c
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Part 2
By JOSE REGUEIRO S.
UniversidadSimbn Bolivar
Caracas, kzezuela
Part 1 of this article appeared in the April 1990 issiteof TLE.
Coal doesnot flow. A ton of coal and a barrel of oil are ap-
proximatelythe sameprice partly becausethe liquid fuel is easier
to move. Coal, on the other hand, is easier to find and much
cheaperper BTU than oil but the undergroundmining of coal in-
volves mechanicallychoppingoff every hunk and carrying it to
the surface.A man with a pick and shovelanda basketis the most
flexible of all coal mining systemsbut if the mine-mouthprice of
a ton must not exceed that of a barrel of oil, he is useless.
DOI:10.1190/1.1439770
Mechanizationis the answer.And the problem.
A modern “longwall” is a hugemilling machine,600 ft long
and perhaps10 ft high, cuttingslices(about2 ft in depth)off the
full coal face and creepingafter the retreatingface on its own
power. This processdumpshundredsof tonsper hour on a con-
veyor belt, all untouchedby humanhands.(See Seismic surveys
for coal exploration and mine planning, April 1990 ZZE.)
One is remindedof an automaticmilling machinein theaircraft
business,which chewsa marvelousshapeout of a singlebillet of
aluminum. Both machineshave the same problem. The aircraft
mill is not designedto encounterrandomtrampiron fragmentsin-
side the aluminum billet. Nor can the longwall machine eat
sandstone channelsor igneousdikeshiddenwithin the coal seam.
The role of seamwave studiesin coal mining has lessto do
with finding coal than with evaluatingthe uniformity of the feed
stockfor the milling machine.
When mining a coalpanel, any unexpecteddiscontinuity-such
asa fault or sandchannel-will meaneconomictrouble.However,
it is often possibleto avoid suchsurprisesvia the use of seam
waves which are, by definition, very sensitiveto discontinuities
and also to changesin the roof-coal-floorconditions(e.g., state
of stress,lithology).
When obstructions are suspectedin a coal panel, it is oftenad-
visableto conductbothtransmission andreflectionsurveys(Figure
10). The former’s purposeis to identify general areas where
obstructionsoccur;the latter will then be designedto locatedis-
continuitiesmore precisely.
Figure 11 comparestwo setsof recordsobtainedin an under-
groundtransmissionsurveyin a coal mine near Price, Utah. One
was recordedin an area with known coal-seamcontinuity (un-
obstructed) andtheotheracrossa dike-faultsystemthatcutthrough
the coal seam(obstructed).Noticethe recordsfrom the obstructed
pathlack a dispersedwavetrain(seamwave). This indicatesa dis-
continuouswaveguide.
Improvementsin geophonedesignhave mademultimodeex-
citationand recordinga reality. This is importantin longwall min-
ing becausethe studyof highermodes(and the higherfrequencies
involved)providesinsightinto thatportionof the coal waveguide
32 GEOPHYSICS:THE LEADING EDGE OF EXPLORATION AUGUST 1990
where changesoccur most rapidly. For example, it can provide
informationregardingrapidchangesin the characterof the roof-
datathat can savetime money, and possiblylives.
Figure 12 displaystwo datasetscollectedunder known roof
lithologies.On the left, wherethe waveguideis symmetric(shale-
coal-shalein this case),the main contributorto the seismograms
is the fundamentalLove modeof propagation.On the right, for
an asymmetricsandstone-coal-shale sequence,the pseudo-Ray-
leigh modesare evident.
Thesewave propagationcharacteristics were then usedto in-
vestigatea region where the roof conditionswere unknown.
Seismograms from this survey(Figure 13) showvery definitedif-
ferencesin the characterof the guidedwaves, reinforcedby dif-
ferencesin refractedP-wave velocities,from eastto west. These
datawere interpretedas indicatinga changein the roof lithology
probablydue to a sandstonedevelopmentto the west, parallel to
a channelpreviouslymappedto the eastby mine geologists.
Transmissionseismograms from obstructedpathsmay contain
moreusefulinformationthantheobvious“no seamwave” shown
in Figure 11. Figure 14 showsthe early portionof a suiteof these
records.In this figure “longitudinal” meanshorizontalparticle
motionperpendicularto the roadwayat the receiver, and “trans-
verse” meanshorizontalparticlemotion parallel to the roadway
at the receiver (Figure 11). The refractedP wavesthroughboth
the fast(PjI and slow(Ps) walls of thecoal seamare bestdisplayed
on the longitudinalsuiteof records.The transversesuite hint at
weak later arrivals (PS’ and PS,).
Theselater arrivalslook a little more significantif the particle
motion is displayedin a form more easily associated with the ray
path. Figure 15 shows hodogramsof particle motion in the
horizontalplaneduringfive successive10 ms intervals(postshot).
The sourceis locatedin the northeastquadrant(arrow) at a range
of 209 m. Frame 1, upperleft (60-70 ms), showsclearlongitudinal
particlemotion associatedwith the P wave refractedthroughthe
fast wall. Frame 2, uppercenter(70-80 ms), showsstrongerlon-
gitudinal particle motion associatedwith the P wave refracted
throughthe slowerwall. Frame 3, upperright (80-90 ms), shows
the first strongtransversemotion to appear(Pq ?). This is too
early to be due to an S wave generatednear the source.It is at the
time predictedif one hypothesizes a P-to-S conversionat the dike-
wall boundaryin the fast wall (Figure 11).
Suchconversionsare possibledue to the differencein elastic
propertiesbetweenthe dike and the wall of the waveguide.Frame
4, lower left (90-100 ms), also showsa strongtransversecom-
ponentto the particlemotion. Again it is too early to be due to an
S wave generatednear the sourcebut is timely for a P-to-S con-
versionat the dike in the low speedwall (P&). Studiesof particle
 detectors rondway
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coal panel

roadway detectors
I

Figure 10. Schematic field layout for an in-seam seismicsur-

vey.

ao-a900 nll..S
,oo-as0 HZ
LW PANEL I
DOI:10.1190/1.1439770

Figure 13. Top: records showing differences in seam wave

propagation interpreted as due to changesin waveguide sym-
metry. Bottom: mine map showing sandstonedevelopmentsin
the roof of the panel.
Figure 11. Comparison of field records from two different
transmission paths: one through an unobstructed coal seam,
and the other through a coal seam disrupted by a dike-fault
system.

Figure 12. Seismogramsas a function of position in the coal

seam (left) for a symmetric waveguide (shale-coal-shale),and Figure 14. Two-component set of records showing interpreted
(right) for a nonsymmetric waveguide (sandstone-coal-shale). P-S converted arrivals.

GEOPHYSICS: THE LEADING EDGE OF EXPLORATION AUGUST 1990 33

Downloaded 05/19/21 to 170.81.145.76. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/page/policies/terms

PSa I.,.. IL
Figure 15. Horizontal hodograms showing transverse particle
motion interpreted as converted P-S waves at the dike-walls
interfaces.

--
_
---_
““em

--._
.LlSrn,C . ..d.cmn

-A
’
, / - - - _
-.._
*
_II
--
5”ll.C. ,,,,“vc P’.d,Cf,.”
----_
---
----___----
DOI:10.1190/1.1439770

Figure 16. Field setup and horizontal seismogramsobtained Figure 17. Processedseismicreflection seam wave data and its
from a hole-to-hole seam wave survey in the Zulia coal basin, correspondinginterpretation from a survey in the UK.
Venezuela.

motion at a range of 237 m (Figure 14) show similar results.
Unfortunately, inspectionof Figures 14 and 15 indicatesthat
thesehypotheticalP-to-S conversionsare comparativelyweak and
ambiguous.Their appeal, of course. is that they seem to offer the
possibility of precise range-to-obstructioninformation from a
simple transmissionsurvey alone. Earthquakeseismologistshave
learned a lot from the portion of their seismogramsbetweenthe ar-
rival times of P andS. Perhapscoal seismologistsmight do aswell?
R..
outme ldentlfication ot such conversion would provide a
powerful tool for coal seismology.If conversionsare commonand
can be properly interpreted, the amount of recoverableinforma-
tion from transmissionsurveyswould almost double.
Transmitted waves have also been used to study changesin
overburden pressure. I.M. Mason concludedin 1981 that “old
workingscan be mapped” usingthis technique.J. Reevesand M.
Major. also in 1981, investigated the possibility of using this
methodto determine the stateof stressdue to overburden.
It is also possibleto record transmittedseam waves via hole-
to-hole techniques. I obtained the records in Figure 16, of
Venezuela’s Zulia coal basin, in this mannerin 1979. The develop-
ment of a “trapped wave” is evident. I believe this was the first
time a coal seam was mapped with this technique (source and
receiversin separateboreholes).This methodologyhas sincebeen
employed by other authorsto try to correlate and map continuity
of coal seams.
In reflection surveys, sourcesand receivers are both placed in
the same roadway or working face (Figure IO). The object is
similar to that of surface reflection seismology-detection of
“echoes” from elasticdiscontinuitiesin the transmittingmedium.
In this particularcase, we seekechoesproducedby discontinuities
in the coal seem and subsequentlytry to constructan “acoustic”
image of the obstruction.Figure 17 is an example of an applica-
tion in the United Kingdom.
In my opinion. undergroundreflection surveys have proved
more accurateat mapping small faults and sand “cutouts” than
high-resolutionsurfacemethods.
Because seam waves are dispersed. reflection data must be
processedin a manner that “compresses” the energy to a pulse-
like signal (which permits reliable time measurementsto be ob-
tained and discontinuitiesaccuratelypositioned). Several authors
have tackledthis problem with different techniques.Two of these
(Fault locationby I.M. Mason, D.J. Buchananand A.K. Booer,
and Someuspectsof two-component in-seamseismologyby K.O.
Millahn and H .H Ametzl) are publishedin Coal Geophysics,VOI-
ume 6, of SEC’s Reprint Series.
Although there has been a downturn in the western hemi-
sphere’s mechanizedcoal businesswhich has causedsome coal-
oriented geophysiciststo migrate to the oil industry, the use of
seamwavesis still alive and well in partsof Europeand Australia.
This indicates there will be another time when the group once
called “Friends of the Seam Waves” will meet again. as it did at
SEG’s Annual InternationalMeeting in 1981.
S suggestionsfor further reading. Researchin seam waves is of
fairly recent origin. F.F. Evinson’s paper, A coal seamus a guide
fi)r .seismir,energy. was published in Nature in 1955. The best
known researcherin this area is Theodor Krey (see April 1990
TLQ. His major publication in this area is Channel wavesUSu
tool of' upplied geoph~~sics in ccjal mining (GEOPHYSICS, 1963).
I.M. Mason’s 1981 researchwaspublishedin GEOPHYSICS asAlge-
braic reconstruction of a two-dimensional seismicchannelwavevel-
ocity$eld in the High Hazles seamat the Thoresbycolliery. E
Acknowledgment: Theauthoragain wishesto thankMaurice Major
jtir his editorial assistuntein the preparutionof this article.

34 GEOPHYSICS: THE LEADING EDGE OF EXPLORATION AUGUST 1990