Estimating Depth to Bedrock Using Ground Penetrating Radar in the Carolina Slate Belt.

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) studies on soils in the Carolina Slate Belt (Ultisols and Inceptisols at our site) are limited.  GPR was used to develop an understanding of the variability in depth to bedrock at two watersheds in the North Carolina Piedmont. The watersheds are located in the Duke Forest in Orange County, NC. GPR transects were selected to capture geomorphologic variability, i.e. landscape position, landform elements, topographic curvature and slope, in order to test for correlation of these with depth to bedrock .  Preliminary investigations using GPR indicate high variability in depth to bedrock within the study area.  Further analyses will examine the significance of the correlation between geomorphologic variability and depth to bedrock. This investigation demonstrates the applicability of GPR as a soil survey assessment tool.