Joint measurement of cosmic-ray muons and seismic waves at laboratory scale

Abstract

SUMMARY Current geophysical exploration methods face challenges in accurately determining gas saturation levels and elastic constants with adequate spatial resolution. Seismic wave velocity is a critical physical property in these techniques, but it introduces uncertainties because of its composite nature involving density and two elastic constants (e.g. bulk and shear modulus), which exhibit a trade-off relationship. We propose a novel approach that integrates cosmic-ray muon detection with seismic exploration to independently resolve P- and S-wave velocities into their constituent elastic constants and densities. First, we utilized a fluid substitution approach based on Gassmann's model to illustrate the benefits of incorporating density information in predicting gas saturation levels in pores. This supports the advantage of decomposing seismic wave velocity into density and two elastic constants. Second, to validate the applicability and performance of the proposed method, which involves separating seismic wave velocity into density and two types of elastic constants, muon and ultrasonic data were collected in laboratory experiments on two different targets: an acrylic block and an aluminium block. Upon muon observation, a relationship is established to convert muon flux into density length, considering the characteristics of the building housing the laboratory and the direction of muon arrival at specific positions within the building. Although there is potential for enhancing the accuracy of the derived physical properties such as density, bulk modulus, and shear modulus, the feasibility of this method has been successfully demonstrated at the laboratory scale.