Geobotanical prospecting refers to
prospecting
Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking.
Traditionally prospecting reli ...
based on
indicator plants like
metallophytes and the analysis of vegetation. For example, the
Viscaria Mine in Sweden was named after the plant ''
Silene suecica'' (syn. ''
Viscaria alpina'') that was used by prospecters to discover the ore deposits.
A "most faithful" indicator plant is ''
Ocimum centraliafricanum'', the "copper plant" or "copper flower" formerly known as ''Becium homblei'', found only on copper (and nickel) containing soils in central to southern Africa.
In 2015,
Stephen E. Haggerty identified ''
Pandanus candelabrum'' as a botanical indicator for
kimberlite
Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of ...
pipes, a source of mined diamonds.
The technique has been used in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
since in the 5th century BC. People in the region noticed a connection between vegetation and the minerals located underground. There were particular plants that throve on and indicated areas rich in copper, nickel, zinc, and allegedly gold though the latter has not been confirmed. The connection arose out of an agricultural interest concerning soil compositions. While the process had been known to the Chinese region since antiquity, it was not written about and studied in the west until the 18th century in Italy.
[* Temple, Robert. ''The Genius of China''. London: Prion Books Limited 1999 159 pages]
References
Citations
Books
* Craddock, Paul T. ''Early Metal Mining and Production''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press 1995.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geobotanical Prospecting
Economic geology
Phytogeography
Chinese discoveries