Shannon Entropy as an Indicator for Sorting Processes in Hydrothermal Systems.

ABSTRACT: Hydrothermal processes modify the chemical and mineralogical composition of rock. We studied and quantified the effects of hydrothermal processes on the composition of volcanic rocks by a novel application of the Shannon entropy, which is a measure of uncertainty and commonly applied in information theory. We show here that the Shannon entropies calculated on major elemental chemical composition data and short-wave infrared (SWIR) reflectance spectra of hydrothermally altered rocks are lower than unaltered rocks with a comparable primary composition. The lowering of the Shannon entropy indicates chemical and spectral sorting during hydrothermal alteration of rocks. The hydrothermal processes described in this study present a natural mechanism for transforming energy from heat to increased

SUBMITTER: van Ruitenbeek FJA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7517191 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature