UTILIZING ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION TO INVESTIGATE THE PRESENCE OF HOLOCENE FIRE RELATED FEATURES AT THE PINE LAKE ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPUS

Geophysical methods have been utilized successfully in the last few years to delineate buried stream channels and gravel bars at Pine Lake. This Study examines the utility of Electromagnetic Induction for archaeological investigations to show the differences in soils that have been exposed to fires. Since heat can alter EM properties, the EMI profiler can potentially show differences in soil due to fire effects. Fires tend to dry out soils giving them a lower electrical conductivity; however, the iron in the soil may become magnetized making the soil magnetically susceptible and electrically resistive. Anomalies observed while surveying the Pine Lake campus seem similar to that of Hearths or fire pits in shape and location of the field site. We partitioned the floodplain into seven rectangular grids and conducted EMI and GPR surveys at half meter spacing for each profile. We subdivided the survey fields into several blocks for ease of visualization.