Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) offers many advantages for assessing archaeological potential in frozen and partially frozen contexts in high latitude and alpine regions. These settings pose several challenges for GPR, including extreme velocity changes at the interface of frozen and active layers, c...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3d6e86a983494bd9b8f121ad96172d4c 2023-05-15T14:54:11+02:00 Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic Thomas M. Urban Jeffrey T. Rasic Claire Alix Douglas D. Anderson Sturt W. Manning Owen K. Mason Andrew H. Tremayne Christopher B. Wolff 2016-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8121007 https://doaj.org/article/3d6e86a983494bd9b8f121ad96172d4c EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/8/12/1007 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs8121007 https://doaj.org/article/3d6e86a983494bd9b8f121ad96172d4c Remote Sensing, Vol 8, Iss 12, p 1007 (2016) ground-penetrating radar Alaska Arctic permafrost mammoth Bering Land Bridge Science Q article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8121007 2022-12-31T07:30:33Z Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) offers many advantages for assessing archaeological potential in frozen and partially frozen contexts in high latitude and alpine regions. These settings pose several challenges for GPR, including extreme velocity changes at the interface of frozen and active layers, cryogenic patterns resulting in anomalies that can easily be mistaken for cultural features, and the difficulty in accessing sites and deploying equipment in remote settings. In this study we discuss some of these challenges while highlighting the potential for this method by describing recent successful investigations with GPR in the region. We draw on cases from Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The sites required small aircraft accessibility with light equipment loads and minimal personnel. The substrates we investigate include coastal saturated active layer over permafrost, interior well-drained active layer over permafrost, a frozen thermo-karst lake, and an alpine ice patch. These examples demonstrate that GPR is effective at mapping semi-subterranean house remains in several contexts, including houses with no surface manifestation. GPR is also shown to be effective at mapping anomalies from the skeletal remains of a late Pleistocene mammoth frozen in ice. The potential for using GPR in ice and snow patch archaeology, an area of increasing interest with global environmental change exposing new material each year, is also demonstrated. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bering Land Bridge Cape Krusenstern Ice permafrost Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Cape Krusenstern ENVELOPE(-113.903,-113.903,68.401,68.401) Remote Sensing 8 12 1007 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ground-penetrating radar Alaska Arctic permafrost mammoth Bering Land Bridge Science Q |
spellingShingle |
ground-penetrating radar Alaska Arctic permafrost mammoth Bering Land Bridge Science Q Thomas M. Urban Jeffrey T. Rasic Claire Alix Douglas D. Anderson Sturt W. Manning Owen K. Mason Andrew H. Tremayne Christopher B. Wolff Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic |
topic_facet |
ground-penetrating radar Alaska Arctic permafrost mammoth Bering Land Bridge Science Q |
description |
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) offers many advantages for assessing archaeological potential in frozen and partially frozen contexts in high latitude and alpine regions. These settings pose several challenges for GPR, including extreme velocity changes at the interface of frozen and active layers, cryogenic patterns resulting in anomalies that can easily be mistaken for cultural features, and the difficulty in accessing sites and deploying equipment in remote settings. In this study we discuss some of these challenges while highlighting the potential for this method by describing recent successful investigations with GPR in the region. We draw on cases from Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The sites required small aircraft accessibility with light equipment loads and minimal personnel. The substrates we investigate include coastal saturated active layer over permafrost, interior well-drained active layer over permafrost, a frozen thermo-karst lake, and an alpine ice patch. These examples demonstrate that GPR is effective at mapping semi-subterranean house remains in several contexts, including houses with no surface manifestation. GPR is also shown to be effective at mapping anomalies from the skeletal remains of a late Pleistocene mammoth frozen in ice. The potential for using GPR in ice and snow patch archaeology, an area of increasing interest with global environmental change exposing new material each year, is also demonstrated. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thomas M. Urban Jeffrey T. Rasic Claire Alix Douglas D. Anderson Sturt W. Manning Owen K. Mason Andrew H. Tremayne Christopher B. Wolff |
author_facet |
Thomas M. Urban Jeffrey T. Rasic Claire Alix Douglas D. Anderson Sturt W. Manning Owen K. Mason Andrew H. Tremayne Christopher B. Wolff |
author_sort |
Thomas M. Urban |
title |
Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic |
title_short |
Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic |
title_full |
Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Frozen: The Potential and Pitfalls of Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeology in the Alaskan Arctic |
title_sort |
frozen: the potential and pitfalls of ground-penetrating radar for archaeology in the alaskan arctic |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8121007 https://doaj.org/article/3d6e86a983494bd9b8f121ad96172d4c |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-113.903,-113.903,68.401,68.401) |
geographic |
Arctic Cape Krusenstern |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Cape Krusenstern |
genre |
Arctic Bering Land Bridge Cape Krusenstern Ice permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bering Land Bridge Cape Krusenstern Ice permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 8, Iss 12, p 1007 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/8/12/1007 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs8121007 https://doaj.org/article/3d6e86a983494bd9b8f121ad96172d4c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8121007 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1007 |
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1766325906508349440 |