Seeing beyond the outcrop
- Paleokarst breccias are a common feature of sedimentary rift basins. The Billefjorden Trough in the High Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is an example of such a rift. Here the Carboniferous stratigraphy exhibits intervals of paleokarst breccias formed by gypsum dissolution. In this study we integrate digital outcrop models (DOMs) with a 2D ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey to extrapolate external irregular paleokarst geometries beyond the 2D outcrops. DOMs are obtained through combining a series of overlapping photographs with structure-frommotion photogrammetry, to create mmto dm-resolution georeferenced DOMs. GPR is typically used for surveying the shallow subsurface and relies on detecting the contrasts in electro-magnetic permittivity. We defined three geophysical facies based on their appearance in GPR. By integrating subsurface geophysical data with DOMs we were able to correlate reflection patterns in GPR with outcrop features. The chaotic nature of paleokarst breccias is seen both in outcrop and GPR. Key horizons in outcropPaleokarst breccias are a common feature of sedimentary rift basins. The Billefjorden Trough in the High Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is an example of such a rift. Here the Carboniferous stratigraphy exhibits intervals of paleokarst breccias formed by gypsum dissolution. In this study we integrate digital outcrop models (DOMs) with a 2D ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey to extrapolate external irregular paleokarst geometries beyond the 2D outcrops. DOMs are obtained through combining a series of overlapping photographs with structure-frommotion photogrammetry, to create mmto dm-resolution georeferenced DOMs. GPR is typically used for surveying the shallow subsurface and relies on detecting the contrasts in electro-magnetic permittivity. We defined three geophysical facies based on their appearance in GPR. By integrating subsurface geophysical data with DOMs we were able to correlate reflection patterns in GPR with outcrop features. The chaotic nature of paleokarst breccias is seen both in outcrop and GPR. Key horizons in outcrop and the GPR profiles allow tying together observations between these methods. Furthermore, we show that this technique expands the twodimensional outcrop surface into a three-dimensional domain, thus complementing, strengthening and extending outcrop interpretations.…
Author details: | Julian JanochaORCiD, Aleksandra Smyrak-SikoraORCiD, Kim SengerORCiD, Thomas BirchallORCiD |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2020.104833 |
ISSN: | 0264-8172 |
ISSN: | 1873-4073 |
Title of parent work (English): | Marine and petroleum geology |
Subtitle (English): | integration of ground-penetrating radar with digital outcrop models of a paleokarst system |
Publisher: | Elsevier Science |
Place of publishing: | Amsterdam [u.a.] |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2021/03/01 |
Publication year: | 2021 |
Release date: | 2024/06/07 |
Tag: | Billefjorden trough; Digital geology; Dissolution collapse breccia; Fortet member; Svalbard; Syn-rift breccia; Upper Paleozoic |
Volume: | 125 |
Article number: | 104833 |
Number of pages: | 16 |
Funding institution: | Svalbard Science Forum; Research Council of NorwayResearch Council of Norway [282547, 296084, 228107]; Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration (ARCEx); UArctic |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Hybrid Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |