A Preliminary Thin Bed Attribute Analysis Using Ground Penetrating Radar in North Padre Island National Seashore, Texas
Abstract
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has limited depth of penetration and vertical bed resolution, which can be a major setback for analyzing layers in the near subsurface. Applying a proper attribute analysis can resolve bed thicknesses more accurately by increasing vertical resolution. The variation in the thinning and thickening of beds provides helpful insight to depositional environments in coastal settings. This attribute analysis was performed on field data collected on North Padre Island National Seashore, Texas. The field site was chosen because it is subject to significant storm activity in the Gulf of Mexico where the morphology responds to and recovers from storm surges. The study site showed evidence of recent storm activity in the form of washover deposits that were caused by storm surges overwashing low-lying topography of the foredunes. Multiple survey arrays were collected using a 250MHz frequency antenna to identify thinning beds in the form of pinch outs. When applying the attribute analysis, the resulting GPR data showed a high amplitude "bright spot" along sandstone beds where they pinch out around the extents of storm deposits. This analysis was then applied to a field site with known washover fans and channels to determine the extent of vertical resolution that can be achieved with this method. The bed thickness resolution plays a key role in understanding, and predicting storm signatures recorded in coastal sediments by creating a relationship between storm velocity and deposit extents.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFMNS43A1500F
- Keywords:
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- 0674 ELECTROMAGNETICS / Signal processing and adaptive antennas;
- 1625 GLOBAL CHANGE / Geomorphology and weathering;
- 4217 OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL / Coastal processes