Geochemical sampling in arid environments by the U.S. Geological Survey

SEG Newsletter 116 (January)

“…Stream sediment surveys (Fig. 4) followed by soil surveys are the most commonly used techniques in large areas (e.g., Hinkle, 1988), typically in complementary fashion to focus the search for a partly or completely exposed ore deposit. Widely spaced stream sediment sampling (one sample every several square kilometers) is used to identify large areas of anomalous metal(s) values, which are then progressively reduced in size using closer-spaced sampling (moving from a spacing of a few kilometers to hundreds of meters).…”