Marine seismic acquisition method and apparatus

A marine seismic source method, the method comprising;

• generating up-going and down-going waves through a seismic source device wherein at least part of the device is below the surface of the water and the device creates an up-going wave and a first down-going wave, wherein the up-going wave is created substantially near the surface of the water and has enough energy to break through the surface of the water into the atmosphere, thereby there is no significant wave reflected off the surface of the water and the first down-going wave is the only significant wave produced by the source.

A marine seismic source apparatus comprising:

• a seismic source device wherein at least part of the device is below the surface of the water and the device is adapted to cause oscillations below the surface of the water;
• means for causing oscillations in the water to create an up-going wave and a first down-going wave and the up-going-wave has reverse polarity relative to the first down-going wave wherein the up-going wave becomes a second down-going wave with the same polarity as the first down-going wave after the up-going wave reflects off the surface of the water and the first and second down-going waves combine substantially in-phase to form a third down-going wave.

A marine seismic source apparatus comprising;

• a seismic source device wherein at least part of the device is below the surface of the water and the device creates an up-going wave and a first down-going wave, wherein the up-going wave is substantially near the surface of the water and has enough energy to break through the surface of the water into the atmosphere wherein there is no significant wave reflected off the surface of the water and the first down-going wave is the only significant down-going wave produced by the source.