Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar to Structural Analysis of Carbonate Terraces on the Island of Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

This thesis utilized the method of ground penetrating radar to investigate the structural geology of carbonate units in relation to the evolution of the island of Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. Two surveys were completed on the island for this purpose: a long continuous cross-island transect, as well as a smaller set of lines that facilitated three-dimensional interpretation at an outcrop known as Seru Grandi. In the detailed processing workflow implemented for the collected datasets, steps were taken to remove unwanted signal noise, and advanced imaging techniques where then applied to generate interpretable subsurface cross-sections. A novel numerical interpretation tool was developed for use on the cross-island transect, which adapted a traditional k-means clustering algorithm for use with structure-parallel vectors derived from structure tensors. The results of this method were utilized in defining a set of radar facies for the cross-island transect. Mapping of these radar facies identified subsurface features related to subtidal-to-foreshore depositional sequences in the southern part of the transect, a potential lagoon system in the south-central portion, eolianites within the center of the transect, and clinoforms related to platform slope deposits in the northeast portions of the survey. Using the small-scale dataset at the Seru Grandi outcrop, subsurface geometries of a previously identified geologic unconformity were described. This unconformity was identified here to be the remnants of a wave cut-platform occurring at the site. The specific geometry of this feature was related to external controls on wave cut-platform development. In addition, the data collected at Seru Grandi identified a set of clinoform surfaces in the subsurface below the mapped unconformity. These observations were compared to previously identified clinoforms observed on the face of the outcrop. Observations and interpretations from both surveys in this study were used to provide additional information relating to the geologic evolution of Bonaire