GEOPHYSICS 224 – Fall 2009

CHAPTER 4 – SEISMIC REFLECTION

(Textbook: chapter 3.6 and 4)

4.1 Reflection at normal incidence

Consider two horizontal layers that have different seismic
velocities (v) and densities (ρ). A P-wave with amplitude Ai
travels downward through the upper layer and encounters the
interface between the layers at 90° (normal angle). This
produces two new P-waves: a reflected P-wave that travels
upward through Layer 1 and a transmitted P-wave that
enters Layer 2.

The reflection co-efficient is the ratio of the amplitudes of the reflected and incident
waves:
R = Ar/Ai

Similarly, the transmission co-efficient is the ratio of the amplitudes of the transmitted
and incident waves:
T = At/Ai

The amount of energy that is partitioned into transmission and reflection depend on the
angle between the incident wave and interface and on the acoustic impedance (Z) of
each layer:
Z1 = ρ1v1 and Z2 = ρ2v2

For normal incident waves, it can be shown that:

ρ 2 v 2 − ρ 1 v 1 Z 2 − Z1
R= =
ρ 2 v 2 + ρ1 v 1 Z 2 + Z 1

2ρ1 v1 2 Z1
T= =
ρ 2 v 2 + ρ1 v 1 Z 2 + Z 1

These are the Zoeppritz equations. There are also more complicated forms of the
Zoeppritz equations that can be used for any angle of incidence.
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These equations show that the reflection and transmission co-efficients depend on the
difference in impedance between the two layers.

• if Z1 = Z2, there is no reflection. All energy is transmitted into the second layer.
This does not mean that ρ1=ρ2 and v1= v2! All that matters is that ρ1v1= ρ2v2.

• R can have a value of +1 to -1. R will be negative when Z1 > Z2. A negative
value means that there will be a phase change of 180° in the phase of the reflected
wave (a peak becomes a trough). This is called a negative polarity reflection.

• T is always positive – transmitted waves have the same phase as the incident
wave. T can be larger than 1.

• Reflection co-efficients for the Earth are generally less than ±0.2, with maximum
values of ±0.5. Most energy is transmitted, not reflected.

Case 1: An increase in velocity with depth

A 600 m thick layer of sandstone overlies a
granite basement with a higher velocity. A
seismic wave is generated at the surface and
travels vertically downward. At the sandstone-
granite interface, the incident wave is split into a
reflected wave and transmitted wave.

The amplitude of the reflected and transmitted

waves (Ar and At) can be calculated from the
Zoeppritz equations. Assume that Ai = 1.0 and
that there is no geometrical spreading,
attenuation, or scattering. Velocity and density
are constant within each layer.

First, calculate the impedance of each layer:

Z1 = ρ1v1 = 2700 × 4.1 = 11,070 (kg km s-1 m-3)

Z2 = ρ2v2 = 2700 × 5.6 = 15,120 (kg km s-1 m-3)

The reflection and transmission co-efficients are then:

Z 2 − Z1 4050 2 Z1 22,140
R= = = 0.15 T= = = 0.85
Z 2 + Z1 26,190 Z 2 + Z1 26,190
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The amplitude of the two waves are:

A r = R × A i = 0.15 A t = T × A i = 0.85

Consider a seismic survey configuration where you have a seismic source and a receiver
on the ground next to each other. The receiver will record seismic waves that travel
directly between the source and receiver, as well as seismic waves that are reflected
upward to the surface. In this case, only one reflected wave will be recorded. The time
at which it arrives at the receiver is:

dis tan ce 2 × 600m

time = = = 0.29s
velocity 4100m / s

The seismic record will look like this:

Questions:

• How would the seismic record change if the velocity of the upper layer was
slightly larger?

• From the seismic record alone, can the thickness of the upper layer be
determined?
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Case 2: A decrease in velocity with depth

Now consider a high velocity layer that overlies a low velocity layer.

What are the amplitudes of the reflected and transmitted waves?

At what time will the reflected wave arrive back at the surface? What is its polarity?

What will the seismic record at the surface look like?

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More than two layers:

The same Zoeppritz equations can be applied to models with more than two layers.

Case 1: Velocity increase with depth

In this case, there will be two reflected waves that
are recorded by the seismic station (also called
arrivals).

A1 is the wave that is reflected from Interface A.

A2 is the wave that is transmitted through Interface

A, reflected from Interface B, transmitted through
Interface A, and then recorded at the surface.

Arrival A1:

Amplitude: given by the reflection co-efficient at interface A (RA):

Z1 = 2700 × 3.1 = 8370 Z2 = 2700 × 4.5 = 12150

Z 2 − Z1 3780
Therefore: R A = = = 0.18
Z 2 + Z1 20520

2 × 400m
Arrival time: time = = 0.26s
3100m / s

Arrival A2:

To calculate the arrival time and amplitude of A2, we need to consider all the interfaces
that it has encountered between the source and receiver.

1. Transmitted through Interface A.

2 Z1 16740
The amplitude of the transmitted wave at A is: TA = = = 0.82
Z 2 + Z1 20520
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2. Reflected at interface B.

The reflection amplitude depends on:

• The amplitude of the incident wave. The incident wave is the one that was
transmitted through Interface A: TA = 0.82

• Reflection co-efficient from Layer 2 to Layer 3 (RB)

Z2 = 12150 Z3 = 2700 × 6.8 = 18360
Z − Z2 6210
RB = 3 = = 0.20
Z 3 + Z 2 30510

Therefore, the amplitude of the reflected wave is: TA × RB = 0.16

3. Transmitted through Interface A.

The amplitude of the transmitted wave is the product of:

• the amplitude of the reflected wave from Interface B ( = TA × RB =0.16)
• transmission co-efficient from Layer 2 to Layer 1
2Z 2 24300
T' A = = = 1.18
Z1 + Z 2 20520

Therefore the final amplitude of A2 will be: TA × RB × T’A = 0.16 × 1.18 = 0.19

The total travel time of A2 will be:

400m 2 × 900m 400m
time = + + = 0.13 + 0.40 + 0.13s = 0.66s
3100m / s 4500m / s 3100m / s

The seismic record will look like:

Note that there could be a third arrival due to reflections from Interface A and Interface
B. Where does this come from?
• if you go through the calculations, you will find that its arrival time is 1.06 s
• it has a negative polarity and an extremely small amplitude of less than -0.01
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Case 2: Low velocity layer between two layers with higher velocity
Now consider a case with a low velocity layer. This
could represent a gas-filled layer within high velocity
rocks.

What are the first three arrivals (after the direct P-

wave)?

If you go through the calculations, you should obtain the following values:
Arrival 1: amplitude of -0.37, arrival time of 0.28 s
Arrival 2: amplitude of 0.47, arrival time of 0.68 s
Arrival 3: amplitude of 0.09, arrival time of 1.08 s

The corresponding seismic record will be:

Note the following:

• the first arrival has a negative polarity – due to the velocity decrease across
Interface A

• the second arrival has a large amplitude and has a positive polarity (due to
velocity increase at Interface B)

• the third arrival has a positive polarity and a fairly significant amplitude

• there will be multiple later arrivals due to reverberations of the seismic wave that
is trapped within the low velocity layer. The amplitude will decrease with each
reverberation. Each arrival will be separated by 0.4 s (why?)

• in these calculations, we have neglected the seismic wave that is reflected from
the surface. In seismic surveys, a surface reflection is commonly observed in the
data. This is often called a surface multiple.