Deep seismic reflection profiling: How far have we come?

Abstract

How much would you know about your oil or gas prospect and its surrounding geology without seismic reflection data? The odds are not very much, especially if you work in an offshore area inaccessible to surface mapping. The deep crust is also inaccessible to mapping and, until the past decade when seismic reflection techniques were used to study deep crustal processes, little was known about the detailed structures of the crystalline continental crust. Deep seismic reflection profiling — an adaptation of techniques used by the petroleum industry — allows the entire crust and part of the upper mantle to be imaged with something like the same detail that an exploration geophysicist obtains for prospect mapping (Figure 1). The results obtained by deep seismic reflection profiling are exciting, and are beginning to revolutionize our understanding of crustal geology.