The application of ground penetrating radar in delineating shore platform morphology: A case study from wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a new technique in field sciences and is now commonly applied to studies of coastal dunes and beaches. The technique has yet to be applied on hard rocky coasts, and its ability to discern subsurface stratigraphy has great potential for investigating landform evolution on tectonically active shorelines where erosional surfaces are often buried by sediments derived from marine and nonmarine sources. In this study, we test the resolution of a 100- and 250-MHz GPR system on a series of Holocene uplifted shore platforms and gravel beaches in Wellington, New Zealand. The sediment thickness at the sites investigated ranged from a thin veneer to many meters and is c..