Field comparison of shallow seismic sources near Chino, California

Abstract

Data from a shallow seismic‐source comparison test conducted in an area with a water‐table depth in excess of 30 m and near‐surface velocities less than 330 m/s were acquired from 13 different sources at a single site near Chino, California. The sources included sledgehammer, explosives, weight drop, projectile impacts, and various buffalo guns. A possible reflecting event can be interpreted at about 70 ms. At this particular test site, the lowly sledgehammer is among the best sources to provide data to see the possible reflection. Our previous work and that of our colleagues suggests that any source could dominate the comparison categories addressed here, given the appropriate set of site characteristics.