Visual Lab
Watch waves image the ground
Interactive experiments on synthetic models. Nothing here is real seabed data.
Wave propagation lab
A synthetic two-dimensional acoustic simulation. Pick a model, place a source and watch the wavefield and the seismogram form.
Synthetic — illustrative; not to scale with any real basin
Focus the wavefield and use the arrow keys to move the source.
Waiting for the source
Method note
- Equation
- The two-dimensional acoustic wave equation, p_tt = v² (p_xx + p_zz) + s(t) δ(x − xs).
- Discretisation
- Second order in time and fourth order in space on a regular grid. The time step follows the stability limit with a safety factor of 0.9.
- Boundaries
- A damping layer near the edges absorbs most of the outgoing energy. Switch it off to see full reflections.
Seismic and uncertainty viewer
A precomputed synthetic section with its velocity models and the uncertainty of the estimate. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys to read a value together with its uncertainty.
Move over the section to read a value.
Amplitude: blue is negative, red is positive (relative scale)
Focus the section and use the arrow keys to move the probe, plus and minus to zoom, Shift with an arrow to pan. Hold Ctrl while scrolling to zoom.
The same section supports more than one reading. Each interpretation fits the picked horizon within the spread of the ensemble. The weights are normalised likelihoods and sum to one. They show that the answer is not unique; they do not say which one is true.
- One faultA single sharp offset of the horizon.Weight: 13%
- Smooth foldA gradual step with no fault.Weight: 29%
- Two smaller faultsThe same offset split over two nearby faults.Weight: 58%
About this data
Generated offline with the same solver as the wave lab: an exploding-reflector run, a reverse-time image, an inverted model made from the true model with a smooth bias and noise, and an ensemble of perturbed copies. Nothing here is real seabed data.
- Source
- Synthetic — illustrative
- Generator
- section-gen 1
- Solver
- wave-solver 1 (2nd order time, 4th order space)
- Seed
- 20260101
- Grid
- 160 × 96 · 25 m
- Ensemble members
- 16
- Checksum (SHA-256)
- 64d11063a73d13933feb909e87ac9ddd70b83c3e4fce303517804ad31606f24f
3D subsurface explorer
A synthetic deep-marine block: water column, seabed, three sedimentary units, a fault, a salt-like body and a potential structural trap. Orbit it, cut slices through it and switch on the uncertainty.
3D subsurface explorerSynthetic — illustrative
Focus the view and use the arrow keys to orbit, plus and minus to zoom, zero to reset. Hold Ctrl while scrolling to zoom.
One model, three measurements
The same synthetic block seen through three kinds of measurement, each computed here from the one model file.
Each modality constrains different properties; combinations are accepted only if they add information.
All three responses come from the same model file (model hash d8669fb9).
Seismic section
Constrains the layer boundaries and structure, from the contrast in acoustic impedance.
Gravity anomaly profile
Constrains the density, so it is sensitive to the salt-like body but blind to thin layers.
Resistivity profile
Constrains the resistivity, so it separates the resistive salt-like body from the sediments, with coarse resolution.
Advanced sensing concepts
Two ways the program may one day record data on the seabed. Both are concepts: nothing is deployed, tested or planned for a site.
Ocean-bottom nodes
Autonomous recorders placed on the seabed. They hear from below and from all sides, and they do not depend on a towed cable.
Distributed acoustic sensing
One fibre along the seabed acts as a long line of sensors. It records densely along its length but along one direction only.