Seismic Data

Seismic techniques consist of generating seismic waves and measuring the time required for the waves to travel from the source to a series of geophones. The travel time depends on the physical properties of the rocks. There are two seismic methods: refraction and reflection. The refraction method studies the head wave or refraction paths where the waves travel along the interface. The reflection method studies the reflection path where the wave encountering an interface is reflected with the same angle of incidence.

 

Seismic methods are commonly used in the petroleum industry. These can be also successfully employed in the mineral exploration to map subsurface structures in detail, the depth to bedrock, and to map subsurface sedimentary features such as channels which can be important in uranium exploration.