R.E. Sheriff’s scientific contributions

I have had the opportunity to use this book for many months now and am finally prepared to submit this review. I have referred to it many times and have been both pleased and disappointed. Thrilled because it concisely addressed the topic I was researching with a question that was followed by a brief theoretical analysis and numerical example. Disappointed because the figures are black and white, and the symbols used for parameters are different from what I would like to see. (Get a life!!!) This relatively new book P ro b l e m s has a unique niche between S h e r i ff's classic Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Geophysics and Sheriff and Geldart's timeless text Exploration Seismology. The authors' initial objective for Problems was to "furnish solu-tions for the problems in the first edition of E x p l o r a t i o n S e i s m o l o g y ", but the project grew to "provide a stand-alone volume … which can be used with whatever textbooks pro f e s-sors and students are using". To me, it is much more than that; it is a stand-alone re f e rence book as well. As an educator and researcher, I have continuously referred to the Dictionary and to Exploration Seismology to clarify my understanding of a given topic or to search for an alternate explanation. The expression "another arrow in the quiver" would be trite to describe Problems as it is a valuable refer-ence book that I am now continually marking and using. The description, explanation, and solution of the topic are about a page in length and it is now the book I grab after the "Dictionary". Most of the topics I am searching for are there, and if I am not careful, I become distracted by the descrip-tions of other topics on the neighbouring pages.

This is the completely updated revision of the highly regarded book Exploration Seismology. Available now in one volume, this textbook provides a complete and systematic discussion of exploration seismology. The first part of the book looks at the history of exploration seismology and the theory - developed from the first principles of physics. All aspects of seismic acquisition are then described. The second part of the book goes on to discuss data-processing and interpretation. Applications of seismic exploration to groundwater, environmental and reservoir geophysics are also included. The book is designed to give a comprehensive up-to-date picture of the applications of seismology. Exploration Seismology's comprehensiveness makes it suitable as a text for undergraduate courses for geologists, geophysicists and engineers, as well as a guide and reference work for practising professionals.

Sumario: Theory of seismic waves -- Partitioning at an interface -- Geometry of seismic waves -- Seismic velocity -- Characteristics of seismic events -- Reflection field methods -- Data processing -- Geologic interpretation of reflection data -- Refraction methods -- 3-D methods -- Specialized techniques -- Specialized applications -- Background mathematics -- Appendices: List of abreviations used. Trademarks and proper names used. Random numbers. Units. Decibel conversion. Typical instrument specifications and conventions. A seismic report. Symbols used in mapping

Completely revised and updated, this new edition of the popular and highly regarded textbook, Applied Geophysics, describes the physical methods involve din exploration for hydrocarbons and minerals. These tools include gravity, magnetic, seismic, electrical, electromagnetic, and radioactivity studies. All aspects of these methods are described, including theoretical considerations,data acquisition, and data processing and interpretation, with the objective of locating concentrations of natural resources and defining their extent. In the past fourteen years or so since the writing of Applied Geophysics, there have been many changes in the field of exploration geophysics. The authors give full treatment to changes in this field, which include improved techniques for calculating gravity fields, the use of proton-precession and optically-pumped magnetometers, improved quality of seismic data,magnetotelluric as a practical exploration method, new electromagnetic exploration methods, the use of gamma-ray sp

This book is intended both as a text for students in advanced courses and also as a reference book for persons engaged in seismic exploration. The theoretician and student need to appreciate what is practical, and practitioners need to understand theory and the possibilities it may suggest. The authors have tried to strike a balance between theoretical aspects and practical details, that is, to include sufficient theory to enable the reader to follow most of the current literature and enough practical details to make the book of value to the practicing seismologist. This book is structured to be as consistent and systematic as possible. Effort has been made to be consistent with mathematical conventions, definitions and symbols. It has been necessary, however, to use certain symbols for several purposes, mainly to conform to accepted practices. A listing of the mathematical symbols is given immediately following this preface. They give the systematic derivation of relationships from first principles of physics, except for a few cases where the derivations are excessively lengthy or involve higher mathematics.

Vol. 1 deals with history, theory, and data acquisition. After a historical introductory chapter, the theory of seismic waves is presented, the geometry of seismic wave paths is considered and characteristics of seismic events are analyzed. The reflection field methods and equipment as well as refraction methods are described in detail. Vol. 2 deals with data-processing and interpretation in seismic exploration. Individual chapters discuss seismic velocity, data-processing, geologic interpretation of reflection data, and background mathematics. 226 refs.