Mar 2023
Digital outcrop models have become a powerful tool for detailed geological mapping, as they allow geological exposures to be characterized in unprecedented detail while simultaneously mitigating access limitations that hinder conventional mapping approaches. In this talk I will present an emerging workflow that fuses digital outcrop data with high resolution ground- and UAV- based hyperspectral imaging products to better discriminate key lithological units, marker horizons and alteration trends. In some settings, hyperspectral data allows key mineral abundances to be mapped directly to create qualitative and quantitative mineral maps. These workflows will be explained and illustrated using various examples from Germany, Spain, Greenland, Morocco and Italy, where hyperspectral data has helped constrain the geometry of different geo-bodies across a range of tectonic environments and the associated diagenetic and mineral systems.
Sam Thiele did a PhD in structural volcanology at Monash University in Melbourne, and is now employed as a postdoctoral fellow in hyperspectral mineral mapping at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Research Technology. His research focuses on making geoscience digital by applying data science and computer simulation to capture, synthesize and analyse diverse and multi-scale earth system data. This includes the use of cutting-edge lab, ground and drone-borne hyperspectral sensors to accurately quantify and map geological systems.