蒸汽探测是金属矿勘探中最近发展的一种技术,当然也是一种比较新的手段。虽然某些方面在苏联应用了多年,但苏联工作者所描述的蒸汽探测或气体测量方法在北美的首次出现,还是在六十年代初。主要优点是:埋藏在数百英尺覆盖岩层下面的矿体,能产生游移气体晕,进入到矿体上部土壤,给出有矿体存在的线索。现在已建立一种探测土壤气和大气中汞蒸汽的方法,不仅用来找矿,而且可以用于测量环境污染,以及在地震带中找隐伏断层的地质 Steam detection is a recently developed technology in metal exploration, of course, is a relatively new method. Although some aspects were used in the Soviet Union for many years, the first method of steam detection or gas measurement described by Soviet workers appeared in North America in the early 1960s. The main advantage is that the orebodies buried beneath hundreds of feet of overburden can produce a halo of migrating gas that enters the upper part of the ore body and gives clues as to the presence of ore bodies. A method to detect mercury in the soil and atmosphere has now been established, not only for prospecting but also for the measurement of environmental pollution and the geology of hidden faults in seismic zones