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Air Guns Shake Up Earthquake Monitoring

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday February 5, 2012 @04:50AM from the shake-it-up dept.

sciencehabit writes "Petroleum geologists have long used air guns in their search for oil and gas deposits. Sudden blasts from the devices generate seismic waves that they use to map underground rock formations. Could the same technique be used to study earthquakes? A team of Chinese scientists thinks so. The researchers have designed an air gun that could be useful in monitoring changes in stress buildup along fault zones."

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Let me be the first to say... by dietdew7 · 2012-02-05 05:00 · Score: 5, Funny

You'll put your eye out.
Thumper trucks by p51d007 · 2012-02-05 06:42 · Score: 5, Interesting

When I worked as a bench tech for TI in Houston, in the 80's, they brought a "thumper truck" to the office for us to look at. The doodlebuggers used it when they were searching for oil, in areas they couldn't use explosives for the shock waves. They had a similar thingy for oceans that would blast high pressure air into the sea floor.