GPH 221 Seismic Exploration

 

King Saud University College of Science Geology and Geophysics Department.

جامعة الملك سعود كلية العلوم قسم الجيولوجيا والجيوفيزياء

 

Academic Year 1438- 1439H (2017 – 2018)
Second Semester

 

Seismic Exploration (GPH 221)

 
Lecture’s Time: Sunday & Tuesday:   10:00 -10:50                             Lecture’s Room: B05 1A 036
 
 
Instructor: Dr. Mahmoud M. ELWAHEIDI
Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday: 11:00 am -12:00 am
email: [e-mail]   Web: http://fac.ksu.edu.sa/melwaheidi/home
Office No:   B129                                                                Tel. No: 4676205  

COURSE   OUTLINES
Activity			No of  Weeks	No. of hours
1.  GENERAL INTRODUCTION  Historical development s Importance of seismic methods Seismic methods fields of applications   2.  Principles of SEISMIC METHODS Elastic constants Types of Seismic Waves and their propagation Signal to noise ratio (SNR) Basic theoretical principles			2	4
3. Seismology and Geology Wave Interactions with Boundaries Velocities and Rock Properties Seismic Velocities of Common Earth Materials			1	2
4. Refraction Method Field Procedures First Arrivals Data Corrections   Determining Earth Structure from Travel Times			4	8
5. Reflection Method Field Procedures Data Processing Interpretation: Qualitative & Quantitative (isochrones and isopach maps) Seismic stratigraphy   Case studies			6	12
6. Seismic Instrumentation			2	4
7. Seismic sources
8. Comparing: seismic vs other geophysical methods & refraction vs reflection
II. GRADING SYSTEM
Assessment	Assessment task	Week due		Proportion of Final Assessment
1	Lab (12 sessions) & field trips			20 %
2	1st Mid-term exam	Tuesday, 13 March, 2018		10%
	2nd Mid-term exam	Tuesday, 17 April, 2018		10%
3	Attendance, Quizzes, group-work sessions &   Assignments	Alternatively, Every two weeks		20 %
4	Final exam	Thursday, 10 May, 2018		40 %
III. Text Books- References
Lectures’ notes. Available at: https://lms.ksu.edu.sa/ J.M. Reynolds, 2011, An Introduction to Applied and Environmental Geophysics Lowrie, W., 1997. Fundamental of geophysics. Cambridge University Press. Telford, W., Geldart, L., and Sheriff, R., 1990. Applied geophysics, second edition. Cambridge University Press. http://utam.geophys.utah.edu/stanford/node2.html

 

GPH 221 – SEISMIC EXPLORATION
LAB Sessions Syllabus

INSTRUCTOR: DR. MAHMOUD ELWAHEIDI                                                                          TA: Mr. Saad ALHUMAIDAN
 
Date:     Mondays,                                             Time:   10-12 am                             Location: B4 1B 66

Lab No.	Topic	Tasks	Notes
1	Basic math and physics revisions.	Individual and group-work problems: Basic trigonometry, straight-line equation, hyperbola Using MS Excel for plotting data and for calculations.
2	Basic seismic concepts	Work-group and individual activities on:  calculating elastic constants Snell’s law applications Law of reflection and reflection coefficient Relation among seismic wave’s velocities.
3	Seismic Refraction Method	Introducing seismograms Identifying and picking first arrivals Creating time-distance curves (Horizontal layers) Interpret case study data
4		Dipping layer case: derivation of travel time equation Interpret case study data
5		In-campus field trip: conducting short seismic Refraction profile.
6		Using Zond software for interpreting field-collected seismic refraction data
7	Midterm Exam
8	Seismic Reflection Method	Plotting reflection data Manual interpretation of reflection data Practice on convolution process
9		Processing of reflection data using Zond (or another available) software
10		Interpretation of seismic reflection cross-sections Creating isochrones and isopach depth and thickness maps
11		Seismic stratigraphy (basic cases)
12	Final Exam