Studies using a hammer‐impact source were made to evaluate the feasibility of using shallow‐depth, seismic shear‐wave methods to (1) detect earth fissures, (2) map an aguiclude, (3) locate a bedrock channel, and (4) study the fault and fracture system within a highly fractured welded tuff. For detecting earth fissures, a V/V (vertical‐impact, vertical‐geophone—recording both P-waves and vertically polarized shear waves, SV), 6-m common‐offset procedure was used; for mapping the aquiclude, an R/R (radial‐impact, radial‐geophone—recording predominantly SV), unbalanced‐split‐spread procedure; and for the bedrock channel search, a wide‐angle, T/T (transverse‐impact, transverse‐geophone—recording horizontally polarized shear waves, SH) reflection procedure. The principal result of these investigations is that it is technically feasible through use of shear‐wave methods to obtain reasonable solutions to the first three problems. For the tuff study, wave tests showed phase velocity differences between R/R and T/T recordings indicating shear‐wave splitting, and revealed a fault between blocks of seemingly similar lithology.