Examining Fluvial Stratigraphic Architecture Using Ground-Penetrating Radar at the Fanta Stream Fossil and Archaeological Site, Central Ethiopia

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 577-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lanzarone ◽  
Ervan Garrison ◽  
René Bobe ◽  
Assiged Getahun
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. SY67-SY81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Janson ◽  
Keumsuk Lee ◽  
Chris Zahm ◽  
Charles Kerans

Rudist buildups are important reservoirs in many Cretaceous fields in the Middle East, but they are generally near or below seismic resolution. The dimension, shape, and architecture of rudist buildups can be assessed using outcrop, although only partly so because of pseudo-2D observations of geobodies intersecting with the outcrop. We used ground-penetrating radar to enhance our understanding of the shape, dimension, and architecture of Albian rudist buildups in two outcrops in Texas. In the Lake Georgetown spillway, caprinid rudist buildups are 10–30 m wide and 2–7 m high. They are elliptical with an aspect ratio of as much as 1.7. They show no or very little flank development. The older buildup exposed in the Red Bluff Creek area displays 10- to 25-m-wide and 5- to 10-m-high in situ caprinid rudist mound core accumulations with as much as 100-m-wide reworked flanks in the shallower part of the depositional profile. Downdip along the depositional profile, caprinid buildups are 5–20 m wide and 3–7 m high with no flank debris. The buildups in the Lake Georgetown area have similar architecture and comparable size with the downdip buildups exposed in Red Bluff Creek. These buildups were compared with other outcropping Albian buildups in Texas that have different sizes, shapes, and stratigraphic architecture to provide dimensional data that could be used in subsurface reservoir modeling, either for calibrating variogram ranges or to build training images. The rudist buildups exposed in Texas are an order of magnitude smaller than those present in the subsurface in the Middle East, but they have comparable stratigraphic architecture. The size difference might be the result of subsurface buildups being mapped using well-log or core correlations or seismic extractions that cannot resolved at that scale of heterogeneity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Welc ◽  
Radosław Mieszkowski ◽  
Sebastian Kowalczyk ◽  
Jerzy Trzciński

Abstract This paper presents the preliminary results of ground penetrating radar sounding applied at the desert archaeological site in Saqqara (Egypt). The survey was carried out in 2012 within a project realized by Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw and the Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw. One of the key aims of the research was testing the application of ground penetrating radar to non-invasive surveys of desert archaeological sites. Radargrams obtained for area of so called the Dry Moat channel surrounding the Step Pyramid complex have shown the geological structure of its filling. It comprises among others debris-sand conglomerate of diluval origin characterized by a significant content of the clay fraction and clay minerals. Such lithological content strongly attenuate the propagation of EM waves, restricting the depth range of the GPR survey. The conducted geophysical prospection west to the Step Pyramid in Saqqara has confirmed the high applicability of the GPR method in non-invasive studies of vast architectural structures, such as the monumental ditch surrounding the Step Pyramid known as the Dry Moat. It should summarised that high horizontal resolution obtained during GPR survey is a result of local geological structure of the searched area, i.e. strong lithological contrast of the sediments filling the Dry Moat, which, depending on their mineralogical composition


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Luis Porsani ◽  
Guilherme de Matos Jangelme ◽  
Renato Kipnis

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-132
Author(s):  
Radosław Mieszkowski ◽  
Fabian Welc ◽  
Janusz Budziszewski ◽  
Witold Migal ◽  
Anna Bąkowska

Abstract Preliminary results of GPR field prospection carried out in the area of the prehistoric mining field Borownia (Ćmielów, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski District) are presented. This mining field forms a belt (30-50 m wide and 700 m long), starting from the valley edge of the Kamienna River southeastwards. Southeastern and western parts of the site have preserved the original post-exploitation relief. Geology of the Borownia mining field was examined and acquired radiograms revealed three distinct zones of anomaly concentrations. The central zone (B) is clearly a fragment of the prehistoric mining field, confirmed not only by the GPR sounding but also by archeological surveys. The other two zones have not yet been investigated in detail yet but their surface and archaeological examination may determine only whether their underground structures are natural or have been created by humans. Data obtained during the GPR prospection at the Borownia archaeological site confirmed usefulness of 100, 250 and 500 MHz antennas. The relatively large depth range and good resolution are due to favorable geological conditions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 515 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Gouvêa Luiz ◽  
Edithe Da Silva Pereira

ABSTRACT. Magnetic, resistivity and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) methods were applied to Sítio Domingos, a Brazilian archaeological site located in Pará State, to find objects buried by an ancient civilization that may have inhabited the site. Archaeological excavations based on the locations of magnetic anomalies reveal a concentration of ceramic fragments and pots. The correlation between the resistivity models and the soil profile of the study area suggests that the resistivity range of 2000 to 2500 ohm-m represents the archaeological occupation layer. Several anomalous features detected by GPR are correlated with magnetic anomalies. However, when these features are analyzed independently of the magnetic anomalies, they do not conclusively represent the objects being searched. Therefore, GPR is not recommended as the main tool for archaeological prospection in the study area.Keywords: magnetometry, electrical resistivity, GPR, archaeological excavation. RESUMO. Os métodos magnético, resistividade e radar de penetração no solo (GPR) foram aplicados no Sítio Domingos, um sítio arqueológico brasileiro localizado no Estado do Pará, para encontrar objetos enterrados por uma civilização antiga que pode ter habitado a região. Escavações arqueológicas com base nos locais de anomalias magnéticas revelaram uma concentração de fragmentos de cerâmica e vasos. A correlação entre os modelos de resistividade e do perfil do solo da área de estudo sugere que a faixa de resistividade de 2000-2500 ohm-m representa a camada de ocupação arqueológica. V´arias feições anômalas detectadas pelo GPR são correlacionáveis com anomalias magnéticas. No entanto, quando essas feições são analisadas independente das anomalias magnéticas, elas não representam de forma conclusiva os objetos que est~so sendo procurados. Portanto, o GPR não é recomendado como a principal ferramenta de prospecção arqueológica na área de estudo.Palavras-chave: magnetometria, resistividade elétrica, GPR, escavação arqueológica.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Bianchini Ciampoli ◽  
Andrea Benedetto ◽  
Alessandra Ten ◽  
Carla Maria Amici ◽  
Roberta Santarelli

<p>Ground Penetrating Radar has widely proven to be an effective tool for archaeological purposes [1, 2]. Our contribution concerns a geophysical experimental activity carried out in the Complex of Villa dei Sette Bassi, an archaeological site located in Rome, Italy.</p><p>In particular, the area was hypothesized to be interested by the track of the ancient via Latina [3, 4], which was the main internal route that connected Rome with the ancient Region of Campania; it ran parallel to the Via Appia, but it was built way before it.</p><p>The historical evolution of this landscape has seen great changes since the Middle Ages with a new economy that designed new parcels, new land uses and the stripping of building material from ancient remains: activities that have profoundly altered the territory in its appearance and functioning but also its road network. The uncontrolled building development, has over time hidden the ancient road network, today witnessed only by decontextualized monuments immersed in modern urbanization. Accordingly, great portion of the ancient via Latina remains still buried.</p><p>This works reports on the outcomes of the geophysical tests conducted within the area of Villa dei Sette Bassi, with the specific goal of locating the buried track of the via Latina. The survey has been carried out by using multi-frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems with different central frequencies. In detail, a preliminary low frequency analysis was conducted over the entire area that was indicated to be interested by the hidden remains by literary sources, to the intent of detecting the position of the buried road with higher accuracy. Based on the this, a second survey with higher resolution was conducted over a regularly spaced grid.</p><p>As a result, GPR tests have returned a coherent reflection pattern that is reasonably representative of a road subgrade/embankment. According to the preliminary archaeological interpretations, these results are most likely related to the historical track of via Latina, even though inspection pits are required in order to verify these assumptions.</p><p>In conclusion, GPR demonstrated a great applicability to archaeological purposes, i.e. to detect buried remains and to interpret the function of buried structures, despite the reliability and productivity of the data interpretation are strongly influenced by the expertise of both the geophysicists and the archaeologists involved.</p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>[1] Bianchini Ciampoli, L., Santarelli, R., Loreti, E.M., Ten, A., Benedetto, A. {2020} “Structural detailing of buried Roman baths through GPR inspection”, Archaeological Prospections, In Press.</p><p>[2] Milligan, R., & M., Atkin, {1993}. The use of ground-probing radar within a digital environment on archaeological sites, in Andresen, J., Madsen, T. and Scollar, I., eds., Computing the Past: Computer Application and Quantitative methods in Archaeology: Aarhus, Denmark, Aarhus University Press, pp. 285–291.</p><p>[3] Monti, P.G. {1995} “Via Latina”, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato. Libreria dello Stato Roma.</p><p>[4] Rea, R., Montella, F., Egidi, R.. Alteri, R., Diamanti, F., Mongetta, M., {2005} “Via Latina”, in Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae, III, pp. 133-202, Quasar ed., Roma.</p>


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