Principal Component Analysis Applied to Stream Sediment Data in Passo do Salsinho, RS, Brazil

Abstract

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a multivariate technique that has had large uses in Geology since long ago, and its uses have been increased a lot in the last two decades. Geochemical surveys, as they are multivariable studies, must consider the approaches that treat all the variables under consideration at the same time, taking into account their relationships together with the individual characteristics of each variable. PCA was used to|treat 441 stream sediments data analysed for 20 variables in an area of the Rio-Grandense Shield, south of Brazil (Passo do Salsinho area), and the results were considered satisfactory as they showed the contour of the main mineralized zones known in the area, and it has also showed the variables that were not contributing to the knowledge of the geochemical pattern of the area