L117 Northern New Guinea Basin Airborne Seismic Survey, 1970

During the period September to December 1970 the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) carried out an experimental airborne seismic survey in swamp and other areas of the Northern New Guinea Basin, which are inaccessible to conventional seismic land operations. A helicopter was used to place explosives, shooting equipment and geophones connected to sonobuoy transmitters into position on the ground. Seismic signals are received from the sonobuoy transmitters and recorded on a conventional recording system mounted in an aircraft flying over the seismic field set-up at the time of each shot. Preliminary investigations indicated that the airborne seismic technique is practicable and operationally feasible for use in the swamp areas of the Northern New Guinea Basin.