Historical Marker Program

Oklahoma, Where Reflection Seismograph Was Born

Murray County
Location: at the Turner Falls Scenic Overlook on US-77
Coordinates: 34.427285, -97.145737
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma-Kansas Oil and Gas Association
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Environmental/Cultural Ecology; Petroleum

Oklahoma is the birthplace of the reflection seismic technique of oil exploration. This geophysical method records reflected seismic waves as they travel through the earth, helping to find oil-bearing formations. It has been responsible for the discovery of many of the world's largest oil and gas fields, containing billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. Pioneering research and development was led by Dr. J. C. Karcher, an Oklahoma physicist. The Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma were selected for a pilot survey of the technique and equipment because an entire geologic section from the basal permain to the basement mass of granite is exposed here. This survey followed limited testing in June 1921 in the outskirts of Oklahoma City. Verification and confirmation testing was conducted in the Arbuckles beginning July 4, 1921, by Dr. Karcher and Dr. W. P. Haseman, Dr. D. W. O'Hern, and Dr. Irving Perrine, of the University of Oklahoma. Results were promising. The world's first reflection seismograph geological section was measured on August 9, 1921, along Vines Branch a few miles north of Dougherty near here. The reflection technique has become the major method of energy exploration throughout the world. By 1983 more than 80 percent of the members of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists in 112 countries were involved in reflection seismography.