A review of detailed airborne geophysical surveys in Great Britain

Detailed airborne geophysical surveys, with flight line spacings of a few hundred metres, low terrain clearance and a combination of magnetic, EM and radiometric instruments, provide high-resolution data that are particularly valuable for mineral exploration purposes. The British Geological Survey (BGS) holds data for 17 of these airborne mineral exploration surveys, covering a combined area of approximately 16,000 km*, carried out in Britain since 1957. The survey areas are distributed across the country, mainly over rocks of Precambrian, Lower Palaeozoic and Carboniferous age. Significant mineral deposits within these areas include the granite-related mineralisation of south-west England, the volcanogenic massive-sulphide deposit at Parys Mountain in Anglesey and stratabound mineralisation in the Dalradian of central Scotland. This report has been compiled to increase awareness and promote usage of these valuable datasets. It includes information on the survey locations, geophysical methods and equipment, and a brief geological background for each area. Of the many datasets originally recorded in analogue form, the largest and those of most interest have recently been converted to digital form to allow full use to be made of state-of-the-art presentation and interpretation software. Conversion of the analogue data will be continued in order to provide coverage of further areas. These digital datasets can be integrated readily with other digital geoscience data to optimise the appraisal of prospective areas.