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An Assessment of Geophysical Survey Techniques for Characterising the Subsurface Around Glacier Margins, and Recommendations for Future Applications

Watts, Hannah; Booth, Adam D.; Reinardy, Benedict T. I.; Killingbeck, Siobhan F.; Jansson, Peter; Clark, Roger A.; Chandler, Benjamin M. P.; Nesje, Atle

An Assessment of Geophysical Survey Techniques for Characterising the Subsurface Around Glacier Margins, and Recommendations for Future Applications Thumbnail


Authors

Hannah Watts

Adam D. Booth

Benedict T. I. Reinardy

Siobhan F. Killingbeck

Peter Jansson

Roger A. Clark

Atle Nesje



Abstract

Geophysical surveys provide an efficient and non-invasive means of studying subsurface conditions in numerous sedimentary settings. In this study, we explore the application of three geophysical methods to a proglacial environment, namely ground penetrating radar (GPR), seismic refraction and multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW). We apply these geophysical methods to three glacial landforms with contrasting morphologies and sedimentary characteristics, and we use the various responses to assess the applicability and limitations of each method for these proglacial targets. Our analysis shows that GPR and seismic (refraction and MASW) techniques can provide spatially extensive information on the internal architecture and composition of moraines, but careful survey designs are required to optimise data quality in these geologically complex environments. Based on our findings, we define a number of recommendations and a potential workflow to guide future geophysical investigations in analogous settings. We recommend the initial use of GPR in future studies of proglacial environments to inform (a) seismic survey design and (b) the selection of seismic interpretation techniques. We show the benefits of using multiple GPR antenna frequencies (e.g., 25 and 100MHz) to provide decimetre scale imaging in the near surface (e.g., < 15m) while also enabling signal penetration to targets at up to ∼40m depth (e.g., bedrock). This strategy helps to circumvent changes in radar signal penetration resulting from variations in substrate conductivity or abundant scatterers. Our study also demonstrates the importance of combining multiple geophysical methods together with ground-truthing through sedimentological observations to reduce ambiguity in interpretations. Implementing our recommendations will improve geophysical survey practice in the field of glacial geology and allow geophysical methods to play an increasing role in the interpretation of glacial landforms and sediments.

Citation

Watts, H., Booth, A. D., Reinardy, B. T. I., Killingbeck, S. F., Jansson, P., Clark, R. A., …Nesje, A. (2022). An Assessment of Geophysical Survey Techniques for Characterising the Subsurface Around Glacier Margins, and Recommendations for Future Applications. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, Article 734682. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.734682

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 14, 2022
Online Publication Date Mar 28, 2022
Publication Date Mar 28, 2022
Deposit Date Mar 30, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Frontiers in Earth Science
Electronic ISSN 2296-6463
Publisher Frontiers Media SA
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Article Number 734682
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.734682
Keywords near-surface geophysics, glacial geology, ground penetrating radar, seismic refraction, multichannel analysis of surface waves, proglacial environments
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7679498
Publisher URL https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.734682/full

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