Earth Sciences 1022A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Seismic Refraction, Reflection Seismology, Linear Elasticity

• School: Western University
• Department: Earth Sciences
• Course: Earth Sciences 1022A/B
• Professor: Charles Murison

Document Summary

This lab will serve to demonstrate the hammer seismic exploration technique, a method used to identify subsurface soil or rock layering. The hammer seismic system is often used in small-scale surveys to locate the water table, or the top of the underlying bedrock: background and applications. The seismic refraction method is a geophysical exploration technique wherein vibrational energy propagating through the ground as elastic waves (similar to sound in air) is used to determine geological structure. This method is limited to cases involving layers of rock having contrasting seismic velocities. The seismic velocity of a material is dependent on its density and mechanical strength; for example, a layer of sand will have a lower density and mechanical strength than a layer of sandstone, and consequently a lower seismic velocity. Since density and mechanical strength tend to increase with depth, velocity tends to increase as well.