Delineation of shallow stratigraphy using ground penetrating radar

Abstract

Ground penetrating radar surveys were conducted at four sites to investigate the shallow stratigraphy and to determine the applicability and performance of the radar technique. A basic analog-recording radar system with a single 80 MHz antenna was used for all of the surveys. Good stratigraphic control existed at all of the sites so that the effectiveness of the radar could be evaluated. The four sites were distinctly different in composition and extent. At an upland farm site in the glaciated region of southwestern Ohio a clay-rich soil covers shallow bedrock. Some soil horizons were identifiable on the radar profiles, but only to a depth of 1.4 m. At a sand and gravel quarry in southwestern Ohio the depositional patterns of the unsaturated deposits were clearly imaged to a depth greater than 4 m. At a hydraulic fill dam in western Ohio the changes in the internal composition of the earthen fill were observed on the radar records to depths of 4 m. On San Salvador in the Bahamas radar profiles over partially consolidated carbonate sand revealed an extensive series of buried beach ridges to depths of 4 m. These data were useful in understanding the depositional history of the area, which could not be determined from surface and pit sampling alone. These studies show that ground penetrating radar is an important tool for studying shallow stratigraphy where the ground conductivity is low enough to permit radar reflections from depths of interest.