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A geophysical investigation to locate missing graves utilizing ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic, and magnetic methods.

Shank, Jared Wyatt
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1389704983

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Abstract Shank, Jared W., M.S. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wright State University, 2013, A geophysical investigation to locate missing graves utilizing ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic, and magnetic methods. Old cemeteries often have graves that are unmarked because gravestones are missing or degraded and the graves are in areas for which maps or other historical documents are incomplete. This is the case for one cemetery in southwestern Ohio, known as Stevenson Cemetery, which contains graves of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 veterans. The immediate goal of this study is to locate unmarked graves in this cemetery using geophysical techniques. The broader goal is to evaluate three geophysical techniques to determine the effectiveness of each. The three geophysical techniques evaluated in this study are magnetics, electro-magnetics, and ground-penetrating radar. Magnetic surveys were accomplished using a Geometrics 858 Cesium Magnetometer (gradiometer configuration). Electromagnetic surveys were accomplished using a GSSI EMP 400 Profiler (16 kHz, 9 kHz, & 5 kHz) and a Minelab E-Trac metal detector (1.5-100 kHz, using 28 simultaneous frequencies). Ground-penetrating radar surveys were accomplished using a GSSI SIR-3000 GPR with a 400 MHz antenna. For a portion of the Stevenson Cemetery, a survey grid was established and utilized with each instrument. The ground-penetrating radar survey yielded a linear pattern of anomalies, which could represent graves. The electromagnetic method produced anomalies at each of the frequencies used. These anomalies appear to correspond to the magnetic anomalies. The ground-penetrating radar results were poor in 3D due to the presence of tree roots. However, individual 2D radargrams revealed some anomalies that coincide with the magnetic and electromagnetic anomalies. Overall, the magnetometer data yielded the best results. These were not definitive on their own and the best approach is to combine at least two of the three methods to map anomalies that could be potential gravesites.
Ernest Hauser, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Doyle Watts, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
David Dominic, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
241 p.
Electromagnetics; Geophysical; Geophysics
Geophysics, Ground Penetrating Radar, Electromagnetics, Magnetics, Mapping, Cemetery

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Shank, J. W. (2013). A geophysical investigation to locate missing graves utilizing ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic, and magnetic methods. [Master's thesis, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1389704983

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Shank, Jared. A geophysical investigation to locate missing graves utilizing ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic, and magnetic methods. 2013. Wright State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1389704983.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Shank, Jared. "A geophysical investigation to locate missing graves utilizing ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic, and magnetic methods." Master's thesis, Wright State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1389704983

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1389704983
1,531
© 2013, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License A geophysical investigation to locate missing graves utilizing ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic, and magnetic methods. by Jared Wyatt Shank is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.