A couple of weeks ago I posted the first cheatsheet, with some basic science tables and reminders. The idea is that you print it out, stick it in the back of your notebook, and look like a genius and/or smart alec next time you're in a meeting and someone asks, "How long was the Palaeogene?" (21 Ma) or "Is the P50 the same as the Most Likely? I can never remember," (no, it's not).

Today I present the next instalment: a geophysics cheatsheet. It contains mostly basic stuff, and is aimed at the interpreter rather than the weathered processor or number-crunching seismic analyst. I have included Shuey's linear approximation of the Zoeppritz equations; it forms the basis for many simple amplitude versus offset (AVO) analyses. But there's also the Aki–Richards equation, which is often used in more advanced pre-stack AVO analysis. There are some reminders of typical rock properties, modes of seismic multiples, and seismic polarity. 

As before, if there's anything you think I've messed up, or wrongly omitted, please leave a comment. We will be doing more of these, on topics like rock physics, core description, and log analysis. Further suggestions are welcome!

← Click to download the PDF (1.6MB)