Mineral composite assessment of Kelkit River Basin in Turkey by means of remote sensing

Abstract

Utilizing remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) tools, mineral composite characteristics (ferrous minerals (FM), iron oxide (IO), and clay minerals (CM)) of the Kelkit River Basin (15913.07km2) in Turkey were investigated and mapped. Mineral composite (MC) index maps were produced from three LANDSAT-ETM+ satellite images taken in 2000. Resulting MC index maps were summarized in nine classes by using 'natural breaks' classification method in GIS. Employing bi-variety correlation analysis, relationships among index maps were investigated. According to the results, FM and IO index maps showed positive correlation, while CM index map is negatively correlated with FM and IO index maps. Negative correlations between iron and clay variables suggested that the dominant clay minerals of the study area might be smectite, illite, kaolinite, and chlorite, which have little or no iron content. Using field data for which their geographic coordinates had been determined by global positioning system (GPS), developed MC maps were verified, and found dependable for environmental and ecological modeling studies. © Indian Academy of Sciences.