Publication Date
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Ernest Hauser (Advisor), David Dominic (Committee Member), Doyle Watts (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to further study geophysical anomalies discovered and mapped by Shank (2013) at the Stevenson Cemetery, Greene County, Ohio, with the goal of delineating any resistivity anomaly possibly associated with suspected, but unmarked, burial sites. The previous study delineated geophysical anomalies using electromagnetic (EM), magnetic, and ground penetrating radar surveys, which were interpreted to represent unmarked burial sites. A hand-drawn map from the 1950’s shows a pattern of gravesites across this area, and three aligned subtle depressions are present at the surface in the study area. The focus of this study was to expand the previous work by using electrical resistivity. Resistivity data were collected over a span of three days using a 28-electrode Sting-Swift resistivity system, and the data were processed using the Geotomo RES2DINV and RES3DINV programs. Several aligned and elongated high-resistivity anomalies (~50-80 ohm*m versus ~10 ohm*m for surrounding materials) with similar dimensions (2 m x 1 m) and depth (~ 0.34 m to 0.78 m), are coincident with the geophysical anomalies discovered and mapped previously by Shank (2013). These high resistivity anomalies are interpreted to likely represent air-filled, or partially air-filled, voids and likely represent intact burials. This is further supported by the alignment, dimensions and spacing of the anomalies that resembles the alignment and pattern on he old hand-drawn map of this part of the cemetery produced in the 1950’s.
Page Count
447
Department or Program
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Year Degree Awarded
2019
Copyright
Copyright 2019, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law.
