Seismoelectric imaging of the vadose zone of a sand aquifer

We have acquired a 300-m seismoelectric section over an unconfined aquifer to demonstrate the effectiveness of interfacial signals at imaging interfaces in shallow sedimentary environments. The seismoelectric data were acquired by using a 40-kg accelerated weight-drop source and a 24-channel seismoe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dupuis, J., Butler, K., Kepic, Anton
Format: Journal Article
Published: Society of Exploration Geophysics 2007
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/16694
Description
Summary:We have acquired a 300-m seismoelectric section over an unconfined aquifer to demonstrate the effectiveness of interfacial signals at imaging interfaces in shallow sedimentary environments. The seismoelectric data were acquired by using a 40-kg accelerated weight-drop source and a 24-channel seismoelectric recording system composed of grounded dipoles, preamplifiers, and seismographs. In the shot records, interfacial signals were remarkably clear; they arrived simultaneously at offsets as far as 40 m from the seismic source. The most prominent signal was generated at the water table at a depth of approximately 14 m and had peak amplitudes on the order of 1 V/m. A weaker response was generated at a shallower interface that is interpreted to be a water-retentive layer. The validity of these two laterally continuous events, and of other discontinuous events indicative of vadose-zone heterogeneity, is corroborated by the presence of reflections exhibiting similar characteristics in a ground-penetrating radar profile acquired along the same line.