Little Forest Burial Ground - geology, geophysics and well installation 2009-2010

Abstract

This document reports on a program of drilling at Little Forest Burial Ground undertaken in the period 2009-2010 under the supervision of the ANSTO's Nuclear Methods in Earth Systems (NMES) project. Under this program, the following activities were undertaken: resistivity, ground penetrating radar and electromagnetic geophysical surveys to define the trench area and investigate stratigraphy; core and crushed soil/rock sampling by drilling (direct-push, solid flight auger and diamond core) at 0.5 metre intervals at 40 locations; installation and development of 18 groundwater observation wells; survey of new wells and trench boundary marks in MGA94 coordinates and AHD (Australian Height Datum). This report presents: a summary of existing knowledge of the burial ground and neighbouring sites, including a detailed discussion of the geological setting (Chapter 1); the objectives for the work undertaken (Chapter 2); a detailed description of all methods used (Chapter 3); a discussion of geophysical, drilling and well construction results and observations of the campaign (Chapter 4); recommendations for further work (Chapter 5). The appendices provide an extensive summary of the construction details of all operational wells at the site, including geological logs, survey coordinates and elevations. A brief evolution of the site as documented by aerial photography is included at Appendix C. Interpretation of chemical/radiological data from the soil and water samples retrieved as a result of the drilling activities will be presented in separate reports.