Hi All -

I was wondering if anyone out there had any experience with electro-seismics, 
i.e. using a seismic source to stimulate an electrical response from the ground.

I have recently had a groundwater contamination client request an 
electro-seismic survey, with the objective of estimating the aquifer 
permeability ahead of drilling.  When I said that the method was pretty niche 
and of academic interest  in comparison with TEM, electrical resistivity 
imaging or NMR, they said "but we've already done some".  When I read the 
report I was underwhelmed to say the least... while I think there is some 
physical basis to the technique (I recall genuine papers by Anton Kepic etc on 
piezoelectric effects etc), the company in question were pseudoscientific at 
best in terms of the data processing and interpretation, and their promises to 
clients.  The report had been commissioned (and accepted) by a very major 
global geotechnical company who had clearly not employed a consultant 
geophysicist.

There are several companies here in the Antipodes offering electro-seismic 
surveys.  These typically operate on the fringes of mainstream geophysics, 
offering services to agriculture and groundwater.  There is very little 
information available on the physical basis of the method, or on its practical 
limitations.  Here is a link to one such company (chosen at random - I am not 
picking on them because they are from New Zealand) 
https://www.atsgeosuite.net/new-page.  They have an intriguing sliding price 
scale, where the client pays more for interpretation to larger depth - I wish I 
had thought of that!

Anyway, I wondered whether anyone had any genuine experience with 
electro-seismics, and could provide more detail.  Is it a mature enough 
technique that I should be considering it for hydrogeological work?  I suspect 
the answer is no, but I would be interested in any comments.

Cheers,

James


[cid:[email protected]]<http://www.mirageoscience.com/>

James Reid, Director Asia-Pacific, Principal Consultant
www.MiraGeoscience.com<http://www.mirageoscience.com/>, tel +61.419 748 009, 45 
Ventnor Ave, West Perth WA 6005 Australia

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