Geological Structure Control of The Distribution Quartz Vein as Mineralization Pathway In Kawatuna Area, Palu City Indonesia

Abstract

The Kawatuna area has a complex geological structure condition and is estimated to be a weak zone for hydrothermal solutions to rise and then accumulate into deposits in the form of veins. Based on this, it makes this area interesting to study. This study aims to determine the condition of the geological structure and its influence on the condition of the distribution of veins in the study area. The method used is surface geological mapping and geological structures analysis. Based on surface geological mapping, it was found that the study area was composed of schist rock units, gneiss, granodiorite, and molasses units. The geological structure that developed in the study area consisted of shear joints in the form of systematic and non-systematic shear joints and shear faults. The distribution of quartz veins in the study area has a general direction of northwest-southeast and northeast-southwest. The presence of mineralization in the form of quartz veins in the study area is strongly controlled by the presence of geological structures that form an oblique convergence fault model that shows a dilatational movement force. The deposit opening system formed in the study area is a jog deposit system in which pull-apart basin fracture arrays develop which are characterized by the presence of tension fractures/veins.