• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2009

Geophysical surveys were conducted on an upper part of a natural slope located at Daejeon University. Electrical resistivity and seismic refraction measurements were carried out to obtain information on a weathered zone and internal structure at shallow depth, while AMT measurement a bed rock and geological structure at deep depth. With all the techniques applied, these results show a good correlation between electrical resistivity images and refraction velocity distributions for the characterization of a weathering and geological structure at depth. In particular, AMT survey seems to be the powerful tool for detecting a distribution of a bed rock with deep depth. The combined geophysical investigation produced a detailed image of a subsurface structure and improved well in the interpretation.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.85-98
• /
• 2009

The tau-p inversion algorithm is widely employed to generate starting models with most computer programs, which implement refraction tomography. This algorithm emphasises the vertical resolution of many layers, and as a result, it frequently fails to detect even large lateral variations in seismic velocities, such as the decreases which are indicative of shear zones. This study demonstrates the failure of the tau-p inversion algorithm to detect or define a major shear zone which is 50m or 10 stations wide. Furthermore, the majority of refraction tomography programs parameterise the seismic velocities within each layer with vertical velocity gradients. By contrast, the Generalized Reciprocal Method (GRM) inversion algorithms emphasise the lateral resolution of individual layers. This study demonstrates the successful detection and definition of the 50m wide shear zone with the GRM inversion algorithms. The existence of the shear zone is confirmed by a 2D analysis of the head wave amplitudes and by numerous closely spaced orthogonal seismic profiles carried out as part of a later 3D refraction investigation. Furthermore, an analysis of the shot record amplitudes indicates that a reversal in the seismic velocities, rather than vertical velocity gradients, occurs in the weathered layers. The major conclusion reached in this study is that while all seismic refraction operations should aim to provide as accurate depth estimates as is practical, those which emphasise the lateral resolution of individual layers generate more useful results for geotechnical and environmental applications. The advantages of the improved lateral resolution are obtained with 2D traverses in which the structural features can be recognised from the magnitudes of the variations in the seismic velocities. Furthermore, the spatial patterns obtained with 3D investigations facilitate the recognition of structural features such as faults which do not display any intrinsic variation or 'signature' in seismic velocities.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.163-175
• /
• 2017

In land seismic exploration, irregular surface topography and weathering layer in near surface distorts the reflected signals of data. Therefore, typical land seismic data should be compensated for this distortion by static correction. To perform the static correction, near-surface velocity is required, which can be obtained by seismic refraction survey. However, land seismic data is often acquired in a limited form of geometry depending on the equipment availability, accessibility condition, and permission for the survey site. In this situation, refraction analysis should be performed using reflection data because it is impossible to acquire refraction-oriented data due to limited source and receiver geometry. In this study, we aimed to analyze the reliability of the results obtained by refraction traveltime tomography when using reflection data with a limited number of sources and receivers from irregular surface topography. By comparing the inversion result from irregular topography with that from flat surface, we found that the surface topography affects the reliability of the inversion results to some degree. We also found that the number of sources has little effect on the inversion results unless the number of sources are very small. On the other hand, we observed that velocity distortion occurred in the overlapped part of receiver arrays when using a limited number of receivers, and therefore suggested the size of the least overlapping ratio to avoid the velocity distortion. Finally, we performed numerical tests for the model which simulates the surface topography and acquisition geometry of the survey region and verified the reliability analysis of inversion results. We identified reliable areas and suspicious area of the inverted velocity model by applying the analysis results to field data.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.11-20
• /
• 2001

Seismic refraction and electrical resistivity surveys were conducted in Bangeosan Maaebul site located in Haman, Kyungnam, in order to present geophysical safety analysis method for masonry cultural properties. Seismic refraction exploration revealed that the ground was composed of three layers in term of seismic wave velocity; the upper, medium, and lower layers. The low velocity ranging from 308 to 366 m/sec in upper layer suggests weathered soil, the intermediate velocity from 1906 to 2090 m/sec in the medium layer indicates weathered rocks, and the high velocity from 5061 to 5650 m/sec in the lower layer implies extremely hard rocks. Our seismic result suggests that the upper and medium layer around the Maaebul should be reinforced to support the construct. The result of electric resistivity survey shows that there exists a low resistivity zone, ranging from 131 to 226 Ohm-m, at the right side of the Maaebul with the direction of NE-NNE. This area is the weakness zone as it plays role of the underground water passage in rainy season.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.125-130
• /
• 2008

Electrical resistivity and seismic refraction surveys were conducted to investigate geologic structures and geotechnical characteristics of the subsurface in Dok-do island, along with rock physical properties. The resistivity results in Seo-do island show that the fault adjacent to the fisherman's shelter is a normal fault and extended towards the NW direction. Bedded Rapilli Tuff in the downstream was more severely influenced in depth by weathering and erosion than Trachy Andesite II in the upstream area. The physical properties of the rocks illustrate that Trachyte and Trachy Andesite are hardest, Massive Tuff Breccia is next, and Tuffs are the most soft rocks in Dok-do island.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.615-621
• /
• 2007

Seismic refraction survey which is assumed to be effective for investigating of the amount of bed sediment was applied to two sites having different soil types. The ten lines of seismic surveys were carried out in the areas of the levee near the Wolchon Bridge, Yongin and the Damam levee, Yecheon. At the same time, two borehole data were obtained to be used in classifying geological formations on the inverted seismic sections. As the results of interpolating the depths of geological formations and the surface elevation values, it is possible to estimate the volume of the bed sediments at $24,000m^3\;and\;56,000m^3$ in Yongin and Yecheon, respectively.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.78-84
• /
• 2008

Recent earthquakes near nuclear power plants in Korea have triggered public concerns about possible seismicity of the Ulsan Fault Zone in the south-eastern part of the Korean peninsula. To reveal subsurface structures of this fault zone, we conducted high-resolution seismic refraction and reflection surveys, and closely spaced gravity measurements in the Dongchon River valley north of Ulsan, Korea. Here alluvium covers the north-south trending fault zone in a 1-km wide valley. Both source points and receivers were spaced at 5-m intervals for the 24-channel seismic refraction and reflection methods, along two profiles of 835 m and 415 m length. Gravity data were also measured along these profiles at 131 stations using a 10-m interval. Synergetic interpretation of seismic refraction, high-resolution seismic reflection, and gravity surveys across the valley indicates that the Ulsan Fault Zone was formed by apparent north-south strike-slip motions during the Cretaceous, and that some faults may have been reactivated by east-west compressional or transpressional stresses during the Tertiary or Quaternary.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.109-115
• /
• 2008

It is very important to estimate the physical properties of survey area and delineate the geological basement in marine site survey for the design of offshore structures. For the purpose of providing high quality data by means of engineering site survey, it is necessary to apply several survey techniques and carry out the integrated interpretation to each other. In this study, we applied single channel seismic reflection method and OBC (Ocean Bottom Cable) type seismic refraction method at shallow marine. We used a dual boomer-single channel streamer as a source-receiver in seismic reflection survey and airgun source-the developed OBC type streamer in seismic refraction survey. We made 24 channels OBC type streamer which has 4m channel interval and each channel is composed of single hydrophone and preamplifier. We tested the field applicability of the proposed method and applied the typical seismic data processing methods to the obtained reflection data in order to enhance the data quality and image resolution. In order to estimate the geological velocity distribution from refraction data, seismic refraction tomography technique was applied. Therefore, we could successfully perform time-depth conversion using the velocity information as an integrated interpretation. The proposed method could provide reliable geologic information such as sediment layer thickness and 3D basement depth map.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.57-66
• /
• 2000

The location and geometry of the Ulsan Fault play important roles in interpreting tectonic evolution of the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula. Dipole-dipole electrical resistivity surveys and seismic refraction surveys were carried out in the Yaksoo area, Ulsan in order to measure the thickness of the alluvium covering the Ulsan Fault and to find associated fracture zones and possibly the location of its major fault plane. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted. Some results reported previously by others were also used in this interpretation. No low resistivity anomalies were found in the cross-sectional resistivity image of the survey line located in the east of the Dong River. In contrast, well-developed continuous low resistivity anomalies were detected in the west of the Dong River. This strongly suggests that the major fault plane of the Ulsan Fault is located under or in the west part of the Dong River. Two refraction boundaries corresponding to the underground water level and the bottom of the alluvium were found by refraction surveys carried out on the limited part of the east survey line. The thickness of the alluvium was found to be about 30 m. Small faults in the basement rock identified by reflection surveys were not detected by both resistivity and refraction seismic surveys. This might be explained by assuming that low resistivity anomaly is more closely related to the clay contents than the water contents. On the other hand, it may be resulted by the limited resolution of the resistivity and refraction surveys. Detailed study is required to clarify the reason. Resistivity survey is frequently considered to be a good exploration method to detect subsurface faults. However, it appears to be less useful than reflection seismic survey in this work. In dipole-dipole resistivity survey, the number of separation should be increased to survey deeper subsurface with the same resolution. However, signal to noise ratio decreases as the number of separation increases. In this survey area, the signal to noise ratio of up to sixteen separations was good enough based on the statistical properties of measurements.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.459-466
• /
• 2012

A difficulty encountered in engineering seismic mapping is that reflection events from shallow discontinuities are commonly overlapped with coherent noise such as air wave, direct waves, head waves, and high-amplitude surface waves. Here, the radial trace transform, a simple geometric re-mapping of a trace gather (x-t domain) to another trace gather (v-t domain), is applied to investigate the rejection effect of coherent linear noises. Two different types of data sets were selected as a representative database: good-quality data for intermediate sounding (hundreds of meters) in a sedimentary basin and very noisy data for shallow (${\leq}50m$) mapping of the weathered zone and bedrock surface. Results obtained with cascaded application of the radial transform and low-cut filtering proved to be as good as, or better than, those produced using f-k filtering, and were especially effective for air wave and direct wave. This simple transform enables better understanding of the characteristics of various types of noise in the RT domain, and can be generally applied to overcoming diffractions and back-scatterings caused by joints, fractures, and faults commonly that are encountered in geotechnical problems.