PET410

Applied Geophysics &

Petroleum Exploration
By
EJIGA Eko Gerald, PhD
 Seismic method
• The basic principle of all seismic methods is the controlled generation of
elastic waves by a seismic source in order to obtain an image of the
subsurface. Seismic waves are pulses of strain energy that propagate in solids
and fluids.

• The seismic method makes use of the properties of the velocity of sound.
This velocity is different for different rocks and it is this difference which is
exploited in the seismic method.

• This method is based on generating seismic waves by a mechanical energy

source at a point on, or just below, the ground surface and recording the
arrival at another surface point of the reflected (or refracted) waves.
 Seismic method
• From the travel-time measurements of these waves and wave motion-velocity,
the structural variation of subsurface geological layers is mapped. Under
favorable conditions, study of the seismic wavelet can provide information on
the stratigraphic nature and hydrocarbon contents of the traversed rocks.

• The raw seismic data (normally recorded on magnetic tapes), are passed
through a sequence of processing steps followed by a set of certain
interpretation procedures in order to obtain the final result, which is a model
of the subsurface geological structure.
Techniques in Seismic Survey
• There are two main techniques involved in the seismic method;
1) The reflection 2) The refraction

Figure 1. Seismic techniques; reflection (A) and refraction (B).

 Seismic Techniques

Figure 2. Seismic techniques; reflection (A) and refraction (B).

 Seismic Applications
• Determining depth to and rippability of bedrock (excavation)
• Mapping fracture zones and karstic features.
• Detecting abandoned mines.
• Soil classification and stability studies.
• Earthquake design.
• Vibration monitoring.
Seismic surveys can help locate groundwater and other mineral
resources. They are also used to investigate locations for landfills, and
characterize, how an area will shake during an earthquake, but they are
primarily used for oil and gas exploration.
There are three phases of seismic surveys:
1. Data acquisition,
2. Processing, and
3. Interpretation
Classification of Common Elastic Waves

Figure 3. Classification of the common seismic waves.

 TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES

• Two main types of waves are considered in seismic exploration: body

wave and surface wave.
• Surface waves move along the surface of the earth and they are of
lower frequency than body waves.
• Body Waves: Body waves propagate through the earth’s inner layers,
and they are further classified as P waves and S waves. These waves
are of higher frequency than surface waves
 P Waves
• P waves are formed when energy is applied exactly at right angles
to a medium. Particle motion under the influence of the wave is
then in the direction of propagation of the wave. As a result of the
particle motion, the rock particles are alternatively compressed
and rarefracted or pulled apart as the waves propagate.
• P waves are also known as longitudinal or compressional waves,
because of the pushing and pulling they do. They are the fastest
kind of seismic waves.
 P Waves
• In seismic processing, one generally assumes that we are dealing
with P waves only, travelling through isotropic and homogeneous
material. If the elastic (bulk) modulus (K), the shear modulus (u) and
the bulk density (p) of the rocks are known, P-wave velocity can be
calculated using the following equation:
 CHARACTERISTICS OF P WAVES

1. It is a sound wave or pressure wave.

2. It is always the first arriving seismic wave.
3. Its velocity is the fastest of all seismic waves.
4. Its particle motion is in the direction of propagation of the wave.
5. It can propagate in solids or fluids (oil, gas and water)
 S waves
• The S wave, also called shear waves, is the second type of body wave.
• S wave is formed when energy is applied in a direction parallel to the
surface of a medium.
• S wave does not propagate through fluids. Shear wave exploration
cannot be done with conventional marine seismic acquisition
technology.
Shear waves (S Wave) Technology

• Ocean bottom nodes (OBN), in which receivers are mounted on

the seabed, can be used to measure S waves.

ocean bottom nodes (OBN)

deployed on the seabed using ROV
(remotely operated vehicle) system
 • S-wave velocity can be calculated using the following equation

P-wave velocity is always faster than S-wave velocity. The ratio of P-wave
velocity to S-wave velocity is greater than or equal to the square root of 2
 CHARACTERISTICS OF S WAVES
1. The particle motion under the influence of the wave is in the
direction of the energy applied and is then perpendicular to the
propagation of the wave.
2. S waves can only propagate in solid.
3. There is no compression and expansion as a result of the particle
motion, and thus no pressure disturbance.
4. One can detect S waves through the measurement of the particle
motion
 WAVE PARAMETER
• some important wave parameters that are applicable in seismic waves

• The amplitude is the maximum

displacement from time zero.
• Period (t) is the time, in seconds,
required to complete 1 waveform
• Frequency ( f) is the number of
times a waveform repeats per
second. It is the reciprocal of
period. Frequency is measured in
Hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz equals 1
waveform/s.
• For example, a waveform with duration of 30 ms has a frequency of
33.3 Hz. Note that 1 s equal to 1000 ms:
• A wavelength (l) is the distance over which one waveform is
completed. It is measured in metre or feet:

• Wave number is the reciprocal of wavelength:

• wave number = 1/wavelength.
• Phase indicates the initial position of the waveform. Phase is an
angular quantity that is measured in radians or degrees.
• There is a very important relationship between frequency ( f ),
wavelength (l) and velocity (v) for all waves. This is given by

• where v is seismic velocity, f is frequency of the propagating wave and

l is the wavelength.
 Body Waves
• Body waves are waves that can travel through an elastic materialistic medium in any
direction. As they move, the waves may experience changes in their energy level
and in their travel-path geometry subject to the physical properties of the medium.
There are two sub-types of these waves; the longitudinal and the transverse waves.
(i) Longitudinal Waves
This type of waves is also known as compressional, Primary, or just P-wave. The
particles of the medium, traversed by a plane P-wave, vibrate about their neutral
positions in the direction of the wave propagation. The travel path consists of a
sequence of alternating zones of compressions and rarefactions. This is the type of
wave which is commonly employed in seismic reflection and refraction prospecting
work.

Figure 4. Particle displacement-mode of a medium traversed by

plane body-waves, λ is wavelength. A. P-wave
 Body Waves
(ii) Transverse Waves
They are also called shear waves or Secondary, or just S-waves. A horizontally moving
S-wave, which is so polarized that the particle motion is confined to vertical plane, is
known as SV-wave (Figure 5. B). When the polarization plane is horizontal, it is called
SH-wave (Figure 5. C).

Figure 5. Particle displacement-mode of a

medium traversed by plane body-waves, λ is
wavelength. B. SV-wave, C. SH-wave.
 Surface Waves
• As implied by its name, surface waves are waves that move on the free surface of
the earth. The main features common among all surface waves, observed on
earthquake seismograms, are their relatively large amplitudes (high energy content)
and low frequencies when compared with the body waves.
• In addition to that, they move with velocity which is generally slower than body
waves moving in the same medium.
(i) Rayleigh Waves
The particle motion, which has a retrograde elliptical orbit, takes place in a vertical
plane parallel to propagation direction (Figure 6.A). Rayleigh waves travel on the
surface of a solid medium with velocity of 0.92 of the velocity of S-waves moving in
that medium.

Figure 6. Particle displacement-mode of a

medium traversed by plane surface-waves, (λ)
is wavelength. (A) Rayleigh Wave
 Surface Waves
(ii) Love Waves
Like SH wave vibration mode, the particle movement is transverse and is confined
to the horizontal plane (Figure 7. B). Love waves are polarized shear waves with a
particle motion parallel to the free surface and perpendicular to the direction of
wave propagation.
Again, the vibration amplitude decays exponentially with depth in the lower
medium. Since they possess no vertical component, Love waves are not detected
by the geophone or by any such-like vertical-component sensing instrument.

Figure 7. Particle displacement-mode of a medium

traversed by plane surface-waves, (λ) is wavelength. (B)
Love Wave.
 Seismic Instrumentation - Energy Sources
The traditional method applied in generating seismic waves is exploding dynamite in
shot-holes. There are, however, other methods which have been introduced as
alternative seismic energy sources. Choice of the source-type depends on the surface
conditions prevailing in the given survey area. The main criteria considered in
evaluating a particular source-type are the following:
✓strong enough to generate strong seismic signal that can be reflected from deep
interface and be detectable at the farthest receiver (receiver of maximum offset).
✓the generated seismic signal is rich in high frequency components to be able to
resolve closely spaced reflectors’
✓the generated noise is of least energy level.

Depending on the surface environments, the source types are classified into
land and marine sources.
 Land Seismic Sources
• Dynamite
Normally, a certain dynamite charge is exploded inside a drilled hole at a depth
ranging from few meters to several tens of meters. Typically, the drilled hole is of
diameter of about 10 cm and depth of about 5m - 15m.

Fig. 11 Dynamite seismic-energy source.

Fig. 12. Weight-Dropping seismic-energy source

• Weight Dropping
The Weight Dropping method (also called Geograph or Thumper) involves dropping
a weight of about 3 tons from a height of about 3 meters on to the ground (Fig. 12).
 Land Seismic Sources
• Gas Exploding (Dinoseis)
This is another impulsive source (known as Dinoseis) in which the energy is created by
exploding a mixture of oxygen and propane gases contained in a confined chamber, the
bottom of which is a moveable plate resting on the ground surface. The so-designed
chamber is attached to the bottom of a heavy vehicle to increase coupling of its plate with
ground surface (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13. Gas exploding seismic-energy source.

• Dynamite Cords Exploding

This seismic source, well known by the name (Geoflex), consists of an explosive cord
which is buried in the ground at a shallow depth (about half a meter depth). It is laid down
by a hydraulically-operated plough which is especially designed for this purpose.
 Land Seismic Sources
• Vibroseis
Vibroseis method creates mechanical energy which is continuously vibrating for
certain time duration. A mechanical, truck-mounted vibrator is hydraulically driven,
produce electronically controlled vibration. The generated energy is conveyed to the
ground by a metal pad (about one-meter square) attached beneath the truck (Fig 14).

Fig. 14. Vibroseis seismic energy source

 Marine Seismic Sources
The most common types of seismic energy sources are:
• The Air-Gun: is a widely used energy source in marine seismic surveying, which
generates energy by discharging highly compressed air into the water. A variation of
this method is the (Unipulse), where the air continues flowing into the generated
bubble for some time after the initial discharge.
• The Steam-Gun: (also called Vaporchoc) utilizes hot steam instead of air. It is
considered to be better than the Air-Gun, because with using hot steam, the effect
of bubble oscillation is reduced.
• The Gas-Gun: is still another similar marine source which uses explosion of a
mixture of propane and oxygen contained in a steel chamber. The pressure pulse
created by the explosion of the propane-oxygen mixture is passed to the water via a
flexible seal which forms a part of the chamber.
• Sparkers: are devices for converting electrical energy into acoustic energy. The
sparker pulse is generated by the discharge of a large capacitor bank directly into
the sea water through an array of electrodes towed in a frame behind the survey
vessel.
 Marine Seismic Sources
• Boomers: comprise a rigid aluminium plate attached below a heavy-duty electrical
coil by a spring-loaded mounting. A capacitor bank is discharged through the coil
and the electromagnetic induction thus generated forces the aluminium plate
rapidly downwards, setting up a compressional wave in the water. The device is
typically towed behind the survey vessel.
 Seismic Detectors
The seismic detection process is based on conversion of the ground vibration to an
electrical signal by a special transducer which can respond to seismic amplitude and
frequency ranges completely and without distortions. Seismic detectors are of two
main types, the geophones for use in land and hydrophones used in marine
environments.
▪ The Geophone
Detection of reflection arrivals in land surveying is done by geophones
(seismometers as they are sometimes called). The geophone is a seismic-detection
instrument which can transform the ground vibration motion into an electrical
voltage.
The geophone is made up of a permanent cylindrical magnet and a coil suspended by
leaf-springs inside a circular slit made in the magnet. The slit is separating the
magnetic south-pole (inner part of the magnet) from the north-pole (outer part). The
magnet is firmly attached to the case, which is provided with a spike for easy fixing
on the ground in an upright position (Fig. 15).
 Seismic Detectors
Geophones measure motion (velocity) of a seismic wave in
the ground and convert it into an electric current. The most
commonly used geophone measures only vertically or near
vertically travelling seismic waves. This has the advantage
that only P-wave reflections from depth are recorded, but
not horizontally travelling surface wave or reflected shear
waves.

Fig. 15 Schematic representation of the electromagnetic geophone.

 Seismic Detectors
• The Hydrophone
This is a geophone-equivalent detector used in detecting seismic waves in marine
surveying environments. The hydrophone is a pressure-sensitive detection device that
uses substances that generate electrical voltage proportional to pressure caused by the
arrival of a seismic signal. Such a substance (called piezoelectric substance) has a
property of generating an electric voltage when subjected to pressure. The pressure
changes, caused in a water medium due to the passage of a seismic wave, are
proportional to the velocity of the water particles set into motion by the signal.
The Seismic Data Recording
The voltage generated by the geophones is generally small so they are usually
amplified, filtered before being recorded. We have two types of recorders.
- Analogue recorder
- Digital recorder
 The Seismic Data Recording
In modern day geophysics, we have other equipment which are not
standard (i.e. you may not have them but they will be very useful). These
are called other field instruments e.g. cables, radio equipment, monitoring
cameras, computers for control of recording, etc. they depend on the
sophistication of your company.
Seismic Equipment
Seismic Equipment
Seismic Equipment
Seismic survey
Seismic Equipment
Marine Acquisition
 Survey crew
A field seismic crew (mainly land crew) consists of 3 main units
(i) Source unit responsible for positioning and activating energy sources

(ii) Jug hustlers who lay out cables, place the geophones in their proper
locations and connect them properly to the cables

(iii) Recording unit that does the data recording.

 SEISMIC REFLECTION - Law of Reflection
• The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence equals the
angle of reflection.
• It also states that the incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at
the point of incident all lie in the same plane

Conceptualized law
of reflection.
Seismic reflection method
 Horizontal Reflector
• For a horizontal reflector, the reflection point is half way from source
point to receiver.
• As a rule of thumb in the industry, the maximum offset (the offset is
the distance between the source and the receiver) is equal to the
depth of the reflector.
 Dipping Reflector
• For a dipping reflector, the reflection point does not lie at the midpoint
between the source and the receiver but up-dip of the source receiver pair

Note: that the incident ray

generates not only the reflected
ray but also the refracted ray at
an angle given by Snell’s law
 SEISMIC RERFACTION - Law of Refraction
• The law of refraction is known as Snell’s law. It states that the ratio of
the sine of the angle of incident to the sine of the angle of refraction
is a constant for a given pair of strata

where n is a constant, θi is
the angle of incidence and
θr is the refracted angle.
 Snell’s Law
Snell defined the ray parameter
p = sin i/v, where i is the angle
of inclination of the ray in a
layer in which it is travelling
with a velocity v.

The generalized form of Snell’s Law states that, along any one ray, the ray
parameter remains a constant.
𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃1 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃2 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃1 𝑣1
𝑝= = or =
𝑣1 𝑣2 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃2 𝑣2
 Snell’s Law
When a seismic ray travels across a welded interface between two media (Fig 8), there
is continuity of displacement and traction at the boundary.

Fig 8. Ray transmission across a welded interface between two media

The angles of incidence and reflection/transmission of the ray (angles between the
ray and the normal to the interface) depend on the velocity in each medium, and are
related through Snell’s law:
𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝑖1 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝑖2
𝑝= =
𝑣1 𝑣2
where p is the ray parameter (a constant quantity for given rays across a horizontally layered model),
𝑖𝑛 is the incidence/transmission angle of the ray in medium n, and 𝑣𝑛 is the velocity in medium n.
The Spread Configuration

Fig. 24: Types of commonly used shooting spreads

 CRITICAL ANGLE
• As the angle of incidence increases, a point is finally reached where
the refracted ray does not emerge at the second layer but lie along
the interface.
• This particular angle of incidence at which the angle of refraction is
90° and the refracted ray lies along the interface is known as the
critical angle.
At and beyond the critical
angle, there is no transmitted
ray and therefore a very high
reflected ray will be recorded
Therefore;

Since sin 90 = 1. At critical angle

CRITICAL ANGLE…

• A critical refracted wave travels along the interface between layers

and is refracted back into the upper layer at the critical angle. The
waves refracted back into the upper layer are called head waves or
first-break refractions because at certain distances from a source,
they are the first arriving energy.
• These first-break refractions can give us important information about
the shallow velocities on land seismic data.
• Note also that seismic data are acquired in such a way that reflections
from horizons of interest are in the pre-critical region, even at the
farthest offset in the data.
CRITICAL ANGLE
• In reality, part of the seismic energy arriving at an interface is
transmitted and refracted, and another part of the energy is reflected
at that same interface.
• Given that there are many reflectors in the subsurface, there will be
many paths from source to receiver, each of them with a different
travel time.
• The proportion of energy reflected depends on the material
properties of the two bounding layers and on the angle of incidence.
 Seismic Impedance
As in any geophysical method, seismic reflection imaging is sensitive to
only a specific physical property of the rock This property is called
acoustic impedance: I = ρV (density times acoustic velocity) Seismic
reflection amplitude is proportional to the relative impedance contrast
across a contact of two layers:

𝐼2 − 𝐼1 𝜌2 𝑉2 − 𝜌1 𝑉1
𝑅= =
𝐼2 + 𝐼1 𝜌2 𝑉2 + 𝜌1 𝑉1
 REFLECTION COEFFICIENT
• In each layer in the Figure below, we have the density, p, and velocity, v.
• The product of velocity and density is a material property of the layers
and is known as acoustic impedance.
• The acoustic impedance is an important property of a rock layer. This is
because it determines the reflection response of the earth.
• In the earth, reflections occur at the interfaces between layers and the
reflection amplitudes depend mostly on the difference of acoustic
impedance from layer to layer.
• The term AI unit is used for the unit of acoustic impedance.
Reflection Coefficient
• Reflected amplitude is the difference between the two impedances of
each layer divided by their sum. The ratio of the reflected amplitude
to the incidence amplitude is called the reflection coefficient and is
given by the difference in acoustic impedance divided by their sum

where Z1 and Z2 are acoustic impedance of layers 1 and 2, respectively.

Calculations of reflection coefficients should give results between -1
and +1. The reflection coefficient can still be expressed as:
• The sum in the denominator of the reflection coefficient equation
does not have very much effect. It is the difference in the numerator
that really dominates the reflection coefficient. For example, if we use
the reflection coefficient equation and calculated that the reflection
coefficient is 0.2, then this implies that a wave with amplitude of 20%
of the original amplitude of the wave reaching a reflecting interface is
returned towards the surface. As the energy is proportional to the
square of the amplitude, 4% of the energy is reflected, and that the
remaining energy passes through the interface (Figure below)
• Note that reflection
coefficient equation is an
approximation. It only holds
true for rays at right angles to
the interface. Note also that
ray path models can be used
to determine the actual
amplitude of the reflections
returned from any layer.
 TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENT
• Transmission coefficient describes the amplitude of the transmitted
wave and is given by the expression
• If the reflection coefficient is R, then the transmission coefficient is
1+R, so that for a wave going from a softer rock (sand) to harder rock
(shale), the transmitted amplitude is greater than the incident
amplitude. This is because the transmitted amplitude is measured in
a different material from the incidence and reflected amplitudes.
• For a wave going downwards the transmission coefficient is 1+R and
for a wave going upwards the transmission coefficient is 1-R
(a) The arrow shows a down-
going wave. Transmission
coefficient is 1+R. (b) The arrow
shows a up-going wave.
Transmission coefficient is 1-R.

Note: The two-way

transmission coefficient is
expressed as two-way
transmission coefficient
(1+R) (1-R) = 1-R2
 Seismic refraction surveying
• The seismic refraction surveying method uses seismic energy that returns to
the surface after travelling through the ground along refracted ray paths.
• In applications to horizontally layered earth models, the refraction technique is
used to estimate the thickness and velocity of the layers.

Fig. 26: Path of head waves (refracted waves) from the

Fig. 25: Reflection and refraction
source to geophones.
 Seismic refraction surveying
To apply and study the seismic refraction it is important to assume that: -
a. The subsurface layers are separated by horizontal planes or dipping interfaces.
b. The velocity of the seismic waves in each layer is constant.
c. The subsurface layer velocities increase with depth.
Seismic refraction – single horizontal interface

𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃1 𝑆𝑖𝑛 900 𝑉1

From Snell’s Law we can write: = Thus, 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃𝐶 =
𝑉1 𝑉2 𝑉2
 Seismic refraction surveying
From the geometry,
Total travel time 𝑡 = 𝑡𝐴𝐵 + 𝑡𝐵𝐶 + 𝑇𝐶𝐷

where, plotting t against x, ti is the intercept on the time

axis of a travel-time plot or time–distance plot having a
gradient of 1/v2.
 Seismic refraction surveying

Travel-time curves for the direct wave and the head wave from a single horizontal refractor

The intercept time ti , is given by;

𝑥𝑐 𝑉2 −𝑉1
Solving for refractor depth 𝑍=
2 𝑉2 +𝑉1
 Seismic refraction surveying
Three Layered Subsurface
The case of a three layered horizontal subsurface is as shown in Fig. 29.

Fig. 29. A three layered horizontal stratified substratum

 Seismic refraction surveying
The plot of the travel time against the offset distance gives a straight line graph with three
segments as shown in Fig. 30.

Fig. 30. Travel-time graph for three layered subsurface

 Intercept time

• Intercept time is the arrival time of a seismic wave, determined from

the intercept of the extrapolation of the refracted straight-line
segment of a time—distance graph at zero offset.
• This intercept time is the time where the refraction line extends to
intercept the -axis –above the source position–. This is not a real
“time” - it is derived from the graph. The velocities of the seismic
layers and the layer thickness are obtained in the following manner.
Case of Dipping refractors (layers)

Fig. 31 Ray-path geometry of a wave refracted from a dipping interface

Fig. 32 Same type of time-distance curve as for the

horizontally layered case, but observation of two
different apparent velocities (V2d), (V2u) for the
refracted wave that propagates at true velocity (V2)
Refraction data

Fig. 33 Generation of Seismic Traces

 Refraction data
• The onset of the first seismic wave, the first break, on each seismogram is
identified and its arrival time picked
 Huygens’ Principle
• When a wave encounters a feature whose radius of curvature is comparable or
smaller than the wave length of the wave, then the ordinary laws of reflection and
refraction do not hold.
• In such a situation, the waves are diffracted. This is because the feature serves as a
point source itself in accordance with Huygens’ principle.
• Huygens’ principle states that every point on a wave front is the source of a new
wave that also travels out from it in spherical shell.
• Fault edges are one of the areas where seismic waves get diffracted (Fig. 10)

Fig. 10 Diffraction caused by the truncated end of a faulted layer.

 Changes of Propagation Direction at Interfaces
The common changes in ray-path direction, which are of significance to exploration
seismology, are reflection, refracted transmission (refraction), and diffraction. These
shapes of the moving wave ray-path occur at the boundaries of media having
different seismic propagation velocities (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Ray-path geometry of the three most common wave propagation changes: reflection, refraction, and
diffraction.
 EXERCISE 1
Figure 1 represents the travel-time
graph of a 2-layered subsurface
formation having a seismic waveform
with a Period T of 60 milliseconds
(ms) and a wavelength of 0.3 km in
the first layer. Assuming the velocity
of the second layer V2 is 6 km/s
a) Calculate the seismic velocity V1
of the first layer.
b) Determine the intercept time ti
of the reflector.
c) Calculate the depth Z1 of the first
reflector.
Figure 1: Travel – Time graph of a 2-layered
subsurface seismic trace.
 SOLUTION 1
(a) The seismic velocity V1 of the (c) Solving for the depth of the first
first layer. reflector.
• Since T = 60 ms and 1 s = 1000ms.
Therefore, 60 ms = 0.06 s
Intercept time ti of first layer = 400
ms = 0.4 s
f =1/0.06 = 16.667 Hz

V1 = 16.667 x 0.3 = 5.0 km/s

(b) Extrapolating from the graph, the
intercept time of the first layer is 400 ms
 EXERCISE 2
If a beam of light reaches a flat mirror at an angle of 30 to the normal,
what is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal?

SOLUTION
• The law of reflection states that the angle
of incidence equals the angle of
reflection.
• It also states that the incident ray, the
reflected ray and the normal at the point
of incident all lie in the same plane
• Hence, since the incident ray is 300. Then
the reflected ray is also 300.
 EXERCISE 3
If we have a two-layer situation where V1= 1950 m/s and V2= 3900 m/s
(P-wave velocities), Assuming the density of layers 1 & 2 are 2500 kg/m3
& 2600 kg/m3 respectively, (a) Calculate the P-wave critical angle
(b) Compute the Reflection &Transmission coefficients
(a) SOLUTION
From Snell’s law
𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃1 𝑣1
=
𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃2 𝑣2 −1 1950
𝜃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 −
• At critical angle, 𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃2 = 900 3900
𝑆𝑖𝑛 𝜃1 𝑣1
• = 𝜃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = Sin-1 0.5
sin 90 𝑣2

Since sin 90 = 1. At critical angle 𝜃𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 300

EXERCISE 3 contd…
(b) Compute the Reflection &Transmission coefficients
(b) SOLUTION
• First, calculate the acoustic impedance (Z) of each layer:
• Z1 = ρ1V1 = 2500 × 1.95 = 4,875 (kg km s-1 m-3)
• Z2 = ρ2V2 = 2600 × 3.9 = 10,140 (kg km s-1 m-3)

10,140 − 4,875
RC = = 0.35
10,1400 + 4,875

2 𝑥 4875
Therefore, Transmission coefficient =
10,140 +4875
= 0.65