Applications of terrestrial LiDAR, infrared thermography, and photogrammetry for mapping volcanic rocks in southern BC

Remote sensing methods are widely used in geological applications today, as many outcrops are difficult to access. Terrestrial LiDAR, infrared thermography, and photogrammetry are used at two field sites in BC: the Cheakamus Valley Basalts (CVB) and Chilcotin Group basalts (CG). The physical properties of the rock at each field site such as composition, texture and structure were studied through remote sensing, and compared to analyses completed in the laboratory as well as traditional contact mapping. The CVB site consists of two outcrops of isolated lava flows approximately 10 km southwest of Whistler, BC, and the CG basalts are observed at the Chasm, a 7 km-long canyon approximately 20 km northeast of Clinton, BC. A virtual field site of the Chasm site was constructed from the remote sensing data, and in conjunction with these analyses, this research clearly shows that it is possible to remotely map otherwise inaccessible volcanic rock masses.