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Acquisition of ground penetrating radar data to detect lava tubes: preliminary results on the Komoriana cave at Fuji volcano in Japan

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Abstract

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been successfully used to detect a lava tube in a basaltic lava flow from the Fuji volcano, Japan. The target lava tube, Komoriana cave, is in the northern part of the Aokigahara lava flow which was emplaced over 1,000 years ago. The lava tube was detected by simply dragging the GPR antenna along a prefecture road, demonstrating the advantages of this method compared with detailed mapping and geological investigations. As a massive basaltic lava flow allows deep penetration of the radar pulse, the reflection radar profile obtained showed two very clear structures which were interpreted from the waveforms to be the roof and the bottom of the lava tube from the waveforms alone. This was subsequently confirmed by careful survey measurements of the Komoriana cave lava tube. The feasibility study clearly demonstrated that GPR is a very effective and convenient tool for discovering unknown lava tubes hidden deeply inside lava flows.

Résumé

Le radar géologique a été utilisé avec succès pour détecter un tube de lave dans une coulée basaltique issue du volcan Fuji au Japon. Le tube de lave recherché, connu sous le nom de grotte Komoriana, se situe dans la partie nord de la coulée Aokigahara qui s'est mise en place il y a 1.000 ans. Le tube de lave fut détecté en déplaçant simplement l'antenne le long d'une route, démontrant ainsi les avantages de cette méthode par comparaison avec des investigations et cartographies géologiques détaillées. Une coulée basaltique massive permettant une profonde pénétration des impulsions radar, le profil de réflexion radar obtenu a montré deux structures claires qui furent interprétées à partir de la forme des ondes radar comme étant le toit et la base du tube de lave. Ceci fut ensuite confirmé par des mesures précises dans la grotte Komoriana. L'étude de faisabilité a démontré clairement que le radar géologique est un outil efficace et pratique pour la détection de tubes de lave inconnus présents en profondeur dans les coulées de basalte.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Ashiwadamura-village Board of Education and the Bat-Cave Conservancy for their support of this work. They are also grateful to Alexis Palmero for his informal review and helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosystem Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Hideaki Miyamoto, Jun'ichi Haruyama, Shuichi Rokugawa, Kyosuke Onishi, Tetsuma Toshioka & Jyun-ichi Koshinuma

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  1. Hideaki Miyamoto
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  2. Jun'ichi Haruyama
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  3. Shuichi Rokugawa
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  4. Kyosuke Onishi
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  5. Tetsuma Toshioka
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  6. Jyun-ichi Koshinuma
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Miyamoto, H., Haruyama, J., Rokugawa, S. et al. Acquisition of ground penetrating radar data to detect lava tubes: preliminary results on the Komoriana cave at Fuji volcano in Japan. Bull Eng Geol Environ 62, 281–288 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-002-0182-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-002-0182-1

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