Use of Digital Elevation Models in Metallogenic Investigations on the Example of the Central Part of the Lower Amur Province

Abstract —The digital elevation model (SRTM03) of the central part of the Lower Amur province is analyzed. The Limuri–Amgun ring structure is identified on the basis of a set of features, and it is also the location of the Pilda–Limuri and Kherpuchin–V’yunsky gold-ore regions, as well as the Albazino deposit, known for large industrial gold deposits and many small deposits and ore occurrences. The distribution of linear and ring elements of the relief is analyzed and geologically interpreted, and its spatial relationship with gold deposits and ore occurrences is shown. The relationship between the morphological severity of the ring structure and the deep structure of the region is shown. It is revealed that the structure is magmatic and characterized by a high concentration of intrusive bodies. According to the reference data on the age and composition of the igneous complexes of the region, the formation of the ring structure is associated with the processes of formation and transformation of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle during the end of the Late Cretaceous and the onset of the Paleocene in a suprasubduction geodynamic setting.