A system for seismic data acquisition, comprising: a data acquisition unit, comprising: a housing, and disposed within the housing: circuitry configured to detect and digitize seismic signals; and communication circuitry configured to communicate the digitized seismic signals to a data retrieval unit external to the data acquisition unit, the communication circuitry comprising: a first transmitter plate; and a first driver coupled to the first transmitter plate; and the data retrieval unit, comprising: a first receiver plate; a first receiver coupled to the first receiver plate; and an alignment structure (330, 332) configured to: receive the data acquisition unit such that the data acquisition unit is placed in the data retrieval unit; and align the first transmitter plate with the first receiver plate to form a capacitor adapted to provide a capacitive communication interface for transferring digitized seismic data between the data acquisition unit and the data retrieval unit, wherein the housing serves as a dielectric layer between the first transmitter plate and the first receiver plate. a data acquisition unit, comprising: a housing, and disposed within the housing: circuitry configured to detect and digitize seismic signals; and communication circuitry configured to communicate the digitized seismic signals to a data retrieval unit external to the data acquisition unit, the communication circuitry comprising: a first transmitter plate; and a first driver coupled to the first transmitter plate; and circuitry configured to detect and digitize seismic signals; and communication circuitry configured to communicate the digitized seismic signals to a data retrieval unit external to the data acquisition unit, the communication circuitry comprising: a first transmitter plate; and a first driver coupled to the first transmitter plate; and a first transmitter plate; and a first driver coupled to the first transmitter plate; and the data retrieval unit, comprising: a first receiver plate; a first receiver coupled to the first receiver plate; and an alignment structure (330, 332) configured to: receive the data acquisition unit such that the data acquisition unit is placed in the data retrieval unit; and align the first transmitter plate with the first receiver plate to form a capacitor adapted to provide a capacitive communication interface for transferring digitized seismic data between the data acquisition unit and the data retrieval unit, wherein the housing serves as a dielectric layer between the first transmitter plate and the first receiver plate. a first receiver plate; a first receiver coupled to the first receiver plate; and an alignment structure (330, 332) configured to: receive the data acquisition unit such that the data acquisition unit is placed in the data retrieval unit; and align the first transmitter plate with the first receiver plate to form a capacitor adapted to provide a capacitive communication interface for transferring digitized seismic data between the data acquisition unit and the data retrieval unit, wherein the housing serves as a dielectric layer between the first transmitter plate and the first receiver plate. receive the data acquisition unit such that the data acquisition unit is placed in the data retrieval unit; and align the first transmitter plate with the first receiver plate to form a capacitor adapted to provide a capacitive communication interface for transferring digitized seismic data between the data acquisition unit and the data retrieval unit, wherein the housing serves as a dielectric layer between the first transmitter plate and the first receiver plate.