S-wave Reflection Seismic Exploration of a Shallow Sediment Body - A Case Study at Alfbach Valley, Vulkaneifel, Germany

High resolution S-wave seismic profilings were done in 2007 to determine the basement and the internal structure of a shallow fluvio-lacustrine Quaternary sediment body in the region Vulkaneifel in Germany. The investigations were done with the aim to explore the capabilities of the S-wave reflection seismic method over small and shallow sediment bodies prior to the definition of new well locations for further sedimentary analysis. The results of these first reflection seismic investigations in the area give detailed insights in the geometry and the internal structure of the sediment body down to 60 m in depth. The application of a small vibratory S-wave source combined with a S-wave land streamer unit leads to an excellent data quality and meets the requirements for successful seismic operation also in residential areas. During data processing, time migration was an important step to image details of the basement and to reduce diffractions near the base of the sediment body. Beyond the primary aims of the investigations, the quality of the raw data and the geometry of the structure enable further testing of other seismic migration methods to shallow S-wave reflection data.