A novel seismic full waveform inversion approach for assessing the internal structure of a medieval sea dike

Coastal protection in the form of dike constructions has a long history at the German North Frisian coast dating back to the High Middle Ages. As the vast majority of the dikes built prior to the devastating storm surges of the Middle Ages have been irretrievably destroyed, mostly sparse remains and only a few well preserved of these medieval dikes are found along the German North Frisian coast and within the Wadden Sea. Not all details of their construction and dimensions are yet understood. In the present case study, we investigate the historical Schardeich on the island of Pellworm in the German North Sea in a noninvasive way using shear waves (SH‐waves). For the data interpretation, we applied a combination of seismic full waveform inversion and classical seismic reflection imaging to determine the interior structure of the dike and its underlying layers at the highest possible resolution. The results obtained on land are compared with dike remains found in the tidal flats. These remains show up in marine seismic sections as characteristic reflections, which probably represent a compaction layer caused by the load of the former dike. For ground truthing, we compare the seismic results with internal dike structures found in nearby excavations. The comparison highlights that FWI is a reliable tool for near‐surface archaeological prospecting. We find that SH‐wave FWI provides decimetre‐scale velocity and density models that allow, together with the seismic reflection section, to determine distinct construction phases of the dike. The investigated dike further shows a depression at base level of about 0.75 m, which is of the same order as observed for the dike base reflections in the tidal flats. Transferring these findings to the dike remains mapped in the tidal flats, we derive a height of the former dike from 2.2 to 4.4 m.