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Application of fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and prediction-area (P-A) plot for mineral prospectivity mapping: a case study from the Dananhu metallogenic belt, Xinjiang, NW China

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Abstract

This paper describes a GIS-based application of a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to map porphyry-Cu prospectivity in the Dananhu metallogenic belt, NW China. Based on a model of porphyry-Cu mineralization, evidential layers were derived from geological, geochemical, and geophysical data. These layers were subsequently assigned weights by implementing a fuzzy AHP method using knowledge from three experts in porphyry-Cu exploration. After obtaining normalized weights, different fuzzy operators were tried to combine the weighted evidential layers into potential maps, which were then compared and evaluated by predication-area (P-A) plots. Subsequently, a ternary map was generated by defuzzification of the optimum prospectivity map as selected by the P-A plot; this ternary map shows zones of high, moderate, and low favorability for porphyry-Cu deposits in the study area. To further evaluate the results, potential zones were analyzed for two-dimensional spatial domain. The results demonstrate that the fuzzy AHP method can be effectively applied to mineral prospectivity mapping in vaguely known areas.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. This research benefited from the support from major projects in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (201330121-3), Cooperative program of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Local Government (the science and technology program aims to support the development of Xinjiang), National Basic Research Program of China 973 Program (2014CB440803), Funded projects for the western Dr. (XBBS201203), and 100 Talents Program of Xinjiang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Xinjiang Research Center for Mineral Resources, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Xishihui Du, Kefa Zhou, Yao Cui, Jinlin Wang & Nannan Zhang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xishihui Du

  3. British Columbia Geological Survey, Victoria, BC, V8W 9N3, Canada

    Yao Cui

  4. Information Center of Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources of Xinjiang, Urumqi, 830046, China

    Weidong Sun

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  1. Xishihui Du
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  2. Kefa Zhou
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  4. Jinlin Wang
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Correspondence to Kefa Zhou.

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Du, X., Zhou, K., Cui, Y. et al. Application of fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and prediction-area (P-A) plot for mineral prospectivity mapping: a case study from the Dananhu metallogenic belt, Xinjiang, NW China. Arab J Geosci 9, 298 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2316-y

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