Seismic sources

Seismic sources
• A seismic source is a localized region within which the sudden
release of energy leads to a rapid stressing of the surrounding
medium.
• The typical seismic source is an explosion. While explosives are
still used, there is an increasing number of more sophisticated
and efficient (and safe!) ways to collect seismic data.
• The main requirements of the seismic source are:
• Technical requirements
• Sufficient energy to generate a measurable signal with a good
signal to noise ratio.
• Short duration source pulse (with high energy frequency) for the
required resolution .
Seismic sources

• The source waveform must be repeatable.

• Variations on the seismograms should be diagnostic of the
ground structure, not due to random variations of the source.

• There is a very wide variety of seismic sources, characterized

by differing energy levels and frequency characteristics.
• In general, a seismic source contains a wide range of
frequency components within the range from 1Hz to a few
hundred hertz.
Seismic sources
• Operational requirements
• The source should be easy to use especially when
multiple shots or fast repetition is required.
• Repeatable pulse shape i.e. the source should have
the ability to produce same pulse shape.
• The source must be safe, efficient, and
environmentally acceptable.
Complete seismic/acoustic
spectrum
Aim od using seismic source
• To produce a large enough signal into the ground to
ensure sufficient depth penetration and high
enough resolution to image subsurface.
• There are three main types of seismic source
• Impact
• Impulsive
• Vibrator
IMPACT DEVICES

• These are devices where the seismic signal is

generated by the impact of some thing.
• It includes
• Sledge hammer
• Drop weight
• Accelerated weight
 SLEDGE HAMMER
• 4 to 6 pound sledge hammer provides the simple
versatile source for small scale survey.
• The useful energy produced depends on ground
condition as well as strength and skill
• A standard sledge hammer is struck against a heavy
duty rubber base plate.
• an inertia switch attached to the base plate or hammer
handle, trigger the geophone and thus start to receive
the seismic waves.
• Sledge hammer is use for refraction work or in other
words for shallow engineering purpose with depth of
penetration of about 30 meter or so and a spread of
200m depends upon the geology of the area.
 SLEDGE HAMMER
• 
ADVANTAGES:
• It is easy to use and repeat.
• Cause minimal environmental damage
• It is cheap.
• The good aspect of this source is the signal to noise ratio can be increased if
the number of strike is increased.
• signal/noise ratio =
• so to increase signal/noise ratio 10 times, base plate should be struck 100
times.
DISADVANTAGE:
• The pulse is not easily reproducible.
• Only one person should strike the base plate even then the pulse shape is not
exactly match able.
• The hammer shouldn't be allowed to bounce back and strike the base plate
twice as the 2nd rebound strike causes noise.
 Drop weight device
• The depth of penetration obtainable from drop
weight source is dependent upon the momentum
of the mass as it strike the ground
• For light weight portable system/devices a weight
of 3 tones can be dropped from a height of 5 m by
using weight drop device/ vehicle.
• the weight is suspended from an electromagnet
attached with the device on triggering the
seismograph the electromagnet releases the weight
and is dropped onto the base plate.
 Drop weight device
DISADVANTAGES
• The weight mat bounce on the base plate unless a catching device is
used. This generate a source generated noise.
• It is relatively expensive system
• The source generated noise is more that is why used in areas where
other noises is not present e.ge desert i.e. its use is restricted.
• It may trigger the seismograph earlier if the edge of the tube is struck
by the weight or the weight may rotate in the cylindrical tube and only
one end can strike the ground below. And thus not providing a sharp
signal impulse, ultimately the pulse shape is not evenly reproducible.
• Industry light weight portable vehicles drop weight from 3 to 5 m with
a repeatable source wave shape.
• In field efforts involves in undertaking an extensive survey with a drop
weight device is less than that required fro shooting with explosive.
Accelerated weight devices
• The accelerated drop weight devices use dome kind
of accelerating device to accelerates the weight
instead of free fall.
• Accelerated weight devices are light weight, yet with
greater depth of penetration.
• DINOISES:
• An equipment in which air is injected to accelerate
the weight towards the ground.
• The disadvantage of this device is that the source
generated noise is more.
 IMPULSIVE SOURCES
• BUFFALO GUN
• The buffalo gun comprises a metal pipe inserted
vertically upto 1 m into the ground.
• A shot gun shell located at the lower end is detonated
through a firing card/pin.
• The firing rod/pin is stucked by a wooden headed
hammer into the pipe; after detonating the shell the
pin/rod comes back to the surface,
IMPULSIVE SOURCES
• BETSY SEISGUN:
The modification of buffalo gun is betsy seisgun.
For this device there is no need of drilling ,t is a
wheel barrow assembly.
Betsy seisgun is taken to the shot point and bullet are
invaded through the ground in a protected chamber.
impulsive sources further includes
a. Explosive sources
b. Non-explusive sources
 Explosive sources

• On land, explosives are normally detonated in shallow shot holes to improve

the coupling of the energy source with the ground and to minimize surface
damage.
• Explosives offer a reasonably cheap and highly efficient seismic source with
a wide frequency spectrum, but their use normally requires special
permission and presents logistical difficulties of storage and transportation.
• They are slow to use on land because of the need to drill shot holes.
• Their main shortcoming,
• They do not provide the type of precisely repeatable source signature
required by modern processing techniques.
• nor can the detonation of explosives be repeated at fixed and precise time
intervals as required for efficient reflection profiling.
• Since explosive sources thus fail at least two, and usually three, of the basic
requirements for modern surveys, their use is steadily declining and limited
to locations where alternative sources cannot be used.
Explosive sources
• ADVANTAGE OF EXPLOSIVE SOURCES:
• It is a very light weight and portable high energy
source.
• PROBLEM OF EXPLOSIVE:
• Transportation and storing of explosives
• Some of the explosions never explode
• Explosives should be handled carefully.
 Non-explosive land sources
• Vibroseis® is the most common non-explosive source used for reflection
surveying.
• It uses truck-mounted vibrators to pass into the ground an extended
vibration of low amplitude and continuously varying frequency, known as
a sweep signal.
• A typical sweep signal lasts from several seconds up to a few tens of
seconds and varies progressively in frequency between limits of about 10
and 80Hz.
• The field recordings consist of overlapping reflected wave trains of very
low amplitude concealed in the ambient seismic noise.
• In order both to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and to shorten
the pulse length, each recorded seismogram is cross-correlated with the
known sweep signal to produce a correlated seismogram or correlogram.
• The correlogram has a similar appearance to the type of seismogram that
would be obtained with a high-energy impulsive source such as an
explosion, but the seismic arrivals appear as symmetrical (zero phase)
wavelets known as Klauder wavelets.
Non-explosive land sources
 Non-explosive land sources
• The Vibroseis® source is quick and convenient to use and
produces a precisely known and repeatable signal.
• The vibrator unit needs a firm base on which to operate,
such as a tarmac road, and it will not work well on soft
ground.
• The peak force of a vibrator is only about 105N and, to
increase the transmitted energy for deep penetration
surveys, vibrators are typically employed in groups with a
phase-locked response.
• Multiple sweeps are commonly employed, the recordings
from individual sweeps being added together (stacked) to
increase the SNR.
 Non-explosive land sources
• A particular advantage of vibrators is that they can be
used in towns since they cause no damage or significant
disturbance to the environment.
• The cross correlation method of extracting the signal is
also capable of coping with the inherently high noise
levels of urban areas.
• Some Vibroseis® trucks are adapted so that the vibration
direction can be horizontal rather than vertical.
• In this case the truck can also be used as an S-wave
source.
Vibroseis®
Non-explosive land sources
• A principal disadvantage of the Vibroseis method is
®

that each fully configured truck costs of the order of

half a million dollars.
• While the method is effective for major hydrocarbon
surveys, the costs are prohibitive for small surveys.
• Small electro-mechanical vibrators have been
developed for shallow geophysical surveys, and these
are gaining increasing acceptance as seismographs
capable of receiving and correlating the signals are
developed.
 Non-explosive land sources
• Mini-Sosie adapts the principle of using a precisely
known source signature of long duration to heaper, lower
energy applications.
• A pneumatic hammer delivers a random sequence of
impacts to a base plate, thus transmitting a pulse-
encoded signal of low amplitude into the ground.
• The source signal is recorded by a detector on the base
plate and used to cross-correlate with the field recordings
of reflected arrivals of the pulse-encoded signal from
buried interfaces.
• Peaks in the cross-correlation function reveal the
positions of reflected signals in the recordings.
Non-explosive land sources
 Non-explosive marine sources
• All the non explosive marine sources produce bubble pulse(noise).
• e.g. Air Gun and water Gun
BUBBLE EFFECT:
• When a source is discharged, cavitation occurs when the
surrounding water is displaced by the formation of gases bubble,
usually of air.
• Hydrostatic pressure causes the bubble to collapse, so pressuring the
gas which heats up and expands to reform.
• This continuous until the hydrostatic pressure causes the gas to
dissolve
• This successive expansion and compression /contraction causes
noise. Which is removed by
a. Later processing
b. Using an array of sources.
Non-explosive marine sources
• Air guns are pneumatic sources in which a chamber is charged
with very high-pressure (typically 10–15MPa) compressed air fed
through a hose from a shipboard compressor.
• The air is released, by electrical triggering, through vents into the
water in the form of a high-pressure bubble.
• A wide range of chamber volumes are available, leading to
different energy outputs and frequency characteristics.
• The primary pulse generated by an air gun is followed by a train of
bubble pulses that increase the overall length of the pulse. Bubble
pulses are caused by the oscillatory expansion and collapse of
secondary gas bubbles following collapse of the initial bubble.
• They have the effect of unduly lengthening the seismic pulse.
Steps can, however, be taken to suppress the effect of the bubble
pulse by detonating near to the water surface so that the gas
bubble escapes into the air.
Non-explosive marine sources
• While this does remove the bubble pulse effect, much energy is
wasted and the down going seismic pulse is weakened.
• More sophisticated methods can be used to overcome the
bubble pulse problem while preserving seismic efficiency. Arrays
of guns of differing dimensions and, therefore, different bubble
pulse periods can be combined to produce a high energy source
in which primary pulses interfere constructively whilst bubble
pulses interfere destructively For deep penetration surveys the
total energy transmitted may be increased by the use of
multiple arrays of air guns mounted on a frame that is towed
behind the survey vessel. Air guns are mechanically simple and
can operate with great reliability and repeatability. They have
become the standard marine seismic source.
Non-explosive marine sources
WATER GUNS:
• In this device air is used to push a piston which
releases water.
• When the piston stops production of cavities occurs
behind the expelled water, resulting in an collapse
which creates the seismic pulse.
Detection and recording of seismic
waves
• Seismic survey would not be possible with out
sensor to detect returned signals.
• These sensors are known as GEOPHONES OR
RECIVER OR JUGGIES.
• these are also called seismic transducers, as they
convert the moment of ground to electrical signals.
GEOPHONES
Geophones Are Receivers That Convert the moment
of ground because of seismic waves to electrical
signals.
Most geophones are electromagnetic type.
This type of geophones has two components,
i. A mass with coil of wire
ii. A magnet.
One component is fixed to the casing and other one
is interial.
GEOPHONES
• The geophones is fixed to the ground by using
spike.
• The passage of seismic waves at the surface causes
the geophones to move.
• the second component (part/element) is interial
and attached to the casing with a spring, this part
move under its own weight.
• The electrical current is generated by the relative
movement between the two parts i.e. the magnet
and the coil.
GEOPHONES
• The current produced is directly proportional the ground
movement, the more the ground move the more will be the
current.
• The sensitivity of the geophone depends upon the strength of
the magnetic field and the number of turns of coils.

CASING:
• Part of the geophone with move with the ground.
SPIKE:
• It is the part of geophone through which the geophone is
implanted into the ground to ensure a good ground connection.
GEOPHONES
• RINGING EFFECT: (Resonant Frequency)
• It this the effect when the spring natural frequency
becomes equal to the ground vibration, then the
spring/coil produce extra vibration even when the
ground is not shaking.
• It is measured in Hertz (Hz).
• The ringing effect can be controlled by a process
called damping.
GEOPHONES
• DAMPING:
• A resistor is install across the coil terminals this
resistance ( offered by the resistor) controls the
amount of current in the coil, the lower the
resistance greater is the degree of damping.
• damping is needed so that after initial response to
the ground motion, the relative movement of the
coil and casing stop quickly and get read for the
arrival of next event.
GEOPHONES
• Requirement for a geophone:
It must have a resonant frequency lower than the lowest
frequency in the signal.
It must be insensitive to temptation variation because they are
used in different location and different weather conditions.
They must be water proof and dust proof to be useful in all
environments.
It must be reliable, light in weight and easily handled as it will
be used in many times and moved frequently.
It must be inexpensive as large number of geophones are used.
It must have high output.
HYDROPHONES
• Hydrophones is used in marine environment.
• It can be used in open water, bore hole filled with
water and in water saturated marshy conditions.
• It is actually a pressure detector.
• It convert the pressure of water into electrical
signals.
• A hydrophone consists of two piezoelectric ceramic
discs ( e.g. Barium titanate or lead zirconate)
cemented to hallow sealed copper/brass canister
(small box)
HYDROPHONES
• Piezoelectricity is the property that some materials
have of producing an electric current when a stress
is applied to it.
• The piezoelectric disks produces/generats a voltage
when subjected to pressure.
• The electric current produced by a piezoelectric
disk is directly proportional to the pressure
produced by any source (Air gun e.t.c).
• The output of hydrophones are quite small so an
array of several hydrophones is used.
HYDROPHONES
• The hydrophones are closely spaced.
• The array just increases the signal and does not
attenuate the noise.
• In marine work, hydrophones are spread out in a
streamer ( a cable up to 6 km long) which is
designated to be lowed/ drag continuously through
the water.