Seismic Reflection

About

12–14 April 2023
Hamm Institute for American Energy, OSU, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

On 4 June 1921, John Clarence Karcher and his colleagues performed the first seismic reflection experiment in Belle Isle, Oklahoma City, which successfully demonstrated the ability to image subsurface geologic boundaries with seismic waves. In July and August of 1921, additional experiments were conducted at Vines Branch in the Arbuckle Mountains to correlate surface geologic contacts with subsurface reflections. In the past century, reflection seismology has been widely used in the energy industry to explore and exploit the world’s petroleum reservoirs, and more recently, geothermal and other resources as well. Furthermore, imaging the Earth through seismic has led to fundamental contributions and revolutions in understanding the Earth’s history and structure, aided tectonic reconstructions, and serves societal needs related to geohazards and engineering. Processing and analysis of seismic data have also been and continue to be important drivers in the advancement of technology and computing.

This workshop will feature a historical documentary on the early events and pioneers; showcase recent developments and advances in seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation; and moreover, suggest innovative pathways into the future of seismic. Because of the wide applications of the seismic method, the event will invite participation from industry, academia, and government agencies.

The three-day event will include technical presentations at Hamm Institute for American Energy | Oklahoma State University, 300 NE 9^th St., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Day one will include a tour of the History of Science Collections at the University of Oklahoma Libraries followed by a tour and reception at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman, OK. Student outreach activities are planned for day two. The field trip on 14 April will highlight seismic scale structural geology and stratigraphy of the Arbuckle Mountains in southern Oklahoma. Along the way we will also stop at several historical monuments dedicated to the rich history of geophysics. Refer to the Program tab for more detailed information and itinerary for the field trip.

Organizing Committee

Co-Chair: Heather Bedle, University of Oklahoma
Co-Chair: James Knapp, Oklahoma State University

Alex Biholar, Devon
Camelia Knapp, Oklahoma State University
Jan Dodson, Geophysical Society of Oklahoma City
Molly Turko, Applied Stratigraphix
Steven Roche, University of Tulsa

For more information, please email Debbie Mitchell, SEG Meeting Planner, [email protected]

Attend

Registration

Early Bird through 13 March 2023
US$475 (SEG member) | US$550 (nonmember) | US$225 (student member) | US$300 (student nonmember)

Standard and Onsite through 13 April 2023
US$575 (SEG member) | US$650 (nonmember) | US$225 (student member) | US$300 (student nonmember)

US$30 Field Trip 14 April 2023
The option to register for the field trip is available during the workshop registration process. Contact [email protected] for a field trip only ticket.

Because of generous sponsorships, students who submitted an abstract that was accepted for oral or poster presentation during the workshop will receive assistance with the cost of registration. Before registering, contact [email protected].

Contact [email protected] for one-day workshop registration consideration.

Refund/Cancellation Policy

To cancel, email [email protected] by 27 March 2023 to receive a full refund of the registration fee less US$50 for processing. SEG will not provide refunds, including those due to visa denial, after 27 March 2023.

Visa Information/Invitation Letter

Participants in the workshop may generate an official invitation letter from SEG. This form will generate a letter that you can print and use if required. Please note that SEG does not guarantee that you will be granted a visa, nor does it commit SEG to pay any expenses you may incur. It is the sole responsibility of the attendee to obtain the necessary paperwork for entry to the United States of America.

Workshop Location

The Hamm Institute for American Energy | Oklahoma State University
300 NE 9^th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Directions to the Hamm Institute. Free parking is available in the adjacent parking garage — turn onto Stiles Avenue and follow the circle drive to the garage.

In partnership with the Seismic Reflection Centennial Workshop, the Hamm Institute for American Energy looks forward to hosting attendees in this state-of-the-art facility. The workshop will be held in the Continental Resources Concourse which is located on the first floor and overlooks downtown OKC. The Hamm Institute’s mission is to inspire and create the next generation of clean, affordable, reliable, and responsibly sourced energy to sustain our country and the world. The Hamm Institute seeks to pursue this mission through collaborative research between academic and industry partners, through education that helps grow the next group of energy leaders, and through serving as a place for energy leaders to convene and discuss policy and pressing matters.

Lodging

The following nearby hotels are offering a special room rate for the workshop and are within one mile of the Hamm Institute for American Energy:

Embassy Suites by Hilton Oklahoma City Downtown Medical Center
741 North Phillips Ave
.6 mile/4 minutes from the Hamm Institute
$139/night plus tax. Parking $18/night. Includes hot breakfast and evening manager's reception. Click here to book your reservation by the cutoff date of 12 March 2023. Toll free reservations line: 1-800-445-8667

Aloft Oklahoma City Downtown – Bricktown
209 N Walnut Ave
.8 mile/3 minutes from the Hamm Institute
$109/night plus tax. Parking in garage is $12/day and charged at check-in. Book reservations online by the cutoff date of 11 March 2023. Contact [email protected] to make reservation updates or for assistance.

Wyndham Grand Oklahoma City Downtown
10 N Broadway Ave.
1.3 miles/6 minutes from the Hamm Institute
$129/night plus tax. Valet parking $32/day; nearby parking garages $10–$12/day.
Click here to book your reservation by the cutoff date of 12 March 2023.

Other nearby hotels:

The National Hotel
120 N Robinson Ave
1.2 miles/6 minutes

The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City
One Park Ave.
1.2 miles/6 minutes

Transportation

Will Rogers World Airport (OKC) offers nonstop air service to/from many U.S. destinations. The airport is 11.6 miles/15 minutes from the Hamm Institute. Taxis are located in the Transportation Plaza which is accessed from the baggage claim (lower) level and the TNC (Uber, Lyft) pickup area is on the upper level "Departures" roadway at the west end. The car rental center is located at 5201 S Meridian Avenue, just a short distance north of the terminal. The bus to and from the facility takes 3–4 minutes.

We welcome abstracts for the Seismic Reflection Centennial: Mapping the Earth Beneath Our Feet workshop.

Oral and poster presentations will address the following topics:

Past, present, and future of seismic reflection

History and development of reflection seismic
State-of-the art and outlook (case studies, industry, academia, current projects, and activities of universities and companies)
Impacts of the reflection method on technology and society
Fundamental scientific advances through seismic reflection methods
Recent developments in seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretation
Future of seismic reflection

Refer to the Call for Abstracts form under "Imortant Documents" for submission instructions.

Technical Program

Download detailed technical program.

Technical Program Overview

WEDNESDAY 12 APRIL 2023
9:00 AM–6:30 PM

Opening Remarks and Keynote
Oral Presentations
Poster Session
Lunch Program
Oral Presentations
Offsite Tours and Reception

THURSDAY 13 APRIL 2023
9:00 AM–4:00 PM

Keynote
Oral Presentations
Student Outreach
Poster Session
Oral Presentations
Group Discussion

FRIDAY 14 APRIL 2023
7:30 AM–5:30 PM
Field Trip

Keynote Speakers

James H. Knapp, Ph.D., Boone Pickens School of Geology, Oklahoma State University

Dr. James H. Knapp is a Professor and the Boone Pickens Distinguished Chair of Geoscience in the Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State University, where he specializes in the areas of structural geology, tectonics, geophysics, and petroleum geology. He received a B.S. degree with distinction in geology from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in structural geology and tectonics from M.I.T. He joined the faculty at OSU in 2018 after a 20-year career on the faculty at the University of South Carolina, where he now holds the title Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Before arriving at UofSC as an Associate Professor in 1998, Dr. Knapp spent several years working in the petroleum industry with Shell Oil, both as a research and an exploration geologist, and as a member of the research faculty at Cornell University. During his academic career, Dr. Knapp and his research team have carried out both fundamental and applied research in the design, acquisition, processing, and interpretation of seismic surveys, both onshore and offshore. Dr. Knapp has served as a Congressional witness and made numerous public appearances concerning offshore seismic acquisition and energy development. During his tenure at UofSC, Dr. Knapp served in various administrative or faculty leadership functions, including Chair of the UofSC Columbia Faculty Senate. Dr. Knapp is married to Dr. Camelia Knapp, Head of the Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State University, and they have two daughters.

Larry D. Brown, Ph.D., Cornell University

Larry Brown is the Sidney Kaufman Professor in Geophysics. Brown earned a B.S. in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1973) and a Ph.D. in geological sciences from Cornell (1976). Brown joined the Cornell faculty in 1977. Brown’s primary research interest is the application of multichannel seismic reflection methods to the exploration of the continental lithosphere. His research includes seismic investigations across the U.S. (COCORP), the Urals of Russia (URSEIS), the Himalaya of Tibet (INDEPTH), and the Andes of South America (PUNA). Professor Brown’s recent interests include seismic reflection imaging using natural sources (e.g. ambient noise, microearthquakes) as well as the application of ground penetrating radar to archaeology, geotechnical evaluations, and volcano stratigraphy. Brown is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America.

Offsite Tours

History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries

Visitors to this open house will view a variety of rare books representing the history of geology broadly, as well as the history of seismology, including volumes from the Everette Lee DeGolyer Collection, maps, and original annotations by William Smith, manuscripts related to Mary Anning, and much more. The History of Science Collections of the University of Oklahoma Libraries is a premier research collection with holdings of 100,000 print volumes across diverse disciplinary subject areas. View collection.

Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

The museum is a natural history museum located on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Experienced docents will give tours through the gallery space and exhibits. Following the tours, attendees will enjoy a networking reception.

Student Outreach: Exposure to seismic reflection and Oklahoma roots

The Boone Pickens School of Geology (BPSoG) Student Organizations will have multiple geoscience activities set up for students to explore various concepts and aspects of geoscience. Students will receive handouts and other goodies to take back with them after the outreach event.

Seismic Reflection Experiment

One hundred years later, the seismic reflection method that revolutionized our understanding of the Earth’s structure and resources is demonstrated through data collection using a hammer as a source of sound waves and (geo)phones to record them after they travel down under our feet and come back to us.

Ground Penetrating Radar

A derivative of the seismic reflection techniques, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) uses radar pulses to listen to the Earth. This method will be demonstrated using various antennas on a pushcart. This fun activity will show in real-time what lies under our feet a few meters down.

Grammer Tubes Activity

Students will explore porosity and permeability. Some sedimentary rocks are made of small grains packed together. For example, sandstone is made of sand grains packed closely together. Liquids, such as petroleum and water, can move through the spaces between the grains. For this activity, we have sandstone cores consisting of low, medium, and high porosity that can be connected to a bicycle pump. Students will put these cores into a water tub and try to push air through the sandstone core — which one(s) are easy and which one(s) are hard to do this with?

IODP Core Replica + Handouts

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) explores Earth’s history that has been preserved in marine sediments. It is an international collaborative program, seeking scientists with geophysics, geochemistry, micropaleontology, etc. expertise to embark on research expeditions on the Joides Resolution (JR). For this activity, students will work with the replica of the Palmer Deep Core (ODP 178), which was recovered in the Antarctic Peninsula and is of Holocene age. This core has layers composed of various diatom species, and the lithology and paleomagnetism analyses will be provided. Can you interpret what was happening in this region based on the observations you can make from this core and additional data provided?

Magnetism Activity

This activity involves the use of a mobile app to determine the location of metallic objects that possess magnetic abilities. Students would understand how the metallic properties of materials can be explored for mineral exploration and detecting metallic hidden objects within the Earth.

Seismometer Phone App Activity

Students will explore how certain activities (natural/anthropogenic) result in the generation of seismic energy. This seismic energy propagates through the earth’s layers like waves and is reflected, refracted, or diffracted when it encounters changes in the Earth’s materials. These waves provide information about the changes in the earth’s subsurface materials, and are useful for mineral resource exploration, and geotechnical applications.

Microscope + Thin Sections

Students will be able to observe various different thin sections of rocks, and view various mineral assemblages, grain size distribution, fossils, and more.

Field Trip

Geophysical History and Seismic-Scale Geology of the Arbuckle Mountains
This 14 April field trip will highlight seismic scale structural geology and stratigraphy of the Arbuckle Mountains in southern Oklahoma. Along the way we will also stop at several historical monuments dedicated to the rich history of geophysics. The Arbuckle Mountains had an action-packed tectonic history starting with a failed Precambrian rift, followed by deposition of the Great American Carbonate Bank, and ending with uplift and inversion of the failed rift during the Pennsylvanian Orogeny. This inevitably led to the complex faulting and folding we see at the surface which includes thrust faults, strike-slip faults, normal faults, and incredible fracture patterns. We will visit several of these great structures, including an anticline that is analogous, and adjacent to, Karcher’s successful 1921 Vines Branch experiment. The day will also include lunch at Oklahoma’s famous Turner Falls travertine waterfall. This field trip will be packed with both geology and history which will complement the theme of the Seismic Reflection Centennial.

Stops will include:

The Belle Isle Monument in Oklahoma City where in 1921 four Oklahomans conducted initial tests that proved the validity of the Reflection Seismograph as a useful tool in the search for oil. The men were J. Clarence Karcher, William P. Haseman, Irving Perrine, and William C. Kite.
The Karcher Monument at the Turner Falls overlook. The Arbuckle Mountains were a playground for early geophysicists as they tested the technology that would soon be applied to mapping the subsurface all over the world.
A picnic lunch at Turner Falls Park.
A quick stop at the Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies to pick up a snack and view the overturned Mississippian-age Sycamore Formation.
Exploring the fractured Woodford through Viola where it becomes overturned at the “Heart of the Arbuckle’s” outcrop.
Viewpoints of the controversial Washita Valley Fault and discussions on structural styles and syn-tectonic stratigraphy.
A hike to the Hunton Anticline and exposed Woodford shale where we discuss seismic scale structures and hope to get a viewpoint of Karcher’s successful Vines Branch experiment.
And several other exciting geology stops along the way.

Field Trip Leaders

Dr. Molly Turko, Applied Stratigraphix
Dr. Brandon Spencer, Oklahoma State University
Dr. Brett Carpenter, University of Oklahoma
Jan Dodson, Geophysical Society of Oklahoma City

Instructor: Dr. Molly Turko

Molly has nearly 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and is a subject matter expert in structural geology. She received both a B.Sc. (2009) and a M.Sc. (2011) in geology from the University of Tulsa followed by a Ph.D. (2019) from the University of Oklahoma where she studied under Dr. Shankar Mitra. Her work experience includes Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy, and several small operators in Tulsa. She has taught courses for R.M.A.G., AAPG, Applied Stratigraphix, and for the Ore Geology Conference. Molly is the Vice President of AAPG’s Petroleum Structure and Geomechanics Division for 2021-2023. Her passion is mentoring and teaching, but her favorite role is leading structural geology field courses in Nevada and Southern Oklahoma.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this highly-anticipated workshop. To sign up as a sponsor, please download the sponsorship form under “Important Documents,” complete, and return by 23 March 2023.

Sponsorship Levels

Presenting Sponsor (Exclusive)–US$10,000+

Company logo on website and all future marketing materials
Company logo included on welcome slide at event
Company logo printed on program cover and agenda page
Company logo printed on signage
Special word of thanks given by Chair during event
Sponsor table available in foyer during breaks and celebration event
Complimentary registration for two company representatives

Gold Sponsor–US$5,000-$10,000

Company logo on website and select future marketing materials
Company logo on welcome slide at event
Company logo printed on program
Company logo on signage
Sponsor table available during breaks and celebration event
Word of thanks given by Chair during event

Silver Sponsor–US$2,500-$4,999

Company logo on website and select marketing materials
Company logo included on welcome slide at event
Company logo printed on program
Company logo on signage
Sponsor table available in foyer during breaks and celebration event
Word of thanks given by Chair during event

Bronze Sponsor–US$500-$2,499

Company logo on website and select marketing materials
Company logo included on welcome slide at event
Company logo printed in program
Company logo on signage
Word of thanks given by Chair during event

Program Sponsor (Exclusive)– US$2,500

Company logo on website as "Event Program Sponsor"
Company logo in workshop program as "Event Program Sponsor"
Company logo on signage at workshop as "Event Program Sponsor"
Word of thanks and mention from Chair during event
Sponsor logo in Event Program Brochure featured independently on rear cover

Lanyard Sponsor (Exclusive)–US$2,500

Company logo on website as "Lanyard/Badge Sponsor"
Company logo in workshop program as "Lanyard/Badge Sponsor"
Company logo on signage at workshop as "Lanyard/Badge Sponsor"
Company logo and name on lanyard
Word of thanks and mention from Chair during event

Student Sponsor - Multiple Available–Minimum US$1,000

Company logo on website as "Student Support Sponsor"
Company logo in workshop program as "Student Support Sponsor"
Company logo on signage at workshop as "Student Support Sponsor"
Company logo and name on signage inside meeting room as "Student Support Sponsor"
Word of thanks and mention from Chair during event