Shallow reflection imaging of complex stratigraphic features in shallow deposits

A high resolution P-wave seismic reflection survey was conducted in the vicinity of a Potash Mine in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. The objectives of the survey were to image structure and stratigraphy of shallow Pleistocene glacial deposits and to compare the resolution of two different acoustic sources in this geological setting (explosive and elastic wave generator-EWG) . Field records exhibit poor signal to noise ratios due to strong surface waves and reverberative disturbance contaminations. Optimized FK and KL transforms were utilized to attenuate these coherent noises and to enhance the primary reflections from the very shallow horizons . The data analysis was also assisted by forward modeling to guide spacial and temporal selection of processing parameters . A number of stratigraphically well defined horizons generated detectable signals between the surface and the Cretaceous bedrock. In addition, the seismic images permitted to outline fine structural details within the different depositional sequences. The final section revealed that reflection technique provides a very powerful method to characterize aquifers within Pleistocene glacial stratigraphy.