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 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 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 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 . <EOS>