Geophysics : An Overview

Exploring Earth’s Interior and its Natural Resources

The earth’s subsurface consists of different geological structures (strata) that

have different physical properties (density, magnetic susceptibility, electrical
resistivity, seismic velocity, dielectric constant, nuclear radiation, etc).

Exploration geophysics deals with the delineation of physical properties of the

earth’s subsurface structures through various geophysical measurements.
Distance (m)
-1500 -1000 -500 0 500 1000
21.51 16.22 5.07
0 S7 S5 S3 S1 S2 S9
10.83

9.27 7.10 Hot spring

8.22
9.86 7.97

15.92
-20 75.44 16.92
Depth (m)

75.44
14.45
27.12

-40

High resistive bed

-60

Lithological variations based on electrical resistivity

Various geophysical methods use basic concept of physical principles and are
based on physical properties such as density, magnetic susceptibility, seismic
velocity, resistivity, radioactivity etc.

Geophysicists perform a number of experiments in the field. These experiments

are based on different physical principles and measure different kinds of data.
Measured data is transformed into the subsurface physical model or delineate
the variation in physical properties in lateral and vertical directions.

Variations in physical properties are used to correlate with local geology that
helps in delineating subsurface geological structures having oil, mineral,
groundwater as well as for studies related to the Earth’s interior which
delineates the different layers and their boundaries precisely.

Various geophysical methods that are based on different physical properties and
associated physical principles are:
S.No Geophysical Physical Associated Instruments Quantity
Methods properties Physical measured and
principles accuracy
1 Gravity density Newton’s law of Gravimeter Gravity variation
gravitation <mgal
2 Magnetic magnetic Coulomb’s law of Magnetometer Absolute value
susceptibility magnetic forces of magnetic field
between two <1 Gamma
Poles
3 Seismic and velocity and Snell’s laws of Seismometer Travel time
seismology density reflection and mSec to several
refraction seconds
4 Electrical resistivity Ohm’s law Resistivitymeter Current flow and
potential
difference
mA and mV
5 Electromagnetic conductivity Faraday’s and Different EM Different
Ampere’s law equipments quantities
associated with
Induced emf
mV to µV
6 Nuclear α, β,  Radioactive Radiation Total counts
emissions disintegrations to measuring α, β, 
daughter device
elements GM Counter Counts/minute
S.No Geophysical Physical Associated Instruments Quantity
Methods properties Physical measured and
principles accuracy

7 Well logging different different different different

Remote structural, different different Sensing of

8 sensing chemical, reflected and
and physical emitted energy
property of
surface
materials
9 Ground Dielectric Snell’s law GPR Travel time
Penetrating constant instruments Nanno second
Radar order
Geophysical methods can be applied from different platforms

1. Satellite- Remote sensing, satellite gravity survey, magnetic

2. Airborne- gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric
3. Land- all geophysical methods
4. Borehole-electrical, EM, radiometric, seismic, gravity and magnetic
5. Ship borne- almost all geophysical surveys are possible these days for
ocean bottom survey
Remote sensing technique scans the earth from satellite by direct imagery. The
method is based on the principle that different objects (rock exposure,
vegetation, water bodies, etc) on the surface of earth have different reflectivity;
therefore, they can be distinguished by detailed satellite imagery. The Remote
sensing satellites have revolutionized large scale mapping and its applications in
ground water targeting, flood mapping, soil mapping, landslide mapping, forest
cover mapping, watershed management, environmental monitoring, damage
assessment, crop estimation and ocean studies etc.
Airborne geophysical survey such as gravity, magnetic, radiometric and
electromagnetic delineates the subsurface structure rapidly for further
detailed ground survey work. Airborne survey is generally used for oil and
mineral exploration. The advantage of this type of survey is to cover large
area in very small time as well as for undertaking surveys over remote
areas, which are not accessible by land route easily.
Gravity method of geophysical prospecting is mainly used in mineral
exploration and as a reconnaissance tool for oil exploration. The measurement
of increased gravitational attraction in the vicinity of anomalous mass is used to
delineate the total reserve of minerals and ore body. Measured gravity variation
is very very small compared to the earth’s gravity field. It is measured in mgal or
micro gal units (Gal is equivalent to 1 cm/sec2)

Magnetic method: Permanent earth’s magnetic field induces the magnetic

minerals and ore bodies present in subsurface and changes the net magnetic
field in its vicinity. The measurement of changes in magnetic field is used to
locate and delineate the magnetic minerals and ore bodies.

Magnetic anomaly observed near Ghatsila (Jharkhand)

Seismic method is based on the principle of propagation of elastic waves in the earth’s
interior. Seismic velocities propagating through the subsurface, which depends on
elastic constants and density, change for various rock types as well as for fluid contents
in the rocks. This method is precise and extensively used for oil exploration. Other
applications include exploration of coal seams, groundwater, minerals and problems
related to Engineering geology.
 Offset distance (m)

Travel time (mSec)

Electrical geophysical prospecting method is based on physical property
i.e. ‘Electrical resistivity’ of the subsurface. Resistivity of the earth’s interior,
which has good correlation with subsurface geological structures, varies
significantly in the presence of groundwater, mineral and polluting materials.
Thus electrical method is used for groundwater exploration, mineral
exploration, subsurface pollution studies, saline water intrusion in coastal
areas, geothermal studies and problems related to solid earth geophysics.

200 mA 100 mV

C1 P1 P2 C2
Red line-current flow
Blue line-Equipotential
Electrical resistivity changes significantly as the nature of geological formations
changes in lateral and vertical directions. Electrical method of geophysical
prospecting is based on physical principal Ohm’s law dealing with current and
potential measurement on the earth surface.

An electric current is passed into the ground with a pair of metallic electrodes and
potential developed is measured using another pair of electrodes. Apparent
(effective) resistance is calculated from the potential and current relation.
Measured apparent resistance is transformed into apparent resistivity for a given
electrode configuration used in the field survey.

Distance between the current electrodes is gradually increased to pass current

through deeper formations. Variation of apparent resistivity with current electrode
separation is interpreted to depict the true resistivity distribution in subsurface.
Interpreted true resistivity is correlated with the standard values of resistivity of
various geological formations to arrive at geological interpretation.
Electromagnetic method deals with the propagation of EM waves,
generated by artificial and natural sources, into the ground. These fields
induce eddy currents into the conducting features of the earth’s interior and
give secondary fields.
Various components (Ex, Ey, Hx, Hy and Hz) of these fields and their phases
are measured on the surface and are used to compute the apparent
resistivity, phase and other EM parameters. These computed data are
interpreted in terms of the true resistivity of the subsurface. EM method is
used both for exploration of near surface and deeper features of geological
interest. Magnetotellurics, a natural source EM, has a wide frequency range
and is capable of delineating shallow to very deep structures inside the
earth’s crust and upper mantle.

EM methods are based on Faraday’s and Amperes’ law and deal with
conductive property of the materials only.
Radiometric method
The presence of Uranium, Thorium, Potassium and other radionuclides in
minerals and rocks gives rise to emission of  and  particles and  radiation.
These can be detected using sensitive and robust Radiometric prospecting
and assaying equipment and the results interpreted in terms of radioactive
anomaly. Radiometric prospecting and assaying is used for exploration of
nuclear mineral deposits, radiation hazard study, seismic precursors for
earthquakes and contaminant modeling using nuclear tracers in soil and
groundwater geophysics.

Atomic mineral deposits: Beach placers Radiation measuring

enriched in monazites along coastal Orissa equipment
Isorad map of Chhatrapur beach placer deposit, Orissa
Borehole geophysics is the science of recording and analyzing
measurements of physical properties made in wells or test holes. Probes that
measure different properties are lowered into the borehole to collect continuous
or point data that is graphically displayed as a geophysical log. Borehole
geophysics is used for hydrocarbon, ground-water and environmental
investigations to obtain information on well construction, rock lithology and
fractures, permeability and porosity, and water quality.
 Seismology

Interior of the Earth: propagation of body waves (P and S waves) through the earth
delineating the three main regions viz. the crust, mantle and core.
Variation of P and S wave velocities in different regions of earth’s interior
Ground Penetrating Radar

Ground penetrating radar operates by transmitting pulses of ultra high

frequency radio waves (microwave electromagnetic energy) down into the
ground through a transducer or antenna. The transmitted energy is reflected
from various buried objects or distinct contacts between different earth
materials. The antenna then receives the reflected waves and stores them in
the digital control unit. When the transmitted signal enters the ground, it
contacts objects or subsurface strata with different electrical conductivities and
dielectric constants. Part of the ground penetrating radar waves reflect off of
the object or interface; while the rest of the waves pass through to the next
interface. The reflected signals return to the antenna, pass through the
antenna, and are received by the digital control unit. The control unit registers
the reflections against two-way travel time in nanoseconds and then amplifies
the signals. The output signal voltage peaks are plotted on the ground
penetrating radar profile as different color bands by the digital control unit.
GPR Facts:
Ground penetrating radar waves can reach depths up to 100 feet (30 meters) in low
conductivity materials such as dry sand or granite. Clays, shale, and other high
conductivity materials, may attenuate or absorb GPR signals, greatly decreasing the
depth of penetration to 3 feet (1 meter) or less.

The GPR antenna used also determines the depth of penetration. Antennas with
low frequencies of from 25 to 200 MHz obtain subsurface reflections from deeper
depths (about 30 to 100 feet or more), but have low resolution.

Antennas with higher frequencies of from 300 to 1,000 MHz obtain reflections from
shallow depths (0 to about 30 feet), and have high resolution. These high frequency
antennas are used to investigate surface soils and to locate small or large, shallow
buried objects and rebar in concrete.

It has the highest resolution of any geophysical method for imaging the subsurface,
with centimeter scale resolution sometimes possible.

Resolution is controlled by wavelength of the propagating em wave in the ground.

Resolution increases with increasing frequency (shorter wavelength). Depth of
investigation increases with decreasing frequency but with decreasing resolution.