GEOPHYSICS, VOL. 50, NO. 12 (DECEMBER 1985); P. 2299-2408, 186 FIGS. History of geophysical technology through advertisements in GEOPHYSICS Robert E. Sheriff* Exploration geophysics has been largely a free-enterprise another photograph of the Sonograph Analyzer (Figure 7). venture and new developments have been "sold" through ad­ Rieber had two facing ads (the first such instance) in the vertisements in the journal GEOPHYSICS. Thus, a review of March 1937 issue (Figures 8a and 8b). Figure 8a announced advertisements provides an eclectic history of geophysics. the opening of a Houston office because "the Sonograph can The following is the view obtained from advertisements be extremely helpful in outlining complex structural con­ alone. The dates cited are usually when ads for innovations ditions occurring in the Gulf Coast region, due to fauIting and first appeared. New features often had been applied earlier, irregularities and sedimentation," and Figure 8b promised before they were advertised. that "structures which produced 'no reflections' by older methods are made to reveal themselves." THE EARLY YEARS: 1936-1945 "This new torsion balance is the smallest, lightest and fastest instrument on the market," an October 1936 ad (Figure Big advertisers in the early days were mainly suppliers of 9) touted; "fastest" meant several hours to a reading. DuPont expendables and equipment. I1Iustrations in volume 1 of GEO­ offered a free book on explosives and e1ectric blasting caps, PHYSICS, then published by the Society of Petroleum Geo­ including "precautions attending the use of explosives" physicists, included a Ford truck (Figure 1) that could be (Figure 10). Askania promoted "Multiple Methods of Pros­ driven "through hub-deep mud, swamps, rice fields, or over pecting: recent advances in the seismie method of subsurface the roughest rock-covered hills;" an Askania magnetometer prospecting have been matched by equal improvements in the (Figure 2) to "reduce the cost of checking an area with other gravity and magnetic methods,' illustrated by a photo of a geophysical instruments by eliminating uninteresting areas;" truck bogged down in mud (Figure 11). and a Monroe calculator (Figure 3) with which geophysicists A January 1938 ad showed a six-trace, string-galvanometer spent many hours cranking out their calculations by hand. record (Figure 12) of excellent quality and amplitude balance. There were no advertisements in the first issue of volume 1, In the October 1939 journal a "typical Western Geophysical but the second, the June 1936 issue, had 27 pages of ads, Company seismograph record shows reflections recorded including a one-page Professional Directory (Figure 4) con­ from horizons below 30,000 ft " (Figure 13). The 13-channel taining a total of six ads and an ad promoting Seismograph record indicates how geophysicists picked and marked seismie Service Corporaticn's 594 months of experience and their six­ records prior to the advent of record sections 20-25 years channel recording system (Figure 5). Geophysical Service Inc., later: refiection times were posted to the right (e.g., 5.5 s), dip Schlumberger Weil Surveying Corp., Independent Exploration moveout in the middle, and depth and reflection grades to the Co., and Petty Geophysical Engineering Co. also advertised, left; the reflections were graded fair to very poor (f to vp +). along with several other companies whose names are no Portable seismie equipment meant that "No unit weighs longer around. over 100 pounds" (Figure 14). The same ad told of a portable The June 1936 issue also advertised controlled directional rotary drill "which disassembles into units weighing less than selectivity with an automatic analyzer (Figure 6) for "rnapping 250 Ibs. each, for portage on mules or camels." steeply folded and faulted structures where earlier methods The first gravimeter ad (Figure 15), in 1939, c1aimed 0.1 have yielded confused or inaccurate results." Rieber had the mGal accuracy, 4-5 minutes for a measurement, linear distri­ first reproducible recording and playback system, using bution over a 1 600 mGal range, and weight of 125 pounds. variable-density recording on film. He ingeniously applied There were also ads for magnetometers, weil-log services, di­ movie-industry sound-recording experience to seismie explora­ rectional surveys in boreholes, and aerial photography. Many tion. While his efforts were not very successful because the ads promoted winches with photos of extricating vehicles from supporting technology was not yet in place, this is one of bad situations, while some ads promoted photographic re­ many instances of geophysical advances based on technology cording paper, explosives, and other supplies. from an unrelated industry. The following January there was Lane Wells ran a two-page ad in October 1938. A Com- *Department ofGeosciences, University ofHouston, Houston, TX 77004. 2299 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geophysics/article-pdf/50/12/2299/3163829/2299.pdf by guest on 03 October 2021 2300 SherlH pagnie Générale de Géophysique and Schlumberger two-page Refraction Recording obtained on the Edwards Plateau of ad in July 1939 (Figure 16) emphasized the various geophysi­ both Permian and Ordovician beds" is shown in Figure 38. cal tools available: "seismograph, gravimeter, torsion balance, Another ad (Figure 39) talked about refraction success in magnetometer, electrical resistivity method" while the facing southern Florida in mapping "two limestones having different page made the same point with maps and six-trace seismie ve!ocities and another geological horizon with a very much records. higher velocity." The first advertisement on a back cover (Figure 17) was run This period included a number of ads for ground magne­ by Subterrex in July 1938 for "electrical transient surveys" tometers (such as Figure 40) and magnetic field surveys and "analyses of soils and gas seeps for hydrocarbons and (Figure 41). A rather modest half-page ad in October 1946 associated significant constituents." Another Subterrex ad announced a major new development, "commercial surveys (Figure 18)showed an ethane halo around the Eureka oil field, after 1 January 1947 with geophysics' newest tool, the Air­ based on 109 soil samples and a survey cost of less than borne Magnetometer," the Gulf fluxgate device which had $1 500. Subterrex ads occupied the back covers until 1943 been developed during the war. This ad was reproduced two when GSI took over that space. Ads on the inside front and issues later (Figure 42) along with the proclamation of its back covers also first appeared in July 1938. GEOPHYSICS acceptance and success. A magnetic profile (Figure 43) ex­ began running ads before as weIl as after the technical papers plained the use of "pips" to synchronize magnetic measure­ in the March 1939issue. ments with ground photos, Shoran, and altimeter; however, Some ads involved a bit of whimsy, such as the ad (Figure the comment relating magnetic highs to oil suggests that mag­ 19) for casing that "compares in price with reworked junk netic interpretation still had a way to go. pipe." Winch ads (Figure 20) showed heavy going through Ads continued to show applications of the technology de­ deep mud. The "modern methods" of January 1940 (Figure veloped in World War 11 and expansions in the range of 21)included burying an obviously heavy geophone. An adver­ geophysica! methods available. Offshore exploration showed tisement for a 24-trace seismograph appeared in the July 1941 up in ads for radar (Figure 44), supersonic depth recorders issue (Figure 22), although 24-channel recording did not (Figure 45) for "a sounding every 3 1/2 feet ... at a speed of 10 become common until several years after World War 11. West­ knots," Sonobuoy position plotting (Figure 46), and the ern Geophysical Co. soon advertised a 24-trace system (Figure underwater gravity meter (Figure 47). Radioactivity surveying 23) to "provide from 2 to 4 complete records per shot, ob­ was mainly by ana!ysis of samples (Figure 48). Radioactivity tained simultaneously with different filters." borehole logging (Figure 49) permitted behind-casing analysis. Some early ads emphasized log interpretation (Figure 24). A camera (Figure 50) made "permanent, impersonal, photo­ One (Figure 25) annoiinced "Final results can be no better graphic records of survey data" that "reduces the element of than the interpretation methods employed" and showed spe­ human error from field operations." cial drafting equipment and computation charts. Note that Many ads emphasized the need for experience in interpreta­ Figures 23 and 25 give the name of the president of the com­ tion, much of which was done by geophysical contractors. A pany. Jakosky's Exploration Geophysics cost $8.00 (Figure 26) Century ad (Figure 51) showed the use of a plotting arm to and Nettleton's Geophysical Prospecting for Oil cost $5.00 accommodate a !inear increase of velocity with depth. The (Figure 27, top). geophysicist's job then was often one of finding reflections on World War 11 began to affect ad layouts in 1943(Figures 28 individua! paper records and hand plotting these on cross­ and 29) and ads promoted the contribution of geophysics to sections; there was usually little time left for deep geologie the war effort (Figures 30 and 31). An April 1944 ad (Figure thinking. The possibility of mistaking a change in line direc­ 32) claimed increasing success by stating, "The Targets are 15 tion for a reversal of dip was the feature of one ad (Figure 52). times smaller, But we're hitting them twice as often!" Another talked about curved-path weathering corrections (Figure 53) for use "when the near-surface veloeities are not constant, but gradually increase with depth." POST-WAR DEVELOPMENTS: 1945--1950 Seismie instrument developments continued. An eight­ pound, dual-coil seismometer (Figure 54) reduced ac pickup. Post-war ads often featured equipment of lighter weight Phone frequencies increased (28 Hz in this ad) from around 8 such as the Schmidt-type magnetic balance with 10 gammas Hz in the previous decade.