MRT 351-2 Geophysics

Seismic Methods
Part - I
History
• Seismic activity (earthquakes) has been noted for 4000 years
• Scientific studies began only in 1755 after Lisbon earthquake
• Modern seismology developed from local studies in Japan in late 19th
century
• It was established that large earthquakes occur due to release of
energy when a fault breaks
History
• Seismic studies proved to provide detailed information about the
earth as well as earthquakes in early 20th century
• 1909 – Discovery of crust-mantle interface (Moho) by Andrija
Mohorovičić
• 1914 – Determining the depth to core by Beno Gutenburg
• 1936 – Discovery of the inner core by Inge Lehmann
History
• 1920s – Petroleum companies began seismic studies on experimental
basis
• 1957 – Renewed interest in global seismology due to nuclear weapon
tests
• Global seismograph networks began to be established
• Presently bulk of geophysical exploration goes for multichannel
seismic reflection and processing
Principles
• In seismic surveying,
❑Seismic waves are created by a controlled source
❑They propagate through the subsurface

• Some waves will return to the surface after refraction or reflection at geological
boundaries within the subsurface

• Instruments distributed along the surface

❑detect the ground motion caused by these returning waves
❑measure the arrival times of the waves at different ranges from the source

• These travel times may be converted into depth values

❑The distribution of subsurface geological interfaces may be systematically mapped

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Seismology
• Earthquake seismology provides information on the gross internal
layering of the Earth

• Measurement of the velocity of earthquake waves through the

various Earth layers provides information about their physical
properties and composition

• In the same way, but on a smaller scale, seismic surveying can provide
a clear and detailed picture of subsurface geology
Seismology
• Many of the principles of earthquake seismology are applicable to
seismic surveying

• However, seismic surveying is concerned solely with the structure of

the Earth down to tens of kilometres at most
❑Uses artificial seismic sources, such as explosions
❑Location, timing and source characteristics are under the direct control of the
geophysicist
❑Uses specialized recording systems and associated data processing and
interpretation techniques
Seismic Surveying
• Seismic methods are widely applied to exploration problems
❑involving the detection and mapping of subsurface boundaries of, normally,
simple geometry

• They also identify significant physical properties of each subsurface

unit

• The methods are particularly well suited to the mapping of layered

sedimentary sequences
❑Widely used in the search for oil and gas
Seismic Surveying
• Seismic methods are also used on a smaller scale
❑For the mapping of near-surface sediment layers
❑For the location of the water table
❑In engineering site investigation of foundation conditions (determination of
depth to bedrock)

• Seismic surveying can be carried out on land or at sea

❑Is used extensively in offshore geological surveys and the exploration for
offshore resources
Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain
• When external forces are applied to a body, balanced internal forces
are set up within it
❑Stress is a measure of the intensity of these balanced internal forces

• The stress acting on an area of any surface within the body may be
resolved into
❑a component of normal stress perpendicular to the surface
❑a component of shearing stress in the plane of the surface
Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain
• Stresses acting on each face of an
elemental volume in a stressed body can
be resolved into components
• Normal stresses (σxx σyy σzz)
• Shearing stresses (σyx σzx σxy σzy σxz σyz)

• The three normal stresses act along three

orthogonal axes known as the principal
axes of stress

• Stress acting in these directions are known

as the principal stresses
Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain
• Each principal stress represents a balance of equal-magnitude but
oppositely-directed force components

• The stress is said to be

❑compressive if the forces are directed towards each other
❑tensile if they are directed away from each other

• If the principal stresses are all of equal magnitude within a body, the
condition of stress is said to be hydrostatic (this is the state of stress
throughout a fluid body at rest) – Static equilibrium
Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain
• A fluid body cannot sustain shearing stresses
❑A fluid has no shear strength
❑There cannot be shear stresses in a body under hydrostatic stress

• A pair of shearing stresses (e.g. σyx) constitutes a couple

Momentum (Magnitude of the couple) = (σyx dy dz) dx

• At equilibrium, this couple is opposed and balanced by the couple

due to the pair of stresses σxy
Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain
• A body subjected to stress undergoes a change of shape and/or size
known as strain

• Up to a certain limiting value of stress, known as the yield strength of

a material, the strain is directly proportional to the applied stress
(Hooke’s Law)

• This elastic strain is reversible

❑Removal of stress leads to a removal of strain
Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain
• If the yield strength is exceeded,
the strain becomes non-linear
and partly irreversible (i.e.
permanent strain results)
❑known as plastic or ductile strain

• If the stress is increased further,

the body fails by fracture
Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain
• The linear relationship between stress and strain in the elastic field is
specified for any material by its various elastic moduli

❑Each expresses the ratio of a particular type of stress to the resultant strain
❑Elastic modulus = Stress / Strain
 Fundamental Physical Principles: Stress and
Strain

′
𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝜎 =
𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
Elasticity and Waves
• Stress-strain relationships can be formulated into a wave form

1 𝜕2𝜓 2
2 2
= 𝛻 𝜓
𝑉 𝜕𝑡

• The wave equation relates a time derivative of a displacement (LHS)

to spatial derivatives (RHS). 1/V2 is the proportionality constant

• For 1-D,
1 𝜕2𝜓 𝜕2𝜓
2 2
=
𝑉 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 2
For derivation of the wave equation, please refer pages 140-147 in Applied Geophysics (2nd Edition)
by Telford et al., 1990
Seismic Waves
• Seismic waves are parcels of elastic strain energy that propagate
outwards from a seismic source such as an earthquake or an
explosion

• Sources suitable for seismic surveying usually generate short-lived

wave trains
❑known as pulses
❑typically contain a wide range of frequencies
Seismic Waves
• Except in the immediate vicinity of the source, the strains associated
with the passage of a seismic pulse
❑are minute
❑may be assumed to be elastic

• On this assumption the propagation velocities of seismic pulses are

determined by
❑the elastic moduli
❑densities of the materials, through which they pass
Seismic Waves
• Two main types
❑Body waves – travel through the medium (S and P waves)
❑Surface waves – travel on interfaces (Rayleigh and Love waves)

• Some specific cases

❑Guided waves – travel through geologic structures (channel/seam/tube
waves)
Body Waves
• Body waves can propagate through the internal volume of an elastic
solid

• They are of two types

❑Compressional waves
❑Shear waves
Body Waves
• Compressional waves (the longitudinal, primary or P-waves of
earthquake seismology)
• Propagate by compressional and dilational uniaxial strains in the
direction of wave travel
• Particle motion associated with the passage of a compressional wave
involves oscillation, about a fixed point, in the direction of wave
propagation
Body Waves
• Shear waves (the transverse, secondary or S-waves of earthquake
seismology)
• Propagate by a pure shear strain in a direction perpendicular to the
direction of wave travel
• Individual particle motions involve oscillation, about a fixed point, in a
plane at right angles to the direction of wave propagation
Body Waves
• The velocity of propagation of any body wave in any homogeneous,
isotropic material is given by
1/2
𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙
𝑣=
𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝜌

1/2
1/2 4
𝜓 𝐾+ 𝜇
𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑝 = 𝑣𝑝 = 3
𝜌 𝜌
1/2
𝜇
𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑠 =
𝜌

• P waves always travel faster than S waves in the same medium

Body Waves
• vp/vs ratio in any material is determined solely by the Poisson’s ratio
for that material
1/2
𝑣𝑝 2(1 − 𝜎)
=
𝑣𝑠 (1 − 2𝜎)

• Poisson’s ratio for consolidated rocks is typically about 0.25

• Therefore, vp ≈ 1.7vs

𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛′ 𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝜎 =
𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
Body Waves
• P wave velocity is a function of three separate properties of the rock
and is a very ambiguous indicator of rock lithology

• vp/vs ratio is independent of density, and can be used to derive

Poisson’s ratio which is a more diagnostic lithological indicator
Surface Waves
• In a bounded elastic solid, seismic waves known as surface waves can
propagate along the boundary of the solid

• Two types of surface waves

❑Rayleigh waves
❑Love waves
Surface Waves
• Rayleigh waves propagate along a free surface, or along the boundary
between two dissimilar solid media
• The associated particle motions are elliptical in a plane perpendicular
to the surface that contain the direction of propagation

• The amplitude of Rayleigh waves decreases exponentially with

distance below the surface
• They have a propagation velocity lower than that of shear body waves
Surface Waves
• If the surface is layered and the surface layer shear wave velocity is
lower than that of the underlying layer, a second set of surface waves
is generated
• Love waves are polarized shear waves with a particle motion parallel
to the free surface and perpendicular to the direction of wave
propagation

• The velocity of Love waves is intermediate between the shear wave

velocity of the surface layer and that of deeper layers
 Waves and Rays

• A seismic pulse propagates outwards from a seismic

source
❑Velocity is determined by the physical properties of the
surrounding rocks

• If the pulse travels through a homogeneous rock

❑it will travel at the same velocity in all directions away
from the source
❑at any subsequent time the wavefront, defined as the
locus of all points which the pulse has reached at a
particular time, will be a sphere
 Waves and Rays

• Seismic rays are defined as thin pencils of seismic energy travelling along
ray paths
❑In isotropic media, they are everywhere perpendicular to wavefronts

• Rays have no physical significance

❑but represent a useful concept in discussing travel paths of seismic energy through
the ground
 Waves and Rays

• The propagation velocity of a seismic wave is the velocity with which the
seismic energy travels through a medium

• This is completely independent of the velocity of a particle of the medium

perturbed by the passage of the wave

• Propagation velocity of P waves through rocks is typically a few thousand

metres per second
 Waves and Rays
• The associated oscillatory ground motions involve particle velocities that
depend on the amplitude of the wave

• For the weak seismic events routinely recorded in seismic surveys, particle
velocities may be as small as 10-8 ms-1

• Ground displacement is about 10-10 m

• The detection of seismic waves involves measuring these very small

particle velocities
Seismic Wave Velocities
• Rocks differ in their elastic moduli and densities and, hence, in their
seismic velocities
❑due to various compositions, textures (e.g. grain shape and degree of
sorting), porosities and contained pore fluids

Velocity V = (elastic modulus/ density)1/2

Seismic Wave Velocities
• Information on vp and vs of rock layers is important for two main
reasons
❑It is necessary for the conversion of seismic wave travel times into depths
❑It provides an indication of the lithology of a rock or, in some cases, the
nature of the pore fluids contained within it
1ൗ
𝑣𝑝 1−𝜎 2
=
𝑣𝑠 1ൗ − 𝜎
2
𝝈 = Poisson’s ratio
Seismic Wave Velocities
• The properties of the bulk rock will be an average of the properties of
the matrix minerals and the pore fluid, weighted according to the
porosity
• e.g. bulk density
𝜌𝑏 = 𝜌𝑓 ∅ + (1 − ∅)𝜌𝑚

• For P wave velocity, a similar relationship exists

1 ∅ (1 − ∅)
= +
𝑣𝑝 𝑣𝑓 𝑣𝑚
Seismic Wave Velocities
• Cross-plot graphs are
produced from these
equations

• They allow the

estimation of the matrix
grain type and the
porosity of a rock, purely
from the seismic P-wave
velocity and density
Seismic Wave Velocities
• For S-wave velocity, the derivation of bulk velocity is more complex
since S-waves will not travel through pore spaces at all

• S-wave velocity depends only on the matrix grain properties and their
texture

• P-wave velocity is influenced by the pore fluids

• Hence, if both the P-wave and S-wave velocity of a formation are

known, it is possible to detect variations in pore fluid
Seismic Wave Velocities
• Rock velocities may be measured in situ by field measurement, or in
the laboratory using suitably prepared rock samples

• In the field, seismic surveys yield estimates of velocity for rock layers
delineated by reflecting or refracting interfaces

• In the laboratory, velocities are determined by measuring the travel-

time of high-frequency (about 1MHz) acoustic pulses transmitted
through cylindrical rock specimens
Seismic Wave Velocities
• Some empirical findings of velocity studies

❑Compressional wave velocity increases with confining pressure (very rapidly

over the first 100MPa)
❑Sandstone and shale velocities show a systematic increase with depth of
burial and with age, due to the combined effects of progressive compaction
and cementation
❑For a wide range of sedimentary rocks, the compressional wave velocity is
related to density
❑The presence of gas in sedimentary rocks reduces the elastic moduli,
Poisson’s ratio and the vp/vs ratio
Seismic Wave Velocities
Seismic Wave Velocities
Seismic Wave Propagation
Attenuation of Seismic Energy

• As a seismic pulse propagates in a homogeneous material, the

original energy (E) transmitted outwards from the source becomes
distributed over a spherical shell, the wavefront

• Radius of the wavefront (r) expands as it propagates

• The amount of energy contained within a unit area of the shell is

E/4𝜋r2
Seismic Wave Propagation
Attenuation of Seismic Energy

E/4𝜋r2

• With increasing distance along a ray path, the energy contained in the
ray falls off as 1/r2 due to the effect of the geometrical spreading of
the energy

• Wave amplitude is proportional to the square root of the wave energy

• Therefore wave amplitude falls off as 1/r as the wave propagates

Seismic Wave Propagation
Attenuation of Seismic Energy

• The ground is imperfectly elastic in its response to the passage of

seismic waves

• Elastic energy is gradually absorbed into the medium by internal

frictional losses, leading eventually to the total disappearance of the
seismic disturbance

• Generally, higher frequency waves attenuate more rapidly than lower

frequency waves as a function of time or distance