Geological features and mineral deposits of Erenler (central-Artvin) village surroundings

The oldest unit of the study area, which covers an area of approximately 2.5 km2 in Erenler (Artvin/Merkez) village and its surroundings, is the Kızılkaya formation, which consists of Santonian aged acidic volcanism products such as dacite, rhyodacite, rhyolite and their pyroclastics, and occasionally micritic limestones and tuff layers. . Micritic limestones located in the upper part of the unit settled harmoniously on these acidic volcanism products during the period when volcanism paused. After the collision of the Eastern Pontides and the Taurids throughout the region in the Selandian-Early Thanetian time interval, marine environmental conditions prevailed as a result of the tensional tectonic regime and the Late Thanetian-Ypresian aged Erenler formation was deposited with angular unconformity. The Erenler formation unconformably consists mostly of turbiditic clastic rocks. In the study area, dacite-dacitic tuffs and pyroclastics belonging to the Santonian aged Kızılkaya formation were tectonically deposited on the younger Erenler formation. It was aimed to reveal the Cu-Au-Ag-Zn-Pb mineralizations in the Erenler alteration area, which was investigated locally by the MTA General Directorate between 1974 and 1984, considering that they may be important for VMS mineralization in a wider area. The ore contains an average of 0.46% Fe2O3, 0.77% CuO, 8.23% ZnO, 3.36% PbO, 40.83% BaO and 27.66% SO3, and these components have provided the formation of pyrite, chalcopyrite, fahlerz group, galenite, sphalerite and barite. According to the cluster analyses conducted in the Erenler mineralization, the main components and REE form a separate group, the main components - REE cluster, while Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ba and S are clustered depending on the sulfide mineralization. According to the analysis results of mineralogical-petrographic and XRD samples taken in the alteration zones, it was determined that argillic (quartz, illite, kaolinite) alteration developed in the study area. All volcanic rocks are enriched in lithophile elements with large ion diameters compared to elements with high persistence, indicating that the magma developed in relation to the subduction process.