Category:Geophysics

Geophysics is concerned with the application of physical principles to the study of the earth. The objective is to determine the structure and property of rocks within the earth by quantitative measurements of physics properties at the surface. These surface methods provide a real coverage and are in general cheaper than drilling wells. The method applied most today is the reflection seismic method.

Of the total geophysical data acquired worldwide, more than 95% are acquired for the petroleum industry, where it is particularly useful for finding geological structures within the earth that trap hydrocarbons. About 98% of the geophysical data acquisition expenditure is on seismic surveys, which allow an "X-ray" picture of the earth's subsurface to be interpreted from the collected data, and from which the most favorable drilling locations for finding hydrocarbons may be selected. Gravity, magnetic and other methods account for only 2% of the total expenditure.