Further Advances in Prospecting by Electric Transients

(New York Meeting. February 1941)

EXPLANATIONS basic procedure for of the making earth-conductivity studies by the Eltran method have already appeared in several p l a c e ~ . ~ -I n- aits essentials, this ~ method consists of applying step functions of voltage to one pair of earth grounds and measuring the transient potential resulting a t a separate pair of ground points. As previously pointed out,' the transient potential resulting from a suddenly applied steady voltage is the indicia1 transfer function of Carson16which has been extensively studied in network theory.
CURRENT GhNERATOR

for the application of the several experimental methods available. To do this, only one assumption need be made about the nature of the earth. The earth is to be considered a linear conductor within the tolerance of ordinary measurements. The discussion will be restricted to collmear electrode configuration like that of Fig. I, since this is the only type of spread practical for use with driving currents that vary with time. Here one pair of grounds carries the driving current, and in line with these and external to them is a
RECORDING APPARATUS

-L

&

&

, '

4
FIG.I.-DLAGRAY OF

4
FIELD SETUP.

The discussion here, with one special exception, will ignore the problem of how the physical configuration of the earth affects the transient response voltage; it appears that this phase of the problem has been solved in only a few special cases having any direct bearing on the prospecting problem. Entirely distinct from the potentialtheory aspect of the problem is the interesting material that can be had network from studying the between cause and effect in linear circuits, and thus deducing criteria
Published by permission of the Board of Directors of the Humble Oil and Refining Co. Manuscript received at the officeof the Institute Feb. 18, 1941. Issued as T.P. 1389 In October 19 I. Massachusetts Institute of Cambrid e. Mass. 1 gefereneer are at the end of the paper.

F air of potential probes.

'$ethnology,

The problem will be to consider the relation between the different voltages appearing between the potential circuit terminals when various types of driving voltage sources are inserted in the current circuit. Suppose that the grounding points G, and G pmake good contact with the earth, and that a battery of sufficient voltage to produce one ampere of direct current is introduced into the current circuit by the closing of a switch. The potential transient response to such a voltage can be measured by taking an osciuogram at the potential terminals, giving the time function that has been called A(!).' This time function has been solved for analytically in the case of a homogeneous earth,"' and the

170

GIFFORD E. WHITE

I7I

results can be used to make some estimate of the behavior of A(t) under other simple conditions. Of particular interest for some of the later discussion is the value that A(&) takes on just after the closing of the switch on a battery in the current circuit. Using Riordan's equation 3,' and converting it to our particular case and notation, we get for a homogeneous earth of resistivity p,

where

Suppose that the earth is no longer homogeneous. Just after the closing of the switch in the battery circuit, current will begin flowing in the earth, but because of the restrictions usually lumped together as skin effect, virtually all the current flow is confined to the surface layer. This means that the height of the discontinuity, A(o), at t = o depends upon the value of the shallow resistivity alone, while the shape of the remainder of the transient must of course depend upon the constants of the deeper layers of the earth. If the surface of the earth is of relatively high-resistivity material, A(o) is greater than half the final height of the transient, as in Fig. 2b. I the surface layer has a relatively low f resistivity, A(o) may be small, as in Fig.
2C.

For large values of the argument, corresponding to small values of time,

Inserting this in Eq. proaches o,

gives, as t ap-

This can be recognized as the ordinary formula for the direct-current voltage transfer of the given electrode spread,B except that Eq. 2 gives only half the direct-current value. Then, in a homogeneous earth, the initial value of the indicia1 response of the earth is one-half the final steady-state value, regardless of the spacing of the collinear electrode spread. In Fig. 2a are shown the essential features of A(t) for a homogeneous earth. The transient jumps to one-half its final value, starts from this with zero slope, and builds up to its final height in a manner that depends upon the resistivity and the electrode spread. Data to give the whole of A(&)for the homogeneous earth are given by Riordan.'

Until now, the voltage in the current circuit has been spoken of as the stepfunction driving force. I t is much more convenient to make computations in terms of current, so experimental oscillograms have been taken to see whether the current produced by a suddenly applied constant voltage is also a step function. I t appears that because of the short current-carrying conductors in use (seldom over zoo0 ft. long), the current takes on its final value in a time negligible on the time scale usual fo~ these transient measurements. This is equivalent to saying that the current grounds and the current-carrying conductor together have a constant resistive impedance over the frequency range that is expected to be used. Hence, the current will be considered the primary driving force, and will be taken as a replica of the driving-voltage wave shape. A(&)will be the transient voltage from one ampere of direct current applied as a step function of this sort. If a current of any other wave shape were to be introduced into the earth a t the current grounds, the voltage produced at the potential probes would be given by the superposition-theorem integral equations

I72

FURTHER ADVANCES I N PROSPECTING BY ELECTRIC TRANSIENTS

e(l) = ~ ( ~ ) i+ ~ ) A , ( A ) ~-~A)M ( (
i(t) is any new driving current, perfectly arbitrary within the range of the assurnptions just made, and e(t) is the resultant voltage produced in the potential circuit. A1(t), the time derivative of A(t), has

All)

(1
A m

&I)

r- ;(-=

Solve for A1(t) by the methods of integral equations and find R el(n

+ -&

e ( ~

151

These will be the basic equations by which the computation of Eltran surge

Nl)

NO1

--r'
I
(0)
A(

( b)

(c)

FIG. 2.-STEP-FUNCTION TRANSIENTS

I N EARTHS OF VARYING SURFACE RESISTIVITIES.

already been discussed, and its relation as the response to a perfect surge has been given.4 I n a recent modification of the Eltrali method, the battery voltage has been
GENERATOR RECTIFIER 3000 V

transient records will be explained. Block diagrams of the apparatus employed a t present in making the Eltran surge transient records are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and are self-explanatory for the

- CONDENSER
145 UFO

15 V 1

60-

1
RECEIVER

WRCURY SWITCH SYHC. CKT.

SWITCH SYNC. CKT.

XMTR.

BRIOCE

- -.- ---- ..- - - - - - - TO CURRENT

.- - - - - - -

-0

GROUNDS

FIG. 3.-SURGE GENERATOR.

replaced by a charged condenser, suddenly applied to the current circuit and allowed to discharge. The current into the ground varies approximately exponentially, as has f been verified by oscillograms. I E is the charging voltage of the condenser of capacity C, and R is the effective resistance of the current circuit, the current driving surge is i(t) = E/R ex* (-t/RC) Insert this into Eq. 3 and obtain e(t) = A(o)

eercp (-t/RC)

most part. The surge generator is a 3000volt condenser with a maximum capacity of 145 microfarads, charged from a rectifier of low power and high voltage, and discharged into the earth through a special mercury-vapor control tube capable of passing the zoo or 300 amp. of peak current in the surge. A short time before the discharge of the condenser into the current grounds, a synchronizing impulse is transmitted by radio to the observer's truck, which contains the recording apparatus. With the low-frequency amplifier and

GIFFORD E. WHITE

'73

cathode-ray oscillograph and its camera are several specialized circuits, some of which will be described. The recording problems are quite unusual, hence much of the apparatus is unconventional in nature.

Solving for A(o) gives A (0)= e(o)R/E

[61

Hence, knowing the effective total resistance of the current circuit and the

CIRCUIT

COAVER TER

RECORDING

RECZIVER

AMPLIFIER

POTENTIAL GROUNDS

CIRCUIT

FIG. 4.-RECORDINGAPPARATUS. The electronic switch discharges the surge into a ground circuit with a total resistance of 10 or 1 5 ohms. The total resistance is taken as the value from a Wheatstone bridge a t 60 cycles, and is measured a t every setup. This is the resistance R in Eqs. 5 and 6, and is important because it determines the rate of decay of the surge. T h e time constant of the current circuit is usually of the order of 0.001 sec., hence the current surge contains frequency components of high amplitude well beyond the high audiofrequencies. Applying the current surge to the grounds, the potential transient is recorded b y photographing the cathode-ray oscillograph screen, and later making a print like that shown in Fig. 5. This oscillogram is the function e(t), which appears in Eqs. 5, The first feature that appears on the oscillogram is the discontinuity a t the time of application of the surge. T h e significance of this discontinuity can be seen by placing 1 = o in Eq. 4, obtaining e(o)
=

voltage to which the condenser was charged, the amount of the initial jump in the response to a step of current can be

FIG. 5.-VOLTAGE T R A N S I E N T OSCILLOGRAM,

41).

A(o)E/R

found from e(L), the surge response, This raises the possibility of using A(o) to assign a value to the surface resistivity, since it appears that A(o) must depend upon the shallow resistivity alone.

174

FURTHER ADVANCES IN PROSPECTING BY ELECTRIC TRANSIENTS

Since A(t) is produced by one ampere of steady current, its magnitude for large values of time must be the voltage to current ratio of direct-currcnt prospecting.

negligible thickness nor of infinite resistivity, the quantity given by Eq. 8 will be independent of the deeper layers. A question that arises is the significance of the value obtained for the resistivity b y using A ( o ) when the surface layer is not uniform. Just after closing the switch to apply the surge to the current grounds, an electromagnetic field is set up over all the surface near the wire spread. The manner in which the surface currents begin to flow is determined by the resistivities in the neighborhood, and the voltage first indicated in the potential circuit must then be determined by an averaging of all the different surface effects. This might easily be an experimental advantage, since a value for p found by using a large electrode spread will be the same as an average for a large number of readings that might be taken by short-spread direct-current FIG.6.-ENLARGED PORTION OF e ( t ) . methods. The resistivity determined from This final value of A(I) is commonly called A(o) in a large spread must be independent the mutual resistance, and from it is of small local variations. calculated the common apparent resistivity The size of the discontinuity A(o) is called H I b y the field computers, and by usually plotted directly in millivolts per ampere without conversion into actual resistivity units. j(D) depends upon the spread geometry Further inspection of the potential and for Fig. I is given b y transient produced b y the current surge will show that, following the initial discontinuity, a smooth maximum occurs in the oscillograph trace. The significance of this maximum appears when we consider Suppose that instead of using the mutual that the oscillogram of the surge transient is approximately the time derivative of the resistance in Eq. 2 , we insert A(o), which transient due to a step of direct current. is equivalent to using zA(0) in place of A(&)as it is sketched in Fig. 2 shows that A ( m ) in Eq. 7, and solve for the resistivity: one point of maximum slope should be expected somewhere on the shoulder of the curve. Eq. 5 allows us to solve for this The resistivity given by Eq. 8 must be derivative function, A'(1), from the surge the surface resistivity if the top layer is oscillogram e ( t ) . At the time of taking e(t) uniform, since at the time A(o) is taken in the field, the photograph is provided only the currents a t the surface are con- with a time scale from a 400-cycle tuning tributing to the transient voltage. As long fork, and the sensitivity of the amplifier is as this uniform surface layer is not of measured in millivolts per inch. With these

GIFFORD E. WHITE

I75

data for coordinate scales, e(L) can be measured from the print and inserted in Eq. 5, and the solution made for A f ( l ) . el(t) is found graphically b y estimating the slope of the tangent line a t the value of 1 for which At(t) is desired, and A f ( t )is thus point-plotted. I n practice, the term involving e'(t) is kept as small as possible by making R / E small in the field, reducing the importance of any errors that might enter into estimation of the slope of e(t). A quick field routine has been devised for the use of the field computers in evaluating Eq. 5 . One quantity of particular interest is the maximum of A 1 ( t ) ,the maximum slope of A ( t ) . This quantity is referred to as Hz in the computations, and is found by taking ordinates of e(t) near the oscillogram maximum and inserting them in Eq. 5 until the maximum height of A f ( t ) is found. T o assist in this, a n oscillogram showing only a part of the transient near the maximum is made at each station, as shown in Fig. 6. The dimensions of A f ( t ) are commonly given in millivolts per coulomb. This maximum, Hz, of the perfect surge potential transient A t ( t ) has no easily ascertainable relation to the geometrical configuration of the earth, but it provides a quickly obtainable index to the general nature of the transient response. Some other feature of the transient might be picked, which would have as much significance, but this maximum height can be found with more accuracy and rapidity than any of the other possible parameters. T h e ordinate a t the first part of the transient e(o), compared with the height of the smooth maximum that follows, is of interest. These two amplitudes are somewhat independent, since they do not change in the same way with changes in spread geometry, resistivity, or the shape of the current surge. I n fact, in the first surge transient work4 the current grounds were separated from the potential probes by 8000 ft., and e(o) was so small that it

was overlooked. Under conditions commonly encountered in the Gulf Coast area, the discontinuity e(o) may vary from Jfo to IOO times the height of the oscillogram second maximum.

I t might be pointed out that the method of using current steps from a battery to study A(t) itself would in general be an unsatisfactory method of computing A ( o ) , because of the difficulty in separating tlie discontinuity from the steeply sloping transient. The current surge accentuates the discontinuity on the oscillogram. Integration of Eq. 5 with respect to time leads to the interesting relation:

By taking t large, Eq. 9 reduces to

A ( m ) = ' S m e (ot ) d t CE [ro]

The first term on the right-hand side of e ( l ) goes to o for large values of I. Eq. 10 says that if the integral of the potential due to the current surge is taken by any suitable method, and the integral divided by the total charge of the current surge, the conventional mutual resistance

Eq. g must become o because

of direct-current prospecting is the result. This integral can be taken by a planimeter from the field oscillogram, but a direct electrical integration proves to be more accurate, and quicker.

This mutual resistance, which is the same as A(-), can be inserted in Eq. 7 to give the conventional direct-current apparent resistivity of the earth. However, the mutual resistance is often left as millivolts

m
FIG.~.-INTEcE~TINc FOB MUTUAL RESISTANCE. CIRCUIT

o,

64

If the potential transient from the earth is fed directly into an integrating network like that in Fig. 8, the output from the network can be made to approximate the integral of e(t) as closely as we please by choosing the product of RC large enough. The duration of e(t) is less than a second, therefore it is practical to make the circuit sluggish enough so that the maximum of the slow voltage transient across the output can be taken as the integral of e(t). When the current surge is applied to the ground, the voltage across the integrating network is photographed in the usual way, as shown in Fig. 7, and the maximum height is later read by the computer. The action of this circuit is much like that of a ballistic galvanometer, in which the maximum throw is taken as the desired integral. I this maximum output M of the intef grating network is measured in millivolts, and Q is the charge in the current surge in coulombs, the mutual resistance is given by
mr = -millivolts per ampere MRC

[II]

assuming that RC is large. R and C here refer to the integrating network of Fig. 8, and not to the surge generator circuit in which the same symbols appear.

per ampere because all the stations on each prospect are taken with the same electrode spacing. I n Fig. g is a plot of the three quantities HI, He, and mr, taken at 1000-ft. intervals along a straight line, using a spread in which Dl = 2000 ft., D2 = 2 0 0 0 ft., and D, = 1000 ft. The profile is across an undrilled prospect in the Gulf Coast. I t will be noted that the surface resistivity is different from the average deeper resistivity given by the mutual resistance (mr), and the two have opposite trends. This is not necessarily significant, but illustrates their independence. The transient maximum Ha resembles neither in this profile; since it implicitly involves a different type of resistivity averaging from the other two quantities, it may well be independent in trend also. From the fact that the step-function response of the earth, A(;), has a discontinuity at t = o, it can be inferred that high-frequency voltages are transferred from the current circuit to the potential measuring circuit. In fact, if current of increasingly higher frequency were to be inserted into the current circuit, the voltage transfer would approach a fixed value determined by A(o). Yet the attenua-

GIFFOXD E. WHITE

I77

tion of currents in a conductor like the earth must increase with frequency. The explanation is that the high-frequency currents produce fields that are guided

is considered even a reasonably good conductor, wave propagation can take place only a t absurdly high frequencies, such as the shortest radio waves. At these fre-

"L Q

5000

10.000

11.000

Oislance in F e e l

FIG. 9.-DATA ON

A TYPICAL

ELTRAN PROFILE.

along the surface of the earth, much as along a transmission line. The effective penetration of the electromagnetic field a t the higher frequencies must be quite small, as has been estimated by a number of different investigator^.^^.^^ However, the value of the surface resistivity determines the amount of high-frequency transmission, as can be shown by a quite general approach to the problem of a field about a current-carrying conductor.lg Since the high-frequency transmission and A(o) are mutually dependent, the computation of the surface resistivity from A(o) is justified. Because the surge transient oscillograms exhibit a discontinuity at the origin and a later maximum, it might be inquired whether other maxima are not possible. The extreme view of this is the expectancy that if a sufficiently sharp current surge is inserted into the earth the voltage oscillogram will exhibit the characteristics of a reflected wave. Such phenomena would presume the possibility that the earth is a medium capable of transmitting electromagnetic waves of the nature of those possible in dielectric media. Maxwell's equations1 show that as long as the earth

quencies, unless the earth can be shown to exhibit an anomalously low conductivity, the effective penetration of moist earth in any engineering sense is a matter of feet instead of the hundreds of feet required in electrical prospecting. At high frequencies, energy may travel along wire conductors at the surface and along the surface of the earth itself, but not into the earth to any useful depth. The low-frequency currents spread through the earth in a diffusion process in which the attenuation increases a t a rapid rate with frequency, so that the potential transient from the earth-conductivity effect is a smooth and distorted representation of the current surge. If the current surge has only one peak, only one maximum can be expected in the earth-conduction contribution to the potential transient. I t often happens that if a station setup is made near grounded conductors such as telephone and power lines, complex potential transients may result, which resemble reflection phenomena. The currents induced into paralleling surface conductors may produce fairly high potential circuit volt-

ages which exhibit numerous oscillations near the initial portion of the transient. Out of the thousands of field oscillograms taken under widely varying conditions, never more than one true maximum has been found on a surge transient except under such conditions as these. The time from the application of the surge out to the maximum point of the surge potential transient has been measured on a large number of stations, to see whether it offered promise of useful data. I n no sense can the time out to the peak of the transient be considered a time of transit such as exists in wave phenomena like mechanical waves. The events taking place in the electrical transient are more like those of a heat-flow transient, and the maximum value represents the amount of maximum energy diffusion rather than the passage of a wave. The maximum is broad enough so that the time from the origin is not sufficiently definite to be measured accurately. So far this elapsed time has not been proved to have any practical significance.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express his warmest thanks to Dr. L. W. Blau, of the Humble Oil and Refining Co., who encouraged and supported this experimental work, and to the Humble Eltran party for cooperation in obtaining the field data.
L. Statham: Pros ectin L. W. h a u : 3. S. S. West: Sinusoidal
I.
2.

Geophysics (June 1936) I, 8. PatentProspecting with S. 191.1137. Electrical

NO.

Electric Transients in Electric

2.

NonCurrents. Gcophysrcs (Oct. 1938)

4. ~ . ~ ' l f : White: Application of Rapid Current Surges to Electric Transient Prospecting. Trans. A.I.M.E. (1940) 138, 4 I. c. 1 R. Carson: Translent Osci~lations. Trans. .

Jnl. uly rg31),1o, 420: 8. V. B u g : Operational Clrcuit Analysis. New York 1932. John Wile and Sons. 9. F. wehner: A ~ e t h o d l Measuring Earth of Resistivity. Nat. Bur. Stds. Sci. Paper 258 (1915). 10. A. S. Eve: Absorption of Electromagnetlc Induction and Radiation by Rocks. Trans. A.I.M.E. (19ja) 97, 160. Geophys. Prospect~ng. 11. Peters and Bardeen: Electromagnetlc Methods. Physics (March 1932) 2 103. 12. K. A. Norton: The ~ r o ~ a k a t i o n Radio Waves of over the Surface of the Earth and in the U per Atmomhere. Proc. Inst. Radio Ennrs. (8eot.