1. n. [Geophysics]

A phenomenon of constructive or destructive interference of waves from closely spaced events or reflections. At a spacing of less than one-quarter of the wavelength, reflections undergo constructive interference and produce a single event of high amplitude. At spacing greater than that, the event begins to be resolvable as two separate events. The tuning thickness is the bed thickness at which two events become indistinguishable in time, and knowing this thickness is important to seismic interpreters who wish to study thin reservoirs. The tuning thickness can be expressed by the following formula:

The equation assumes that the interfering wavelets are identical in frequency content and are zero-phase and is useful when planning a survey to determine the maximum frequency needed to resolve a given thickness. Spatial and temporal sampling requirements can then be established for the survey.

See related terms: bed thickness,  event,  resolution,  wave