Complexity and Productivity Differentiation Models of Metallogenic Indicator Elements in Rocks and Supergene Media Around Daijiazhuang Pb–Zn Deposit in Dangchang County, Gansu Province

Abstract

With the help of complexity indices, we quantitatively studied multifractals, frequency distributions, and linear and nonlinear characteristics of geochemical data for exploration of the Daijiazhuang Pb–Zn deposit. Furthermore, we derived productivity differentiation models of elements from thermodynamics and self-organized criticality of metallogenic systems. With respect to frequency distributions and multifractals, only Zn in rocks and most elements except Sb in secondary media, which had been derived mainly from weathering and alluviation, exhibit nonlinear distributions. The relations of productivity to concentrations of metallogenic elements and paragenic elements in rocks and those of elements strongly leached in secondary media can be seen as linear addition of exponential functions with a characteristic weak chaos. The relations of associated elements such as Mo, Sb, and Hg in rocks and other elements in secondary media can be expressed as an exponential function, and the relations of one-phase self-organized geological or metallogenic processes can be represented by a power function, each representing secondary chaos or strong chaos. For secondary media, exploration data of most elements should be processed using nonlinear mathematical methods or should be transformed to linear distributions before processing using linear mathematical methods.