Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina

<p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;">A geophysical survey involving seismic refraction tomography (SRT) for mapping 'P' waves was carried out in Sierra Santa Clara, San Juan Province, Argentina in July 2009. The purpose of the geophysical survey was to...

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Main Authors: Imhof Armando Luis, Sánchez Manuel, Calvo Carlos, Martín Adriana
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2011-12-01
Series:Earth Sciences Research Journal
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Online Access:http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/esrj/article/view/27711
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author Imhof Armando Luis
Sánchez Manuel
Calvo Carlos
Martín Adriana
author_facet Imhof Armando Luis
Sánchez Manuel
Calvo Carlos
Martín Adriana
author_sort Imhof Armando Luis
collection DOAJ
description &lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;A geophysical survey involving seismic refraction tomography (SRT) for mapping 'P' waves was carried out in Sierra Santa Clara, San Juan Province, Argentina in July 2009. The purpose of the geophysical survey was to determine the degree of fracturing and the rigidity of the rock mass through which it is planned to build a 290 m long road tunnel traversing the mountain almost perpendicular to the axis thereof, at around 100 m depth from the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;Several difficulties arose from the operational point of view which made it almost impossible to conduct fieldwork in normal circumstances. Firstly, the topography had almost 45° slopes and 100 m research depths which would have involved having had to use explosives to generate seismic waves reaching sensors which had sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for distinguishing them. Legal restrictions regarding the use of explosives on the one hand and insufficient power when using hammer blows on the other made it necessary to design and build a gas-powered gun to achieve the minimum energy (2 kJ) required for detecting seismic signals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;Secondly, using conventional interpretation methods involving layered models was inoperable in such geological structures; seismic tomography methods were thus used which make use of the velocity gradient concept (both lateral and in-depth). This allowed mapping subsurface velocity variations in the form of velocity contour lines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;The methodology used with the new seismic waves' source generator, as well as SRT application in this type of geological structure, demonstrated that satisfactory results could be obtained for this kind of geophysical study for geotechnical purposes.&lt;/p&gt;<br>A geophysical survey involving seismic refraction tomography (SRT) for mapping 'P' waves was carried out in Sierra Santa Clara, San Juan Province, Argentina in July 2009. The purpose of the geophysical survey was to determine the degree of fracturing and the rigidity of the rock mass through which it is planned to build a 290 m long road tunnel traversing the mountain almost perpendicular to the axis thereof, at around 100 m depth from the summit. Several difficulties arose from the operational point of view which made it almost impossible to conduct fieldwork in normal circumstances. Firstly, the topography had almost 45º slopes and 100 m research depths which would have involved having had to use explosives to generate seismic waves reaching sensors which had sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for distinguishing them. Legal restrictions regarding the use of explosives on the one hand and insufficient power when using hammer blows on the other made it necessary to design and build a gas-powered gun to achieve the minimum energy (2 kJ) required for detecting seismic signals. Secondly, using conventional interpretation methods involving layered models was inoperable in such geological structures; seismic tomography methods were thus used which make use of the velocity gradient concept (both lateral and in-depth). This allowed mapping subsurface velocity variations in the form of velocity contour lines.The methodology used with the new seismic waves' source generator, as well as SRT application in this type of geological structure, demonstrated that satisfactory results could be obtained for this kind of geophysical study for geotechnical purposes.
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spelling doaj-art-b5fd5a187a0948ee883ea82e52c9d1ab2025-08-20T02:19:15ZengUniversidad Nacional de ColombiaEarth Sciences Research Journal1794-61902011-12-011528188Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, ArgentinaImhof Armando LuisSánchez ManuelCalvo CarlosMartín Adriana&lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;A geophysical survey involving seismic refraction tomography (SRT) for mapping 'P' waves was carried out in Sierra Santa Clara, San Juan Province, Argentina in July 2009. The purpose of the geophysical survey was to determine the degree of fracturing and the rigidity of the rock mass through which it is planned to build a 290 m long road tunnel traversing the mountain almost perpendicular to the axis thereof, at around 100 m depth from the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;Several difficulties arose from the operational point of view which made it almost impossible to conduct fieldwork in normal circumstances. Firstly, the topography had almost 45° slopes and 100 m research depths which would have involved having had to use explosives to generate seismic waves reaching sensors which had sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for distinguishing them. Legal restrictions regarding the use of explosives on the one hand and insufficient power when using hammer blows on the other made it necessary to design and build a gas-powered gun to achieve the minimum energy (2 kJ) required for detecting seismic signals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;Secondly, using conventional interpretation methods involving layered models was inoperable in such geological structures; seismic tomography methods were thus used which make use of the velocity gradient concept (both lateral and in-depth). This allowed mapping subsurface velocity variations in the form of velocity contour lines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"&gt;The methodology used with the new seismic waves' source generator, as well as SRT application in this type of geological structure, demonstrated that satisfactory results could be obtained for this kind of geophysical study for geotechnical purposes.&lt;/p&gt;<br>A geophysical survey involving seismic refraction tomography (SRT) for mapping 'P' waves was carried out in Sierra Santa Clara, San Juan Province, Argentina in July 2009. The purpose of the geophysical survey was to determine the degree of fracturing and the rigidity of the rock mass through which it is planned to build a 290 m long road tunnel traversing the mountain almost perpendicular to the axis thereof, at around 100 m depth from the summit. Several difficulties arose from the operational point of view which made it almost impossible to conduct fieldwork in normal circumstances. Firstly, the topography had almost 45º slopes and 100 m research depths which would have involved having had to use explosives to generate seismic waves reaching sensors which had sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for distinguishing them. Legal restrictions regarding the use of explosives on the one hand and insufficient power when using hammer blows on the other made it necessary to design and build a gas-powered gun to achieve the minimum energy (2 kJ) required for detecting seismic signals. Secondly, using conventional interpretation methods involving layered models was inoperable in such geological structures; seismic tomography methods were thus used which make use of the velocity gradient concept (both lateral and in-depth). This allowed mapping subsurface velocity variations in the form of velocity contour lines.The methodology used with the new seismic waves' source generator, as well as SRT application in this type of geological structure, demonstrated that satisfactory results could be obtained for this kind of geophysical study for geotechnical purposes.http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/esrj/article/view/27711seismic tomography, P wave, seismic refraction, compressional waves, signal processing.
spellingShingle Imhof Armando Luis
Sánchez Manuel
Calvo Carlos
Martín Adriana
Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina
Earth Sciences Research Journal
seismic tomography, P wave, seismic refraction, compressional waves, signal processing.
title Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina
title_full Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina
title_fullStr Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina
title_short Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina Application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in Santa Clara Mountain, San Juan, Argentina
title_sort application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in santa clara mountain san juan argentina application of seismic refraction tomography for tunnel design in santa clara mountain san juan argentina
topic seismic tomography, P wave, seismic refraction, compressional waves, signal processing.
url http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/esrj/article/view/27711
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