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The use of GPR to detect active layers in young periglacial terrain of Livingston Island, Maritime Antarctica
Author(s) -
Schwamborn Georg,
Wagner Dirk,
Hubberten HansW.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
near surface geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.639
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1873-0604
pISSN - 1569-4445
DOI - 10.3997/1873-0604.2008008
Subject(s) - ground penetrating radar , geology , permafrost , geomorphology , volcano , borehole , active layer , terrain , radar , seismology , paleontology , oceanography , cartography , computer science , layer (electronics) , geography , thin film transistor , telecommunications , chemistry , organic chemistry
The South Shetland Islands offer ice‐free margins with periglacial surfaces that are only a few decades old after the recent glacier retreat. Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) profiling was used to acquire information on young permafrost occurrence as deduced from active layer advance. Local GPR measurements included grids of parallel single‐offset 2D reflection profiles and multi‐offset measurements to determine wave velocity in the ground. Excavations served to determine the sedimentary composition and to backup GPR profile interpretation. GPR results show that the active layer could easily be traced at a site 140 m above sea level (asl), which is placed in volcanic soil. In contrast, GPR data were ambiguous at a site low in altitude (35 m asl), where frozen and unfrozen ground was imaged next to each other and GPR interpretation relied on ground verification.