-1. fi,,,.
L,djbpl-J,~JiH
On/")'(I> 1:-1 S(~),L.>
56. Applications of a Shallow Selsmic Reflection Method
to Groundwater and Engineering Studies
J. A. Hunler, S. E. Pullan, R.A. Burn s,
R.M . Gagn. and R. L. Good '
'G.~ogic.ISurv.yof CN>ad<1. Te"ain Sclences [)Ivi.ion.
601 Boa!M Street, onawa. Of1!aric . Canada Kl,o, OE!.
ABSTRACT
Over the 1as\ decade, instrumentation has been de
veloped thal allows lhe apphcauon af seis mic rente
ton mehods to groundwater and engineering probo
lems. Al he Geological Survey af Canada. we have
beeo developing and testing shallow rell ection leeh
niques for mapping he bedrock topography and
structure within he overburden . We have allempted
la deveJop methods which can be implemented with
a mnimum investment in equipment and computing
capabilitie~. The data are recorded on a 12-<:hannel
engineering seismograph. using a singie high-fre
quency geophone per channel. and a hammer or in
hole shotgun (- Bufralo gun~) as the seismic souree.
Processing and display of the data ean be accom
plished on an Apple 11+ or lI e microeompuler and
an Epson wide-track dot matrix prinler.
The succeS5rul applkalion of any shallo'" seismic
reneetion method depends on the ab,lity of Ihe
ground tO nansmil high-frequeney seism,c energy
Optimum conditions;n thiS regard are found al snes
where the surface matenals are fine grained and
water salUrated. In such arcas. reneelion data wilh
dominanl frequencies of 300 10 500 Hz have been
reeorded. wilh potemial subsurfaee slruClural resolu
tion of approximalel)' 1 m. Howe~er. when the sur
faee matenals are eoarse iTained and Iht water table
ls severa! metres below Ihe shot and geop hones. the
dominant frequeneies of rene etion data ca n be less
than 100 Hit In such areas, whether or nOI seismic
re flection methods are viable will depend on the
resolution required and the dePlh tO he target hori
The "optimum offset" shallow seis mie reneetion
melhod has been used to map bedrock from as shal
1010'as 15 m below surface to as deep as 400 m be
1010'surface. and lO map such fealures as foresel
bedding. uneonformities. and top of tilJ within he
ove rburden. Shallow renectlon methods should now
be eonsidered as one of the geophysical teehniques
applieable 10 iTOUndwaler and enginee ring probo
lems.
INTRODUCTION
Seismic refleetion methods have been the primary
geophysical tool used in oil and gas exploration for
over 50 years. Because of me tremendous eommer
eial importance of oil, much industrial rese arch and
704
o...'r'/ 1'/8'1
developmenl has been invested in Ihis branch of
geophysies. By Ihe 19605. speciali~ed field proce
dures. digital magnetic tape reeording, and computer
processing of the data had become standard in me
industry. Conventional seismic reneetion teehniques
are now _11 advaneed in comparison 10 other geo
physicallechnique s. bUl require considerable nvest
ment in sophisticated recording equipment and eom
puter processing eapability
Shallow seismic refleetion methods. eommonly
ealled high- resolution refleetion methods, also be
gan with oil-related prospecting . By the early 1970s
Ihere ",as considerable interest in examining shaJlow
stratigraphc traps as sources of oil and gas. >TO ex
fmine high-frequency reflections from sh~Jlow hori
wns requij"ed both lmproved digilal recording equipo
ment and seismic detectors (geophones ) . Sueti
equ,pment i6 now avai!able. and is continually bemg
,mproved Seismic data in "ihieh reneetion events
have dominant frequencies above 100 Hz are gener
ally considered 10 be "high-resolution data. The
W
depth of penetraton of "high-resolution" tech
niques ranges from tens 10 hundreds of metres . In
contrasto conventional reneetion technique s uulize
the frequency range between 10 and 90 Hz. with
depths of penetration in m e thousands of metres .
While se ismie reneetion methods ha,'e been wel!
established in m e oil industry for decades, equip o
ment acquisition, field work, and data processing
have bee n prohibitively expensive for engineering.
groundwate r. geoteehnical. Quaternary mapping. or
placer exploration applications. Refraetion. rath er
than reneclion. methods have been used almost ex
clusively in mese fields when subsurfaee structural
lnfonnation was required. Refraction methods de
pend on the measuremem of only the time of first
arriva! of seismic energy at a series of source-re
eeiver separations, and so do not require digitization
of the seismie wave train or computer proeessing of
!he data . Thus. refraetion surveys ean be earried out
wi!h relatively simple and inexpensive equipmem
For over thirty years, seis mic refraction methods
have been used tO obtain estimates of the deplh lO
bedrock ando where poS5ible. tO determine the ma
jor li!hologie boundaries wi!hin the overburden.
Th e limitations of refraction techniques are: a)
the basic 3S5umption that velocily inereases wilh
depth; b) he large 50urce energies required 10 ob
tain refraetions from horitOn5 deeper han 20 or
30 m below surfa ce; and e) the diffieulty in resolving
 APPLlCATlONS OF A SHALLOW ~EISMIC REFLECTION METHOD
I . A HUNTER. S E_ PULLAN. /lA_ BIIRNS. R,M, GAGN. AND R.L. GOOD

any delalled stru,ture on me target hori~on. Refle, profiling wilh an engineering seismograph isconsid
tion lechniques can over,ome many 01 these probo ered to be a new and extre mely useful teehnique in
lems. Energy wilJ be refleeted baek 10 me surfaee enginee ring. groundwater. and placer mining stud
from anyinterlaeeaerosswhiehlhere isa change In ies. andhasonly reeentlybeenappliedlosuehprob
the a'OUSlle impedanee (product ofdensity and ve lems in North America and elsewhere.
locily ofthe malerial). Thus. though no energy can Since Ihe nitial developmem of these teeh
be relracled from the IOp ol a low~veloclly layer. a niques only a few years ago. Ihere has been consid
refleellon does exist. AnOlher advanlage of reflee erable improvemem in bolh Ihe recording insuu
tion melhods is the large relative amphtude of a re mentation and the microcomputers Ihat are avail~ble
flecllon in comparison 10 the refraetion from the on the market. Manufacturersof engineering seis
samehorizon. There may be a differenee of as mueh mographs are now designing thelr inslrumems with
asanorderofmagnitudebetweentheamplitudesof Ihe needs ofboth the refraelion and the shallow re
lhe reflected and refracted waves, This means that flection seismologisl in mtlld. The power and speed
smaller . non-deslrucllve sources can be effeclively of mierocompUlers are conSlamly being improved
usedtoobtain reflectionsfrom depthsofseveraltens The capabilities of Ihe simple shallow refle'tion
01 metres. while it migh l be impossible tO obtain re melhods described below will undoubtably be su r
Ira'tlons Irom those deplhs wilhout explosive or passedinthenearfulureasfuJladvantageoffunher
heavy. lruek-mounled seismie sourees. FinaJl y, re improvemenlS in instrumowtalion istaken.
fle'tion lechniques have Ihe polenlial of providing
considerabledetailabouttheoverburdenSlruclure
and bedrock topography, depending on Ihe Irequen FACTORS AFFECTING RESOLUTION
cies Ihat can be recorded. Forexample, small bed
rock depres.o;ions or rugged bedrock lopography Ihal GROUNO CONOIT10NS
would be diffieull !O resolve with refraclon teeh
nique s. can often be more easily delinealed wilh The su,cessful application of any shallow refleelion
seismie refleetion melhods. methoddependsonthedeteetionorhigh-frequency
energy reflecled Irom velocily diseontinuities within
Pakiser and Warrick (1956), Warrick and Ihe overburden. or lrom lhe overburden-bedrock
Winslow (1960). and Meidev (1969) advocaledthe boundal)' , lmoud:! -lirR order- seismic l1leory
use 01 the refleelion method in shallow engineering eonsidernhe eanh 10 be a perfectly eJ.astic medium,
studies. bUI until the last few years it eould nOI be in faet Ihe real eanh is a slrongal1enualor ofhi&h
widely applied. These early sludies made use 01 freq ncr~r&y.tro r example. eanhqua ke waves
eitherspeeiahzedhigh-frequeneymullichannelana in Ihe 0.1 to 2 Hz range can be Iransmitled around
log unllS or single ,hannel reeorders. Hunle r and Ihe world, and selsmic waves in the 101090 Hz
Gagne (1971) and HUnler and HobSn (1977) range used in Ihe otl industl)' are reflecled [rom
showed Ihal bedrock refleelions eould be identified depthsofthousandsofmetres. butenergywithlre
onrecordsoblainedwilhlherefraetionseismographs queneies above 100 Hz normally have transmission
commonly used al thal lime. bUI resolution was poor palhlenglhsofonlyhundredsofmelres.Competent
due10 Ihe lackofhighpas.o;fi1lers.ltisonly reeently c!)'stalline rock! suppon high frequeneies betterlhan
Ihal 10w-cosl seismi, equipmenl. whieh allows the poorly consolidated sedimenta!)' rocks, while uneon
roulineapplicalionofrefleo;tionteehniqueslOengi solidated overburden is generally a poor Iransmil1er
neering and groundwater problems. has beeome of high frequeneies. Unlonunately. shallow reflee
available, These ~engineering seismographs" were tion methods forengineeringandgroundwaterappli
initially designed for shallow refraetion work, bUI eations are ,oneerned primarily with the overbur
Iheirdigilal, enhaneement. and filteringcapabilities den.some abililyofa particular site 10 transmit high
make Ihem alsosuitable as shallowreflection instru' frequendes is the primary con,em in inilial sile in
menlS. Al Ihe same time, 10w-cosl personal micro vesllgauons,
eomputers have become widely available. and pro The optimum eonditions for shallow refleelion
vide an eeonomi,al means whereby ref1ection dala melhods occur when Ihe overburden is fine grained
eollecled on an engineering seismograph can be and water saturaled: reflections wilh dominant freo
proces.o;edanddisplayed. quencies of 300 to 500 Hz ,an be obtained from
depths of more than 30 m in such field situalions.
Because engineering seismographs are basically These frequencies eorrespond 10 seismie wave
si mple insuuments in eompariSn 10 those used 10' lengths of 3 105m. wilh a potential subsurfa,e
day in me oil industry. many 01 me sophiSlkated struelural resolution of approx.imately 1 m. How
field and processing le,hniques developed for ,on ever, when Ihe surfa,e malerialsare coarse grained
vemional seismic work are dilficull 10 implement. and dI)', the dominant Irequenciesofrefleclion dala
The shallow seismk refleetion methods dis<:us.o;ed in can be less than 100 Hz. In sueh areas. seismic
this paper are rela lively straighlforward, and are wavelengths may ex,eed 15 m. and Ihe resolUlion
equivalem lO lechniques developed for oil explora may notbe sufficienttoobtain me desiredsubsur
tion 20 to 25 years ago. Yet despite mis, refleelion faceinformation

705
HIGH PASS FIL TERIN G CAPABILlTIES
The engineering seismographs on the market today
an have fixed poim amplifien, and mast use only
eight- or ten-bit analog-to-digital (AIO) conveners.
This limited dynamic range is a disadvantage for
shallow reneetion work because the magn'tude o f
lo w-frequency signals is generally so large in com
parison tothe high-frequency componenlS. [t is es
sentialthatinstrumenlSusedforhigh-resolutionre
flectionwork have high pass analog filters prior 10
A/OconversiontooHsetthelowpasscharacteristics
of the eanh. High pass analog fillers wilh cUloHs
rangingbelween 30 and 500 Hz are available onen
gineering seismographs al the present time. Use of
these fi!ten helps topreventsalurationoftheampli
fiersbylow-frequencysignalsbeforesufficiemhigh
frequency energy can be recorded. Ane"cellemdis
cussion of the problem of lim ited dynamic range and
theneedforhighpassfiltersinshallowreflec tion
work is given by Knapp and Steeples (1986a).
Besides selectinga highpass analog filleron the
recording instrument. high-frequency geophones
can be used to reduce some of Ihe low-frequency
components of Ihe seismic signa!. Geophon es with
natural resonam frequenciesof 50 and 100 Hz are
now commonly available. and are slrongly recom
mended forhigh-resolutionshallowreflectionwork
In many areas, Ihe use 01 bolh high-rrequency
geophones and high pass analog fillers can efrec
tively remove almost aU components of the seismic
signal with Irequencies below 100 Hz. and alJowthe
gaintobeincreasedSOlhatuseablefreq uenci es up
toseveral hundred Hz can be recordedon anengi
neeringseismograph.
Acceleromelers are an alternative tO the stan
dard geophone, whose amplitude is proportlonal 10
the velocity 01 the ground. For high-resolution
work,aeceleromelershavethedesirablefeatutethat
Iheir amplilude response increases with fteq uency.
Some excellent high-frequency reflection records
have been oblained using accelerometers (e.g.
Whiteleytlol.1986).Thedisadvantageofthesede
teclorsatthepresem lim e isthe ir lowoutpul signal
and high impedance. [n-line amplifiers are neces
saty 10 boas! the output voltage and lO match the
input impedance oftheseismogtaph.
[tisalsorecommendedthatsinglegeophonesbe
used tO record eaeh channel of shallow refleetion
data, as opposed 10 th e groups of geophones which
are standard in Ihe oil induslry.1is is tO prevem
any degradation ofthe high-frequency componenlS,
which might be caused by the addition of signals
which are slightly OUt 01 phase. The surface malerial
in which the geophonesare planted is often charac
terized by low velocily with considerable lateral in
homogeneity. Even slight variations in Ihe thickness
orvelocityofthislayer can cause difreremial time
delays between geophonesoltheorderofa fewmil
liseconds, which ate sufficient10 adversely affectre
706
flection signals aboye 100 Hz. Abo, iITays 01
geophones are used primarily to attenuate surlaee
waves, bUI the lenglh oI arraysthat are necessary to
accomplish this can cause smearing oflhe high-fre
quency components of Ihe renection signal because
ofslighl changesin the angle ofemergence oflhe
upcoming e ncrgy (Ruskey 1981; Knappand Sleeples
1986b).
SOURCES
Thechoiceofaselsmicenergysourcecan alsoaffect
the frequency of the reflected signal, and hcnce the
resolution oflhe data. Many factorsmustbeeonsid
cred when selecting a source for shallow reflecon
surveys, ineludingcost, convenience, ponab,lity, Ire
quency, cnetgy OUlpUI, and safcty ( Knapp andStee
plesl986b)
Asledgehammerhislongbeenusedasacheap.
ponable. and non-destructive source fer shalJow
seismic surveys. Unlonunately, the energy CUtput is
limited, and th e rmging of the hammer on the plate
produces. a ground-coupled airwave that is a major
sourceolintetlereneeonshallowreflcctionrecords.
However, in many ateas a hammer can be quite sur
ficientasanenergy source lorshallowrcnection
work (J:lunter ti 01. 1984)
Traditionally. e"plosives have been used for re
fractionsurveyswhen a source more powerful than a
hammerwasrequired. Smallexplosivechargesarea
good source of high- frequency energy, but there are
seve raldisadvantagestothe use of explosives. These
inelude Ihe diSlurbance of the ground, the COSt of
seismieblastin gcaps, andthestrictregulationscon
cerning Ihe purchase. transporto and storage ofboth
caps and e"plosives.
Over!he lasl few years there has beenconsider
able interest in evaluating the potential of various
sources for shaUow seismic surveys. Several weighl
drop sources have been designed and are sold como
mercially. Some researchers (e.g. Sleeples and
Knapp 1982; Seeber and Steeples 1986) have been
experimentingwithdiffetentealibettinesourceslor
shallow refleetion work. Singh (1984) has built and
tcsted a downhole propane--o"ygen detonatot. A
comparison ofthe seismic data obtained \11th many
differentsourcesatone particularsiteisgivenin
Miller tt al. ( 19 86)
Wehaveexpetimentedwith, and nowroutinely
use,anin- hole shotgunsource("Suffalogun")in
which a shotgun shell is detonated in the ground al
shallow depth. Several source tests involving "Suf
falo guns", Ihe sledgehammer, and a weight drop
have been eondueted (Pullan and MacAulay 1987).
The results \Iere strongly site depende nt, but showed
Ihat. espeeiallywhentheshotgunshellcouldbe
detonaled in damp or water-saturated material. Ihe
"Bufralo gun" was an excellent. high-frequency
!oOurce.Withlheaddedfeaturesofbeinglightweight.
easily portable, and relalively inexpensive to use, it
 ,I PPLlCAT/ONS OF A SffALLOUl SEISMIC REFLECION METHOO
J,A HUNTER, S,E PULU,N, R.A . BURNS. R.M. GIIGNt., liNO R.L. GOOO
hasprovedtobeaveryusefulsoureeforengineermg
selsmicsurveys
DEVElOPMENT OF SHALlOW
REFLECTION TECHN1QUES
- At the Geologieal Survey of Canada we ~gan devel
oping and lesting shalJow seismle refleclion meLhods
for engineering and groundwaler applications in the
early 1980s. when we acquired our firsl dlgilal engi
neeringseismograph and mated it with an Apple
microcomputer (Hunter ti al. 1982b), The original
aim ",as 10 use refleClion melhods for mapping Lhe
overburden-bedrock imerface, as Ihe often large ve
locity contrast al this boundary can gJve rise to a
prominenl.easilyidemifiablereflectioneventonlhe
seismic record (Hunter e/al. 1982a) . ln manyar
eas shallow reflection melhods have also proved to
be an effective means of mapping Ihe stNCture
within lhe overburden
From Ihe beginning we have attempled to de
velop melhods which can be implemented with a
minimum investment in equipment and computing
capabilities. Theobjeetive has beentomake the ap '
plicationofshalJowre flectiontechniquespossible for
a small enginee ring geophysics company. Thus. we
attempt 10 use equipment hal would be readily
availabl e losuehaeompany, andto keep specialized
hardware and data processing requirements tO a
Severalolhergroupshavealsobeeninvolvedm
the development of shallow refleetion techniques,
ootably lhose at Ihe Kansas GeologJcal Survey and
the University of Ulrecht in lhe Netherlands. Both
thesegroupshavetakenaratherdifferemapproach
tothatdeseri~dinthispaper,andhaveadapted
standard eommon-deplh-point (CDP) data aequisi
tion and processing teehniques for high-resolution
shallow reflection applications. CDP techniques are
.....ellestablishedinlheoilindustry, and are aneflec
tive means olimproving Ihe signal/noise ratio. The
disadvanlage is lhallhey require considerable com
putingcapabilities.
The group at he Kansas Geological Survey uses
a conventional seismie reeording system with a high
sampling rate, and processes lhe data on a ma;n
frame computer. They have experimented exten
sivelywilhriflesourcesforhigh-resolution .....ork.
and havehadcoru;iderahlesuccessinobtainingshal
low reflections under a variely of geologieal eondi
tiOIl.'! (Steeples and Knapp 1982; Steeples 1984;
Seeberand Steeples 1986; Steeples el al, 1986). In
ao atlempt 10 make shallo..... CDP surveys cost
effecti~e for enginee ring or groundwaler applica
tions , lheyhavemadesignif;eantprogressmimprov
in gtheeffieieneyoflhefieldwork. butdalaprocess
ing cosu ha~e still been about lwice Ihe CO~;t of data
acquisition(Steepleselal.1985:SleeplesandMiller
1986). To reduce the high processing COSIS, this
group has recently implemenled in-field processing
on a microcompuler (Somanas tI al. 1987)
A group headed by K. Helbig atthe University
of Ultech has been using an engineering seismo
graph and soflware developed in-house 10 colleet
and process CDPdata fromlidal flalSin Ihe Nether
lands. The tidal flal5are near-idealareas forobtain
onghigh-frequeneydata,~e3uSethesedimenl5are
eompletely watersaturated and no 3ttenuatinglo.....
velOClly surfaee layer exislS (Herber el al. 19b1)
Excellent hlgh-frequency seismic seclions wilh a
resolution of 0.5 m and refleclions from as shallow
as 5 m have been produced by Ihis group (Helbigel
al. 1985; Jongerius ~ I al. 1985).
AscomputingcOSl5decreaseandsoftwarepack
ages for CDP processing 01 shallow reflection data
~come more readily available, CDP surveys will
eventua lly he cosl-effective for engineering and
groundwalerapplicalions. Weareatthebeginningof
this transition period now. wilA several soflware
pacKages lor microcomputers coming onlO Ihe mar
ket;nlate 1987 (Somanas tI a/ . 1987; McOaughey
el al. 1986). Meanwhile, much useful shallow re
flectionsurveyingcanbecarriedoulusingthesim
pler and cheaper techniques described below.
CONCEPT OF THE "OPTIMUM WINDOW"
The methods developed al Ihe Geological Survey of
Canada are based on Ihe coneept of Ihe ~oplimum
window". The "optimum windo....." is Ihe range 01
source-receiver separations whkh allows Ihe re flee
lorstobeobservedwithminimuminterferencefrom
signalge neratednoise ,
Figure 56. 1 shows a eomposile field seismogram
from a sne near Winkler, Maniloba, where 45 m of
unconsolidated overburden overlies a Cretaceous
shale. Al near normal incidence (Le. at small
source-receiverseparations),lhebedrockrefleclor
disappears in a wne 01 high noise. This noise con
sists of ground roll (Rayleigh and surfaee modes)
and a ground-eoupled airwave which is orten pre
sen wilh hammer, weight drop, or poorly tamped
explosive sources. In many cases lhe ground roll
consislS predominanlly of lo.....-frequency energy,
andhighpassfilleringandlheuseofhigh-frequeney
geophones can reduce lhis interference. The air
wave, however, is usually a broad-band signal, and
cannot be redueed substantially by filtering.
The near side of Ihe ~optimum window~ is gov
erned by the relative positions in lime of the bed
rock reflector and Ihe oru;e of interference from
10.....-velociIY noise. The deeper Ihe largel horizon,
thegrealerlhesource-receiverseparationrequired
100bservelherefleetorbeforelhearrivaloftheair
wave and/or SJoundroU. The far side of Ihe ~opti
mum window" can be more difficult to determine. lt
isdependent onsuch laclorsaslhe Irequency oflhe
dala. interferenceofthebedrock refleclorwilhshal
lo ..... refleclOrs from within!he overburden. phasc
EX PI.ORAT I ON87 P ROCE EDI NGS
PPUC.HIONS 01- GEOPHYS/CS ND GEOCHEMISTRY
F la. ure 56 . l. Co",po,i,~ ,~~lIo .. "/I~ctiO" ,o,dl'o", Win~I ... Ma,,;,oba (I'J". and ,~. co""p0rldi,,, N",.-dj"a"<t p/OI
(,i,~"ld.",i"irll ,~. ",ajo, ui'mic "u o" /~. ,"co,d. n . 'oplimum ","do"''' i, ,~'" '0"&' oJ 'oure.-,......' .'po,o
,O", ",AicA "/lo,,,. I~' /a'l<I '"/I.e/o, lo b. obun.d .. il~oul ""'J..."e. J'o,," OlA .. ""
and amplilude changes in Ihe wavelel reflecled from
thetargethorzon.andfinally.theobjeclivesofLhe
particularsurvey
The occurrence of shallow reOectors withtn the
overburden can limil Lhe far side of the "optimum
window" in ,ases where Ihese events merge with the
bedrock or target reflector. This will. of,ourst. de
pendonthefrequencyoftherenectiondata. Merg
ing or interfering of the renectors will become a
problem at smaller source~receiver separations for
lowe r~frequency data.
The far side of Ihe "optimum window" can be
governedbylossofcorrelationofthereflecuonsig
nal due toamphtude and phase ehanges thal are a
funclion of the distance between source and
geophone. These changes are associa led with the
critica! angles dietated bycompressiona! and shear
wave velocity contraSIS aeross the reflecuon bound
ary. This subject is discussed in detail in Pullan and
Hu nter (1985). where it is eoncluded that. in gen
era l. the reflectedsignal isnotsubstantiallyaltered
so long as the source ~re,eiver separation does not
exceedthedepthtobedrock.
The object of the survey may also affee! the
choice ofthesou rce-reeeivergeometry.lfthe allTlis
to oblain a single depth point determination to a
pa rti,ula r reflector. lhen the reflectorshould be ob
se rved oyeras large a ra nge ofsource~geophone dis
unces as possible . in orde r toobtainthebeSlesti
mate of ave rage velocitydowntolhe reflecting hor
zon. lf. on the othe r hand, the aim is 10 produce a
seismic section from a series ofshallow reflection re
, ords collected along a lineo the n Ihe spacingofthe
traces within the optimum window wil! be deter
708
mined m pan by the desired subsurface coverage.
and in pan by the degree of normal moveout
(N~O) stretchingofthe near-surfaceeventsduring
processing which is acceptable.
Our firsl shallow seismic refleetion surveys were
carried out In this manner. usmg the ~optimum wm
dow" technlque (Hunter el al. 1982a, 1982b.
1984). The advantage of this technique IS that the
field ".. ork can be carried outquickly andeffiently
However. lhe requirement for an accurale velocny
depth funcuon is often difficulto meet, especiaUy
for he upper pan of the se'tion where latera l in
homogeneities may be significan!. Additionaldisad
vantages are the differentia l stretching in time of the
shallowwide-angle events bythe NMOcorrections,
andthedifficulty in makingadequatestati'eorrec
tionsforvelocityorthi,knessvariationsinthelayer
aboye the water tableo Thus, though the ~optimum
window" techniquecanbeaneffe'tivemeansoffol
lowing a single target renector (such as the top of
bedrock),itisgenerallynotveryusefulinresolving
detailsofthestructurewithinlheoverburden.
THE " OPTIMUM OFFSET" TECHNIQUE
The "opumum offset~ method was developed in an
anempt lO overcome the above-me ntioned short
comings 01 the "opomum window" technique. This
method provides lor better resolution 01 sha llow re
flections from within the overburden. The field dala
a'quisition component of the "optimum offset"
method is less effieient han for the "optimum win
dow" technique: however, he data processing is
much simpler and less time consuming.
 ... PPLlC... TIONS OF~. SH~U()W SE/SMIC REFLECTION MCTHOD
J .... HUNTER. S.E PULUtN. R.... . 8URN}. R M C"'CHE. """D ( L . COOD

DATA ACQUISITION uon 10 he optimum offset" record. First, astan

dard refraction record shou!d be shot wnh the
nitial expandingspreads must be shot around the
sourceclose tOlhe end ofthe array . Thisislooblain
survey area to determine the "opumum window~
ve!ocityinformation forthesurface layer. andan es
from within this window, one particular source-re limate ofthe depth to Ihe water table . Second!y, a
ceiverseparationischosen,suchthatthetargetre multichanne! reflection record should be recorded,
nector can be ooserved Wlthout tnterference
preferably wnh the source posilioned so tha! !he
throughouttheareaoftnterest. Thlscholce ISaCTlU "optimum offset" is near the mldpoinl of lhe
calone. since oncethe ~opllmumoffset" Isselected. geophone spread. These records may be used later
itshould ~ maintatned for theenure seismlC Itne for velocny analysis. Alternatively, after the "opti
Each channelofthe "opumum offset" record isre
mum offsel~ section has been ShOl, the operalor
corded individually by shoottng into each geophone
may selecl locaLions along the survey line where the
in turn fromtheselecledoffset (Figure 56.2)
seCIJon indicates Lhal lhe Slrallgraphy is relatively
As long as the chosen offset iswithin the "opu flal-Iying. and relurn 10 these Slles 10 shool mulli
mum window". there is complete freedom to select channelrecordslobeusedforvelocityanalysis.
Ihegeophonespacingbasedonthedesiredsubsur
face coverage. In mOSIofthe examplesshownin this DATA PAOCESS1NG
paper, a geophonespacingof 3mhas~enused The data processing required 10 produce a final op
We have found this, or even finer, spactrlg to ~ limum offsel" seismic reflectionsection IS shown in
most effective .....hen the object of the survey is tO flowchart form in Figure 56.3. The processlng is
mapdetailedstrocture withinlheoverburdenoron largelycosmelic,andapreliminaryseclion can easily
the bedrock surface. Spacingsof 5 mormorecan beproducedinlhefieldofficeonthedaylhedala
be used when a more regional picture ofsubsurface are collected. The data are firSltransferred {rom the
stroctureisdesired. seismographto an Apple lI+or lIe mlcrocomputer,
The ~oplimum offset" melhod requires a seIs and Slored on floppy disk. Transfer roulines are
mograph with the capability of holding tndividual available commercially foralllhe engineering seis
traCes in memory .....hile recording other channels. mographsonlhemarketatthepresenllime. Proc
Mosl engineering seismographs on the market lod3y essing software has been developed for the Apple
have this "memory freeze' or "channel locking" microcomputer with two disk drives, and an Epson
feature. ltispossibletouseastnglechannelinstro widetrack. dOlmatrixprmter (Normintonand Pullan
mem to collect "optimum offset" data. but multi 1985,1986)
channel seismographs are Slrongly recommended.
Whenviewmgonlyonechannelalatime,illseasy
foran operator 10 become confused as 10 Ihe loca P"OCESSltlG OF OPllMUM OFFSET" D.n ...
lion intime ofthe target renector. Ho....ever. multj
channelseismographsallowtheoperatortoconunu
ally verify that a particular pulse ona trace is a re
flec tion, byviewingitsrelationtoolhereventsonthe
seismogram. For example, an airwave will produce a
flat-Iying event on an ~op!Jmum offset" record,
which could easily ~ mistaken for a reflector. How
ever, ona multichannel record. theairwa.-e can be
immediatelyidentified on Ihe basisofilslowveloc
ity.
For each geophone sp read, il is recommended
Ihat twO multichannel records be obtained tri addi

1""''''00<0<''''' 1
FII".e 5'.2. Di"!",,,, ,ho",I~8 Ih~ "'Up for r~cordj~& ~~ Ft"re 56. J. Flow<h"" ,ho.. I~8 ,ho prO<"J;~8 '''p' lo"d
opl;m,.m off,~I" u<ord. Q~d I~. '~/I~<liQ~ 'ay palh fo, i~! lO ti fiMI "cpUm,.m off..t~ 'Ijo~. s d.."lplion i~
."eh oflhr,hOIJuquiud

709
EX P LO R,\T I O .... '87 PR OCEED I NGS
,A,PPLfC.UIONS OF GErJPHYS/cS Mm GEOCHEMISTRY
The first slep m the processingsequen<:e IS he
applicationofslaliccorre<:lionsloeachlraceoflhe
"optimum offsel ~ record. In moslcaseS.lhe firstar
rival eventoneachtrace istherefracuon fromlhe
top oflhe wale r lable. Hence, by aligning he firSI
a rrivalSlheefle<:tol lhe variabJelow-velocitylayer
aboye Ihe watertable can be removed.
The optimum offsel~ section is produced by
plottingthe staticaJly corrected "opllmum offset" re
cordswith anautomaticgamcontrol (AGe) tO nor
mahte trace-IO-Irace amplitudes and to enhance
weakreneclOrs,andlineargaintaperstoenhance
lhe amplitudes of target reneclOTS_ Digital bandpass
filteringof the data can be appliedto lmprove and
standa rdizelhefrequencyspectraoftherecords.
Once the "optimum offset~ section has been
p lotted . it is necessary to determine a velocity- deph
functionwhichcanbeusedtocaJcuJaleadepth
scale corresponding tO he (\.,o-way travel time of
Ihe section. Reflection events on the multichannd
reflection recordswhichwereshotaJongwithlhe
"optimum offset ~ records are ana lysed toobtain es
timatesoftheaveragevelocitybelweenthesurface
andtherefleetor. ltisrecommendedthatanaverage
velocity-depth function be estimated Irom as many
reflectioneventsaspossiblewilhinonesegmemofa
surveyline. The average veloc itiesmust becorreeled
fo r the effectofthe 10w-velOCllY layeralthesurface.
The Ihickness and veloclly of this layer are calcu
lated from the refraclion record from each spread.
The depth scale computed ror the section will be
non-linea r, panicularlynearthesurface, becauseof
the non-zero source- geophone offset
PROS ANO CONS
The major disadvantage of lhe optimum offsel~
technique is the time required to take individual
Fl ll ure 56.4. "Op'i"""" eff"'" ,/talle"" Trfl<c"e~
niq~ r IOT m"pp,nr j"iTly TuUrd ,~b,uTI" "T~<t~rr
shots for each trace of the final secuon. However.
Wllhalhree- orfour- manc rewwork inga longroads
fromatruck .....ehavefound itrealistictoexpecllO
cover 500 m per day wlh a geophone sp acing of
3 m. The ac tual produclon varies. of course. de
pending on the site cond itions, and panicularly on
the posslble requirement for Slackins shots tO im
prove the Slgnal-to-noise rauo.
The advantages 01 the method are Ihe slmphclly
oflhe data proeeS5tng, and the factthal no NMO
correctionsarereqUlredsolhatlhereisnodiffe ren
\lal strelchmg or distonlon of wide - angle near-sur
face reflections. The "optimumoffset~ lechniqueal
10ws lhe usertoquicklyobtaina pictureofthe mue
lure 01 the overburden and or lhe topography of the
bedrock surfaee, ....lthout having tO first determine
the velocity structure. PreJiminary se(tions can be
prepared on site in the field office wilhin hours of
collectingthedala.
EXAMPLE " OPTIMUM OFFSET" SHALLOW
REFLECTION SECTlONS
Over the laSI few years we have colleCled ~optimum
offset- data from a wide varielyofgeologiealsettings
- Precambnan 10 Teniary bedrock, overburden
thicknesses from lS to 400 m, and a speelrum of
overburden lypes rangins fromre<:ent marineclays
toglaeiallllls.Theexamplesectionsdescribedbel.. w
werechoSentOlllustratesomeofthecapabilil,esand
hmitalions of the "optimum offset" teehnique _ AH
sections lIIere shot using a 12-gauge "Burralo gu n"
as the seismic source
8EOROCK TOPOGRAPH Y
Figure 56.4 iS3 400 msectionofan "oplimumoff
sel~ profile from Val Gagne. Ontarlo, which sholOiS a
buried bedrock valley (Pullan el al. 1987). This sec-
'<<<ienjre", Val Ga&nli, OMaTie. j//''''Tarin, rh< por.nrial o!rh<uch

J,"_ HUI<TER. S E PULLAN. R," , BURNS. RM G"GNt. "NO /1. L. GOOU
tion demonstrales Ihe polemial of Ihe ~opllmum off
setO shallow refleclion melhod lor mapping la,rly
rugged subsurface slruclu re . This buned valley 's
200 m wide, and Ihe maximum relief on the bed
rock surface isapproximalely25 m.
Wilhinthe overburdenthe reareseveralreflec
t0r5wh,charealmostflat- lying.6asedonlhelogsof
nearby dnllholes, Ihe overburden is Ihoughl 10 be
essentially a clay umt. The reflectors ",ithin th,sun't
appear 10 be draped ove r the bedrock topography,
thatis, theydipgentlytowardsthecentreollhe bed
rockvalle yandarearchedupoverthebedrock
h'ghs. This is altribuled to dewaleTlng and compac
tion of the clays after deposilion
Thissecuonwasshotwilhan "opumumoffset"
of 21 m, and a geophone separation of 3 m. The
dala were filtered in Ihe field by the use of lOO Hz
geophones, and a 300 Hz high pass analog filteron
the se,smo~raph. Prior to final plotIJn~. a digital
bandpassfilter from 300 10800 Hz wasalsoapplied
The reflecllon s'gnal5 on this section have a domi
nant frequency 01 approximate!y 300 Hz. Th,s is an
excellentsite forshaUow reflectionwork;thesurface
mateTlals are line grained and Ihe water lable '5
wihm 1 m ofthe surface.
SHAllOW RESOlUTION
Figure 56.5 iS3 430 m sectionofan 'oplimumoff
setO profile from CasseJman. Ontario, which is
shownto ,Ilustraletheshallowhigh resolutionpolen
lialofthetechnique
Bedrock al th,s s,te is a massive Paleozo,c lime
stone which dips genlly to Ihe nOM (Ieh 10 nghlon
Iheseclion).SeveralconunuousrefleClorscanbe
observedwithlfltheoverburden.andlhe)'correlate
well w'lh Ihe lithologic boundaries identified in a
borehole that was laler drilled on the 1ine by Ihe
Omario Ministry 01 Natural Resource s. The upper
15 m oflhesection consiSlSof finesand withcJay
layers. Benealh Ihis is a clay unit in wh,ch Ihe s:md
F II"re 56.5. 'Op,jmum of/ul'- ,hallo", "fl,j()~
f,h."chniqu .
"PPLlC" rJONS f1F .1 SI/"LLOW SE1SMIC REFLECTlCW Mf:THOD
content ",creases w,lh deplh. A thin 1ayer of liU
overlies bedrock, and was encountered in Ihe
dTlUhole al a depth of 28 m
Wilh lhe geophones and the shotgun source
planled in Ihe fine-gra",ed, water-salurated sedi
ments al lhis site, no airwave was observed o n Ihe
records. Ground roll was also drastically reduced by
the use of lOO Hz geophones and the 300 Hz high
pass analos filter on Ihe seismograph. Thus. il was
poss,ble tO shool th,s secllon ",ilh an ~opl,mum off
sel~ of only 12 m. Th,s. and the facllhat at this site
the domlflam frequency of the renected signa1s is
close 10 500 Hz. means hal'l is possible 10 resoJve
IheoverburdenslructureloWllhin 10 mofthe sur
lace. This section ,s an example of lhe excellenl,
high-resolulion dala lhatean be obtained underthe
beSt field condit,ons.
Figure 56.6 isa short seclionof an 'optimumoffset~
linelhalwasshOlintheOkanasanValley nearVer
non. British Columbia. in an allempt 10 map deep
aquifers used for irrisalion. Jt is shown here as an
example of the deplh of penetralion thal is polen'
ually possible Wlth Ihis simple reflection techn,que.
Penelrauon of over 400 m was achieved at Lhissite.
When these records were collecled, the waler
table was apprmumalely 5 m belowsurface, andthe
ShOl was wel! above this Ifl a hard-packed dry sil\.
The record quallly ",as ,mproved when a water tamp
wasused Ifllheshol hole. bUla ground- coupledair
wave couldsull be Obser"ed on someofthe records,
and an "opumum offsel" of 150 m had 10 be se
lected in order 10 alioli' a sufficient notse-free re
cording window_ The dominant frequencies of the
reflected signals were bel"'een 80 and 100 Hz. and
in order 10 record these, 50 Hz geophones were
used wilh Ihe analog filters on the seismograph set
for a bandpass cemred al 100 Hz. The geophone
sepa ration was 3 m.
,,,,ion /Mm C""."''' n. On,,,,jo, ,ho..,jnl,h. hilh - 'tlOlu,jon POltnli<.
 EXrLOR,\TIOl'l 'S7 l'It OCf.:f.:n I NGS
....'OPLlC.... rlO,vS OF EOPHYSlCS ANO GEOCHEMISTRY
Figure 5'.6. "Opumum 0//"" ,Aa/le", ,.fl.c.ion .."'en/10m
uan i.i'p"..ibl.,o ,,<Ai... ," "rta.,,/.nICl o..,burd.n
The seclion shows over 200 m of relalively flal
IyingproglaciallacuSlrrnesedimentsoverly.nganun
conformable horizon which corresponds tO the tOP
ofcoarse-gramedsandsand gravelswithm whichthe
aquifers are found. Thi.'! stratigraphic interpretation
oflhe data isbasedon a borehole whlch was 100 m
off-line atthe leftsldeofthesection. The sandsand
gravels have been tentatively mlerpreted as Quater
nary in age. allhough the possibllity e,usts thal they
may be as old as Teruary. Bedrock defiflllion be
neaththeaquifersed,ments.andbeddingdefinllion
within the aquifer zones is poor. probably as a result
ofthe high acoustic impedance contrastat theun
conformiyandthepresenceofdiffractlve ev~ntsbe
low that
OVERBURDEN STRUCTURE
Figure 56 ,7 iS3 330 m sectionofan "optimumoff
set" profile (rom Val Oagn, Ontario. whlCh demon
strates that Ihe "optimum offset" technique can be
used as a tool for mappingtheslructure oflheover
burden. This seC \lon was shot as pan of a program
totes! the feasibllityofusingshallow reflection tech
niquestodelineateoccurrencesofglacialtillbeneath
varying thicknesses of fine-grained sediments (Pul
lan tt al. 1987).
The "optimum offset" used for this line was
30 m, and the spacing between 50 Hz geophones
was 2.5 m. The data were Iiltered in the field wilh a
300 Ht highpass analog filter<mlhe seismograph,
and a digital bandpassfiherfrom 300 10 800 Hzwas
appli ~ d before the final section was produced. The
near-surface material at lhis sile was fine grained
V.,~on. B",,,~ Columbia. ,Uu",a"nl .h. d.p.A o/ pon'''a
and waler S3Lurated, and exce!lenl resolution ofthe
subsurface SlruCture wasoblamed
Based on the seismic results, the Ontario Oeo
loglcal Survey d"lIed a hole 10 sample a pockel o f
glacial jll which was idenufied on the refleclion sec,
lion, The borehole log is sho"'n on lhe figure. The
essentmllyflat-l yinguppersectionoftheoverburden
consists of clay grading mto a Ihlck sand unll. A
contaClbetweenmasslveandvarvedclayoccursata
depthof 17 m,andthisinterfaceisclearlYVlsibleon
the selsmic seclion al a tim~ of approximale ly
30 ms. The topofthe sand isanindistinctboundary
and is nO! ~asy to define on lhe seismic seclion
However. a reflector correlates weH wilh Ihe nter
face belween a fine and coarse sand at a depth of
approximately 50 m. Allhe drillhole, 15 m ofsandy
till overlies bedrock. The section indicales that Ihe
ullisasmallpocketwithalaleralexlentofapproxi
mately 100 m. This example clearly demonstrates
the pOlenual of the "opumum offsel~ lechnique for
mappmgdeLailedstructureoftheoverburden.
A second example is shown m Figure 56.8, a
highresolutionsectionfromasuburbanareaofthe
Fraser Delta, British Columbia. These reco rds were
shot with an "oplimum offsel~ of 12 m. and a
geophone spacing of 1.5 m, lO look specifically al
details of me shallow Struclure of the overbu rden.
The section is 270 m in lenglh. The source and Ihe
100 Hz geophones were planted in the bottom of
water-filled irrigation ditches for optimum coupling
The IWO groups of de ad traces on lhe righ! side of
thesectionmarkthepositionofapavedaccessroad
where it was impossible to place either Ihe
. _.....
J"
f"guce 5'.? Op"",~m 0//''''' ,~~llo'" ,./lulion
e,," b~ kstd /or "'''pplnt ,~, "fU""" O/1M ",,,b,,,,.
~!g ... cc 56.8. "Opll",u", ,,//,.,.. ,hallo.., "/11;0" stwon/rom
lu,.o/'hto."burd.n
geophones or lhe source. The dala were fihered in
lheseismographwithananalogbandpassfillerfrom
350101000 Hz. This is an exarnple of excellem
high-resolulJondata;lherefleclionenergyonlhe
section has a dominanl frequencyof 500 Hz. corre
sponding 10 wavelengths of approxlmately 3 m
ThissectionshoW5 anunconformity betweenlhe
flat-lying recen! delta deposits atthe surface and a
sequence of older Quaternary foreset beds below.
The modern sediments are approximately 20 m
thick. except in a shallow channel CUl JUSt 10 the
rigllt oflhe centre ofthe figure. where lhey reach a
lhickness of25 m. Adjacemdri!Jholessuggesllhat
"PPLlC"TlOIIS O..... SH.... LLOW SEISM/C REFLECTION METHOD
HU.vTER. S E PULL"II. R" BUflNS. R M C"CNt. "ND R L GOOD
st"io~/co", V~ C,,&~j. Onl"';o . ..,hi<h d~","n"r"u, Ihallh. u<h.,qu.
Fr~r~r D,lla. B", ..h C"umb,a. d<lal',n& In. rhallo ... "'UC'
the foreset beds are cornposed almOSl entirely of
s~nd. Hcnce.the dippingrefleclorsarederived from
constructiveimerferencefromrninordensityandve
locit} variations wilhin he sand.
POOR SeCTION
As discussedabove. the successfulapplicauon ofany
shallow reflection method depends on l.he delection
of high-frequency energy reflected frorn the targel
horizon. Sorne sltes, particularly those where the
surfacematerialsare coarsegrainedanddry, are un
favourable in this regard. An example is shown in
Figure 56.9. which is a 200 m section of an "opti
mum oHset H profile from Wandering River. Alberta
, ~"'''' ... EX I'LORATION '87 P ROCEED I NGS
APPUOoT/OHI OF GEOPHYSICS ",/YD CEOClf2MISTRY
FllIUC~ 56.9. EAa"'pl,,,!Qn Q,." ",h<r./h. "o p/imum oJ!
;:/;;.~:~~~: ;:~~c~:n/~:,~;:~~: ~:~~.n::.:::~, "'~~:ho:~
,i,t:Q/aw".o!appt oximaltly2Hml .
ThIS is a site where the sha Jlow reflection methods
discussed in Ihis paper do not work.
From driUing in the area it is known thal bed
rock i5a Slll5tone overlain bythicksequencesoftiJls
and gravels. At lhis panicular site bedrock is esti
mated to be approximately 70 m below surface . 1I
was expecled thal Ihe bedrock reflection mighl not
be large in amplilude because of Ihe low velocity
contrasl al Ihe overburdenlbedrock interface
However, Ihe major problem in Ihis area was he
very p<lor transmission of h/gh- frequency seismic
energy. The dominant frequency of the records
shown in Figure 56.9 is approximately 50 Hz, and
Ihisisduetolheuseof50 Hzgeophonesandahi gh
pass analog filter of 100 Hz on Ihe seismograph
The records are charaClerized by a series oflow-fre
quency roll, with large static varialion5 from trace
to-trace (no static corrections have been made in
thisplot) . TheonJycorrelatableeventonlhesection
is the airwave. which wilh Ihe chosen optimum off
set" of 75 m, arrives al a time of approximately
225 ms.
The poor results obtained al this site are attrib
uted 10 veryhigh attenualion inthe low-velocitysur
faee layer (above the wa ter tabJe). The attenualion
ofhigh frequenciesispan.icularlysevere, bUleven
the energy relum in the 50 Hz range was very poor,
requiringlhe amplifiersonthe seismograph 10 be set
al ma ximum gain. One way il might be possibJe 10
overcome this problem would be 10 drill deeper
ShOlholes and geophone holes, so that the source
a nd the receivers could be planled at or below the
wa ter tableo However, this would require specialized
eqUlpmenl. and would ccnamly slow down produc
Iionandinereaselheeosloflhesurvey.
SUMMAAY
In he pasl len years Ihe developmenl of IOW-COOl
digital engmeering seismographs and mlcrocomput
ers has led to the imroduclion of high-resolution
selsmlc re neetion teChnlques lO engmee ring and
groundwater studies , Not unJike othe r geophysical
lechniqu es, the successful application oflhe "opti
mum offset" shallow reflection melhod discussed in
thispaper issite-<lependenl _ However, whenground
condilions are favourable, the melhod can provide
resolution of the bedrock lopography and of Ihe
structurewilhintheoverburdenonascalenothllh
eno available. Since its development. Ihe authors
havesuccessfullylestedlheapplicabilityofthe"opli
mum offset" melhod in a variely of geological seto
tingsinCanada.Wehopethalthenexttenyearswill
seeitswidespreadacceptanceandapplicationbythe
international community of engineering and
groundwater geosci.e ntists
AEFEAENCES
H.lb i,. K . . BrQu .... r, J" Dankba ... J.M. andl<>ne,iu . P
1985: Shano... High R..olulion Sei,mic. on Tidal flalO: A,
qui.ilion TechnotolY (Abst,a<l); p.165 - t67 in Hlh
Annua lInl ~mationaI M e ..inloflh.SocielyofExplo_
~~~n Geoph~,i<h". 0<:,- 6-10. 1985, WaohinIOn,
He,be" M .A. , Runia, D .l .. and Helbig. K
1981: The Shallow SlIu<lureof l h~ Rogsenplul (The Nelh
e,land.) .. ~ducedfromHjllh-",olulionMul1i<han
nel Sei.mi. Pro!iUng: Otologie en Mis.nbouw , Volume
60,p_22S-236
Hun .." 1 . A ., Burn" R,A" Ooo<l. R.L., MaeAulay . H.A
andOagM, R,M
1982a:Oplimum Fi.ld Tochnique. lo, Bed,oek Reneclion
Mappin,wilh Ihe Mulli.h ann.1 Engineerin Sei,mo
r'ph;p_125-129inCurr.nIR.,ul<h.Pa"B,~o_
logi.aISUIveyofCanoda. Paj>tr82-IB
Hunle" 1.A .. Bum., R_A_. G . gn~ , R_M .. G.>o<l. R.C" and
Ma. aulay , H.A.
1982b: Malin Ih.. Digila l EngineeringSei.mogr.ph wilh Ihe
Small Compu ler - Sorne U,eful Teehnique.;
p,131-t38 in Currenl R....,ch. Po" B, Oeologi<al
Su"oyo [ Canada. Paper 82 - 1B
Hunle,. j,A .. andogn., R_M
1~71: Sei.mic Rente1ion T~.1, Quyon. Queb; p SO- SS j ~
Repo" of Ac!i';lie., Pall B. <ologi<>l Sun.y 01
Ca n.daPaj>t'71 - 1B,Repo"17
~77, ReneCl;on, on Shllow S. i. mi. R.r,aclion R~.ord.;
Oeoexplo, .. lion. Volume 15. p . 183 - 193.
Hun1e" ,A.. Pullan. S.E . , Bum . R_A . . O'grlt. R.M ..
andGood. R_ L
Shallow Soi.mi, Rene"ion Mapping 01 Ihe Ov. ,bur
d~n- Bftoek Inlerr... wilh lh. Enginee,in Seismo
raph - Sorne Simple Techniqu ; G.oph)"Sic . Vol
ume .~. p.1381-1385

" .
, "~" APPLlCATlONS ()F ... SHM LOW SF./SMIC REFLECTION .\1ETHOD
J A. HUNTER. SE
Jon,.,iu P and Helbi. K .
1985: Shallow High R.""lulionSei.mi", G<o!oli< Appli<.
lion. (AM1rI.I): p_IS2 - 1S. i~ SSlh Annulllnlerna
tional M ,inlo ftheSo<ielyol Explor.tionGeo phy.i
dm. 0<;1. 6- 10, 1985. W ..hinglon , D.e
Knapp , R.W . , and SIple., D,W
1986. : Hi,h-re.ohllion Common-depth-poinl S~;,rni< Re
n.";on I'fofiling: [n"'umenl";"n: Uoophy.i, . Vol
"me SI. p_276-282
1986b: Hi,h-,.. o]ution Common - depHt-point Soi,mio Re
nection f'rofilin: Fi.ld Aequi,"ion Pa ra metef [)e
. il"; eeophy.ic. , Volume SI. p_283-294
Mce.uh~y. W_J .. Young, R.P .. and WO<>di, D.V
1986: Mic,ocomputef Proce in, 01 Shallow ~i,mie Data'
A Case Sludy (Absluet); p_370-)7) j~ S61h Annual
In'e!notionll M.et;n of ,h. So<;.'y 01 Eleplo,a,ion
G""phy.;ei't. No. 2-6. 1986. H"US10n. Tx
1969: Hammer Ren.e,ion S.. ;.mie.;n Enl; ne.. r;nl Geophy.
;es, Geophysics, Volume )4. p.383 - 395
Mili" ,. R. O., rullan. S_E., W.ldner. J.S .. and Haeni. F.P
1956: Field Comparison 01 Shallow Sei.mie Souro .. ; Geo
ph~.ios. Volum e SI. p.2067-2092
No,min,on. E.J .. nd rullan, S_E.
198~: Engineerin Sei.mie Reneotion SilI'war. lo, th. Apple
Micfo<ompul<r (Ab",ut): p.179-181 i~ SS'h An
nual ln'erna,i"nal Me.'ingo llhe Sode'yol Eleplora
tion eeophy.iciS1. Oc, . 6-lG, 1985 , Washinglon
D.e.
Sei.mie R.nec,ion Silflware 101 EnJin.. ring S.i,mo
"aphi. eeologieal Su ...y 01 Canlda. 0l"'n Fil.
1277. 120p
Pati.... L.e., and W.nick. R.E
1936: A Prelimin"y Evalua'ion 01 'h. Shallow Renec,ion
Sei.mograph; Geophysics, Volumo 21. p.388-40S
1985, Sei. mic Modcl Studi.solthoO ,bu,d.n-bedrock 11..
ntion: eeophy.ie . Volume 30, p . 1684 -168a.
Pullan , S.E_, Huntef, l _A_, Gagn, R. M ., and GiIod. R.L
1987: [)elinu,ion 01 Bed,ock Top<>suphy at Val Gagll'.
Ontario. U.ing Sei.,mic Ren.e,ion Techniqu ;
p.gOS-912 I~ Cunent Reseuch. Part A, Geoh>sJcal
Sur.eyolCanada, Pal"'r87-IA.
PuJlan. S.E., and MacAula~. H_A
1987: An In-hol. Sholgun SOlllee lo, En,ine. ';ng Sei. mie
Su,~eys; Geophy.ic., Volum. n, p,98~-996
Rush~, F land (Ab",a'I); p,104 - 106 i~ 56th Annual Inlo,na
1981 Hih- ,esolulion Sei,mie M.lhod. lo, HO,d-,Qck Min
in,; p .4-28 i~ Premininglnvligation. lo, Hard'o<k
P'-'LV,N. R A. BUR"S. R M CIoCNE, '!'ND R L. GOOD
Mine., Pro<e.dm", B~ru~ 01 Mine. T<c~nololY
Tran.r.,Seminar, IXn,. Colorado, Sep' _ 25. 1981.
lnformalionCilcular889ilU.S DepI.ollhelnl.'io"
Buroau of Mine.
s.,~be,. M.O .. and Sleepl... D
1986: Se"mic Dalo Obloined U'in, _50-ca libe, Machin.
Gun .. High-re.olu",," S."mic Source; The Ameri
can A",xiotion 01 r."ol.um GeolosJSI. BUlle'in,
Vojume 70. p,970-976
1984: Shallow S... mic R.ntelion. "'ith a P'opano-oxy,on
[)e'ooa'o,: Geouplo,. 'ion, Volumen, p,89- 10S.
Somanas. e.D" BenMl. B,C,. andChung, Y.-J
1987: In -liold ~i,mio CDP Ptoee"in~ ",,,h. Microcom
pute" Geophy,ies: Th. Luding Edgeol Explo,a'ion,
Volum. 6. Numbe, 1. p_H-27
Steepl . D .W.
1984: Hih-,.solu,ion s.,ismiC Reneclion' at 200 Hz; Oil &
easJou,nal. VoJume82. p_86-92.
Stpl. O.W ..nd Knapp. R_W.
1982: RenecllonsIrom25 h o, l.<.. (Ab." ,); p.469-471
,~ S""i.ty 01 Explo,alion Goophy.ici,1S S2nd Annu.l
~~ernalional Meeting. Ocl. 17 - 21, 1982. Oallas,
S".pl.., D_W_. Knapp, R. W .. a nd MeEI"' , C,O
1986: Sei,mic R.neclion InveSligo'ion.oISinkhol.. Ben..,h
Inl... l.l .. HiJh"'a y 70 in Kanoa.: Geoph~ . ie . Vol
Um~ 51. p.29S-101
S..ep le . D_W_. Knapp, R.W . nd Millo.. R.O.
1985: Fied Elliden' Shallow eop Soismie Su ..oy' (Ab
'1"'1): p.150-152 i~ S5,h Annual lntero.lional
Me. 'lnlol'he Silci.'y 01 ElepjO,"lioD Geophy,iclSlS.
OeL 6-10.1985. Washinglon, D.C.
S..eple . D,W., and Mill ... R D
1986: Sorne Shallow S.i,mie R.Ilec,ion Pilbll, (Ab"'.el);
p.101-I04 ,n 56th Annual 1n"mational M.e lng 01
'he Sodelyol Eleplo,a,ion Geophy'i'im. Nov. 2-6,
1986. Hou.lon. Tx
1960 : Appllcation 01 S.i.mie Melhod. 'o a Ground- wal"
P,obl. m in Norlh ...l.rn Ohio: Geophy'ics , Volum.
23,p_505- 568.
Wh".l e ~. R_J,. Hunler, J,A .. and Pullan, S_E
1986 Hih-,.,olulion Common-olt.eI S.i.mie R.n tion
Prolilin in Ihe Chaophroya BI.in. Bangkok. Thai
lional M .. linl 01 'h. Sodelyof Eleplo,""onGeophysi
ci". No~_ 2-6, 1986, Hou"on. Tx