In this paper, we study the possibilities of the use of microtremor records in the detection and delineation of near‐surface underground cavities. Three‐dimensional physical modelling data showed that the averaging amplitude spectra of a large number of microtremor records makes it possible to evaluate the frequencies and amplitudes of compressional standing waves generated by microtremor in the space between the ground surface and underground cavities. We illustrate how these parameters can be used to estimate the shape of the underground cavity horizontal projection. If the compressional wave velocity in the enclosing rock is known, it is possible to evaluate the depth to the cavity top using the frequencies of the standing waves. The results of the field experiment confirmed the possibility of underground cavities detection using microtremor data.

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In the urban conditions in Salekhard city, a complex of methods, including electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), ground penetrating radar (GPR), a seismic survey on refracted waves (REF), on surface waves (MASW) and the standing waves selection, was tested on solving geocryological problems and monitor the permafrost at the building base. As a model object, a residential building on a pile foundation, built according to the principle I and equipped with a continuous geothermal monitoring system, was chosen. It has been established that the ERT, REF, and MASW methods are ineffective in the conditions of a reinforced concrete pile foundation in a grillage and a concrete floor screed with a layer of loose bulk soil under it. The best result was shown by GPR at frequencies of 150 and 400 MHz and seismic exploration with the standing wave selection. A combination of these methods is recommended for determining the upper permafrost boundary under buildings, determining the actual piles-length, the quality of their fixing, assessing the water content of soils in the area around the piles, and establishing the residual building life.

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This article presents the results of mapping a karst cave by the passive seismic standing waves method. Barsukovskaya cave is located about 100 km southeast of the city of Novosibirsk (Russia). The total length of the cave's passages and grottoes is estimated at about 200 m, the maximum depth from the earth's surface is about 19 m. The method for studying underground cavities used is based on the effect of the generation of standing waves by microtremor in the space between the earth's surface and the cave roof. The accumulation of amplitude spectra of a large number of microtremor records makes it possible to determine the frequencies of the first few modes of these waves. Areal passive seismic survey on the earth's surface above the cave made it possible to construct a map of the lowest mode frequency distribution over the cave roof. Since no standing waves were observed at other points, this map reflects the cave structure in plan, which confirms the comparison with the cave diagram drawn up earlier by one of the speleologists. A schematic map of the depth of the cave roof was constructed using the longitudinal wave velocity V p = 3120 m/s determined by the rock samples selected near the entrance to the cave. This map at a qualitative level also agrees with the data of speleologists, which indicate that the cave, on average, gradually becomes deeper from the entrance to its dead-end branches. The shallower depths in comparison with the data of speleologists are apparently explained by a very low estimate of the velocity determined from a rock sample taken near the entrance to the cave. The reliability of the obtained cave mapping results is confirmed by the numerical simulation results using the finite-element method.