STANDARD PHOTOGEOLOGIC TECHNIQUES provide
excellent basic data where rock outcrops and structure are apparent.
This entails the mapping of all visible stratigraphy and structure,
including all geologic formations and mappable key beds, strike and
dip of sedimentary strata, folds, faults, and fractures.
APPLIED GEOMORPHIC ANALYSIS is necessary in
areas of semi-consolidated surface rocks, very gently dipping beds,
widespread alluvium, mantle rock or vegetation cover. When
judiciously used, "applied geomorphology" provides information often
unobtainable by standard surface methods.
FOUR BASIC FACETS of the geomorphic approach are
Drainage, Land Form, Fracture Pattern and Color/Tonal Analyses.
These categories represent broad, interrelated fields of
investigation, each of which receive thorough consideration in order
to achieve a comprehensive evaluation.
IN ESSENCE "applied geomorphology" is concerned
with determining the degree of influence that structure and
lithology have had on the morphologic development of the region.
Basic relationships are established, and "Interruptions" to the
regional "norm" are interpreted as diagnostic clues to anomalous
subsurface conditions.
FINAL INTERPRETATIONS of the
photogeologic-geomorphic information, made in light of the geologic
history and tectonic framework of the region, give significant clues
to subsurface geologic conditions. They furnish numerous prospective
areas for the accumulation of petroleum/mineral deposits, and
provide regional concepts for planning and implementing broad-scale,
cost-effective exploration
programs.
