<p>You may want to explore <a href="https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/18374/what-forms-of-water-ice-have-been-observed-and-verified-in-the-solar-system#33570">this question from Space Exploration SE</a>. Strictly speaking, the question refers to ice detection, but the methods described there can also be used to identify liquid water.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Seismic measurements.</strong> These may be used to identify different phases of ice as well as liquid water, because different phases of the same chemical makeup will lead to different propagation of the seismic waves. Ref. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JE005338" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1</a> describes how the technique may be applied to outer-planet moons to reveal the water/ice structure.</p>
</li>
<li><p><strong>Inclusions.</strong> The same answer also describes the direct finding of high-pressure ice (Ice VII) in diamonds on Earth <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aao3030" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2</a>. The high-pressure ice does not reveal bodies of water as such, but it gives evidence of molecular <span class="math-container">$\ce{H2O}$</span> originating from the deep mantle.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>References</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><p>S.C Stähler, M. P. Planning, S. D. Vance, R. D. Lorentz, N. van Driel, T. Nissen-Meyer, S. Kedar (2018). &quot;Seismic propagation in icy ocean worlds&quot;. <em>Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets</em>, 123. https:// doi.org/10.1002/2017JE005338.</p>
</li>
<li><p>O. Tscauner, S. Huang, E. V. B. Prakapenka, C. Ma, G. R. Rossman, A. H. Shen, D. Zhang, M. Newville, A. Lanzirotti, K. Tait (2018). &quot;Ice-VII inclusions in diamonds: Evidence for aqueous fluid in Earth’s deep mantle&quot;.
<em>Science</em>  <strong>359</strong> (6380), 1136-1139. <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aao3030" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aao3030</a>.</p>
</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-04T23:43:14.360Z
2022-06-14T01:52:57.147Z
2022-06-14T01:52:57.147Z
Oscar Lanzi
<p>I want to add to the initial answer from Oscar:</p>
<p>But first, as a matter for geophysical terminology clarification, let's separate two very important concepts: <em>detection</em> (i.e. &quot;I see the top or the bottom or something in between the top and bottom, whatever that is...&quot;) and <em>resolution</em> (i.e. &quot;I see the top <em><strong>and</strong></em> bottom, whatever that is...&quot;).</p>
<p>For the specific question, here's my take on it: there are <em><strong>many, many</strong></em> well-documented ways of doing this. Direct (well-logs, cores, etc.) and remote (seismic and potential fields). For <strong>seismic methods</strong>, that's usually reflection or refraction. And, for <strong>potential fields</strong>, that usually is electrical resistivity surveying (and then some kind of 2/3-D inversion) or GPR.</p>
<p>As for sources, there's a lot of useful stuff <a href="https://wiki.seg.org/wiki/Geophysical_tutorials" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-21T14:09:15.997Z
2022-06-21T14:09:15.997Z
nate
<p>I saw one way to achieve this using the magnetotelluric way, but I need some solid fundamental way to understand it. Any book recommendations would be appreciated.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-21T13:49:03.803Z
Are you just interested in the magnetotelluric method or others methods as well. You  ask one question in the title but a specific question in the body of the text. Could you please clarify.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-21T15:02:29.560Z
The water is in rock formations, aquafers. The technology is seismic exploration.
blacksmith37
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-05T23:35:06.457Z
This question is a bit vague. Search for resources under 'hydrogeology' or 'aquifer exploration' and then come back with a more pointed question. Or, as Fred says, if you're interested in magnetotellurics, ask about that (after reading about it!).
Matt Hall
<geophysics><water><underground-water>
Ways of detecting underground bodies of water
Mukul Malviya
# Ways of detecting underground bodies of water

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-05-21)

I saw one way to achieve this using the magnetotelluric way, but I need some solid fundamental way to understand it. Any book recommendations would be appreciated.

**Tags:** geophysics, water, underground-water

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you just interested in the magnetotelluric method or others methods as well. You  ask one question in the title but a specific question in the body of the text. Could you please clarify.  
> **username_2**: The water is in rock formations, aquafers. The technology is seismic exploration.  
> **username_3**: This question is a bit vague. Search for resources under 'hydrogeology' or 'aquifer exploration' and then come back with a more pointed question. Or, as username_1 says, if you're interested in magnetotellurics, ask about that (after reading about it!).  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2022-06-04. Score: 2

You may want to explore [this question from Space Exploration SE](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/18374/what-forms-of-water-ice-have-been-observed-and-verified-in-the-solar-system#33570). Strictly speaking, the question refers to ice detection, but the methods described there can also be used to identify liquid water.

* **Seismic measurements.** These may be used to identify different phases of ice as well as liquid water, because different phases of the same chemical makeup will lead to different propagation of the seismic waves. Ref. [1](https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JE005338) describes how the technique may be applied to outer-planet moons to reveal the water/ice structure.
* **Inclusions.** The same answer also describes the direct finding of high-pressure ice (Ice VII) in diamonds on Earth [2](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aao3030). The high-pressure ice does not reveal bodies of water as such, but it gives evidence of molecular $\ce{H2O}$ originating from the deep mantle.

**References**

1. S.C Stähler, M. P. Planning, S. D. Vance, R. D. Lorentz, N. van Driel, T. Nissen-Meyer, S. Kedar (2018). "Seismic propagation in icy ocean worlds". *Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets*, 123. https:// doi.org/10.1002/2017JE005338.
2. O. Tscauner, S. Huang, E. V. B. Prakapenka, C. Ma, G. R. Rossman, A. H. Shen, D. Zhang, M. Newville, A. Lanzirotti, K. Tait (2018). "Ice-VII inclusions in diamonds: Evidence for aqueous fluid in Earth’s deep mantle".
   *Science* **359** (6380), 1136-1139. <https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aao3030>.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2022-06-21. Score: 1

I want to add to the initial answer from username_4:

But first, as a matter for geophysical terminology clarification, let's separate two very important concepts: *detection* (i.e. "I see the top or the bottom or something in between the top and bottom, whatever that is...") and *resolution* (i.e. "I see the top ***and*** bottom, whatever that is...").

For the specific question, here's my take on it: there are ***many, many*** well-documented ways of doing this. Direct (well-logs, cores, etc.) and remote (seismic and potential fields). For **seismic methods**, that's usually reflection or refraction. And, for **potential fields**, that usually is electrical resistivity surveying (and then some kind of 2/3-D inversion) or GPR.

As for sources, there's a lot of useful stuff [here](https://wiki.seg.org/wiki/Geophysical_tutorials).


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