Geophysicists

Geophysicists may find their skills sought after in the search for oil and gas, in the surveying and assessment of potential sites for offshore installations and in the optimal routing of pipelines and cables.

Different naturally occurring features (such as rocks and fluid-filled sediments) and different types of man-made objects (such as wrecks and pipelines) have different geophysical characteristics. The geophysicist uses state of the art equipment to differentiate between these features in order to map their extent. The different properties measured are electric (resistivity surveys), electromagnetic (ground penetrating radar surveys), seismic (reflection and refraction surveys), field potential (gravity and magnetic surveys) and radioactive (radiometric surveys).

Whether you become an engineering geophysicist profiling bedrock topography and structure, an exploration geophysicist delineating potential hydrocarbon reserves or a seismologist studying and predicting earthquakes, there are certain basic activities that you will be required to master. These include:

• design of geophysical surveys
• setup and training of geophysical survey equipment in the field
• online quality control of the geophysical survey data
• offline interpretation of the geophysical survey data
• survey report writing

The requirement for design, quality control and interpretation skills makes the geophysicist especially valuable in the offshore survey industry.

Career opportunities in the offshore industry for the geophysicists are good with the offshore producers exploring ever deeper waters for hydrocarbon reserves and requiring more detailed geological information. As well as opportunities with major oil companies and seismic exploration companies there are a number of other marine survey companies who employ geophysicists in staff and contract positions both onshore and offshore.