DEEP SEISMIC REFLECTION PROFILING IN THE DAYLIGHT

Source costs and access constraints are major limiting factors on probing the lithosphere using multichannel reflection techniques with controlled sources. Imaging using ambient noise, sometimes referred to as “daylight” imaging or seismic interferometry, represents a new approach that largely sidesteps these limitations. Seismic interferometry has proven widely effective for surface wave tomography at crustal scales, and has been demonstrated in shallow reflection imaging for resource exploration. A growing number of studies suggest that it could have widespread applicability in imaging the deeper lithosphere. Moreover, a new generation of superchannel recording systems has the capacity to make daylight reflection imaging practical. Here I review examples which help define the requirements for effective deep reflection imaging and its potential impact on future 2D, 3D and 4D crustal investigations.