Acoustoseismic wave fields generated by surface seismic vibrators

Abstract

Results of experimental and theoretical studies of acoustoseismic wave fields generated by surface seismic vibrators are presented. In experiments with high-power seismic vibrators operating in a frequency range of 5–10 Hz, acoustic waves were recorded at distances up to 50 km from the source. The long-range sound propagation from seismic vibration sources was observed in a near-surface waveguide arising due to temperature inversion. The effect of the acoustoseismic induction, i.e., excitation of surface seismic waves by the acoustic wave arriving from the vibrator, was also detected. The results of mathematical modeling of the acoustoseismic field generation by an operating seismic vibrator are presented. They include the modeling of the radiation of a harmonic acoustic wave’s by the vibrator, its trapping by the near-surface waveguide, the long-range low-frequency acoustic wave propagation in the presence of the waveguide, and the induction of a surface seismic wave by the arriving harmonic acoustic wave. It is shown that a seismoacoustic wave propagating at the boundary between the elastic earth and the atmosphere is an analog of the Stonely wave that appears in the presence of a near-surface low-temperature layer in the atmosphere.