Exploration geophysics

Exploration geophysics is an applied branch of geophysics and economic geology, which uses physical methods at the surface of the Earth, such as seismic, gravitational, magnetic, electrical and electromagnetic, to measure the physical properties of the subsurface, along with the anomalies in those properties. It is most often used to detect or infer the presence and position of economically useful geological deposits, such as ore minerals; fossil fuels and other hydrocarbons; geothermal reservoirs; and groundwater reservoirs. It can also be used to detect the presence of unexploded ordnance. Exploration geophysics can be used to directly detect the target style of mineralization by measuring its physical properties directly. For example, one may measure the density contrasts between the dense iron ore and the lighter silicate host rock, or one may measure the electrical conductivity contrast between conductive sulfide minerals and the resistive silicate host rock. Geophysical m

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An iterative particle filter approach for coupled hydro-geophysical inversion of a controlled infiltration experiment

Damiano Pasetto, Matteo Rossi

The modeling of unsaturated groundwater flow is affected by a high degree of uncertainty related to both measurement and model errors. Geophysical methods such as Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) can provide useful indirect information on the hydrological processes occurring in the vadose zone. In this paper, we propose and test an iterated particle filter method to solve the coupled hydrogeophysical inverse problem. We focus on an infiltration test monitored by time-lapse ERT and modeled using Richards equation. The goal is to identify hydrological model parameters from ERT electrical potential measurements. Traditional uncoupled inversion relies on the solution of two sequential inverse problems, the first one applied to the ERT measurements, the second one to Richards equation. This approach does not ensure an accurate quantitative description of the physical state, typically violating mass balance. To avoid one of these two inversions and incorporate in the process more physical simulation constraints, we cast the problem within the framework of a SIR (Sequential Importance Resampling) data assimilation approach that uses a Richards equation solver to model the hydrological dynamics and a forward ERT simulator combined with Archie's law to serve as measurement model. ERT observations are then used to update the state of the system as well as to estimate the model parameters and their posterior distribution. The limitations of the traditional sequential Bayesian approach are investigated and an innovative iterative approach is proposed to estimate the model parameters with high accuracy. The numerical properties of the developed algorithm are verified on both homogeneous and heterogeneous synthetic test cases based on a real-world field experiment.

2015

Scattering amplitude of a single fracture under uniaxial stress

Thomas Emmanuel Blum

Remotely sensing the properties of fractures has applications ranging from exploration geophysics to hazard monitoring. Newly developed capabilities to measure the in-plane component of dense laser-based ultrasound wave fields allow us to test the applicability of a linear slip model to describe fracture properties. In particular, we estimate the diameter, and the normal and tangential compliance of a fracture from the measured scattering amplitudes of P and S waves in the laboratory. Finally, we show that the normal compliance decreases linearly with increasing uniaxial static stress in the plane of the fracture, but that our measurements of the SV scattered field do not show significant changes in the tangential compliance. © The Authors 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.

Wiley-Blackwell2014

Geophysics

Geophysics (ˌdʒiːoʊˈfɪzɪks) is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantita

Reflection seismology

Reflection seismology (or seismic reflection) is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earth's subsurface from reflected seismic

Geology

Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology s

CIVIL-424: Innovation for construction and the environment

The goal of the course is to seek to instill in its future graduates the skills necessary to be successful in the civil engineering industry. One skill that appears underserved and is expected to be strengthened through this course is the skill to innovate.

COM-500: Statistical signal and data processing through applications

Building up on the basic concepts of sampling, filtering and Fourier transforms, we address stochastic modeling, spectral analysis, estimation and prediction, classification, and adaptive filtering, with an application oriented approach and hands-on numerical exercises.

CIVIL-308: Rock mechanics

Les étudiants comprennent le comportement mécanique de la roche intacte, des joints et des massifs rocheux et savent déterminer les facteurs influençant un projet. Ils savent utiliser les méthodes appropriées pour analyser et dimensionner l'excavation et le soutènement des ouvrages souterrains.