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Prospecting for Clinoptilolite-Type Zeolite in a Volcano-Sedimentary Terrain Using ASTER Data: A Case Study from Alborz Mountains, Northern Iran

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Abstract

Zeolites are hydrated alumino-silicates of alkali metals and alkaline earth cations which occur in sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary terrains. In this study, visible–near-infrared and shortwave infrared data of ASTER were evaluated in prospecting for zeolite in part of the green tuff belt of the Alborz Mountains, northern Iran. The study area is dominantly covered by sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary rocks, in which zeolite minerals occur only in the Late Eocene vitric tuff. Principal components (PC) analysis and spectral information divergence (SID) were used to discriminate and map the sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary units and the zeolite-rich areas, respectively. The X-ray diffraction and reflectance spectroscopy results indicated that clinoptilolite is the major type of zeolite mineral in this area. Comparing a color composite image, produced from PC images 1–3–5 as R–G–B, with the published geological map and the field investigations indicated that major sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary units as well as their alluvial deposits were discriminated efficiently. Results of the SID method, using an image-derived spectrum of clinoptilolite as a reference, showed good agreements with the field observations. The results of this study indicated that ASTER data are useful for discriminating various sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary units as well as clinoptilolite-type zeolite-rich areas in arid and semiarid terrains.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our appreciation to Mark van der Meijde, Caroline Lievens, and Wim H. Bakker for their constructive comments and suggestions. Also, we would like to thank Mr. Mehran Rajabi, from Afrazand zeolite Company, for his help during the field work and also to Department of Earth Systems Analysis, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, for providing laboratory facilities.

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Shiraz University, Adabyat Square, P.O. Box. 71454, Shiraz, Iran

    Khadijeh Validabadi Bozcheloei & Majid H. Tangestani

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  1. Khadijeh Validabadi Bozcheloei
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  2. Majid H. Tangestani
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Correspondence to Khadijeh Validabadi Bozcheloei.

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Validabadi Bozcheloei, K., Tangestani, M.H. Prospecting for Clinoptilolite-Type Zeolite in a Volcano-Sedimentary Terrain Using ASTER Data: A Case Study from Alborz Mountains, Northern Iran. Nat Resour Res 28, 1317–1327 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-019-09452-1

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