S Y M P O S I U M ON G E O P H Y S I C A L P R O S P E C T I N G

Organized by the Committee on Geophysical Methods of Exploration of

the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers
in cooperation with the American Geophysical Union

GEOPHYSICAL METHODS IN PETROLEUM-EXPLORATION

J. Brian Eby

As is generally understood, the word geophysics means literally "the physics of the Earth"
and the science of geophysics is therefore that which treats of the study and measurements of
the various physical properties of the Earth. The broad and general study of the elastic, the
gravimetric, or the magnetic properties of the Earth as a whole belongs to the general science
of geophysics. The detailed application of this science to rocks of shallow depth and in small
areas for the purposes of ascertaining data on their character and structural attitude gave rise
to the present well-known science of "applied geophysics." Since the discovery of enormous new
quantities of oil, gas, and sulphur has been by far and wide the principal benefaction of geo­
physics in the United States, this paper will refer only to geophysical methods employed in the
search for these particular minerals.

The application of methods and appliances originally used for geophysical research to the
solution of the practical problems of finding new oil-fields, plus the counterflow of new and
highly refined techniques and instruments from the company and consulting geophysical research
laboratories and into non-economic geophysical research, has provided another case of that gen­
eral cycle of events which is familiar to all scientists.

That this closed-circuit flow of scientific current has been tremendously Important to the
whole science of geophysics is probably well known to all members of this audience, but the gen­
eral status of the exploratory geophysical arts as now used in the search for new oil-fields,
the scales on which different methods are being used, the magnitude of the costs involved, and
the far greater magnitude of the practical results achieved may not necessarily have come so
directly to your attention. It is, I understand, for this reason that this paper has been sug­
gested, and I shall seek to provide the information requested by using as case-illustrations
those changes in the oil-reserve picture for the United States as a whole, and for the Gulf
Coast, California, and Illinois Basin regions in particular, which have occurred in the period
of the past 17 years, during which time oil-field discoveries have proceeded at a rate which
served to build up known and readily-available (or proven) oil supplies to a reasonable figure,
and have dispelled the fears of a serious oil shortage during any period for which valid fore­
casts can be made. Not that geophysical-prospecting methods have alone been responsible for this
transformation, but they have an indispensable and leading part in the picture of exploration
and productlon--to which geophysics, geology, engineering, and general technical progress have
jointly made contribution. So far as the United States as a whole is concerned, its total
proven, probable, and possible oil reserves (discoverable and recoverable by then-known methods)
were estimated at about nine billion barrels in 1920, whereas proven reserves alone are now com­
puted at about 16 billion. In 1920 the driller in "wild-cat" territory was faced with the
knowledge that for every new oil-field opened by a successful well, from 20 to 1,00 unsuccessful
wells would have to be drilled and, in some territories, that the chances for a discovery were
really less than one in 100 for new drilling, in contrast to which may be cited the record for
the past year in parts of Louisiana where the 67 wells drilled opened 16 new oil-fields, that is
to say, where the score of hits to misses was increased to approximately one out of four.

To illustrate more specifically what has been accomplished by geophysical-prospecting

methods In the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana, beneath which there are perhaps 25,000
to 40,000 feet of layered clays and sands, these sedimentary beds slope gently Gulfward and
locally have been pierced by cylindrical or oval stocks of salt which have risen to, or almost
to, the surface, or which have spread out like hidden mushrooms at greater or less depth. Oil,
gas, (and sulphur) occur in the limestone "cap-rock" overlying such salt domes, and oil and gas
also occur in sand beds arched above the top of the deep-seated salt bodies and in the flank sands
which are upturned around the edges of the piercing salt core. Individual domes may yield amounts
of oil in excess of 100,000,000 barrels, and it is even probable that some may produce several
hundred million barrels. The search for such "structures," and for other types of oil-containing
"traps" in the Gulf region, has, therefore, been intensive and extensive, and has taken place in
four periods.

During the period extending from the drilling of the Spindletop dome in 1901 to 1923, ex­
ploration was guided by recognizable surface mounds, gas seeps, "salines," and other geological
Indications, and, according to Rosaire, 31 oiL-fields were opened by the hundreds of wells drilled

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 REPORTS AND PAPERS, GENERAL ASSEMBLY--1939 243

on geological evidence, on hunches, and on the "magic" of "doodlebugs" and "wigglesticks."

By 1920, however, the costs of discovery, solely on such evidence had become well-nigh pro­
hibitive, and consequently experimentation with the Eotvoes torsion balance was begun In 1922
and the refraction-seismograph was brought in in 1923, with the result that 51 new oil-fields,
largely on domes of moderate depth, were made on geophysical and geological-geophysical evidence
between 1923 and 1932. During the third period, from 1932 to 1938, the use of the reflection-
seismograph has attained a dominant position, though the torsion balance continued to be ex­
tensively used; some additional refraction-work was done; magnetic and electrical methods were
tried, the gravity-pendulum was employed, and static gravity-meters, "electrical transient," and
soil-analysis methods were "in process." During this period of seven years, 116 discoveries re­
sulted, in comparison with 61 in the previous nine-year period and 31 in the antecedent 22 years.
About the beginning of 1938, the static gravimeter began to come into prominence as a reconnais­
sance-method, and began to curtail the use of the torsion balance; new adaptations of the reflec­
tion-seismograph for profiling were developed, and seismometer-assemblies of new types and sen­
sitivities were developed; a number of organizations went more actively into soil analysis; and
new electrical-type methods and other variations and refinements were devised (not all as yet
publicly announced) due to which Rosaire has predicted that the 10 years ending 1948 should show
discoveries of some 200 new fields--chiefly large, deep-seated domes of low relief, grading over
into shore-line sand wedges and similar "stratigraphic" traps, where the up-dip termination of
the porous bed is responsible for localization of the oil pool. There is indication, then, that
the rate of discovery based on combined geophysical-geological exploratory techniques is, if
anything, moving at an accelerated pace--obviously with enormously important consequences to the
oil industry (and public) and with perhaps less obvious, but equally great importance to geo-
physlcists interested in non-commercial explorations in suboceanic regions and in the deeper
parts of the Earth's crust.

To illustrate this briefly, let us review for a moment the development of some of the
geophysical-prospecting arts and instruments. In the case of the torsion balance, it is still,
customary to mount two systems within the instrument at 180° and to take three sets of readings
at three azimuths at each station. Recently a short-period'balance has been introduced, with
electrical recording of observation, greatly accelerating and simplifying operations--especially
on swampy terranes. This balance, as you know, measures the horizontal gradient of gravity and
provides data for computing the differences between the principal radii of curvature of the
9
gravitational field, and these instruments must be sensitive to 1 Eoetvoes, or 10" dynes per
centimeter.

During 1930 and 1931 gravity-pendula were developed with a sensitivity of 0.0002 cm per
8
second per second, but it was necessary to determine the period of these instruments to 10~
seconds, and difficulties arose due to the instability of supports and the necessity of swinging
the pendulum for at least one hour. (Therefore, while such instruments should be very valuable
for general geophysical-geological research, they have been largely superseded for practical
purposes by the static gravimeter.) These began to be introduced In 1932 and are now in wide
use. In these meters, the force of gravity on a weight is balanced by some force which is a
function of the displacement of the weight but not of gravity. It is customary to design the
meter so that its equilibrium position Is near a point of unstable equilibrium in order that
small changes in the force of gravity will produce relatively large changes In the displacement.
Either by optical magnification or by electrical means, the displacement is observed. At present,
gravity-meters suitable for prospecting have a usable sensitivity of one-tenth milligal, that
4
is, an acceleration of 1 0 ~ cm per second per second. The time required for observation at each
station is of the order of two to five minutes, and the meter gives the difference in gravita­
tional acceleration between the two stations which is the equivalent of the pendulum measurement.

Seismic prospecting in the United States began in 1923 with the introduction of the refrac­
tion-seismograph into oil-field exploration. In the first refraction-work, mechanical seismo­
4
graphs were used which could record motions of 1Q' inches, and it was necessary to measure time
to somewhat better than one one-hundredth of a second. Later electrical seismographs were em­
ployed with a sensitivity of perhaps 10 to 100 times that of the mechanical seismographs. In
the refraction-method, only the first arrivals were used. The present electric seismographs
- 7
record motions of 1 0 inches, and amplifiers are used with an amplification as high as 500,000.
These amplifiers are designed to select certain frequencies, usually from 25 to 15Q cycles.
Times must be measured with an accuracy of one-thousandth of a second.

Starting as early as 1926, American geophysicists, led by Rosaire, McDermott, Karcher,

and McCollum, experimented with the idea of reflection-seismograph exploration. The princi­
ple in general consists of sending an impulse or shock vertically, or nearly so, into the
244 TRANSACTIONS, AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION

ground and recording reflections of energy from any particular plane or bed competent to send
back such a reflection or "echo." The difficulty of identifying reflections was made easier by
the invention of multiple recorders, namely, taking several seismograms on one photographic tape.

The invention and perfection of reflection-shooting marks the greatest single achievement
In seismograph-exploration since the original development of the method. It was a long and dif­
ficult task, however, and did not reach the peak of unanimous approval and success until 1934.
It was this year that two outstanding oil-fields--Hastings, in Texas, and English Bayou-Gillis,
In Louisiana—were brought into production as a result of prospects outlined by reflection-
shooting. From 1934 to the present, this method of exploration has been carried over the whole
coast, the Mid-Continent, California, Illinois, and other parts of the United States. By a ser­
ies of brilliant oil-field discoveries, it has established Itself firmly as one of the most po­
tent arms of the exploration-industry.

The magnetometer was first introduced into the United States about 1922. It has since that
time been employed extensively in the search for serpentine plugs and in outlining structures in
the surface of the basement-rocks. It has been used to a small extent in the search for talt
domes in the Gulf Coast.

As a rule, magnetometers of the Schmidt type are employed; only the vertical component of
the Earth's field is measured, but a few companies have made observations on both components.
5
The required sensitivity is aoout two gammas (one gamma is equal to 10"* gauss). On account of
the diurnal and other variations in the Earth's magnetic field, it is necessary to use a base-
station, where an instrument is permanently located in the area under Investigation, if accurate
and reliable data are required, hence always in the search for small anomalies.

Electrical prospecting with direct currents, and with alternating currents of either low or
high frequencies, have been widely used in locating Isolated bodies of different electrical
properties, for locating faults, and for determining the dips of strata. Since 1933, measure­
ments have been made which employ electrical transients In the ground. In all of these measure­
ments, potentials of the order of one or two millivolts must be measured.

The use of electrical resistivity-measurements in deep uncased wells to determine the

presence or absence of oil, gas, and salt water, and the porosity of sand bodies has reached
such a phenomenal success as to be of tremendous economic Importance. Schlumberger of Paris and
Halliburton of the United States have perfected the art of electrical well-logging to a truly
remarkable degree. It is regretted that only mention of the method can be made in this paper.

From time to time, measurements of radioactivity have been made by means of electrometers.
No wide-spread commercial application of this method exists. Likewise, measurements of near-
surface temperatures have been made from time to time with either mercury thermometers capable
of reading to an accuracy of about one-tenth degree or with electrical thermometers with corres­
ponding sensitivity. This method likewise does not have wide-spread commercial value.

Since 1933, measurements of the amount of hydrocarbon content in soil gas have been made.
These quantities must be measured with an accuracy of two or three parts per million by volume.
In another method the soil Is analyzed for various materials, such as wax and mineral content.
Little definite information is available concerning the method of analyses, and the research has
not yet definitely established its commercial application.

The use of geophysical instruments has spread to all parts of the United States that give
any promise whatever of oil occurrence. In recent years the development of the Illinois basin
has been almost entirely due to the advent of reflection-seismograph work. In California im­
portant new oil-fields have only recently been added by the use of the seismograph. Even now
far in advance of any indication of oil or gas, geophysics is being pushed into Alabama, Georgia,
and Florida.

In California during several years prior to 1936, the State actually produced more oil than
was discovered, and only one major discovery (Mountain View) had been made since 1928 (Kettleman
Hills and Elwood). Therefore, in 1935 it became generally recognized by California oil executives
that newer and more costly exploratory methods and programs must be utilized, and this recogni­
tion, coupled with the introduction of improved seismographic instruments--chiefly for reflection-
work--have resulted in the discovery during the three years 1936-1938 of^16 important oil-fields,
with total proven reserves of about one and one-half billion barrels of oil. Especial importance
attaches to the discovered fields and prospects concealed beneath the flat and featureless floor
of the San Joaquin valley where no direct (surface) geological evidence is available, and geolog-
 REPORTS AND PAPERS, GENERAL ASSEMBLY--1939 245

leal interpretation of the results yielded by reflection-shooting have been chiefly responsible
for the numerous successes registered.

In Illinois, a proportionately more striking rejuvenation has been wrought in the "oil
picture" in the past two years. Decline of the old Illinois fields had so far progressed that
the State had dropped from major rank in,the United States to where It was producing a few
thousand barrels per day or about 0.3 per cent of the national output. Large areas within the
State had been pointed out by the State Geological Survey as potentially promising far oil-field
discovery, but the hazards attendant on selecting specific drilling locations on geological evi­
dence alone were so great that prospecting was almost at a standstill, until the introduction of
the torsion balance and much more particularly due to the introduction of the reflection-seismo­
graph about 1935. With the usual two-year lag, the first discovery based on this work was com­
pleted In 1937. Some 16 or 17 fields and numerous prospects have been discovered on geophysical
and geophysical-geological evidence, the State's daily output has risen to about 160,000 barrels--
a twentyfold increase--and the estimated reserves of the State have grown from a computed 30
million to 300 million barrels.

Comparable, though less spectacular, aids to discovery have been received from geophysical-
prospecting methods in the search for oil and gas in various parts of the United States.

Further, the question of the relative values of the different methods in different regions
is too broad to discuss in a paper devoted largely to a summary of actual methods. Each of the
methods has particular advantages which, if properly considered, will yield proportionately
better results. Geophysical costs range from a few hundred dollars a month to aperate the or­
dinary magnetometer to nearly one thousand dollars a day to operate the refraction-seismograph.
Torsion-balance operations average three to five thousand dollars monthly, depending on terrain.
The specific problem of geophysical operations and results to kind of methods and costs should
be referred to practicing geophysiclsts. In the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana alone from
1923 to date, well over $100,000,000 has been expended In petroleum geophysics, with perhaps an
equal expenditure in the rest of the United States. The rewards, however, have been far greater,
for, to date, geophysical work has been indispensable to the discovery of at least 20 to 25 per
cent of the 16 billion-barrel proven oil reserves of the United States, without any allowance
for the possible yields of dozens of "geophysical prospects" which are as yet untested by the
drill.

Applied geophysics in the petroleum industry is indeed "big business."

P. 0. Box 962,
Houston, Texas

GEOPHYSICAL DELINEATION OF STRUCTURE IN MINING EXPLORATIONS

Sherwin F. Kelly

The prime objective of geophysical exploration is to promote the economical and rapid dis­
covery of mineral or oil deposits of commercial value. To a few this concept as applied in min­
ing may signify the direct discovery of ore-bodies, but to the geophysical engineer this latter
Idea Is one of the most insidious and detrimental misapprehensions which he has to combat. The
destruction of this annoying obstacle to the progress of geophysical exploration reveals the
kernel of truth behind it, that the exploration geophysicist has for the better part of two.
decades been concerned primarily with the discovery of mineral formations favorable to the occur­
rence of commercial ore. There is a very real distinction here., since geophysical methods are
capable of discovering certain mineral formations such as sulphide bodies or quartz veins, but
are totally incompetent to predict whether or not they constitute ore; that is, whether or not
they contain minerals of economic value in the amounts requisite to repay extraction.

The art of geophysical exploration is now, however, rapidly outgrowing these early limita­
tions. The rate of this growth will in large measure depend on the recognition by the raining
industry of the fact that geophysics can play a role far wider and more important than it usual­
ly does now, in guiding the future exploration and development of mineral deposits. It Is my
own firm conviction that as time marches on we will see the methods of applied geophysics turned
more and more to the delineation of both minor and major structural features. The outlining of
such features having a bearing on the probable loci of mineral deposition will be of inestimable
value in guiding the development of a mining district. It is in this field that there will in­
evitably occur a meeting and overlapping of the activities of the exploration geophysiclsts and