Aquifer Mapping with Seismic Reflection Techniques

Recent hydrogeological work (Buchanan and others, 1988; 1995) in the Chamokane valley (near Ford, Washington) showed that there is a complex alluvial valley stratigraphy in which there exists at least two aquifer systems. Check out the recent abstract on the hydrogeologic conditions in the valley.

In November 1995, Mike King (SeisPulse Development Corporation), Steve Palmer (WA DNR - Division of Geology) and I performed a seismic reflection survey along about six miles of transects that lie in the valley. The image below is an example of the data we generated:

The ground surface is the horizontal line at the top of the image, and each vertical column is an individual shot point that are located at 100 foot spacings from one another along this transect. The y-axis is graduated in 10 millisecond increments, which represents the one-way travel time to a reflector in the subsurface.

I'll describe the interpretation of this image shortly!