Translations:Analogy/49/en

Seismic waves, with wavelengths in the range of several hundred meters, easily can bend around such obstacles as pinchouts and disconformities. A negative consequence of diffraction is the limits it imposes on the size of seismic exploration targets. Seismic signals originating from sufficiently small objects become less and less well defined as the object’s size approaches the wavelength of the seismic waves illuminating it. If the object is smaller than a single wavelength, then a combination of careful data collection, careful data processing, and careful data interpretation is necessary. However, no amount of theory can completely defeat this fundamental limit of diffraction.