Lecture 2 9

Vectors, Coordinate Systems

displacement. Quantities like these, where the direction is important, are called vectors.

Finally, there are much more complex entities, still, which also must be related to a coordinate
system. These are “fields” of vectors, or things which vary in all different directions. These are called
tensors.

Examples
Scalars mass, volume, density, temperature

Vectors velocity, displacement, force, acceleration, poles to planes, azimuths

Tensors stress, strain, thermal conductivity, magnetic susceptibility

Most of the things we are interested in Structural Geology are vectors or tensors. And that means
that we have to be concerned with coordinate systems and how they work.

2.3 Coordinate Systems

Virtually everything we do in structural geology explicitly or implicitly involves a coordinate

system.

• When we plot data on a map each point has a latitude, longitude, and elevation.
Strike and dip of bedding are given in azimuth or quadrant with respect to
north, south, east, and west and with respect to the horizontal surface of the
Earth approximated by sea level.

• In the western United States, samples may be located with respect to township
and range.

• More informal coordinate systems are used as well, particularly in the field.
The location of an observation or a sample may be described as “1.2 km from
the northwest corner fence post and 3.5 km from the peak with an elevation of
6780 m at an elevation of 4890 m.”

A key aspect, but one which is commonly taken for granted, of all of these ways of reporting a
location is that they are interchangeable. The sample that comes from near the fence post and the peak
could just as easily be described by its latitude, longitude, and elevation or by its township, range and

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Vectors, Coordinate Systems

elevation. Just because I change the way of reporting my coordinates (i.e. change my coordinate system)
does not mean that the physical location of the point in space has changed.

2.3.1 Spherical versus Cartesian Coordinate Systems

Because the Earth is nearly spherical, it is most convenient for structural geologists to record their
observations in terms of spherical coordinates. Spherical coordinates are those which are referenced to
a sphere (i.e. the Earth) and are fixed by two angles and a distance, or radius (Fig. 2.1). In this case the
two angles are latitude, φ, and longitude, θ, and the radius is the distance, r, from the center of the Earth
(or in elevation which is a function of the distance from the center). The rotation axis is taken as one axis
(from which the angle φ or its complement is measured) with the other axis at the equator and arbitrarily
coinciding with the line of longitude which passes through Greenwich, England. The angle θ is measured
from this second axis.

We report the azimuth as a function of angle from north and the inclination as the angle between
a tangent to the surface and the feature of interest in a vertical plane. A geologist can make these
orientation measurements with nothing more than a simple compass and clinometer because the Earth’s
magnetic poles are close to its rotation axis and therefore close to one of the principal axes of our
spherical coordinate system.

Although a spherical coordinate system is the easiest to use for collecting data in the field, it is
not the simplest for accomplishing a variety of calculations that we need to perform. Far simpler, both
conceptually and computationally, are rectangular Cartesian coordinates. This coordinate system is
composed of three mutually perpendicular axes. Normally, one thinks of plotting a point by its distance
from the three axes of the Cartesian coordinate system. As we shall see below, a feature can equally well
be plotted by the angles that a vector, connecting it to the origin, makes with the axes. If we can assume
that the portion of the Earth we are studying is sufficiently small so that our horizontal reference surface
is essentially perpendicular to the radius of the Earth, then we can solve many different problems in
structural geology simply and easily by expressing them in terms of Cartesian, rather than spherical,
coordinates. Before we can do this however, there is an additional aspect of coordinate systems which we
must examine.

2.3.2 Right-handed and Left-handed Coordinate Systems

The way that the axes of coordinate systems are labelled is not arbitrary. In the case of the Earth, it
matters whether we consider a point which is below sea level to be positive or negative. That’s crazy,

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you say, everybody knows that elevations above sea level are positive! If that were the case, then why do
structural geologists commonly measure positive angles downward from the horizontal? Why is it that
mineralogists use an upper hemisphere stereographic projection whereas structural geologists use the
lower hemisphere? The point is that it does not matter which is chosen so long as one is clear and
consistent. There are some simple conventions in the labeling of coordinate axes which insure that
consistency.

Basically, coordinate systems can be of two types. Right-handed coordinates are those in which,
if you hold your hand with the thumb pointed from the origin in the positive direction of the first axis,
your fingers will curl from the positive direction of the second axis towards the positive direction of the
third axis (Fig. 2.2). A left-handed coordinate system would function the same except that the left hand
is used. To make the coordinate system in Fig. 2.2 left handed, simply reverse the positions of the X2 and
X3 axes. By convention, the preferred coordinate system is a right-handed one and that is the one we
shall use.

2.3.3 Cartesian Coordinate Systems in Geology

What Cartesian coordinate systems are appropriate to geology? Sticking with the right-handed
convention, there are two obvious choices, the primary difference being whether one regards up or down
as positive:

North, East, X1 = North

East, North, Up
Down

X 3 = Up

X2 = East
X 2 = North

X 1 = East X 3 = Down

Cartesian coordinates commonly used in geology and geophysics

In general, the north-east-down convention is more common in structural geology where positive
angles are measured downwards from the horizontal. In geophysics, the east-north-up convention is
more customary. Note that these are not the only possible right-handed coordinate systems. For example,

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Vectors, Coordinate Systems

west-south-up is also a perfectly good right-handed system although it, and all the other possible combi-
nations are seldom used.

2.4 Vectors

Vectors form the basis for virtually all structural calculations so it’s important to develop a very
clear, intuitive feel for them. Vectors are a physical quantity that have a magnitude and a direction; they
can be defined only with respect to a given coordinate system.

2.4.1 Vectors vs. Axes

At this point, we have to make a distinction between vectors, which are lines with a direction (i.e.
an arrow at one end of the line) and axes, which are lines with no directional significance. For example,
think about the lineation that is made by the intersection between cleavage and bedding. That line, or
axis, certainly has a specific orientation in space and is described with respect to a coordinate system, but
there is no difference between one end of the line and the other.1 The hinge — or axis — of a cylindrical
fold is another example of a line which has no directional significance. Some common geological examples
of vectors which cannot be treated as axes, are the slip on a fault (i.e. displacement of piercing points),
paleocurrent indicators (flute cast, etc.), and paleomagnetic poles.

2.4.2 Basic Properties of Vectors

Notation. Clearly, with two different types of quantities — scalars and vectors — around, we
need a shorthand way to distinguish between them in equations. Vectors are generally indicated by a
letter with a bar, or in these notes, in bold face print (which is sometimes known as symbolic or Gibbs
notation):

V = V = [V 1, V 2, V 3] (eqn. 1)

1
[It should be noted that, when structural geologists use a lower hemisphere stereographic projection
exclusively we are automatically treating all lines as axes. To plot lines on the lower hemisphere, we
arbitrarily assume that all lines point downwards. Generally this is not an issue, but consider the
problem of a series of complex rotations involving paleocurrent directions. At some point during this
process, the current direction may point into the air (i.e. the upper hemisphere). If we force that line to
point into the lower hemisphere, we have just reversed the direction in which the current flowed! Generally
poles to bedding are treated as axes as, for example, when we make a π-diagram. This, however, is not
strictly correct. There are really two bedding poles, the vector which points in the direction of stratal
younging and the vector which points towards older rocks.]

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Vectors, Coordinate Systems

Vectors in three dimensional space have three components, indicated above as V1, V2, and V3. These
components are scalars and, in a Cartesian Coordinate system, they give the magnitude of the vector in
the direction of, or projected onto each of the three axes (b). Because it is tedious to write out the three
components all the time a shorthand notation, known as indicial notation, is commonly used:

Vi , where [i = 1, 2, 3]

X3
1 1
X2 (V12 + V22 ) 2 ( V 12 + V 22 ) 2

V3
V
V γ |V|
V2 β V2
β |V|
α V1 α X2
X1
V1
X1
(a) (b)

Components of a vector in Cartesian coordinates (a) in two dimensions and (b) in

three dimensions

Magnitude of a Vector . The magnitude of a vector is, graphically, just the length of the arrow. It is
a scalar quantity. In two dimensions it is quite easy to see that the magnitude of vector V can be
calculated from the Pythagorean Theorem (the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the
squares of the other two sides). This is easily generalized to three dimensions, yielding the general
equation for the magnitude of a vector:

1/2
V = |V| = (V 12 + V 22 + V3 2) (eqn. 2)

Unit Vector. A unit vector is just a vector with a magnitude of one and is indicated by a
triangular hat: V . Any vector can be converted into a unit vector parallel to itself by dividing the vector
(and its components) by its own magnitude.

ˆ = V1 , V2 , V3 
V (eqn. 3)
V V V 

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Vectors, Coordinate Systems

Direction Cosines. The cosine of the angle that a vector makes with a particular axis is just equal to
the component of the vector along that axis divided by the magnitude of the vector. Thus we get

V1 V V
cosα = , cos β = 2 , cosγ = 3 . (eqn. 4)
V V V

Substituting equation eqn. 4 into equation eqn. 3 we see that a unit vector can be expressed in terms of the
cosines of the angles that it makes with the axes. These cosines are known as direction cosines:

ˆ = [cosα , cos β , cosγ ] .

V (eqn. 5)

Direction Cosines and Structural Geology. The concept of a unit vector is particularly important in
structural geology where we so often deal with orientations, but not sizes, of planes and lines. Any
orientation can be expressed as a unit vector, whose components are the direction cosines. For example,
in a north-east-down coordinate system, a line which has a 30° plunge due east (090°, 30°) would have the
following components:

cos α = cos 90° = 0.0 [α is the angle with respect to north]

cos β = cos 30° = 0.866 [β is the angle with respect to east]
cos γ = (cos 90° - 30°) = 0.5 [γ is the angle with respect to down]

or simply [ cos α, cos β, cos γ ] = [ 0.0 , 0.866 , 0.5 ] .

For the third direction cosine, recall that the angle is measured with respect to the vertical, whereas
plunge is given with respect to the horizontal.

2.4.3 Geologic Features as Vectors

Virtually all structural features can be reduced to two simple geometric objects: lines and planes.
Lines can be treated as vectors. Likewise, because there is only one line which is perpendicular to a
plane, planes — or more strictly, poles to planes — can also be treated as vectors. The question now is,
how do we convert from orientations measured in spherical coordinates to Cartesian coordinates?

Data Formats in Spherical Coordinates. Before that question can be answered, however, we have to
examine for a minute how orientations are generally specified in spherical coordinates (Fig. 2.6). In
North America, planes are commonly recorded according to their strike and dip. But, the strike can
correspond to either of two directions 180° apart, and dip direction must be fixed by specifying a geographic
quadrant. This can lead to ambiguity which, if we are trying to be quantitative, is dangerous. There are

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Vectors, Coordinate Systems

two methods of recording the orientation of a plane that avoids this ambiguity. First, one can record the
strike azimuth such that the dip direction is always clockwise from it, a convention known as the right-hand
rule. This tends to be the convention of choice in North America because it is easy to determine using a
Brunton compass. A second method is to record the dip and dip direction, which is more common in
Europe where compasses make this measurement directly. Of course, the pole also uniquely defines the
plane, but it cannot be measured directly off of either type of compass.

N
30°
Quadrant: N 30 W, 40 SW
st
rik Azimuth & dip quadrant: 330, 40 SW
e
Azimuth, right-hand rule: 150, 40

Dip azimuth & dip: 240, 40

dip direction
40°
dip Pole trend & plunge: 060, 50

Alternative ways of recording the strike and dip of a plane. The methods which
are not subject to potential ambiguity are shown in bold face type.

Lines are generally recorded in one of two ways. Those associated with planes are commonly
recorded by their orientation with respect to the strike of the plane, that is, their pitch or rake. Although
this way is commonly the most convenient in the field, it can lead to considerable ambiguity if one is not
careful because of the ambiguity in strike, mentioned above, and the fact that pitch can be either of two
complementary angles. The second method — recording the trend and plunge directly — is completely
unambiguous as long as the lower hemisphere is always treated as positive. Vectors which point into the
upper hemisphere (e.g. paleomagnetic poles) can simply be given a negative plunge.

Conversion from Spherical to Cartesian Coordinates. The relations between spherical and Cartesian
coordinates are shown in Fig. 2.7. Notice that the three angles α, β, and γ are measured along great circles
between the point (which represents the vector) and the positive direction of the axis of the Cartesian
coordinate system. Clearly, the angle γ is just equal to 90° minus the plunge of the line. Therefore ,

cos γ = cos (90 - plunge) = sin (plunge) (eqn. 6a)

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N cos (plunge)

cos α
trend Perspective diagram showing the
90 - trend relations between the trend and
E
cos β plunge angles and the direction
plunge
cosines of the vector in the
Cartesian coordinate system. Gray
90 - plunge plane is the vertical plane in which
cos γ the plunge is measured.

unit vector

The relations between the trend and plunge and the other two angles are slightly more difficult to
calculate. Recall that we are dealing just with orientations and therefor the vector of interest (the bold
arrowhead in Fig. 2.8) is a unit vector. Therefore, from simple trigonometry the horizontal line which
corresponds to the trend azimuth is equal to the cosine of the plunge. From here, it is just a matter of
solving for the horizontal triangles in Fig. 2.8:
cos α = cos (trend) cos (plunge), (eqn. 6b)
cos β = cos (90 - trend) cos (plunge) = sin (trend) cos (plunge). (eqn. 6c)

These relations, along with those for poles to planes, are summarized in Table 1:

Table 1: Conversion from Spherical to Cartesian Coordinates

Poles to Planes
Axis Direction Cosine Lines
(right-hand rule)
North cos α cos(trend)*cos(plunge) sin(strike)*sin(dip)
East cos β sin(trend)*cos(plunge) –cos(strike)*sin(dip)
Down cos γ sin(plunge) cos(dip)

The signs of the direction cosines vary with the quadrant. Although it is not easy to see an
orientation expressed in direction cosines and immediately have an intuitive feel how it is oriented in
space, one can quickly tell what quadrant the line dips in by the signs of the components of the vector.

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For example, the vector, [–0.4619, –0.7112, 0.5299], represents a line which plunges into the southwest
quadrant (237°, 32°) because both cos α and cos β are negative.

Understanding how the signs work is very important for another reason. Because it is difficult to
get an intuitive feel for orientations in direction cosine form, after we do our calculations we will want to
convert from Cartesian back to spherical coordinates. This can be tricky because, for each direction cosine,
there will be two possible angles (due to the azimuthal range of 0 - 360°). For example, if cos α = –0.5736,
then α = 125° or α = 235°. In order to tell which of the two is correct, one must look at the value of cos β;
if it is negative then α = 235°, if positive then α = 125°. When you use a calculator or a computer to
calculate the inverse cosine, it will only give you one of the two possible angles (generally the smaller of
the two). You must determine what the other one is knowing the cyclicity of the sine and cosine
functions.

1
sine cosine
Sine or Cosine

0.5

-0.5

-1
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
Angle (degrees)

Graph of sine and cosine functions for 0 - 360°. The plot emphasizes that for
every positive (or negative) cosine, there are two possible angles.

2.4.4 Simple Vector Operations

Scalar Multiplication. To multiply a scalar times a vector, just multiply each component of the
vector times the scalar.

xV = [ xV1, xV 2, xV3 ] (eqn. 7)

The most obvious application of scalar multiplication in structural geology is when you want to reverse
the direction of the vector. For example, to change the vector from upper hemisphere to lower (or vice
versa) just multiply the vector (i.e. its components) by –1. The resulting vector will be parallel to the

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original and will have the same length, but will point in the opposite direction.

Vector Addition. To add two vectors together, you sum their components:

U + V = V + U = [ V1 + U1 , V2 + U2 , V3 + U3 ] . (eqn. 8)

Graphically, vector addition obeys the parallelogram law whereby the resulting vector can be constructed
by placing the two vectors to be added end-to-end:

U
V V U–
U+ –V V
U

(a) (b)

(a) Vector addition and (b) subtraction using the parallelogram law.

Notice that the order in which you add the two vectors together makes no difference. Vector
subtraction is the same as adding the negative of one vector to the positive of the other.

2.4.5 Dot Product and Cross Product

Vector algebra is remarkably simple, in part by virtue of the ease with which one can visualize
various operations. There are two operations which are unique to vectors and which are of great importance
in structural geology. If one understands these two, one has mastered the concept of vectors. They are
the dot product and the cross product.

Dot Product. The dot product is also called the “scalar product” because this operation produces
a scalar quantity. When we calculate the dot product of two vectors the result is the magnitude of the
first vector times the magnitude of the second vector times the cosine of the angle between the two:

U • V = V • U = U V cos θ = U1V1 + U2V2 + U3V3 , (eqn. 9)

The physical meaning of the dot product is the length of V times the length of U as projected onto V (that

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is, the length of U in the direction of V). Note that the dot product is zero when U and V are perpendicular
(because in that case the length of U projected onto V is zero). The dot product of a vector with itself is
just equal to the length of the vector:

V • V = V = |V|. (eqn. 10)

Equation (eqn. 9) can be rearranged to solve for the angle between two vectors:

U•V
θ = cos−1 . (eqn. 11)
 UV 

This last equation is particularly useful in structural geology. As stated previously, all orientations are
treated as unit vectors. Thus when we want to find the angle between any two lines, the product of the
two magnitudes, UV, in equations (eqn. 9) and (eqn. 11) is equal to one. Upon rearranging equations
(eqn. 11), this provides a simple and extremely useful equation for calculating the angle between two
lines:

θ = cos -1 ( cos α1 cos α2 + cos β 1 cos β2 + cos γ 1 cos γ2 ). (eqn. 12)

Cross Product. The result of the cross product of two vectors is another vector. For that reason,
you will often see the cross product called the “vector product”. The cross product is conceptually a
little more difficult than the dot product, but is equally useful in structural geology. It’s primary use is
when you want to calculate the orientation of a vector that is perpendicular to two other vectors. The
resulting perpendicular vector is parallel to the unit vector, ˆl , and has a magnitude equal to the product
of the magnitude of each vector times the sine of the angle between them. The new vector obeys a
right-hand rule with respect to the other two.

V × U = V ∧ U = ( V U sin θ ) ˆl (eqn. 13)

and
V × U = [ V2U3 - V3U2 , V3U1 - V1U3 , V1U2 - V2U1] (eqn. 14)

The cross product is best illustrated with a diagram, which relates to the above equations:

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Vectors, Coordinate Systems

V× U

U
l
(unit
vector) θ

U×V

Diagram illustrating the meaning of the cross-product. The hand indicates the
right-hand rule convention; for V × U, the finger curl from V towards U and the
thumb points in the direction of the resulting vector, which is parallel to the unit
vector ˆl . Note that V × U = - U × V

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Seismic Reflection Data

LECTURE 3 — D ESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY: S EISMIC REFLECTION

3.1 Echo Sounding

Geology presents us with a basic problem. Because rocks are opaque, it is very difficult to see
through them and thus it is difficult to know what is the three-dimensional geometry of structures.

This problem can be overcome by using a remote sensing technique known as seismic reflection.
This is a geophysical method which is exactly analogous to echo sounding and it is widely used in the
petroleum industry. Also several major advances in tectonics have come from recent application of the
seismic reflection in academic studies. I’m not going to teach you geophysics, but every modern structural
geologist needs to know something about seismic reflection profiling.

Lets examine the simple case of making an echo first to see what the important parameters are.

ρ air v air v rock ρ rock

a very small
amount of sound
continues into the
rock

most sound is reflected

back to the listener
rock wall

Why do you get a reflection or an echo? You get an echo because the densities and sound velocities of air
and rock are very different. If they had the same density and velocity, there would be no echo. More
specifically

E
velocity= V = (E = Young’s modulus)
ρ
and

amplitude of reflected wave ρ 2V2 − ρ 1V1

reflection coefficient = R= =
amplitude of incident wave ρ2 V2 + ρ 1V1

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Seismic Reflection Data

In seismic reflection profiling, what do you actually measure?

ground
time sound was made
surface

depth
time to go down to the

time
1st subsurface
layer 1st layer and return

time to go down to the

2nd layer and return
2nd subsurface
layer

The above illustration highlights three important things about seismic reflection profiling:

1. Measure time, not depth,

2. The time recorded is round trip or two-way time, and

3. To get the depth, we must know the velocity of the rocks.

Velocities of rocks in the crust range between about 2.5 km/s and 6.8 km/s. Most sedimentary
rocks have velocities of less than 6 km/s. These are velocities of P-waves or compressional waves, not
shear waves. Most seismic reflection surveys measure P- not S-waves.

Seismic reflection profiles resemble geologic cross-sections, but they are not. They are distorted
because rocks have different velocities. The following diagram illustrates this point.

3 km/s
depth

6 km/s 3 km

6 km

1s
time

2s

3s
6 km horizontal
reflector

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Seismic Reflection Data

3.2 Common Depth Point (CDP) Method

In the real earth, the reflectivity at most interfaces is very small, R ≈ 0.01, and the reflected energy
is proportional to R2. Thus, at most interfaces ~99.99% of the energy is transmitted and 0.01% is reflected.
This means that your recording system has to be able to detect very faint signals coming back from the
subsurface.

source receivers (geophones)

one ray through point

two rays through point

three rays through point

The black dot, and each point on the reflector with a ray going through it, is a common depth point.
Notice that there are twice as many CDPs as there are stations on the ground (where the geophones are).
That is, there is a CDP directly underneath each station and a CDP half way between each station (hence
the name “common midpoint”)

Also, in a complete survey, the number of traces through each midpoint will be equal to one half
the total number of active stations at any one time. [This does not include the ends of the lines where
there are fewer traces, and it also assumes that the source moves up only one station at a time.] The
number of active stations is determined by the number of channels in the recording system. Most

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Seismic Reflection Data

modern seismic reflection surveys use at least 96 (and sometimes -- but not often -- as many as 1024
channels), so that the number of traces through any one CDP will be 48.

This number is the data redundancy, of the fold of the data. For example, 24 fold or 2400%
means that each depth point was sampled 24 times. Sampling fold in a seismic line is the same thing as
the “over-sampling” which you see advertised in compact disk players.

Before the seismic reflection profile can be displayed, there are several intermediate steps. First,
all of the traced through the same CDP have to be gathered together. Then you have to determine a set of
velocities, known as stacking or NMO velocities, which will correct for the fact that each ray through a
CDP has a path of a different length. These velocities should line up all of the individual “blips”
corresponding to a single reflector on adjacent traces

CDP Gather CDP Gather with NMO

distance from source, x

to

∆t = normal
time

moveout
(NMO)

tx

near offset

far offset
the NMO velocity is whatever velocity
source

[in practice, there is no geophone at that lines up all the traces in a CDP
the source because it is too noisey] gather. It is not the same as the rock
velocity

The relation between the horizontal offset, x, and the time at which a reflector appears at that
offset, tx, is:
x2
tx = t0 +
2 2
2
Vstacking
or
1
 x2  2
∆t = t x − t0 =  t02 + 2 − t0
 Vstacking 

If you have a very simple situation in which all of your reflections are flat and there are only

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Seismic Reflection Data

vertical velocity variations (i.e. velocities do not change laterally), then you can calculate the rock interval
velocities from the stacking velocities using the Dix equation:

1
 Vst2 t 2 − Vst2 t1  2
Vi 1 2 = 2 1

 t 2 − t 1 

where Vi12 is the interval velocity of the layer between reflections 1 and 2, Vst1 is the stacking velocity of
reflection 1, t1 is the two way time of reflection 1, etc. The interval velocity is important because, to
convert from two-way time to depth, we must know the interval, not the stacking, velocity.

Once the correction for normal moveout is made, we can add all of the traces together, or stack
them. This is what produces the familiar seismic reflection profiles.

Processing seismic data like this is simple enough, but there are huge amounts of data involved.
For example a typical COCORP profile is 20 s long, has a 4 ms digital sampling rate (the time interval
between numbers recorded), and is 48 fold. In a hundred station long line, then, we have

(200 CDPs )( 48 sums)( 20 s)

= 48 ×106 data samples .
0.004 s
data sample

For this reason, the seismic reflection processing industry is one of the largest users of computers in the
world!

3.3 Migration

The effect of this type of processing is to make it look like the source and receiver coincide (e.g.
having 48 vertical traces directly beneath the station). Thus, all reflections are plotted as if they were
vertically beneath the surface. This assumption is fine for flat layers, but produces an additional distortion
for dipping layers, as illustrated below.

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Seismic Reflection Data

surface

actual raypaths

actual position of reflector

in space

position of reflection assuming

reflecting point is vertically beneath
the station

Note that the affect of this distortion is that all dipping reflections are displaced down-dip and have a
shallower dip than the reflector that produced them. The magnitude of this distortion is a function of the
dip of the reflector and the velocity of the rocks.

The process of migration corrects this distortion, but it depends on well-determined velocities
and on the assumption that all reflections are in the plane of the section (see “sideswipe”, below). A
migrated section can commonly be identified because it has broad “migration smiles” at the bottom and
edges. Smiles within the main body of the section probably mean that it has been “over-migrated.”

3.4 Resolution of Seismic Reflection Data

The ability of a seismic reflection survey to resolve features in both horizontal and vertical
directions is a function of wavelength:

λ = velocity / frequency.

Wavelength increases with depth in the Earth because velocity increases and frequency decreases. Thus,
seismic reflection surveys lose resolution with increasing depth in the Earth.

3.4.1 Vertical Resolution

Generally, the smallest (thinnest) resolvable features are 1/4 to 1/8 the dominant wavelength:

Economic Geo. _ JH
draft date: 1/20/99
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Seismic Reflection Data

At low frequencies (long wavelengths)

these three beds will be "smeared out"
into one long wave form

At higher frequencies (shorter

layered sequence wavelengths) the three beds will be
in the Earth distinguishable on the seismic section

3.4.2 Horizontal Resolution

The horizontal resolution of seismic reflection data depends on the Fresnel Zone, a concept which
should be familiar to those who have taken optics. The minimum resolvable horizontal dimensions are
equal to the first Fresnel zone, which is defined below.

higher frequency lower frequency

λ
4 λ
4

first Fresnel Zone

first Fresnel Zone

Because frequency decreases with depth in the crust, seismic reflection profiles will have greater horizontal
resolution at shallower levels.

At 1.5 km depth with typical frequencies, the first Fresnel Zone is ~300 m. At 30 km depth, it is
about 3 km in width.

Consider a discontinuous sandstone body. The segments which are longer than the first Fresnel
Zone will appear as reflections, whereas those which are shorter will act like point sources. Point sources
and breaks in the sandstone will generate diffractions, which have hyperbolic curvature:

Economic Geo. _ JH
draft date: 1/20/99
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Seismic Reflection Data

Fresnel zone
reflections diffractions

3.5 Diffractions

Diffractions may look superficially like an anticline but they are not. They are extremely useful,
especially because seismic reflection techniques are biased toward gently dipping layers and do not image directly
steeply dipping or vertical features. Diffractions help you to identify such features. For example, a vertical
dike would not show up directly as a reflection but you could determine its presence by correctly
identifying and interpreting the diffractions from it:

geologic section seismic section

raypaths

dike diffraction from dike

High-angle faults are seldom imaged directly on seismic reflection profiles, but they, too, can be located
by finding the diffractions from the truncated beds:

geologic section seismic section

The shape and curvature of a diffraction is dependent on the velocity. At faster velocities, diffractions
become broader and more open. Thus at great depths in the crust, diffractions may be very hard to

Economic Geo. _ JH
draft date: 1/20/99