The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard
ABSTRACT This paper investigates historical quarry abandonment in Spitsbergen, Svalbard. A short-lived British marble quarry in Kongsfjorden lay deserted after 1920. We ask why this attempt at the large-scale development of Arctic marble was unproductive; whether there are structural features that a...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247415000844 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247415000844 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247415000844 2024-04-07T07:50:26+00:00 The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard Koster, Benjamin Kruse, Frigga 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247415000844 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247415000844 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 52, issue 3, page 330-344 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 2016 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247415000844 2024-03-08T00:35:51Z ABSTRACT This paper investigates historical quarry abandonment in Spitsbergen, Svalbard. A short-lived British marble quarry in Kongsfjorden lay deserted after 1920. We ask why this attempt at the large-scale development of Arctic marble was unproductive; whether there are structural features that affected the known historical trenches and boreholes; and whether the reason for abandonment was primarily geological. During interdisciplinary fieldwork rooted in industrial archaeology and structural geology, we employed medium-resolution ground penetration radar (GPR) to discern subsurface disturbances near the workings. Seven survey grids gave rise to both areas of fracturing and folding as well as areas of sound marble. Using complementary historical documents, we are able to dispel the myths that permafrost or shattered surface rock affected workability and profitability. Although structural disturbances were present, bedrock geology was, in fact, less important than the proportion of waste rock to marketable product. Whether a product was marketable depended on a multitude of other factors. This paper moves away from oversimplified reasoning in mining history and promotes the bridging of geological and historical scales in order to understand the full suite of local and global driving forces in the historical process. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden permafrost Polar Record Svalbard Spitsbergen Cambridge University Press Arctic Svalbard Polar Record 52 3 330 344 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Koster, Benjamin Kruse, Frigga The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
ABSTRACT This paper investigates historical quarry abandonment in Spitsbergen, Svalbard. A short-lived British marble quarry in Kongsfjorden lay deserted after 1920. We ask why this attempt at the large-scale development of Arctic marble was unproductive; whether there are structural features that affected the known historical trenches and boreholes; and whether the reason for abandonment was primarily geological. During interdisciplinary fieldwork rooted in industrial archaeology and structural geology, we employed medium-resolution ground penetration radar (GPR) to discern subsurface disturbances near the workings. Seven survey grids gave rise to both areas of fracturing and folding as well as areas of sound marble. Using complementary historical documents, we are able to dispel the myths that permafrost or shattered surface rock affected workability and profitability. Although structural disturbances were present, bedrock geology was, in fact, less important than the proportion of waste rock to marketable product. Whether a product was marketable depended on a multitude of other factors. This paper moves away from oversimplified reasoning in mining history and promotes the bridging of geological and historical scales in order to understand the full suite of local and global driving forces in the historical process. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Koster, Benjamin Kruse, Frigga |
author_facet |
Koster, Benjamin Kruse, Frigga |
author_sort |
Koster, Benjamin |
title |
The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard |
title_short |
The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard |
title_full |
The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard |
title_sort |
use of ground penetrating radar (gpr) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in svalbard |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247415000844 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247415000844 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden permafrost Polar Record Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden permafrost Polar Record Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 52, issue 3, page 330-344 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247415000844 |
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Polar Record |
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52 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
330 |
op_container_end_page |
344 |
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1795665147256111104 |