The Application of Shear-Wave Reflection Seismics in Shallow Subsurface Investigations

In the past decades we have seen the introduction of shallow reflection seismic investigation techniques for application in engineering projects. Although some papers report the use of Shearwave techniques for engineering purposes (e.g. Suyama et al, 1987), the P-wave method has obviously been more attractive. P-wave seismics, however, suffer from a number of fundamental problems that cannot easily be solved: • the P-wave method only indirectly (through AVO) addresses the shear-strength of the soils whereas this parameter is usually of major interest in engineering projects; • within the depth-range of interest (< 50 m) the P-wave method is relatively insensitive to changes in lithology that are significant from an engineering point of view; • within the depth range of interest the P-wave data can be 'blurred' by weathering layer effects (multiples, attenuation, etc.) thus limiting recognition and interpretation of deeper information.