Mapping a bedrock surface under dry alluvium with shallow seismic reflections

Abstract

Shallow seismic‐reflection techniques were used to image the bedrock‐alluvial interface, near a chemical evaporation pond in the Texas Panhandle, allowing optimum placement of water‐quality monitor wells. The seismic data showed bedrock valleys as shallow as 4 m and accurate to within 1 m horizontally and vertically. The normal‐moveout velocity within the near‐surface alluvium varies from 225 m/s to 400 m/s. All monitor‐well borings near the evaporation pond penetrated unsaturated alluvial material. On most of the data, the wavelet reflected from the bedrock‐alluvium interface has a dominant frequency of around 170 Hz. Low‐cut filtering at 24 dB/octave below 220 Hz prior to analog‐to‐digital conversion enhanced the amplitude of the desired bedrock reflection relative to the amplitude of the unwanted ground roll. The final bedrock contour map derived from drilling and seismic‐reflection data possesses improved resolution and shows a bedrock valley not interpretable from drill data alone.