Remote detection of chlorophyll fluorescence of sagebrush; Gold Run District, Humboldt County, Nevada

Abstract

Open-File Report 89-107This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S, Geological Survey editorial standards. (Any use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the USGS.) ABSTRACTRecent advances in the understanding of the role of chlorophyll fluorescence in the detection of stress conditions in plants has led to the desire to apply this tool to mineral exploration. The Fraunhofer line discriminator (FLD) has been used to detect differences in chlorophyll fluorescence indicating plant stress in citrus. An experiment was conducted to determine the possibility of detecting chlorophyll fluorescence differences which might result from anomalous concentrations of gold in sagebrush. The plants were apparently dormant and the results are inconclusive.