Remote detection of metal anomalies on Pilot Mountain, Randolph County, North Carolina

A biogeophysical technique used successfully to delineate mineralized zones under coniferous forests has been extended to a deciduous region in the Piedmont physiographic province of North Carolina. Pilot Mountain, a hydrothermally altered monadnock within the Carolina slate belt, contains areas of anomalously high amounts of Cu, Mo, and Sn in the soils. Leaves of canopy trees in the mineralized zone also contain significant amounts of Cu. Spectral data acquired from a high-resolution airborne spectroradiometer were processed using a waveform analysis technique to minimize background noise caused by canopy variations and slope effects. Areas containing anomalous metals were detected by spectral changes in the chlorophyll absorption region.