16 E. E. ROSAIRE 
physical Research Corporation, the answer was provided by the in- 
troduction of the reflection method on a commercial basis on the 
Seminole Plateau, Oklahoma. The solution to this problem, however, 
was much harder than DeGolyer anticipated, for in 1927 the prev- 
alence and importance of crooked drill holes had not yet been ap- 
preciated. The fact that the sub-sea datums available as yardsticks 
were not infrequently in error by as much as one to three hundred 
feet was a temporary but serious handicap in the task of establishing 
this new method as a valuable exploration tool. 
DeGolyer’s strategy was successful because, first, after realizing 
and evaluating his existing tactical limitations, and finding one 
answer (the torsion balance), he arranged for and secured tactics 
which furnished a better answer to the immediate problem by shift- 
ing to the refraction seismograph. Second, not content with tactical 
developments which were highly successful in answering the im- 
mediate problem, he went further and instigated the development of 
the reflection seismograph, a method which closely approximated his 
ideal of the basic exploration method, and remains today as the ex- 
ploration method with a resolving power bettered only by the drill. 
This latter point is an example of really long range strategy and 
undoubtedly eliminated another strategical stalemate. The justifica- 
tion for developing new tactics, rather than switching back to the 
torsion balance, was that an exploration method with a resolving 
power uncontrollably greater than the range of exploitation can be 
economically unsound. The torsion balance lost prestige when, for 
appreciable periods of time, the gravity predictions at Lost Lake, 
Roanoke, and Eureka remained unconfirmed and apparently dis- 
proved because of the existing limitations on drilling depths. There- 
fore, DeGolyer was justified in choosing to seek an exploration method 
with a resolving power which could be set by the operator, and so 
could keep proper pace with the exploitation methods. 
THE CHOICE AND SEQUENCE OF TACTICS 
Since 1912, when only surface mapping, core drilling and sub- 
surface studies were available, five new exploration tactics have been 
developed, i.e., airplane photography, and the recognized methods of 
exploring by seismic, magnetic, gravimetric and electric methods. 
Any one of these methods can be used to demonstrate, quite con- 
vincingly, the existence of an anomaly at one or more producing fields. 
In planning a campaign, then, what should be the initial choice and 
the sequence of tactics? 
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