderate,strong to very strong pollution with respect to Bi,Se and Te,respectively.Additionally,geogenic factors could also contribute elemental enrichment to the drainage system and cause significant toxicity level.

Use of portable X-ray fluorescence in the analysis of surficial sediments in the exploration of hydrothermal vents on the Southwest Indian Ridge

Hydrothermal plumes released from the eruption of sea floor hydrothermal fluids contain large amounts of oreforming materials. They precipitate within certain distances from the hydrothermal vent. Six surficial sediment samples from the Southwest Indian Ridge（SWIR） were analyzed by a portable X-ray fluorescence（PXRF） analyzer on board to find a favorable method fast and efficient enough for sea floor sulfide sediment geochemical exploration. These sediments were sampled near, at a moderate distance from, or far away from hydrothermal vents. The results demonstrate that the PXRF is effective in determining the enrichment characteristics of the oreforming elements in the calcareous sediments from the mid-ocean ridge. Sediment samples（〉40 mesh） have high levels of elemental copper, zinc, iron, and manganese, and levels of these elements in sediments finer than 40 mesh are lower and relatively stable. This may be due to relatively high levels of basalt debris/glass in the coarse sediments, which are consistent with the results obtained by microscopic observation. The results also show clear zoning of elements copper, zinc, arsenic, iron, and manganese in the surficial sediments around the hydrothermal vent. Sediments near the vent show relatively high content of the ore-forming elements and either high ratios of copper to iron content and zinc to iron content or high ratios of copper to manganese content and zinc to manganese content. These findings show that the content of the ore-forming elements in the sediments around hydrothermal vents are mainly influenced by the distance of sediments to the vent, rather than grain size. In this way, the PXRF analysis of surface sediment geochemistry is found to satisfy the requirements of recognition geochemical anomaly in mid-ocean ridge sediments. Sediments with diameters finer than 40 mesh should be used as analytical samples in the geochemical exploration for hydrothermal vents on mid-oceanic ridges. The results concerning copper, zinc, arsenic, iron, and manganese and their ratio features can be used as indicators in sediment geochemical exploration of seafloor sulfides.

Application of fractal content-gradient method for delineating geochemical anomalies associated with copper occurrences in the Yangla ore field,China

Fractal and multi-fractal content area method finds application in a wide variety of geological,geochemical and geophysical fields.In this study,the fractal content-gradient method was used on1：10,000 scale to delineate geochemical anomalies associated with copper mineralization.Analysis of geochemical data from the Yangla super large Cu-Pb-Zn polymetallic ore district using the fractal content-gradient method,combined with other geological data from this area,indicates that oreprospecting in the ore district should focus on Cu as the main metal and Pb-Zn and Au as the auxiliary metals.The types of deposits include（in chronological order） re-formed sedimentary exhalative（SEDEX）,skarns,porphyries,and hydrothermal vein-type deposits.Three ore-prospecting targets are divided on a S-N basis：（1） the Qulong exploration area,in which the targets are porphyry-type Cu deposits;（2） the Zongya exploration area,where the targets are porphyry-type Cu and hydrothermal vein-type Cu-Pb polymetallic deposits;and（3） the Zarelongma exploration area,characterized mainly skarn-type ＂Yangla-style＂ massive sulfide Cu-Pb deposits.Our study demonstrates that the fractal content-gradient method is convenient,simple,rapid,and direct for delineating geochemical anomalies and for outlining potential exploration targets.

Geochemical characteristics and genetic type of a lithium ore (mineralized) body in the central Yunnan Province, China

Lithium ore (mineralized) bodies in the area A of central Yunnan Province belong to a sedimentary-type, which are controlled by stratum. The studied ore (mineralized) body mainly occurs in the Middle Permian Liangshan Formation. This work described the morphology, structures, main ore types and geochemical characteristics of this ore body in detail, and discussed the ore-forming material source, occurrence state of lithium and the formation mechanism of lithium ores to clarify the prospecting marks. In the further exploration, comprehensive evaluation of the lithium resources of known bauxite ore bodies in central Yunnan Province should be strengthened, and the exploration of hidden lithium ore bodies should be intensified in order to discover more large and super-large lithium orebodies, which will fill the gap of the national demand for lithium resources, and promote the national defense construction and new energy industry development.

Surface Geochemical Patterns over Oil and Gas Traps

Surface geochemical exploration for oil and gas is still in the empirical stage , despite 50 years has passed since the method was first proposed by Laubmeyer and Sokolov . A boom of its application is emerging in China followed the depression during 60 - 70 's . However , before the method can be accepted by the industry as a routine technique , a relatively sound basis should be established . This paper presents several cases over known oil and gas fields and discusses the factors that effect the surface geochemical expression of underground oil pools .