Geologically representative feature engineering is a crucial component in geoscientific applications of machine learning.Many commonly applied feature engineering techniques used to produce input variables for machine...Geologically representative feature engineering is a crucial component in geoscientific applications of machine learning.Many commonly applied feature engineering techniques used to produce input variables for machine learning apply geological knowledge to generic data science techniques,which can lead to ambiguity,geological oversimplification,and/or compounding subjective bias.Workflows that utilize minimally processed input variables attempt to overcome these issues,but often lead to convoluted and uninterpretable results.To address these challenges,new and enhanced feature engineering methods were developed by combining geological knowledge,understanding of data limitations,and a variety of data science techniques.These include non-Euclidean fluid pre-deformation path distance,rheological and chemical contrast,geologically constrained interpolation of characteristic host rock geochemistry,interpolation of mobile element gain/loss,assemblages,magnetic intensity,structural complexity,host rock physical properties.These methods were applied to compiled open-source and new field observations from Archean greenstone terranes in the Abitibi and western Wabigoon sub-provinces of the Superior Province near Timmins and Dryden,Ontario,respectively.Resulting feature maps represent conceptually significant components in magmatic,volcanogenic,and orogenic mineral systems.A comparison of ranked feature importance from random forests to conceptual mineral system models show that the feature maps adequately represent system components,with a few exceptions attributed to biased training data or limited constraint data.The study also highlights the shared importance of several highly ranked features for the three mineral systems,indicating that spatially related mineral systems exploit the same features when available.Comparing feature importance when classifying orogenic Au mineralization in Timmins and Dryden provides insights into the possible cause of contrasting endowment being related to fluid source.The study demonstrates that integrative studies leveraging multidisciplinary data and methodology have the potential to advance geological understanding,maximize data utility,and generate robust exploration targets.展开更多
The West Qinling orogen in central China,formed from continental collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons in the Late Triassic,hosts numerous gold deposits with a total Au endowment of about 2000 t.Most d...The West Qinling orogen in central China,formed from continental collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons in the Late Triassic,hosts numerous gold deposits with a total Au endowment of about 2000 t.Most deposits were emplaced at ca.250-195 Ma and are genetically associated with the Triassic orogenesis.Here in situ U-Pb titanite dating with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicates the Ma’anqiao gold deposit in the northern portion of this orogen has a distinctive age and under a contrasting tectonic regime.This structurally controlled gold deposit is hosted in Late Ordovician to Early Silurian sub-greenschist facies metasedimentary rocks.The gold mineralization is hosted in quartz-pyritepyrrhotite veins and pyrite-pyrrhotite disseminations in hydrothermally altered rocks,which are crosscut by K-feldspar-calcitechlorite±pyrite veins.Titanite,present both in the disseminated sulfide ores and later veins,was used for in situ U-Pb dating.Titanite from three disseminated sulfide ore samples with Th and U averaging 27.46 and 39.31 ppm(1 ppm=1μg g^(-1)),respectively,yielded lower-intercept ages of 121.1±3.1 to 120.7±3.5 Ma(2σ)in the Tera-Wasserburg diagram.Titanite from three later vein samples with much lower Th and U concentrations averaging 2.74 and 16.21 ppm,respectively,yielded overlapping ages of 120.8±3.2 to 120.3±5.8 Ma(2σ).These new titanite U-Pb ages tightly constrain the formation of the Ma’anqiao gold deposit at ca.121-120 Ma and,when combined with independent geological data,indicate it is not related to the Triassic Qinling orogeny.Rather,its formation is attributed to lithospheric thinning and destruction of the North China craton during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous which has generated numerous gold deposits along the southern margin of this craton.This catastrophic event caused extensive magmatism in large areas of the North Qinling terrane and northern edge of the West Qinling orogen immediately to the south of the North China craton.The heat flux and elevated geothermal gradients associated with this magmatism could have induced prograde metamorphism of the Paleozoic sedimentary infrastructure in and beneath these areas with the derived fluids ascending along pre-existing crustal-scale regional structures to form the Ma’anqiao gold deposit.We suggest that areas in the North Qinling terrane that have been affected by the Late Mesozoic magmatism are potential targets for future exploration of the decratonization-related gold deposits.Additionally,this study highlights the use of titanite U-Pb dating as a robust geochronometer for metasedimentary rock-hosted gold deposits in Phanerozoic orogens,which has previously not been utilized.展开更多
文摘Geologically representative feature engineering is a crucial component in geoscientific applications of machine learning.Many commonly applied feature engineering techniques used to produce input variables for machine learning apply geological knowledge to generic data science techniques,which can lead to ambiguity,geological oversimplification,and/or compounding subjective bias.Workflows that utilize minimally processed input variables attempt to overcome these issues,but often lead to convoluted and uninterpretable results.To address these challenges,new and enhanced feature engineering methods were developed by combining geological knowledge,understanding of data limitations,and a variety of data science techniques.These include non-Euclidean fluid pre-deformation path distance,rheological and chemical contrast,geologically constrained interpolation of characteristic host rock geochemistry,interpolation of mobile element gain/loss,assemblages,magnetic intensity,structural complexity,host rock physical properties.These methods were applied to compiled open-source and new field observations from Archean greenstone terranes in the Abitibi and western Wabigoon sub-provinces of the Superior Province near Timmins and Dryden,Ontario,respectively.Resulting feature maps represent conceptually significant components in magmatic,volcanogenic,and orogenic mineral systems.A comparison of ranked feature importance from random forests to conceptual mineral system models show that the feature maps adequately represent system components,with a few exceptions attributed to biased training data or limited constraint data.The study also highlights the shared importance of several highly ranked features for the three mineral systems,indicating that spatially related mineral systems exploit the same features when available.Comparing feature importance when classifying orogenic Au mineralization in Timmins and Dryden provides insights into the possible cause of contrasting endowment being related to fluid source.The study demonstrates that integrative studies leveraging multidisciplinary data and methodology have the potential to advance geological understanding,maximize data utility,and generate robust exploration targets.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.42130814)。
文摘The West Qinling orogen in central China,formed from continental collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons in the Late Triassic,hosts numerous gold deposits with a total Au endowment of about 2000 t.Most deposits were emplaced at ca.250-195 Ma and are genetically associated with the Triassic orogenesis.Here in situ U-Pb titanite dating with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicates the Ma’anqiao gold deposit in the northern portion of this orogen has a distinctive age and under a contrasting tectonic regime.This structurally controlled gold deposit is hosted in Late Ordovician to Early Silurian sub-greenschist facies metasedimentary rocks.The gold mineralization is hosted in quartz-pyritepyrrhotite veins and pyrite-pyrrhotite disseminations in hydrothermally altered rocks,which are crosscut by K-feldspar-calcitechlorite±pyrite veins.Titanite,present both in the disseminated sulfide ores and later veins,was used for in situ U-Pb dating.Titanite from three disseminated sulfide ore samples with Th and U averaging 27.46 and 39.31 ppm(1 ppm=1μg g^(-1)),respectively,yielded lower-intercept ages of 121.1±3.1 to 120.7±3.5 Ma(2σ)in the Tera-Wasserburg diagram.Titanite from three later vein samples with much lower Th and U concentrations averaging 2.74 and 16.21 ppm,respectively,yielded overlapping ages of 120.8±3.2 to 120.3±5.8 Ma(2σ).These new titanite U-Pb ages tightly constrain the formation of the Ma’anqiao gold deposit at ca.121-120 Ma and,when combined with independent geological data,indicate it is not related to the Triassic Qinling orogeny.Rather,its formation is attributed to lithospheric thinning and destruction of the North China craton during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous which has generated numerous gold deposits along the southern margin of this craton.This catastrophic event caused extensive magmatism in large areas of the North Qinling terrane and northern edge of the West Qinling orogen immediately to the south of the North China craton.The heat flux and elevated geothermal gradients associated with this magmatism could have induced prograde metamorphism of the Paleozoic sedimentary infrastructure in and beneath these areas with the derived fluids ascending along pre-existing crustal-scale regional structures to form the Ma’anqiao gold deposit.We suggest that areas in the North Qinling terrane that have been affected by the Late Mesozoic magmatism are potential targets for future exploration of the decratonization-related gold deposits.Additionally,this study highlights the use of titanite U-Pb dating as a robust geochronometer for metasedimentary rock-hosted gold deposits in Phanerozoic orogens,which has previously not been utilized.
