ROCK KRIGING WITH THE MICROSCOPE

Abstract

An idea to consider rock textures from a geostatistical viewpoint is suggested. Mineral grains are coded by indicator functions. Four metrics are shown of interest for petrographic applications. The simplest one is used to calculate covariograms of indicators for platinum-bearing gabbronorite from the Pansky rock massif (Kola Peninsula, Russia) with maximal range of 2 units. This is generalized in the concept of a minimal cluster of mineral grains for the given rock. The theory allows us to combine grain-by-grain and cluster-by-cluster considerations of rock texture. It may be used to classify monotonous lithological series using nuances of rock textures.