Ground Penetrating Radar and sedimentological investigations of quartz-glauconite sands in the Lubartow area (south-east Poland)

The study area is situated in Nowodwor-Piaski village (near Lubartów city) about 170 kilometers south-east from Warsaw (Central Poland), where Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys and outcrop investigations were conducted during an extensive open-pit mining of the Paleogene quartz-glauconite sands. The study was based on 29 GPR profiles and 12 sediment samples and generated a high resolution data set of lithofacies and ground penetrating radar profiles. Sedimentary analyses (the granulometric composition of deposits, lithofacies) followed the GPR studies. All GPR profiles were collected with 250 MHz shielded antenna. The results show that the sediments produce characteristic radar facies which can be observed in excavation. In studied sediments iron oxides and hydroxides are present they are either spread in sands or form iron horizons. The iron oxides and hydroxides have much better water retention capacity than quartz grains, which in turn affects the amplitude of the GPR signal. When they form layers they are clearly visible in GPR profiles.