Near Surface Geophysics, Regular Columns, Vol 25.4

New Regular Column: Near Surface Geophysics – A little history

Doug Crice
[email protected]

Geoff Pettifer liked my article “Reflections on Seismic Reflections” (Fast Times, Vol 24, No. 3) so much that he thought more of the same on similar topics would be worth doing. Since I am getting to be older than dirt and know some of the players, look for more in the future, assuming our new editor is equally permissive.

A lot has happened in Near Surface Geophysics in my 50 years in the business. The capability was built with technology: personal computers, electronic components, GPS and the Internet. But more, it was built by engineers and scientists who exploited this new technology to make better instruments, applications, and just better geophysics.

For the next issue, look for an article on resistivity with input from Mats Lagmanson who participated in some significant evolution in that field. Other topics I might cover will be more eclectic, but perhaps of interest. The tone is intended to be light, not citation worthy, more of an oral history of near surface geophysics.

Of course, one person alone doesn’t have all the knowledge or memories do take on such a project, so I will be calling on my friends and competitors to bring me material to include. If you the reader have something to share or just ideas, please contact me at [email protected].

Author Bio


Doug Crice
Geostuff
Sacramento, California
[email protected]
www.geostuff.com

Doug Crice got his start in earthquake research in 1962, measuring fault slip in California. He was co-founder of Nimbus Instruments in 1971; president and chief design engineer. Nimbus was acquired by Geometrics in 1978 to extend their product line beyond radiometrics and magnetometers. He was product manager for the seismograph line, and eventually vice president of marketing. He started Geostuff in 1991 as a sideline hobby business, building products essential to the seismic market, but where the annual volume was too small for a real company. During his career, he was responsible for many innovations in instrument design that contributed to geophysics. He was an early recipient of the Hal Mooney Award in Recognition of Scientific and Technical Excellence and Innovation Leading to the Advancement of Near Surface Geophysics.