IMPACT OF GEOCORPS INTERNSHIP AT THE CUSTER GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST: KARST INVENTORY, MINE RECLAMATION, AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

GeoCorps America is an opportunity for geoscientists to have temporary work on federal lands, doing projects which are useful to the agency and a valuable career experience for the participant. This project involved karst inventory and database compilation as well as future survey planning, monitoring of abandoned uranium and chromium mines, and development of interpretive geology materials for public outreach. This work was conducted in the Beartooth Mountains, a scenic mountain range composed of Archean granite and gneiss, flanked on the east and northeast by a transgressive and regressive package of folded and faulted Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, intruded by tertiary porphyritic volcanics, Paleocene syn-orogenic conglomerate, and Pleistocene glacial deposits.

This position provided an opportunity for the intern to develop and present regularly scheduled interpretive geology materials to the general public, local and regional groups, school children, as well as a university-level field geology course. Topics included general geologic history, structural and economic geology, and glaciology.

Mine reclamation projects involved observation of abandoned mines to assess physical hazards, potential for metals leaching, adequate warning signage, as well as rock analysis using a portable X-Ray Fluorescence scanner to determine presence/absence of hazardous metals. Additionally, an active mining operation was monitored in the Stillwater Complex.

The intern also assisted in karst inventory by locating and entering cave systems to monitor biologic, hydrologic, and geologic resources. GIS databases which compiled historical data were created by the intern. In a collaborative project with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), cave potential in remote and physically inaccessible areas was assessed by the intern using published geologic maps, airborne LiDAR data, and Landsat 8 multispectral data. Cave potential maps will be used for a helicopter survey later in the year to locate previously unknown cave entrances.

The outcome of the Geocorps Internship was education of the public about regional geology, field data collection and analysis, preparation of reports, and collaboration with BLM on a cave identification project.