Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Behn, G. Articles by Ware, H. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Aeromagnetic Signature of Porphyry Copper Systems in Northern Chile and Its Geologic Implications

Gerardo Behn, Francisco Camus and Pedro Carrasco

CODELCO-Chile, Huerfanos 1270, Santiago, Chile

Hunter Ware

Ware Exploration, Ivy Depot Road, Ivy, Virginia 22945

Corresponding author: e-mail,gbehn{at}stgo.codelco.cl

The compilation of a large aeromagnetic high-resolution dataset acquired for base metals exploration in northern Chile between lat 19° 45' S and 27° 15' S revealed a pattern of transorogenic regional magnetic anomalies. These anomalies occur as generally east-west stripes of negative residual magnetic intensity of more than –100 nanotesla (nT). They have an east-west extension of some tens of kilometers and a north-south width of some 5 to 10 km. Some of them can be observed continuously from the coast to the volcanic belt. Their residual intensity is typically more than –100 nT. They also show a loose north-south spacing. It is observed that all known porphyry copper deposits of the investigated segment are spatially related to these transverse magnetic anomalies. We propose that the transverse magnetic anomalies are the magnetic response to the loci of emplacement of intrusive bodies of batholithic size along paths of the advancing magmatic front of the active continental margin. The occurrence of several important porphyry copper deposits grouped in clusters within a district is explained as being related to a common parental intrusive complex, which is geophysically signaled by a corresponding transverse magnetic anomaly. A possible implication of the observed relationship between porphyry copper deposits and transverse magnetic anomalies is the quasideterministic restriction of porphyry copper deposits to certain orogen transverse loci (necessary condition) and the corresponding consequences for future exploration strategies.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Ott, T. Kollersberger, and A. Tassara GIS analyses and favorability mapping of optimized satellite data in northern Chile to improve exploration for copper mineral deposits Geosphere, June 1, 2006; 2(4): 236 - 252. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. A. Gow and J. L. Walshe The Role of Preexisting Geologic Architecture in the Formation of Giant Porphyry-Related Cu {+/-} Au Deposits: Examples from New Guinea and Chile Economic Geology, August 1, 2005; 100(5): 819 - 833. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Camus and J. H. Dilles A Special Issue Devoted to Porphyry Copper Deposits of Northern Chile Economic Geology, March 1, 2001; 96(2): 233 - 237. [Full Text] [PDF]