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Geology is important in finding oil. Surface and subsurface geology
provides clues to where oil is hiding. As the crust moves because of subsidence,
faulting, and other plate tectonic mechanisms, oil can get stuck in
"traps." To "see" these structures, seismic
stratigraphy provides us data to interpret what the strata looks like.
Creating seismic profiles in a suspected oil field, a charge or
"shot" is set off that produces waves. The waves will then
reflect differently on diverse rock strata. The waves are reflected back
to the surface and recorded using geophones, which then translates the
information into seismograms. Today, computers are used to create
three-dimensional models which can recreate the subsurface features.
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