Name: Jssica Rivadeneira Garca

HOMEWORK 1
Make a brief description/research on four methods of geophysical exploration.

1. Reflection seismology

1 Reflection Sismology. URL:

https://www.google.com.ec/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwikz7Cu9e3TAhVI2y
YKHc4SDcEQjhwIBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgeocafemx.blogspot.com%2F2015%2F10%2Fseismicinterpretation.html&psig=
AFQjCNEemWi5qL7iM2Y1yhxh1p1T_hQ2EA&ust=1494800878779728

It applies the main principles of seismology to infer the properties of the subsurface, it
identifies differences in material composition. It requires a source of energy such as TNT,
air gun or any perturbation from the surface to the subsurface. Its principles are similar to
the GPR with the difference on the energy source and applications. It is possible to use this
method in the ocean. It basically transmits waves to the subsurface and these waves can be
refracted or reflected, it is the reflected waves that are the most important because they
are the ones that make the study possible and are taken by a tool named geophone. It can
be applied in hydrocarbon/mineral exploration, marine survey, etc.

2. GPR
The Georadar or GPR is a advanced technology noinvasive, ie without the need for
perforations, tasting or similar, which allows get an image of the underground can locate
buried services, geological structures, problems related to geotechnical, vestiges
archaeological, and contamination of soils and groundwater).

2 GPR. Sensors & Software, 2017. URL: http://www.gprlocates.com/

This acronym corresponds to Ground Penetrating as its name says it all, this equipment
can (in some way) take a picture of the subsurface. It is a non-destructive method
because it uses electromagnetic energy through an antenna which is armored in most
of the cases, the main reason why is because the GPR needs a range of signals and it is
avoiding sounds from the places around. The way it works is basically detecting material
changes through reflected waves, using high-frequencies (from 10Mhz to 2.5 GHz to be
accurate), this GPR transmits waves to the grounds and identifies when one thing is
different from another. Of course, it has its limitations, and the data taken (radargram)
must be processed in a software (for instance, RadExplorer which has filters to help
make a better radargram).
Some of the limitations to be mentioned are the following:

o It is a certain sensivity depending on the depth reached. For instance, if a GPR

can penetrate until 80 meters its sensivity will be 10 cm, which means if there is
a layer under that size, it cannot be identified by the equipment. This sensivity
increases as the depth does.
o The interpretation of the radargram is always opened to mistakes and that is
why it turns very important to correlate with the things you can see on surface.
o If the ground is full of metals, then all the waves will be reflected and the GPR
turns useless in that case.
 o It is necessary to know or infer what is underneath due to velocities
establishment at the moment of processing data on a software.
Finally, the applications for the GPR are too many (from agronomy, archeology to police
investigations on finding buried bodies).

3. Ground Motion Monitor

3 :GMM. PreFound Asia. URL: http://www.vibrationmonitoring.asia/ground-vibrationmonitoring/

The main purpose to apply this method is to determinate whether ground shaking tends to
cause damage to structures or human habitations. It mainly uses three components of a
seismograph, two of them measure horizontal directions (transverse and longitudinal) and
the third one is oriented vertically. It requires parameters such as: peak displacement, peak
particle velocity, peak acceleration, the vector sum of the output of the three seismometer
components and air pressure. With these parameters is possible to calculate another one
that turns out to be important and it is the frequency of ground motion waves with the
purpose of getting a plot frequency against peak particle velocity to calculate the possible
damages.

4. SEV
It is an electrical method that uses resistivity to infer what is under the ground, as matter
of fact, subsurface. It transmits DC current from the surface to the subsurface and according
to the values obtained it can be possible to establish the type of material that lays
underneath (with a range of values that were previously established as the standard ones).
It is possible for this equipment to reach from 5 meters to 1 kilometer depth.
 4 SEV. GTK Laboratorios Geotcnicos. URL: : http://www.gtklaboratorio.com/productos/sondeos-elctricos-
verticalessevs_2074007_1.html

The way it is applied is by using electrodes that must be nailed into the ground to a certain
distance (usually established and they are four, two internal and two external), after that
the equipment is turned on and all the electricity passes through it.
Its limitations are that it depends so much on the kind of material that is on surface, for
instance if that material is too dry or too wet, then the data taken is going to be mistaken.
If there is a material (more accurately a tool) made of metal, then again, the SEV method is
going to be mistaken, but good news is that this kind of mistakes can be detected because
of the values shown on the equipment display (which is usually a negative value, higher or
lower than it should be).
Finally, the SEV method is applied in geology to find water (aquifers), to investigate the layer
on the subsurface, etc.

REFERENCES

Daniels DJ (ed.) (2004). Ground Penetrating Radar (2nd ed.). Knoval (Institution of
Engineering and Technology). pp. 14. ISBN 978- 0-86341-360-5.
Khan, S.D.; Jacobson, S. (2008). "Remote Sensing and Geochemistry for Detecting
Hydrocarbon Microseepages". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 120: 96105.
doi:10.1130/b26182.1.
Sheriff, R. E., Geldart, L. P., (1995), 2nd Edition. Exploration Seismology. Cambridge
University Press.
Subsurface surveys & Associates, Inc. (2012). Geophysical Methods and Applications.