GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy)
The application of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) prospecting to the search of fossil structures, particularly using advanced techniques like Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modelling and GPR attribute analysis, is currently poorly exploited in paleontology. Here, we promote the use of such a G...
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2021
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6ddb23a70ed844cb81c64f5dbce614c7 2023-05-15T18:26:49+02:00 GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy) Maurizio Ercoli Roberto Bizzarri Angela Baldanza Angela Bertinelli Diego Mercantili Cristina Pauselli 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11090386 https://doaj.org/article/6ddb23a70ed844cb81c64f5dbce614c7 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/11/9/386 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences11090386 2076-3263 https://doaj.org/article/6ddb23a70ed844cb81c64f5dbce614c7 Geosciences, Vol 11, Iss 386, p 386 (2021) GPR fossils clay attenuation modelling attributes analysis Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11090386 2022-12-31T04:36:57Z The application of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) prospecting to the search of fossil structures, particularly using advanced techniques like Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modelling and GPR attribute analysis, is currently poorly exploited in paleontology. Here, we promote the use of such a GPR workflow at Bargiano (Umbria, central Italy), a unique paleontological site known for the discovery of cetacean skeletons, dolomitized sperm-whale cololites ( Ambergrisichnu salleronae ), and layered fossil assemblages. The study site is characterized by a very uneven topography shaping highly conductive clayey deposits, representing not exactly ideal conditions for GPR surveying. After generating models encompassing a real topography and variable electrical properties of media, we simulated buried fossil structures at variable depth with different size and geometry, using different operative frequencies. After obtaining information on the characteristics of reflections, investigation depth, and detectability, we provide a comparison with experimental data, also used to compute instantaneous amplitude and phase attributes. Upon depicting a peculiar GPR signature for our targets, we discuss the results in light of ground-truthing performed through trenching. Our workflow allowed us to restrict the excavation areas, extending the surface information in depth in a non-invasive way, and optimizing the field operations, necessary for the preservation of the study site. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sperm whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Geosciences 11 9 386 |
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collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
GPR fossils clay attenuation modelling attributes analysis Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
GPR fossils clay attenuation modelling attributes analysis Geology QE1-996.5 Maurizio Ercoli Roberto Bizzarri Angela Baldanza Angela Bertinelli Diego Mercantili Cristina Pauselli GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy) |
topic_facet |
GPR fossils clay attenuation modelling attributes analysis Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The application of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) prospecting to the search of fossil structures, particularly using advanced techniques like Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modelling and GPR attribute analysis, is currently poorly exploited in paleontology. Here, we promote the use of such a GPR workflow at Bargiano (Umbria, central Italy), a unique paleontological site known for the discovery of cetacean skeletons, dolomitized sperm-whale cololites ( Ambergrisichnu salleronae ), and layered fossil assemblages. The study site is characterized by a very uneven topography shaping highly conductive clayey deposits, representing not exactly ideal conditions for GPR surveying. After generating models encompassing a real topography and variable electrical properties of media, we simulated buried fossil structures at variable depth with different size and geometry, using different operative frequencies. After obtaining information on the characteristics of reflections, investigation depth, and detectability, we provide a comparison with experimental data, also used to compute instantaneous amplitude and phase attributes. Upon depicting a peculiar GPR signature for our targets, we discuss the results in light of ground-truthing performed through trenching. Our workflow allowed us to restrict the excavation areas, extending the surface information in depth in a non-invasive way, and optimizing the field operations, necessary for the preservation of the study site. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Maurizio Ercoli Roberto Bizzarri Angela Baldanza Angela Bertinelli Diego Mercantili Cristina Pauselli |
author_facet |
Maurizio Ercoli Roberto Bizzarri Angela Baldanza Angela Bertinelli Diego Mercantili Cristina Pauselli |
author_sort |
Maurizio Ercoli |
title |
GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy) |
title_short |
GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy) |
title_full |
GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy) |
title_fullStr |
GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy) |
title_full_unstemmed |
GPR Detection of Fossil Structures in Conductive Media Supported by FDTD Modelling and Attributes Analysis: An Example from Early Pleistocene Marine Clay at Bargiano Site (Central Italy) |
title_sort |
gpr detection of fossil structures in conductive media supported by fdtd modelling and attributes analysis: an example from early pleistocene marine clay at bargiano site (central italy) |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11090386 https://doaj.org/article/6ddb23a70ed844cb81c64f5dbce614c7 |
genre |
Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
Sperm whale |
op_source |
Geosciences, Vol 11, Iss 386, p 386 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/11/9/386 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3263 doi:10.3390/geosciences11090386 2076-3263 https://doaj.org/article/6ddb23a70ed844cb81c64f5dbce614c7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11090386 |
container_title |
Geosciences |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
386 |
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1766208782799470592 |