USGS Media Alert: Flights Above Parts of Montana to Map Geology

A low-flying helicopter will quickly be seen to residents in six counties of Montana within the higher area of Helena, the Elkhorn Mountains, Bull Mountain and the Tobacco Root Mountains. 

Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology and Rio Tinto are partnering to picture geology utilizing airborne geophysical expertise as a part of the USGS Earth Mapping Useful resource Initiative (Earth MRI) venture. 

Starting in late Could and probably lasting till October, a helicopter underneath contract to Sander Geophysics Ltd. and Dewberry will likely be flying over parts of Madison, Silver Bow, Jefferson, Broadwater, Lewis and Clark and Powell counties. 

Devices on the helicopter will detect the Earth’s naturally occurring magnetic subject and radiation. This survey is one among a number of massive airborne geophysical campaigns being carried out throughout varied elements of the U.S. and can assist perceive the geology over areas that will comprise important mineral-bearing deposit varieties, in addition to enhance mapping of potential seismic hazards. Information collected as a part of this survey will likely be made public and used to information extra detailed geologic mapping at native scales. When the information evaluation is full, outcomes will present state-of-the-art subsurface maps that may contribute to a variety of 3D representations of the nation’s uncovered and hid geology. 

Flights will happen at an altitude of 300 to 500 ft above floor and will likely be flown in a grid sample with east-west strains spaced 200 meters (about 650 ft) aside and north-south strains spaced 2 kilometers (about 1.2 miles) aside. Skilled pilots, specifically educated and authorized for low-level flying, will function the plane. All flights will happen throughout daylight and are coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure accordance with U.S. regulation. The flights will likely be based mostly out of Butte.