• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Department of GeologicalSciences Newsletter THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN No. 24, September 1975 AUSTIN, TEXAS Geophysics at UT Wallace E. Pratt Professorship inGeophysics We are extremely pleased to announce that Dr.Milo M. Backus has accepted appointment as the Wallace E. Pratt Professor in Geophysics and began his teaching duties on September Ist.Milo was born in Chicago and received his college training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he first completed aB.S. degree in geology and geo- physics and then a Ph.D. degree in geophysics in 1956. He joined Geophysical Services, Inc. as a research geophysicist in 1955 and was employedthere until August 1974. While at G.S.I, he was promoted to Director of Research and later became a Vice President.His research workmainly involved the development of improved methods of seismic exploration Milo M. Backus for oil and gas, with emphasis on the analysis andprocessing of seismic data. He was engaged in work on the detection ment as well asindustry support. TheBoard of Regentsof the of underground nuclear explosions, supported by the Vela University approvedthe Professorship and its nameinhonor Uniform Project,and onproblems of submarine survelliance. of Wallace E. Pratt in June, 1973. Mr. Pratt, although a Milo is recognized as a key member of a small group of geologist,pioneered geophysicsas one aspect of geology while G.S.I, scientists instrumental in bringing about aconversion employed with Humble Oil and Refining Company in the of field data from analog to digital recording and processing 20'sand 30's. Recognition of Mr.Pratt's foresight and abili- was in with attendant mathematical treatment. ties given by his election to Honorary— Membership After leaving G.5.1., he became a consulting geophysicist the Society of Exploration Geophysicists only two men in inDallas. While a consultant heengagedinproblem analysis precededhim receiving this honor. Many of our alumni recall with fondness the contact they and system design (data acquisition, processing, and inter- had with Mr. Pratt when attending our senior field course. pretation) for seismic exploration systems in difficult areas, For a number of years a highlight of Geology 660 was the and for direct hydrocarbon detection-oriented exploration trip up McKittrick Canyon, then ownedby Mr.Pratt. Hehas programs. since donated this property to the National Park Service to Milo is a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysi- insure that the classic Permian reef will be available for cists, the European Society of Geophysicists, the Acoustical future generations to study and enjoy. Society of America and Sigma Xi. His publications, in journals including Geophysics,theJournal of GeophysicalRe- New Geophysics Option search, and Geophysical Prospecting, focus on seismic data processing, both theoretical and exploration. Several of his The new catalog of the College of Natural Sciences lists degree option geologists. publications are considered classic research efforts in those another B.S. open to This is the long-awaited course sequence with geophysics emphasis aspects of seismic exploration. within the Department of Geological Sciences. It is unique He is highly regarded in the geophysical industry and is in that the requirements replace very few of our traditional recognized as a in processing world leader data research. geology courses. The total number of credit hours in geology Among accomplishments, his he demonstrated how to handle remains unchanged, but the previously-elective geophysics and, co-authors, "singing" on marine seismograms with courses are now required. Four courses areinvolved and in- pioneered in velocity analysis studies based on correlation clude the new two-semester exploration geophysics lecture methods. He also contributed to the field of wave propaga- and field course sequence,a course in solid earth geophysics, tion, particularly in refraction methods. In the words of an and a final course in data-interpretation methods with case authority in the field, "MiloBackus was directly instrumental history studies. The number of geology majors identifying insteeringappliedseismology from an art toa science." with this geophysical emphasis has increased steadily during The Pratt Professorship was made possible through the the pastyear and we therefore anticipate a substantial num- generous contributions of alumni and friends of the Depart- ber of students will choose this degree program.Enrollment 2 September,1975 in the exploration course exceeded 40 students last tail, a clear indication tnat tne present student populationis ready lor more courses in appliedexplorationlecnniques.The geol- ogy emphasis in our geopnysics option compares well with straight geology major curricma at other major universities. The additionalphysics, math, and geophysics courses maKe this a very comprehensive degree program. Thebasic course changes reilect a switchin emphasisfrom thelife sciences tomorephysics and math.Thefreshman and sophomore curricula closely resemble those of engineering and physics majors, enabling students to transfer into our program without embarking ona totally newcoursesequence. Two chemistry and math courses,beginning with calculus in the freshman year, are required and students may elect to take additional math courses. A three-yearphysics sequence begins in the sophomore year, enabling the student to prac- Wulf Massell inspects the Department's newly-acquired tice applying the analytical techniques learned during the long-period vertical seismometer at the seismic first year while simultaneously takingadvanced math courses. station Parallel with this sequence the student enrolls in at least one geology course per semester and gradually builds a geologi- 250 lb. block of steel. This is both amore reliable andmore cal, then geophysical, understanding. powerful source than the firecrackers used in the past. Sev- We view the new geophysical option as another important eral geology graduate and undergraduate students have used step inmaking our overall programinthe geological sciences this portable seismic system along withresistivity and gravity an excellent one for training students for their future pro- meters to do reconnaissance field work, in some instances fessional responsibilities. their work has been followed up using the 48-channel field truck. GeophysicsProgram1974-1975 The Wang programmable calculator is utilized more as a computer than a calculator. We have successfully interfaced by Wulf Massell it to the CDC 6600 and are running two cassette tape drives The seismic station is working well and we have acquired for program and data storage. Most geophysics graduate a long-period vertical seismometer since last year. We now students have become quiteproficient in the use of our exist- have a full complement of short and long-period instruments ing computer facilities. and our file of seismic records in theAustin area covers the We are taking a giant step in our geophysical data-pro- past two years. The experience gained over these years has cessing and research facilities with the acquisition of a allowed us to maintaina continuous operation. Phoenix seismic data-processing system donated by Seismo- The seismic instrument truck is in almost constant use by graph Service Corporation. This system permits us to per- all geophysics students. Recording capacity is now 48 data form all the data-processing functions commonly performed channels for refraction and reflection work. The cables, in geophysical shops. The Phoenix is a minicomputer with phones and supplies donated by the various companies have specialized peripheral equipment that will provide students greatly improved our effectiveness in providing students a means to perform hands-on analysis of large volumes of valuable experience in seismic-data collecting. We hope to seismic data. It will supplement the CDC 6600 since it has acquire enough3-component phones to undertake studies re- special features designed to provide seismic processing at a lated to near-surface seismic investigations. fraction of the cost involved in using the large general-pur- Several reflection shots were attempted during the spring pose computer. Students will use existing supplier-developed geophysics field course. However these proved to be more software for normal instructionand research,and inaddition, educational than successful! Our inability to record more they can develop specialsoftware relevant to their particular than two or three shots per day severely limits the scope of problems. Some University funds to maintainand supply this our reflection investigations. Nevertheless all the students effort have already been secured. who participated in these field operations will have a greater Wehave been successful in obtaining seismic data sets for respectfor the 24-fold CDP records they will be interpreting study by several of our graduate students. One such study after theyleave. involves identifying velocity problems in the Tertiary sec- Among thegrowing inventory geophysical field equipment tion in south Texas. available toour students is a 6-channel (soon to beconverted With the addition of Dr.Milo Backus as the first Wallace to 12) portable, seismic-refraction instrumentusing Polaroid E. Pratt Professor of Geophysics our geophysics staff now film. We have had success in using shot gun shells as a sur- numbers three, and welook forward to the expansionof our face-energy source by firing them through a "home built" program. Geological Sciences

Load more

  75

Copy Link