What is seismic exploration?
Seismic is a general term used to describe geophysical techniques that oil and gas companies use to gather subsurface information on the target formations. Oil and gas companies use this data to pinpoint potential well sites. Basically, vibrations generated from machines and/or small dynamite charges are used to create a profile of the earths subsurface geology. Seismic conducted with machines can be done along existing roads. If necessary, companies also collect data from seismic lines that go cross-country. This results in some damage to vegetation, but no excavation is needed. The Trenton-Black River gas play is very seismic intensive by nature, and will require heavy investment by industry before well locations are identified. The average cost for a line-mile of seismic data is approximately $8,000, with tens of miles of data needed to delineate potential well locations.
