Aplicación del ruido ambiente como técnica de prospección geofísica

Abstract

In this paper we present a method to estimate soil thickness from its frequency of resonance. This frequency is calculated from ambient noise measurements by using the Nakamura's technique. The method is applied to a valley of Alicante province and results show its usefulness in determining the surficial structure of the area, with an error of only 15% in the depths calculated. The errors are mainly due to an excessive simplification of the problem that this method requires. This method has proven to be valid to study the deep and complex structure of a basin if there is enough mechanical contrast between the sedimentary fill and the basin basement. When compared with other standard techniques of geophysical exploration, this method is faster than most of them and gives results of similar nature and/or quality.