Developments in electromagnetic and hybrid seismometers

The “Willmore Mark II” variable-period electromagnetic seismometer has now been replaced by the Mark III/IIIA seismometers, which give a similar range of period and similar voltage output from a smaller and lighter package. The new instruments also offer facilities for calibration, for damping, and for the control of period over a wide range by the injection of appropriate signals into auxiliary coils. The Mark IIIA seismometer has been further adapted by the addition of a displacement transducer system, which enables it to operate as a force-balance accelerometer. A new “Mark IV” instrument is the prototype of a package which will contain three “sawn-off” seismometers derived from the Mark III with the additional displacement transducer, all designed to fit into a cylindrical pressure case for use as a three-component borehole instrument.The paper includes a circuit for displaying four different outputs from a short-period seismometer, with options for displacement and acceleration feedback, as Lissajous figures against an input which simulates sinusoidal acceleration in the earth.