Seismic reflections from depths of less than two meters

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Issue Date
1999-01-01Author
Baker, Gregory S.
Schmeissner, Chris M.
Steeples, Don W.
Plumb, Richard G.
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Three distinct seismic reflections were obtained from within the upper 2.1 m of flood-plain alluvium in the Arkansas River valley near Great Bend, Kansas. Reflections were observed at depths of 0.63, 1.46, and 2.10 m and confirmed by finite-difference wave-equation modeling. The wavefield was densely sampled by placing geophones at 5-cm intervals, and near-source nonelastic deformation was minimized by using a very small seismic impulse source. For the reflections to be visible within this shallow range, low seismic P-wave velocities (<300 m/s) and high dominant-frequency content of the data (∼450 Hz) were essential. The practical implementation of high-resolution seismic imaging at these depths has the potential to complement ground-penetrating radar (GPR), chiefly in areas where materials exhibiting high electrical conductivity, such as clays, prevent the effective use of GPR. Potential applications of these results exist in hydrogeology and environmental, Quaternary, and neotectonic geology.
Description
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from "http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com".
ISSN
0094-8276Collections
- Geology Scholarly Works [247]
Citation
Baker, G., Schmeissner, C., Steeples, D., & Plumb, R. (1999). Seismic reflections from depths of less than two meters. Geophysical Research Letters, 26(2), 279-282, http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1029/1998GL900243
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