Seismology

It can arguably be stated that we currently live in the Hydrocarbon Age and that the advancement of industry and civilization over the past 150 years has been fueled by oil. From oil’s introduction on the world stage in the late 1800’s, oil has been sought after by individuals to the largest corporations and nations and influenced history more than any other factor. Until the 1920’s, exploration for oil was based on surface geology to determine where to drill. In 1917, Reginald Fessenden was awarded U.S. Patent 1,240,328 for a “Method and apparatus for locating ore bodies”. His ideas on the transmission of acoustic waves through the earth founded the discipline of geophysics, the study of the physical properties of rocks, and directly lead to the development of seismology, using sound waves to image layers of rock below the surface of the earth. Now scientists can ‘see’ the structure of the layers in the earth that had no expression on the surface but held vast quantities of oil and gas that would not have been found otherwise (along with our understanding of earthquakes, investigations of the earth’s core, plate tectonics, mantle convection and monitoring of nuclear bomb testing). Seismic information has become the tool for the exploration and production of oil and gas both on land and under the oceans. From Fressenden’s patent the modern day oil industry, and the force behind civilization’s advancement, was established.

Submitted by: Erik Scott