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Geophysical Exploration at The Giza Plateau, Egypt A Ten-Year Odyssey
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 18th EEGS Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, Apr 2005, cp-183-00040
Abstract
The Giza Plateau of Egypt has many above-ground marvels (Pyramids and the Great Sphinx) and<br>many hidden or suspected tunnels/rooms that may lurk in the limestone beneath the sands. Since 1991,<br>we have been granted several opportunities to look for buried structures on the Plateau as well as on, in,<br>and under some of the Plateau’s more famous structures. Five separate campaigns have included<br>geophysical surveying utilizing ground penetrating radar (2D and 3D), electromagnetic conductivity,<br>magnetic field, and seismic reflection, refraction, and refraction tomography techniques. The results of<br>these surveys can be qualified as ranging from glowing successes, to tantalizing opportunities, to<br>fascinating failures. 2D and 3D GPR surveys within the Sphinx Enclosure and in the sands west of the<br>Sphinx have detailed anomalous structures within the shallow limestone that defy geologic interpretation<br>(man-made?) and are waiting to be excavated. Whether or not they will ever see exposure may be the<br>source of the Sphinx’s inscrutable smile.