Use of TOPSIS method in identifying potential geochemical anomalies in stream sediment studies.

The geochemistry of stream sediments is widely used in the study of the mineral exploration, and the separation of geochemical anomalies from the background is one of its most important steps. In this research, geochemical data of stream sediments were processed using TOPSIS method, which is a multivariate decision method. Using the decision matrix and solving the distance between ideal and non-ideal, geochemical anomalies were obtained without the need for statistical processing and without relation to the form of data distribution. For this purpose, 620 samples of sediments taken from streams in the Ahar region in northwestern Iran were used, and the results showed that geochemical data can be successfully prioritized to each number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]