Chapter 4

Seismic methods

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 General Seismic Principles
 Seismic waves are created by a hit on the surface and they travel
underground.
 Like sound waves, they are reflected and refracted when they reach
a boundary between different layers in the underground.
 The waves triggered at the source travel through the sub-surface and
reach a series of seismic recorders located on the surface and the
time it takes for the waves to reach the seismic recorders is
determined.

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 General Seismic Principles
 In travelling from the source to the recorders the waves may be
reflected and refracted by the boundaries of any rock layers.
 Using the time required for the wave to come back to the surface
and the velocity of travel, we can determine the depth of different
geological boundaries.
 The velocity value of the waves carries information on the
type of sediment or rock.

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 This method is important not only for structural information, e.g. in
delineating faults or valley structures, but also for physical
characterization of layers and thus is very useful in hydrogeological
investigations
 Seismic methods are classified into two major divisions, depending
on the energy source of the seismic waves:
1. Earthquake seismology: deals the structure of earth interior
2. Explosion seismology: to studies of crustal structure of upper
crust
Two types of Seismic methods (survey types)
1. Seismic refraction
2. Seismic reflection

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Seismic survey

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Seismic waves through Earth materials

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 Wave fronts and Ray paths
• Seismic rays are defined as seismic
energy travelling along ray.
• Wave fronts connect positions of the
seismic wave that are doing the same
thing at the same time.
• In principle and in practice, ray paths are
equivalent to the directions of current
flow, and wave fronts are equivalent to
the equipotential lines described in the
resistivity section.

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 Ray paths in layered medium
 What happens when an incident wave acquire two different
velocity zones?

 Part of the energy is reflected from the boundary and the

rest is transmitted (refracted) into the next layer .

 The relative amplitudes of the transmitted and reflected

waves depend on the velocities and densities of the two
layers, and the angle of incidence on the interface.

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Seismic Refraction

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Seismic energy propagate through the subsurface following
different paths.
As waves face different elasticity they refract/ reflect. In refraction
seismology, waves that returned to the surface after travelling through
the subsurface are used.
The first arrival of seismic energy at a detector offset from a seismic
source always represents either a direct ray or a refracted ray.
The first arrival (or onset) of seismic energy, and time–distance
plots of these first arrivals are interpreted to derive information on the
depth to refracting interfaces.

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 Seismic waves generation
Sources of seismic energy come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Virtually
anything that impacts, or causes motion on, the surface of the earth will be a
source of seismic energy.
For the investigation of near surface targets (<100m), seismic signals can be
generated using impact sources, with hammer blows and weight drops, Gun
Sources. Accelerated weight drops and vibration sources can be used to explore
targets up to 1 km depth.

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 Seismic recording Devices
Recording System - consists of a number of components. In essence, this entire
system does nothing more than store the ground motion detected by a number
of geophones.
The geophone is the instrument used to transform seismic energy into an
electrical voltage.
The seismograph is the instrument for controlling and recording the data in a
seismic survey.
The seismograph is also the controlling unit of the survey. Via noise monitor,
the response of each geophone is monitored and the operator can check whether
the geophone is in working order, whether it is planted well, and how extensive
is the microseism or “noise”.

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 Seismic refraction method
 The seismic refraction method involves artificial generation of elastic
waves in the ground.
 A special feature of the refracted or head wave;
 It travels along the interface with the velocity of the higher speed
medium.
 is only created if the velocity on the underside of an interface is
greater than in the overlying layer. Therefore, the wave can travel
faster than reflections in the overlying medium, which results in it
being the first arrival in the seismogram.
 Being restricted to geologic conditions of increasing seismic velocity
with depth

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Head waves are elastic waves that enter a high-velocity medium (refractor)
near the critical angle and travel in the high-velocity medium nearly parallel to
the refractor surface before returning to the surface of the Earth.

S R
Layer 1
ic Velocity = V1

Layer 2
V2 > V1 Velocity = V2

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 Refraction Seismology
The objective in Objectives
refraction surveys
is to measure the
arrival times of
head waves as a
function of T
source-receiver
distance so that X
the depth to and
velocity of the
refractors in
which they
traveled can be
determined.

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 Geometry of refracted ray paths: planar interfaces
 Usually, in seismic refraction, the first assumptions relating to the ray path
geometries are that the subsurface is composed of a series of layers,
separated by planar and possibly dipping interfaces.

S R

A B

 Also, within each layer seismic velocities are constant, and the velocities
increase with layer depth.
 Finally, the ray paths are restricted to a vertical plane containing the
profile line (i.e. there is no component of cross-dip).

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 Two-layer case with horizontal interface
In refraction seismology, we are interested in
1.Energy travelling directly through an upper layer
2.Energy critically refracted in a lower layer
The direct ray travels horizontally through the top
of the upper layer from A to D at velocity v1.
The refracted ray travels down to the interface and back up to
the surface at velocity v1 along slant paths SA and BR
that are inclined at the critical angle, and travels along
the interface between A and B at the higher velocity v

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 2 Layer Case
S x R

Layer 1
Z ic ic Velocity = V1
A B
Layer 2
Velocity = V2

V2 > V1

Refracted time from S to R is given by

t  t SA  t AB  t BR Z
SA  BR 
cos(ic )
SA AB BR
t  
V1 V2 V1 AB  x  2 Z tan(ic )

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 SA AB BR Z
t  t SA  t AB  t BR t   SA  BR  AB  x  2 Z tan(ic )
V1 V2 V1 cos(ic )

2Z x  2 Z tan(ic )
t 
V1 cos(ic ) V2

x 2Z  V1 
  1  sin(ic )
V2 V1 cos(ic )  V2 

x 2 Z cos(ic )
 
V2 V1

x 2 Z V2  V1
2 2
 
V2 V1V2
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 x 2 Z cos(ic )
t ( x)  
V2 V1
1 2 Z cos(ic )
t ( x)  x
V2 V1

y ( x)  Ax  B Straight line equation

A is the slope
B is intercept with vertical axis at x = 0

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 Travel time Curve

Refracted waves
Direct waves

1
t ( x)  x 1 2 Z cos(ic )
V1 1 t ( x)  x
V2 V1
V2
Time (s)

2 Z cos(ic )
1
t ( 0) 
V1 V1

Offset (m)

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 Depth to Refractor

 It is possible to determine the depth of the refractor at the first geophone

based on intercept time concept
 Values of the best-fitting plane layered model parameters, v1, v2 and z, can
be determined by analysis of the travel-time curves of direct and
refracted arrivals:
 Velocity of each layer could be determined from the reciprocal of
the gradient of travel- time segment
 The refractor depth, z, can also be determined from the intercept
time ti and cross over distance concept

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 2 Z cos(ic )
t o  t ( 0) 
V1

toV1
Z to is the intercept time
2 Z cos(ic )

xc is the cross over

distance

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 3 Layer Case
Horizontal Refractor
S R
x Layer 1
Z1 1
Velocity = V1
A D
Layer 2
Z2 Velocity = V2
2

B C Layer 3
Velocity = V3

V3 > V2 > V1
Refracted time from S to R is given by
SA  DR AB  CD BC
t  t SA  t AB  t BC  tCD  t DR t  
V1 V2 V3

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 3 Layer Case
Horizontal Refractor

SA  DR AB  CD BC
t  
V1 V2 V3

2 Z1 2Z 2 x  2 Z1 tan 1  2 Z 2 tan  2
t  
V1 cos 1 V2 cos  2 V3

x 2Z 2  V2  2 Z1  V1 
t  1  sin  2   1  sin 1 
V3 V2 cos  2  V3  V1 cos 1  V3 

x 2 Z 2 cos  2 2 Z1 cos 1
t  
V3 V2 V1

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 n Layer Case
Horizontal Refractor

x 2 Z i cos  i
t  
Vn i Vi

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Critical distance: Critical distance (xc) is the minimum horizontal
distance from the shot point at which the first refracted pulse can be
recorded.
•Critical refraction has same travel time as reflection
•Angle of reflection same as critical angle

Cross-over distance: Cross-over distance (x ) is the horizontal distance

co

from the shot point where the direct wave reaches the receiver
simultaneously with the refracted wave.
xco
xc

ic

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 Dipping layer case with planar interfaces
 In the travel – time equation the value of dip enters as an additional
unknown
 The reciprocal of the gradient of the travel- time curve no longer represent
the refractor velocity but a quantity known as apparent velocity.
Apparent velocity
• Higher than the refractor velocity when recorded along a profile
line in the up-dip direction
• Lower than the refractor velocity when recorded along a profile
line in the down-dip direction

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 2 Layer Case
Dipping Refractor

Time (s) Reciprocal time

Slope=1/Vu Slope=1/Vd
t1u

t1d
Slope=1/V1

S Offset (m) R

Zd 
 Zu
A 
B

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 2 Layer Case
Dipping Refractor

SA  BR AB Z d  Z u x cos   Z d  Z u  tan 
t  t 
V1 V2 V1 cos  V2

x cos  Z d  Z u
t  cos 
V2 V1

Z u  Z d  x sin 
x cos  x 2Z d
td   cos  sin   cos 
V2 V1 V1
Downdip shooting Updip shooting
x 2Z d x 2Z u
t d  sin(   )  cos tu  sin(   )  cos 
V1 V1 V1 V1
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 2 Layer Case
Dipping Refractor

If  is small enough so that, cos  = 1 and sin  = , then

1 1 1 1 
   
V2 2 Vd Vu 

If  is very small then

1
V2  Vd  Vu 
2

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 Generally, When a refractor dips, the slope of the travel time curve
does not represent the "true" layer velocity:
 shooting up- dip, i.e. geophones are on up-dip side of shot, apparent
refractor velocity is higher
 shooting down-dip apparent velocity is lower
 To determine both the layer velocity and the interface dip, forward and
reverse refraction profiles must be acquired.

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 Seismic refraction survey
1. Sensors
Geophones are distributed in a line, signals are transmitted to the seismograph by
a spread cable
The total offset should be 3 to 5 times the depth of interest. However, this should
be balanced against the number of channels available and the required horizontal
resolution.
If too few channels are used to span a large total offset, the horizontal resolution
will suffer.

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2. Sources
At a minimum, there should be two shots (S1,S2) located at either end of the line.
Common practice is two position the shots offset from the line at a right angle by
about one half the geophone interval. The goal is to position the shot so it is not too
close to a geophone interval, but also not off-end.
 For true comparison of reciprocal times for delay times analysis, end shots should
not be positioned off-end
It is best practice to also have one center shot [S3]
Once the crossover distance is identified, that distance should be measured off the
ends of the line and shots located [S4, S5].
Off-end shots allow you to to use all the geophones to sample the refractor
Depending on the survey objective, quarter shots [S6,S7] in the interior of the
spread and more distant off-end shots may be desired

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Shot – Geophone Relation

Forward shooting

Reverse shooting

Split shooting

Offset shooting

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 Typical recording parameters
 Sampling interval: 0.125 to 0.25 ms (over-sampling is fine)
 Record length: 0.25 to 0.5 s (should be long enough to capture distant
arrivals)
 Stacking: as need to increase signal to noise ratio, 5 to 10 times
 Acquisition filters: acquisition filters are not recommended because effect
is irreversible; should be carefully applied to filter signal you are certain
you will never want such as 60 Hz power line noise

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 Interpretation of Realistic Travel time Data
 With field data it is necessary to examine travel time curves carefully to decide
on best method to use:
 How many refraction branches are there, i.e. how many layers?
 Are anomalous times due to mispicking or real?
 Small anomalies can be ignored, but larger ones require other methods, e.g.
Plus-Minus.
 Multiple source positions allow, some inference of depth of anomaly: near-
surface anomalies align

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Picking First Arrivals

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 Hidden Layer Problem
 Layers may not be detected by first arrival analysis:
a) Velocity inversion produces no critical refraction from layer 2
b) Insufficient velocity contrast makes refraction difficult to identify
c) Refraction from thin layer does not become first arrival
d) Geophone spacing too large to identify second refraction

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 Recording Instrument (Seismograph)

120 channels Bison from 1980’s

Up to 64 channels Stratavisor
NZ from Geometrics
24 channels Geode from
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Geometrics 47
 Receivers (Geophones)

Geophones
 The geophone is the instrument used to transform seismic energy into an
electrical voltage. It ordinarily responds to only one component of the
grounds displacement, velocity, or acceleration associated with the passage
of a seismic wave.
 A motion-sensitive transducer converts ground motion to an electrical signal.
 The transducer in nearly all modern geophones is a moving-coil
electrodynamic type and consists of a coil suspended by one or more springs
in a magnetic field that is fixed relative to the geophone case

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Seismic Sources (Land)

Sledgehammers

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 Seismic Sources (Land)

Weight drop Vibroseis

Explosive
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 Seismic Reflection
 Seismic reflection uses field equipment similar to seismic refraction, but
field and data processing procedures are employed to maximize the energy
reflected along near vertical ray paths by subsurface density contrasts
 Reflected seismic energy is never a first arrival, and therefore must be
identified in a generally complex set of overlapping seismic arrivals –
generally by collecting and filtering multi-fold or highly redundant data
from numerous shot points per geophone placement.
 Seismic reflection can be performed in the presence of low velocity zones
or velocity inversions
 Generally has lateral resolution vastly superior to seismic refraction, and
can delineate very deep density contrasts with much less shot energy and
shorter line lengths than would be required for a comparable refraction
survey depth.

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 The main limitations to seismic reflection are its higher cost than refraction
 At depths less than approximately 50 feet, reflections from subsurface
density contrasts arrive at geophones at nearly the same time as the much
higher amplitude ground roll (surface waves).
 Reflections from greater depths arrive at geophones after the ground roll
has passed, making these deeper targets easier to detect and delineate.
 Seismic reflection is particularly suited to marine applications (e.g. lakes,
rivers, oceans, etc.) where the inability of water to transmit shear waves
makes collection of high quality reflection data possible even at very
shallow depths that would be impractical to impossible on land.

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 Normal incident
 Amplitude: the reflection is quite noticeable over the surrounding “noise” of
other lines. The SIGN of an arrival will change depending on the acoustic
impedance between two layers (density*velocity).
 A Positive amplitude implies that the impedance increases on the other side of
the boundary, and a negative amplitude implies that the impedance decreases.
 As any geophysical method, seismic reflection imaging is sensitive to only a
specific physical property of the rock (acoustic impedance)
 Consider a compressional ray of amplitude A0 normally incident on an interface
between two media of differing velocity and density .
 A transmitted ray of amplitude A2 travels on through the interface in the
same direction as the incident ray and a reflected ray of amplitude A1 returns
back along the path of the incident ray.
 The total energy of the transmitted and reflected rays must equal the energy of
the incident ray.

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 The relative proportions of energy transmitted and reflected are determined
by the contrast in acoustic impedance I across the interface.
 This property is called acoustic impedance: I=ρV (density times acoustic
velocity)
 It is difficult to relate acoustic impedance to a tangible rock property but,
in general, the harder a rock, the higher is its acoustic impedance.
 Intuitively, the smaller the contrast in acoustic impedance across a rock
interface the greater is the proportion of energy transmitted
through the interface. Obviously all the energy is transmitted if the rock
material is the same on both sides of the interface, and more energy is
reflected the greater the contrast.
 Seismic reflection amplitude is proportional to the relative impedance
contrast across a contact of two layers:

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 S R

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 Reflection Processing
Stacking
One of the reflection processes is “stacking” seismograms together to improve
the signal-to-noise ratio between the reflections and other arrivals.
The object of stacking is to combine all of the data reflected from a single point
into a single seismogram (or trace) in such a way that reflections will be
emphasized.
One way to do this is to process using NORMAL MOVE-OUT.
Normal Move-Out
Normal move-out corrections change the time of arrival of reflections, which
would normally fall on hyperbolas, so that they fall on horizontal straight lines.
We can then add the traces together at equal times to form a single “stack”
seismogram that appears as though it were recorded at the shot point (x=0).
The normal move-out is the time difference between the arrival at x=0 and the
arrival at x.

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Reflection travel times
move out

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