The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard
This paper investigates historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard in the European High Arctic. A short-lived British marble quarry in Kongsfjorden lay deserted after 1920. We ask why this attempt at the large-scale development of High Arctic marble was unproductive; whether there are structural feat...
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ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/260d4437-5506-4b22-8401-745b0fa454ef 2023-05-15T14:57:57+02:00 The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard Koster, Benjamin Kruse, Frigga 2016 http://hdl.handle.net/11370/260d4437-5506-4b22-8401-745b0fa454ef https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/the-use-of-ground-penetrating-radar-gpr-in-the-investigation-of-historical-quarry-abandonment-in-svalbard(260d4437-5506-4b22-8401-745b0fa454ef).html eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Koster , B & Kruse , F 2016 , ' The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard ' , Polar Record , vol. 52 , no. 264 , pp. 330-344 . ISSN:0032-2474 SVALBARD History Geophysics article 2016 ftunigroningenpu 2022-01-22T18:51:45Z This paper investigates historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard in the European High Arctic. A short-lived British marble quarry in Kongsfjorden lay deserted after 1920. We ask why this attempt at the large-scale development of High 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 Using complementary historical documents, we are able to dispel the myths that permafrost or shattered surface rock affected workability and profitability.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 University of Groningen research database Arctic Svalbard |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Groningen research database |
op_collection_id |
ftunigroningenpu |
language |
English |
topic |
SVALBARD History Geophysics |
spellingShingle |
SVALBARD History Geophysics Koster, Benjamin Kruse, Frigga The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard |
topic_facet |
SVALBARD History Geophysics |
description |
This paper investigates historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard in the European High Arctic. A short-lived British marble quarry in Kongsfjorden lay deserted after 1920. We ask why this attempt at the large-scale development of High 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 |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11370/260d4437-5506-4b22-8401-745b0fa454ef https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/the-use-of-ground-penetrating-radar-gpr-in-the-investigation-of-historical-quarry-abandonment-in-svalbard(260d4437-5506-4b22-8401-745b0fa454ef).html |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden permafrost Polar Record Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden permafrost Polar Record Svalbard |
op_source |
Koster , B & Kruse , F 2016 , ' The use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the investigation of historical quarry abandonment in Svalbard ' , Polar Record , vol. 52 , no. 264 , pp. 330-344 . ISSN:0032-2474 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
_version_ |
1766330036869136384 |