1

CAREC

:¡,lns'
"2D,3D,4D
SEIS
BY DR. C. H. LINER
DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
THE UNIVERSITY OF ruLSA
TULSA, OKLAHOTUIA

PREPARED FOR CONEX S.A.G.

LIMA, PERU
IiIAY 24-28' 1999

^f
2-D, 3-D, and 4-D SeismologY
Version 6'0P
leserved
Cop)right O1993-99 AII rights

ChristoPher L Liner
Depa¡tment of Geosciences
U¡ive¡sity of T\-rlsa
APril 26, 1999

2-D l97O3

lnpovin¡ dr¡! qu!¡l! -'>

--
CONTE-VTS

Contents
I Timeliae and Spectrum I
2Introdqction 11
2.1 Objectives . t2
2.2 Why 3-D? . . 12
2.3 Recurring Them€s .

I Seismip Wave Propagation 19

3 Seismic Waves and Velocities 19

3.1 lvát€ Motion. 19
3.2 Humatr Hearint 22
3.3 Surface Seismic, VSP, and C¡o6$/ell 22
3.4 Kinds of Media
3.5 Acoustic Nfedia 23
3.5.1 PhysicalParameters 23
3.5.2 Wave speed
3.5.3 Dimensiooal andysis . . .
3.5.4 Velocity a¡d Density V¿¡i¿tio¡¡
3.6 Rock Velocity Theories snd Ranges . 27
3.7 El¿stic Media 28
3.7.1 Isotropic elsstic physicál p6¡a,mete!8 29
3.?.2 Wave sp€eds
3,7-3 Velocity vs¡istion. . . . 30
3.8 Adlatrced Topic Elsstic W¿v€ Mode CotwelsioD 30
3.9 Advanced Topic A¡isotropy 31
3.10 Advanced Topic Elasticity theory, 32

¿ l-D Seismic R.eüew 35

5 Interference and T\ning 54

5.1 Interference 54
5.1.I Th¡iag.
5.1.2 Resolution. Jó
Dó
5.2 Subresolution Thickrcss Mappiog 61
co¡'TEltTs 3

II Acquisition 99,.,,'
6- Financial Aspects of 3-D Sekmic - - 9^1 ','
é.i th" eig ii.,ure: stock P¡ice - 63
6.2 Economics r 94
The ExPloratioo Process-
64
6.3
A Savings/Gain lodel .
65
6.4
6.{.1 Savirys " : . .66
or
6.4.2 Cains
6.5 Some Industry Tle¡ds 71

74
7 2-D Acquisition Geometry
8 Survey P¡edesign :3
8,1 AcquisitioD Pa¡ameters
E.2 Reso¡utioD " -"" -83
83
8.2.1 Vertical Resolutioü '
8.2.2 Lateral Resolution 85

8.3 Signal-to-Noise Rátio . .. 86

é.¿ ii!i"" ir."."¿ Maximu¡o offset "" "'' 89

E.5 Time-SamPle Rate .. " Eg

E.6 CMP Fold " '. 92

93
8.7 Spatisl Aliasing
Ma¡ine Su¡vey Is9ue3
9t
98
9.1 Recording System Accura¡Y
100
9.2 Multielement Acquisition
Bottom Cable . . . . . . . '
101
9.3
103
10 La¡d Shooting CeometrY 103
10.1 Crossed-ArraY Method
104
10.2 Fringe
105
10.3 Sr¡ath Metbod ....
106
10.4 Cross-Splead Method . . '
10.5 Parallel-Li¡eMethod. .''
108
109
10.6 Perimeter or LooP M€thod
10.7 C¿bli¡g, TeroPlote Shooti¡g, aod Fold
tll
114
10.8 Advat¡ced ToPie Oftet Clusteri¡8
CONTENTS 4

11 Ad\.a¡¡ced Topic: La¡d 3-D Design Optimization ll7

I1.1 Assuaptions and Basic F,quatio¡s ......... 117
Constraints
11.2 ........119
trfethod1......
1¡.3 ... ......120
ll.3.l Example. .....121
11.4 ¡lethod2 ..-.....122
11.4.1 Exsmple. .....122
11.5 Summary .........125
12 Ma¡ine Shooting Geometry 126
12,1 ,Parallel Line lúethod . . . . ......126
12.2 FlipFlop ShootiDg .....- 128
12.3 Fixed-Receiver Acquisitiotr lvfethods ,,..,... 131

13 Marine Ha¡dware a¡d Positioning 133

13.1 Cable Ha¡d¡m¡e ......133
13.2 Cable Po€itioning . . . .. . ...... f35
13.3 Marine Sou¡ce Array. ......136
14 Acquisition TleDds for the Futu¡e 139
14.1 L¿¡d 139
14.1.1. Telemetry 139
14.1.2 Multi-componetrt, time-lapse, and,l-D 139
14.2 Madne 145
14.2.1 GPS 146
14.2.2 High Density Recording 146
14.2.3 Field Processing 147

III Processing 148

15 Procersiug Overview l4E
15.1 Why Do We Need to Proc$s Seismic Data? 148
15.2 P¡ocessing Flow 150

16 ThG BiD Concept t6l

16.1. Bin Size Calcul¿tio¡ 161
16.2 Effects of Fold a¡d OffEet Va¡iatioE 16¿
16.3 Anatooy of o Bio r65

17 Color Plates t7l

CONTENTS

1E Computint Needs
18.1 RANI and Disk Storage
l8.l.l 2-DSurreySize.. . - .....:... lEg
18.1.2 3-D SurveySize. ........189
18.2 Processint Speed .....190
Mig¡ation
lE.2.l Speed and 3-D .........l9¡
19 Migration I 193
19.1 Nligration Concepts 193
19.2 Constant Velocity Migration/Modeling P¿i¡s ... .. !:: ,193
19.3 Dip f¡om Seismic Slope 197
19.4 Migration Dista¡ce . 199
19.5 Variable Velocity N{ig¡ation/ModelidS Pairs . . . 200
19.6 &D Mi$atiotr 200
19.7 Fresnel Zone ,&
19.8 2-D and 3-D Latersl Résolution n4
19.9 Advanced topic: Design for linear o(z) ¡nedio .. . .. 208

20 Migration II 213
20.1 Kinds of Mig¡atioü .... . ....1. 213
20.2 Advanced Topic: Migtation Alto¡ithms ...... 217
20.3 P¡og¡am Complexity a¡d Pa¡amete¡s. ..,.... 218
20.4 Advanced Topic: Velocity Analysis ...,,.... 220

2l Dip Mov€out 223

21.1 A Brief History of DMO . . . n3
21.2 Dip Mo!€out Just Is!'t Norúal z23
21.3 A Problem: Velocity . . 229
21.4 A Second Problem: Anisotropy 232
21.5 Relationship to P¡ests.k MiSratio¡ 234

22 &D Sebmic Survey Pred€olg¡ Exercile 235

22.1 Introductiotr . 235
22.2 The Exce¡cise 235

IV nterpretation 238
CONTENTS

23 Introddction to Interp¡etation 238

23.1 What Does It lfean to Interp.et Seismic Data? 238
23.2 Backs¡ou[d Information 238
23.3 Int€ractive Interp¡etatioB Systems
23.4 Interactive Interp¡et&tio! Ploject Components

24 Data Volume 246

24.1 Sectioning tbe Volume 247
24.2 Displsy of Seismic Data 249
24.3 Interp¡etation Products 249

25 Structure 251
25.I Claesic ethod
25.2 Strike ard Dip 259
25.3 Time Structu¡e 259
25.4 .EvideDce of Faulting -... 263
25.5 F6ült and Dip CalculatioDs 264
25.6 Time Stlucture v. Depth Struc[ure 268

26 Stlatigaphy 270
26.1 Stacked ChaDnel Systems .
26.2 Cbannds otr 2-D D¿ta .
26.3 Separsting Structr¡re aDd Stratig¡aphy 273
26.4 Seismic Sequence Stratigaphy 277

27 Seismic att¡ibutes 2t0

27.1 Att¡ibute Classification a¡d U6e 280
27.2 Exa¡npl€s 281

2E Amplitude I 2EE
28.1 Introduction 288
28.2 Zero-offset Reflectio! Coeftcieüts 290
28.3 Hierarchy of Reflection Amplitude Effects 291
28.4 Litholory Effect 291
28.5 Gas Efect 29r
28.6 Clay Efiect 294
28.7 The¡mal Efiect N5
28.8 Estim¿ting Porosity Floe Seisúic A¡oplitude 295
CONTENTS 7

29 Amplitude II 2SS
29.1 AdEnced Topic: Ang]lla¡ Reflection CoeñcieDts 299
29.2 Reconnaissance AVO . . . . 300
29.3 Advanced Topic: Detailed AVO analysis 305

30 Reservoir and Drilling 309

30.1 Horizontal Drilling ...;'r 3ll
30.1.1 Well Stee¡ing . ...... .311
30.1.2 2-D v. 3-D DiP Estimates . , , 3\2
30.1.3 F¡acture Density and Azimuthal Well Steering . . . . . 312
3l Seismic Reservoir Inve¡sion 315
3l.l Ceophysical Data a¡d Goals. -....315
31.2 Seismic lN€rsioo .. ...316
31.3 Impedance Inversion .. . 31E
32 AdGnced Topic: Reservoi¡ Fluid Properties
32.1 Pressure a¡d Temperature Range 321
32.2 Gá3 . 322
32.3 oil .. 326
32.4 Brine . 33r
32.5 Fluid Mixture

33 Reservoir Rock Properti€8 337

33,1 Rock Density
33.2 Rock Modulus and Velocity . 337
33.3 Limit¡tio¡rs 340
33.4 Reflection Coeficient. . . . .. .341
33.5 Fluid Substitution ... ' 342

34 4.D Seismic 345

34.t AE¡plitude Plediction 346
Technical Risk Ass€sment . -... 346

Suppo¡t Material 351

35 Glossary of Tlerms 351

CONTENTS

36 Mathematical Symbols and Co¡version Factors 361

36.1 General Symbols 361
36.2 Conversion Factors 363

37 Bibliography

3E Exercise Ans¡!¡e¡s 372

 ] TT¡fEItr\'E AND SPECTRUM

Timeline and Spectrum

ApproxDate Description
1956 Co¡omon midpoiDt shootiüg Acquisitiou
1958 Synthetic seisEog¡axo Ioterpretation
1960 Vib¡oseis Acquisitio¡
1962 Marine airgun AcquisitioÁ
1967 Digital seisÉic Procersing P¡oc€ssia8
l96E Digital ruig¡atioü Processing
1971 Seismic stratig¡¿Phy IBterpretstiotr
t972 &D shooting AcquiaitioD
1974 Vertical seismic p¡ofile Acquisition
1978 2-D poststs¿k depth miglation Proceesing
1979 l-D ¿ttributes Intelp¡etation
1979 l-D iropedance inversion Interpretation
1979 Residual statics Processing
19E0 2-D p¡esta4k depth migr.tioD P¡oce3sin8
1980 Bright spot a.dabsis Itrte¡pretstioD
l9E0 Inte¡pretatiou \¡orkst8tio[ Ir¡terpretstioD
19El !D mig¡atioD velocity alalysis P¡oce$i¡8
1981 Tsu-p transfodo (sla¡t staak) Processing
1984 2-D reflection toroog¡aPhy Processiog
1984 Dip moveout Processing
19E4 Optimization theorY Processing
19E5 3-D poststa¿k dePth mig¡atioa P¡oc€ssint
1.985 Aroplitude Vadation with Oftet (AVO) anabsi.s Interpretatioü
l9E6 &D relection toúo8¡aPby Procesint
1986 OceaD bottolo cable Acqüisition
1986 Crosswell seisroic AcquGition
1986 FX decotrvolutioú Processing
1989 2-D attributes Interp¡etatior¡
1989 3-D p¡estack depth BiglotioD P!ocessinS
1989 4D seismic Acquisition
1989 Neu¡al Detwork€ Proc€8sing
1S90 Subsalt imagiag Itrte¡pret8tiotr
1991 T\¡¡trirg wsve Éi8rstiotr Proc€ssiÁg
1991 Vertic¡l cable Acqubition
1991 Wa!.elet tra¡sfodo P¡ocessitr8 P¡ocessing
1992 Seismic sequence st¡atigdPhy I¡t€rpretation
1994 ,!D Aow paxaoete¡s - s€i8oic pa¡ameters I0te¡pletatio¡
1994 Routi¡e anisotroPic Procesai¡g Proc6si¡8
I 1995 3-D sttribute€ (cohe¡ence) lnterpretatioD
1995 Fluid substitutioD I¡terpretatioÁ
J TfffE¿IfE A.\D SPECTRU)'Í t0

Acoust¡c/se¡sm¡c Spectrum

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1000000

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10000

1000

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2 INTRODUCTION ll

Introduction

The beginniog of ¡eflection seismolog-r' Soes back to the l9l0s Over the last eiSht decades it
has undergone tremendous change. 3-D seismic firsl detloped in the early 1970s. Although
some earlier geophysicists clearly saw the benefits 3-D seismic would bring. s¡ithout the
widespread use of computers and electrooics their visioD was a moot point.

Itis interesting that the 6rst known reference to what we would call applied reflection
seismolog/ occurs in writings of the G¡eek historian Herodotus v,¡ho lived c.484425 BCE
(before current era). Describing an event of 580 BCE, he writes:

Then the Persians besieged Barce for nine monthq diSging mines leading to the
walls, and making violent assaults. As for the mines, a smith discoveled them
by the means of a brazen shield, and this is how he fouqd theo: Carrying the
shield round the iüre¡ side of the wslls he smote it against the ground of the
city; all other places where he smote it retumed but ¿ dull sou¡d, but where
the mines were the bronze of the shield rang clear.
Here the Barcaeans made a coutrter-ÍEir¡e snd slew those Persiaus who ¡*ere
digging the earth. Thus the mines were discovered and the ássaults were beaten
ofi by the towDsmen.

In modern terms we would say the s¡!¡ith used his shield to perform s seismic tun-
nel detection experiment. While this application of reflection seismolos¡ had no influe¡ce
on late¡ developments in the science, it does p¡edate John Cla¡ence Karche¡ by about
2500 years. The reader interested in such things is referred to the book Creek Setsmologg
by the author. This is fteely svailable oo the Internet at the author's hoEe pa8e or at
http: //sani2dat , ¡oinea. edu/Liaer/
Clearly it is not possible for a single book to give in-depth coverage to a.ll aspects of 3-D
s€rsmolory.

This book will discuss major aspects of the sübject ftom s conceptual sta¡dpoint. It
should be considered as a framev,¡o¡k a¡d ao i!¡formal guide to the ¡ecent üteratu¡e. Refer-
ences are given as numbers, Iike [1], which can be located in the bibliog¡aphy beg¡nning oD
p.364.

Mathematical s]'mbols are dedDed in Chapter 36, along with commoD coDversion facto¡s.

$D seismolory is still a oes¡ scie¡ce s¡d v¡ill u¡dergo gleet progress iD the years ahead.
Emphasis here has been placed on aspeck wlúch ale fundarü€ütal aúd thus likely to reú6i!
? I.\TROD'CTIO.Y t2

2.1 Objectives

This text aims to grve the reader an understanding of:

L l-D and 2-D seismic concePts

2. Historical and currcnt !D shooting Seometries

3. 3-D seismic suñey p¡edesign techniques

4. Concepts of seismic data processing, including migration and dip moveout

5. Concepts and limitations of3_D seismic interpretatioü for structure, stratiSraPhy, and
rock properties

2.2 Why 3-D?

This is a book on $D seismic r¡ith detours to 2_D whe¡ this serves to convey a concept or
technique. Seismic prospecting has been around since the l9l0s, and has lemain€d almost
exclusively 2-D until the mid-tg8os. Th¡eedimensional techniques were expeñmented with
as early as the 1940s, but did not prog¡e6s far until digit&l processing became common
in tbe 1970s. Current wo¡ldwide seismic eñort is estimated to be ove¡ 50% &D, arid the
percentage is growing rapidl¡ Tbis would apply to dollsr volume a'nd a'quisition effort
international (non-U.S.) seismic prospectiDg could be as high as 75% &D'

What is the attra¡tion of 3_D? How do you quickly express to someone (you¡ bo6s' for
example) why you wa¡rt a 3-D survey rather than (a less expensive) grid of 2-D seismic
lines? Here is a sho¡t ans*€r to that quest¡on

A 3-D seismic su ey has many adlrantages over a 2_D line or a grid of 2-D Iines (even
a derse one). A 2-D g¡id is conside¡ed de¡se if the line spa'iDg is l€ss thal about
1/4 mile
11320 ft: 400 m). Sor¡e 3-D advantages, which are developed io the chapters below, itrcludei

Ttue structu¡al dip (2-D give-s appa¡eÁt dip, ú8ybe)

More and better stratigaphic i¡formation (hom sp¿tial aloPlitude varistioDs)

2 INTRODUC' ON

\lap lieu of resenoir properties (g¡oss porosity, gross sand/shale. etc.)

:!fuch better areal mappir¡g of fault patterns and connectioris (delineation of ¡eservoir
blocks)

Better lateral resolution (2-D crossline Fresnel zone)

Reduces exploration risk. especially on ta¡tets such as reefs. Soúe comPanies, with
r¡'ell-defined and limited objectives, report success rates nea! 100%.

2,3 Recurring Themes

Here are a few ideas/concepts that show up agaio and again in teaching 3-D seismology.

Onion You can think of the knowledge ¡equi¡ed for working with 3D seismic as beint built
up of layers, like an onion. Figure lA shows the idea.

Quality The maio job for s€ismic interpretation is to map st¡ucture, strstig¡¿phy. and
rock/fluid prop€rti€s. In this order, each task requires increasint d&ta quality ¿s
indicated in Figure 18. Quality is a nebulous te!m, but determined at acquisition
time by corlect survey desigo a¡d execution. Processing gene¡ally has less imPact on
quality, but is still very important. Fiture 2 sho*s fragmeuts of four seismic data
sets arlar¡ged ftom left to right in increasint data quality.

Cube 3-D seismic data is a volume of data. To r¡se a familiar exa¡nple, consider a room. We
can imagine the room divided up into poiots each, say' one foot apa¡t. Ar¡y particula¡
poiot r ¡ill have an (x,y,z) coordinate and 6 data vslue. The coo¡dinate is the distance
in f€et or meters f¡om a particular corner of the ceiling. We choo6€ the ceiling so thot
z points dorar into the ¡oo¡n. At a point the data value is, say, the temPeratu¡e, so
we have temperature as a functioo of (x,y,z). As we move a¡ound the room to other
points the tempe¡ature changes - high near lights aod low near a glass of ice wate¡.
Figure 3 shows a &D seis¡lric data volume. This is like the room temperature, üth
two changes. First, the vertical ¿xis is vertical reflectio¡ tiroe, not depth. Secood, the
data values are seisroic sropütudes rather thsn temperature.

Information ln one sense, s€ismic data consist of traveltime, amplitude, and wai€form.
Structure mappit¡g iovolves only the trar€ltimes, stratig¡aphic ilfo¡mation involv€s
both t¡sveltime and amplitude, a.nd rock/fluid ploperty infolDatioÁ üves only i¡ the
aErplitude.
2 IITRODUCTIOÑ I4

Echo Seismic is an echo-location technique simila¡ to sonar' rada¡ and medical u¡tr¿sound
A wave is emitted, it raitles around in lhe material and part of it is reflected baak'
From the pa¡t lhat returDs we attempt to determine what is out there

to a¡r outcrop and look at the 8eolory you see rock units -. sandstone'
- If Iou golimestone.
Edges
ll )ou look at s€ismic data you a¡e seeing the edges of rock
"ná
units. FiSure 4 shows the effect on a Gulfof lrlexico salt dome example
"hut". Seismic is' in
density contrast
effect. an edge detection technique The bigger the velocity aDd/or
betwe€o the rocks, the st¡onger the edge'

Layers A key Pa¡t of the interp¡etation p¡ocess for 3_D seismic data is event
t¡a'king To
' pi.i"." i¡i. t¡i.t of the 3-D seismic data volume as a block of vanilla ice cream
with
the cube and find out where
;hocolate streaks. Tracking means we follow a streak into
it soes - this is structur€ mapPinS We also ke€p t¡ack of hoYt dark the chocolate is
as w" follow ir - this is amplitude mapping'

Computer Available computer speed and memory impose severe lirútations on the use of
advanced $D seismic processing. Current haldware is suñcient for the interPretatioo
process, but the soft\ta¡e is expensive ($5K-$180K and up) and comPlicated'

Risk l\ledical imaSing is a suitable arialog/ to seismic Both a¡e noninvasive' no¡desiluc_
tive. and reduce risk. It¡ this day and oge, who would unde¡8o surgery without
some

kind of medical imaging fr¡st? In the search for petroleum, seismic imaging reduces
risk of many kinds - drilling dly holes, drilling ma¡gi¡al wells, under- or overestimat_
ing reserves, etc. Seismic is a good interPolator between them' It carries the d€tailed
iniormation obtained at well locations to the are& between wells 3_D data have much
more risk-reducing info¡mation content than an equiwlent ¿Úlount of
2_D seismic'
2 INTRODUCTION

R.quins
Stlucture
incr.asing
dala qr¡¡liry

St¡atigraphy

Rocufluid propenies

(A) (B)
Figure l: (A) Seismic knowledge is like ar¡ onion. At the hesit are l-D seismic conceptg
like wavelet, convolution, travel time, a!¡d relectioD coemcient. Aü this shows up i!¡ 2-D
seismic plus arrays, offs€t, dip snd lateral velocity va¡iatioo. Next, $D includes all of 2-D
plus azimuth, bins, á¡d the data \rolume. Finally, ,!D is time-lapse 3-D which introduces
repeatability, fluid flow, aod difference volumes.
(B) Seismic interpretation for structu¡e, stldtig¡apby and rock/6uid prope¡ti€s requires
increasinS data quality.
2 I.\TRODUCTION

--- InPovi¡8 d¡¡ qúál¡tY '-'>

Figure 2: Seismic data quality is difficult to define but e¿sy to lecotnize Data quality is
lar-gely determined at acquisition tiúe, but processint is iloPorts^Bt llere are ftagments of
four seismic surve]'s ar¡¡trged from left to riSht iÍ older of i¡c¡e¿siDg data quality'
2 INTRODUCTION t7

(a) (B)

Figure 3: (Left) A 3-D seismic data set is ¿ box fr:ll of numbers. Each numbe¡ (amplitude)
has an (x,y,t) position in the box. lf you think of one point itr the middle of the box,
there a¡e three planes passing throuSh it pa¡allel to top, hont, and side. In (A) rre s€e the
three views fo¡ a point right in the middle. The dark aod üght bands are related to rock
boundaries. Again, seismic is an edp detectio!¡ technique. (B) i6 a different view. Hele 6
cube display with vertical &r¡d ho¡izontal slices attempts to show what is iDside the data
cube. The data set is f¡om North Texa¡ a¡d measu¡es about 1.5 square miles acro6€ the
toP.
2 ¡TTRODUCTION l8

(A) (B)
the
Figure 4: (A) A Gulf of Mexico e¿rtb oodel showing rock uBits' (B) SeisEic image of
ao¿"t. Note seismic shows the edges of rock utrits, oot the rock units themselves'
""it¡
UnderstandiDg this takes a lot of mystely out of sei6Eúc iDterPretstion'
 l9

Part I
Seismic Wave Propagation
3 Seismic Waves and Velocities

It is not possible to discuss seismic methods \r'ithout a basic uDderstatrding of waves. From
a physics point of !ielr,, there a¡e th¡ee e'ays nature moles energ; from one plare to another
in a continuous material: Conduction, convection, and radiation. Radiation means waves.

3.1 Wave Motion,

Think of a sound wave moüng from left to right ¿Dd a natic cámera th6t c¿¡ take e picture
of the pressure.

If we take a snap€hot the wsve G froze¡ ot s p6rticular poitrt i¡ time. The pressure rs
now a fr¡Dction of x a¡d üU vary betw€er high ¿trd loÍ¡ as i[dic&ted i¡ Fitu¡e s

high hish high

Dü.ltion of propagation
Figure 5: A sound wa\,.e moving to the right at fixed ti¡De.

The variation is contitruous aüd Eay be plotted ¿s showü iD Figu¡e 6. Since this pictu¡e
is along a space coo¡dinate, ¡, the peak-to-pea.k distaoce is the wavelength. The deflectioo
of the wave from ze¡o is the amplitude: the measute of some physical quantitf pressure iD
this example. The distance between any ts,o recurring features (peak, trough, zero crossing,
etc.) is the wavelength, ,\. This should aot be confi.¡sed with the Laúe parameter it¡tloduced

Thin} now of a ¡eceivet (i.e., a oicrophone) 6xed in spaae a¡d measu¡iDg the passage
of the sa!¡e sound s¡ave as 6 fuactioÁ of tilre, This is the typical ca.se i¡ acoustics a¡d
seismologr. Figure 7 is ao output g¡¿ph, cálled ¿ time series or t¡ace, for this case. Si&e
the horizoatal axis is a time coo¡dinate, the peak-to-peak inter!¡¿l i6 tbe p€riod of the wave,
3 SEIS^\IIC ll:AvTs .4tr\D VE¿OCITIES
20

zefo closslng
+
amp

I |}+
l-l
------_ - |
wavelensih l---->l
\nougr'

Figure 6: A cootinuous 3-g¡aph of the sound wave'

f, usually Biven in seconds. The ftequency associated with this Peliod is

t=+,
where the units of frequency a¡e H€rtz whos€ dimeosions are b¿c-r'

+ hig¡ pEsrü¡t
+

I I t-l
l<---l Pcriod =r l-'-->l
> avg

I-l
Figue 7: Time trace measured at s ñxed receive¡'

These two vie$¡s of the sound wave (fixed time and ñxed spece) sle
not independent'
They are ¡elated by the general relatiomhip

where o is the wave speed (velocity), f is the fteque¡cy and ) is the

wavelen$h' Clearly'
r€ can use this equ&tion to ñnd J = u/l or I = u/.f, as the situstion ¡equ¡res'
tr,*"i"" a.l. A r,¿r€ is fou¡d to h¿ve a period of 025 s sld vove speed of 2000 m/s'
Wbat is the waveletrgth?

have oDly oDe fte-

The w¿r,cs shown i¡ Figures 6 and 7 a¡e ñolocb¡oEetic (i'e'' they
queocy). In s€isEic d¿to ee deal with 6 wavelet, o¡ wave pulse' whi'h co¡taiDs matry
3 SEIS]TIC II'AIES A-\D VELOCI'IIES 2l

.4

-->l Penod=r
|<-
Figure 8: A wavelet with dominant period I
ftequencies (Figure 8). In this case we speak of a dominant period. The dominant fte.
quency and dominarrt waveleD$h are then giwn in the usual way by f = l/T ¿nd = u/ l,
resPecuvely. ^

lf h and fz are the minimum a¡¡d maximum siSnal f¡equenci6 in the navelet, the
dominant fiequency is given by

f¿","=Ut+fz)/2
The bandÍ¡idth of the wavelet is usually described in Hz, but caD also b€ given iB octaves

ift Hz : h-h
tnr(Í"/h) = t!ff
The octave range is a measu¡e of how dominant the cent¡al peak is relative to sidelobes. In
o¡de¡ to achieve a st¡ongly peaked waveform, the ba¡dwidth should b€ at least 2.5 octaves.
An easy ¡Á'ay to estimate bandwidth io octaves comes f¡om the fact that an octave is doubline
of frequency. For example, co¡rsider a lG90 Hz wavelet. To count the octaves, begin at
the lorvest f¡equency and start doublint until the highest frequency is met or exce€ded -
10. 20. ,10. 80. 160. This wavelet h¿s a ba¡dwidth of a little over fou! octaves. as could be
conñrmed by the equation.

Exercise 3,2. Calculate bandwidth for the followint wavelets in Hz aDd octaves. &30,
8-60, 8-80, &100 Hz.

Exercise 3.3, Iü orde¡ to r¡op st¡otig¡aphic vs¡iations on the scale of approximately

100 feet, we ¡equire a dominant wavele¡lgth of 200 ft. If the seismic r€locity iD the target
zone is 8000 ft/s, what dominant ftequency is required?
:J SEIS]Í/C II:4I€S ,,I,\D \ELOCITIES 22

3.2 Humal Hearing

It is instructive to put this in the context of something we a¡e all familiar with, hüman
hear¡ng.

The speed of sound in air is 1100 ft/s (33ó m/s), and th€ ¡ange of human hea¡ing is 20
- 20 000 Hz. This is the range for a healthy, young adult Children can hear up to 25 000
Hz. \fost of the eners/ in speech is in the 30G3000 H2 range.

The no¡mal adutt bandwidth (in octaves)is

ln (20 000/20) _
tnz- = t" ",
''
which is much b€tter tha¡ the 2 o¡ 3 we get iD t]?ical seismic data. This impressive ¡ange
allows us to distinglish chirps arriving almost simultaneousll and of course this is a big
part of ou¡ ability to locate the direction e sound comes from.

The calculations can be done by the reader, but the lo!8est wavelength *e cao hear is
17.2 m (56 ft) and the sho¡test is 1.7 cm (0.67 in).

So what is it
about the human body ás a sound receir€r that hss a leÁgth scale of 56
ft? These low frequency (long wavele[gth) sounds feel mole like a wholebody vibration or
buzzing than a t¡ue sound, Examples are boom cars (ult¡abase stereo), powe! tra¡rsformers
(l2o Hzt 9.2 fb), and the buzz of a bee (20 Hz; 56 ft). Thes€ soünds are ¡eceived by your
entire body, *'hich on average is 5.5 ft tsll. So the lowest f¡equency that ¡egisters with you
is one whose wavelength is about 10 times you! height. Now think about an elePhat¡t or a
whale and imagiDe the very low f¡equenci€s tbey cao hea¡. In fact, recent r€sea¡ch in south
Africa has shown that elephants coaomunicate across great distanc€s using sound that is fa!
belovr the raüge of humaÁ hea¡ing. Appa¡ently, that is the way they all know wheü to show
up at the wateir¡g hole!

And the short wavelengths? What is there dbout our healing apparatus which h¿s a
length scale of about half an inch? This is the size of the structures of the inner ea¡ A
mou6e, for example, being much smsller than we are can hear ftequencies &bol'e 100 000
Hz.

3.3 Surface Seismic, VSP, and Crosswell

The tpical hequency range found in su¡fa¿e seismic dsta is about 1G100 Hz fo¡ la¡d
dat¿ a¡¡d perhaps up to 150 Hz fo¡ shallow ma¡ine data. By surface seisülic we me¿Ln &¡t
3 SEIS,{ÍIC ITá\,€S AND VELOCITES 23

experiment whe¡e both source and receiver are on the earth surfs¡e. This causes all re8ected
seismic ii'ave-s to pass t\rice through the $eathering layer s hich is a strong absorbe¡ of high
frequencies- trfuch higher frequencies can be obtaind br- pla.ing soulce, receiver, or both
down a *ell and thus below the weathe ng la¡er. These shooting methods a¡e terrüed
vertical seismic profrie (VSP), reve¡se VSP and cross\¡€ll. This book is concerned with
surface seismic methoG.

3.4 Kinds of Media

The physical properties of earth mateials are lery complicated- A sho¡t list would include
mineralogy. Iithology, porosity. pole fluid, fiactures, density. permeabilitf as well as la¡ge-
scale structu¡e and stratigraphy. All of these Properties can, a¡d do, vary from point to
point in the earth.

To make progress in seismic simulation and P¡oc€ssing, a mathematicol model is used

to approximate wa!€ propagation and effects. This model can be acoustic' el€stic, or more
cornplicated. Here we review key features of common models-

3.5 Acoustic Media

The g¡eat majority of seismic wo¡k invohes acoustic simulatio[ and Processint. Elastic
behavior is included only when it cannot be avoided, as in amplitude versus otrset (AVO)
and fracture mapPing.

In terms of physics, an 4coustic medium G a fluid. This fluid can be a gas or liquid'
Sound and seismic waves are examples of mechanical waves, which propogate mecha¡ical
energy through the medium.

3.5.1 PhysicalPa¡amete¡s

Only 2 parameters (t',p) are required to comPletely determine the mateli¿l ¡vith respect
to mechanic¿I wave propagation. There arc many additional pa¡ameteÑ for a real medium
ch¿¡acterizing electlical, r¡agúetic, aDd othe¡ Prope¡ti€s, but oDly (u, p) ar€ ¡le€déd for our
discussion here.

Ma.ss density, p, hos utrits of g/cc. SorDe tyPical wlues a¡e water (p = 1.0)' air (p =
0.001) and rocks (p=22-30)
3 SEISIÍIC IYAVES AND WLOCTTTES 24

Souad speed. u, car have lerio¡¡s utrits dep€ndi¡g o¡ the leqth u¡its b€i¡g u!ed. Co¡o-
mon r¡nits are m/s, kn/s, ft/s, and kft/s. So¡de values sre r,8ter (r, 1524 mls =
=
5m0 t¿ls), air (u = 335 m/s = 1100 Ji/c)' aad roclc (rt = 1524 7620 m/, = 5m0 - -
25000 ltls).

Acoustic 6edis ca¡ support only o¡e type of body wave: soüod. Su¡fsce wav€E in i¡¿,te¡
exist becsuse of the pr€s€¡rce of gaüty a¡d ¿¡e fi¡nd.¡úentslty differe[t th¡¡ sou¡d i'hich
would prop¿g¿te iu ¡ g¡¿vity-&ee e¡vito¡EeDt.

Dirrcdon of w¡r¡€ plop¡8ltiott

----=,# Vibrat¡o¡ of
individu.¡
pañrctcs

FiSu¡é 9: Patticle ¡¿otio! for s souDd wave.

Other ns6es s sou¡d xav€ a¡e lo¡gitudin¡l vot€, comp¡€saion¡l waq ¡¡rd P_r¡6ve.

3.6.2 War,€ Ep€€d

Velocity for the souBd f,,8ve is give! by

,=,fii; ,

$here ft is c¡EFessibility.

E)(smpt€s:

i,w¿' = 5000 ft/t=s hftlc

= 1521 mlt = L,524 bt rls
= 1.5% x ld anlc lruel.

vaitr = lL00 itls

: gg5 mlt
: 3.35 x ld qn/¿ l¡a¡4.
3 SEJS¡IIC li,:,I,\,€S ,L\.D WLOCITTES 25

3.5.3 Dimensionalanalysis

This technique is useful to check for consistency of equations and derive units fo¡ non-
fundamental quantities (like compressibility) Fundamental dimensions are (,tf.l.I) =
(mass. Length. time) independent of actual units. As wiih paramete¡sr there would be sev-
eral more dim€nsions for a real material involving eiectrical, magt¡etic and other p¡operties.

Itfass, lenSh and lime are fundamental dimensions, while objects built ftom them (like
valoclry = lengrh/time) are dertved dimensions.

DimensionallY
t) = LrT
p = Ivl /L3

Dimer¡sions of *
k:p"'=;"¡¡ =fr
M

Exercise 3.4 Using po¡', pvatd, úot a¡d r,-o¿d gtven above calculate Édi' and /cu¿¿e'
in units of ;*r.

3.5.4 Velocity a¡d Density Va¡ia¿ion

lf u is constant s¡ith respect to t, y, and z, then the medium is called homogeBeous,

otherwise it is inhomogeneous. There a¡e various kinds of inhomogeneous media

In r(z) media, pronouncd "v of 2", the velocity changes in the z-di¡ection only. lf the
velocity changes in both the s and z directions, then it is t,(o,z), "v ofx and 2". The most
gene¡al case of acoustic velocity }?liatio¡ is u(8,9, z)'

The velocity models showú in Figure l0 are layer based, or piecevrise contiDuorrs. Con-
tinuous velocity va¡iations (velocity g¡adi€nts, etc ) ale olso po$ible Liaear o(z), Figure 11
is a useñI continuous velocity profrle for designing $D seismic surveys. This kiúd of veloc_
ity model respects the 6¡st order efiect of i¡c¡essing t€locity with dePth due to inc¡eáse of
pressule dod temPerature. It also allows the existe¡ce of tumiDg waves, which a co¡sta¡rt
velocitv medium does not.
3 SEIS.\IÍIC IIaVES Ar\D VE¿OCITIES 26

t
4.

v(x¿) modcl
v(z) vclocity ¡¡¡od€l

v(x,y¿) nod.l

Figu¡e l0: Scü€!¡¡tic ¡courtic t€locity Eodeb.

3 SEIS.\IIC IT:4VES A.\'D V€LOCITIES 27

v(z) = v0+ kz
k = lelo.rty gradrent In fn/sl / m

Figü¡e 1l: Linear velocity gradient, a continuoüs u(¿) model'

Just as the velocity can vary in ¡, y and/or z, the density can be p( z)' p(r, z), or p@ y. z)
The pictüres would look the sarne, except with all the ü s replaced with p's'

3.6 Rock Velocity Theories and Ranges

A rock has many properties which influence its velocity, including porosity, miüe¡alos¡ and
pore fluid. Table I shows a approximate range of velocities and densities for difierent kinds
of rocks, minerals and other substances [8].

Chapters 32 and 33 give a detsiled accour¡t of this subject. Ur¡fortunately, there is no

accu¡ate simple equation for relating these Prope¡ties to seismic velocity.

A rock is a complicat€d obiect, and the¡e are many ways to approxrmately calculate its
velocity. The methods available fall into a few g¡or.¡ps Consider a sandstotre whose velocity,
¿, varies as a function of porositf d We cen 8et spprocimate u(d) from:

Regression Using sotric log and/ot core values of velocity and polositf create a scatter
plot and fit a straight or curved line to it. The regression coefficient (goodness of
frt) needs to be high for valid results. Beware of usiog too complic¿ted a curve For
example fitting a sth order Pol]'nomial to fi!€ points gives a Perfect frt, but it may be
us€less bet*€en points.

Ga¡dner O¡¡e of many si6pli6ed theo¡ies for calcutsting u(Ó). May be locally useful, but
really designed for a specific of basin, i.e. the Culf of Mexico.

Critical porosity Simplified theory for calculati¡g o(Ó) bas€d on Properties of matrix
3 SETSIfIC l1:.11€S .l:-D \'rELOCITIES 28

material and pore fluid. Does not ¡equire core measürments. only sonic density, and
porosit]' log \¿lues

Gassman Theory for calculating velocity based on properties of mat¡ix mate¡ial and po¡e
fluid as desc¡ibed in Chapter 32. There is a solid foundation in physics a¡d is often
successful for clea¡r sandstooes The key element is laboratory measurement of the
empiy frame (pore fluid = air) relocity as a function of porosily'

Biot Theory for calculating velocity which wo¡ks in full frequency range from seismic to
sonic logging. Cassman theory is low-ftequency liñil and Biot also has core mea_
surement requirem€nts.

\late!ial vp (," Vp (ft m/s) Vs ftls) p (elc.

332 1090 0.003E
1400 - 1600 4600 - 5250 I
Soil 300 - 900 980 - 2950 120 - 360 390 - ll80 1.7 - 2.4
Sandston€ 2000 - 4300 6560 - 14 100 700 - 2800 2300 - 9190 2.1 - 2.4
Chalk 2200 - 2600 7220 - 8530 ll00 - 1300 3610 - 4270 1.8 - 3.1
Limestone 3500 - 6100 11 490 - 20 000 2000 - 3300 6560 - 10 830 2.4 - 2.7
Dolomite 3500 - 6500 11 490 - 21 330 1900 - 3600 6240 - 11 810 2.5 - 2.9
Salt 4450 - 5500 14600 - 18 050 2500 - 3100 8200 - t0 170 2.1 - 2.3
G!anite 4500 - 6000 14 770 - r9 690 2500 - 3300 8200 - 10 830 2.5 - 2-7
Basalt 5000 - 6400 16 400 - 21 000 2800 - 3400 9190 - l1 160 2.7 - 3.1
Quartz 6049 19 846 4089 13415 2.65
Calite 6640 2t 7E3 3436 71273 2.71

Table 1; General range of P-wave, ,gr,/ave velocity, and density ií ¡ocks and othe!
materials'
From various sources, including [5] and 116l. Actua'l values for a specific rock a¡rd depth
cannot be generally predicted, but must be measured'

3.7 Elastic Media

Anacousticmodeloftheea¡thisusefuI,butlimited.Inrealityelasticefiectsareprobably
in the data, including shear w¿ves, mode-cooverted waves, and non_acoustic reflectioB
am_

plitudes. Acorxtic selsmic simulation will not predict these events aüd acoustic Proc€sitrg
*ill d"ul *ith th"* improperly. To deal correctly with elastic effects' *! must use aD elaatic

model.

An elastic materi¿l G a golid ¡ike steel, glass or rock' Elastic loaterials can be simple
3 SEISIíIC IÍáVES A¡\D !€LOC¡TIES 29

or very complicatd: simple ones need few parameters and complicated ooes need lots of
parameters. Iso¿¡oprc elastic is the simplest.

Elastic constants and fluid compressiblity have units of force/area (i.e, pressure un¡ts).
This comes from the general relationship
Slress - eldstic constanls * strain .
where stress is defrned as force/area and strain is dimensionless (deformation). Note density
is not considered an elastic constant,

3.7,1 Isotropic elastic physical para¡r¡eters

Acoustic material involved two parameters and one wave type, while fo. the isot¡opic el&stic
case there a¡e thr€e palameters and two weve t)?es. For convenience, we will use the P_
wave speed ur, 9wave speed u', and mass density p a5 the three P¿¡a¡neters. However,
due to the long history of isotropic elssticity there are many other palameters )¡ou might
encounter. These include Poisson ratio d, Young's modulus E, Lame'parameter rigidity
^,

A P-ware is equivalent to the sound wave discussed above, and othe! names include
compressional. plimary, and loúgitudinal.

An 9wave (or shear, tra¡sve¡se, secondary) has particle motion perp€Ddicular to the
direction of propagation, Figu¡e 12. The term ttznsúerse uaue is the most Seneral as it
encompásses light and gravity waves on the surface of water, as well as seismic shea¡ ¡¡aves.

Dirccdon of wave propag¡úon

vibration of
individual

Figure 12: Pa¡ticle motion for a transve¡se (shear) wave.

3.7.2 Wave speeds

While iD seismic prospectiüg the two wave sp€€ds a¡e representd by the symbols oo and
r'!, i¡1 ea¡thqua.ke and some theoretical seisEic liter¿tule o and p ale com¡tron. The wave
3 SE¡S¡\fIC IV:AI,ES .'LVD I/E¿OCITIES 30

speeds are functions of the three Paraoeters (1, p. p).

t¡
The Lame'pa¡ameter is analogous to the coEPressibility *, and rigidity p is ¡elated to the
ability of the mate¡ial to resist shear defor¡¡ation.

The elastic material is still defined by just three pa.ameters. either (a/ os, p) or (\, p, p\
as convenient. Since ), rJ and p are all Positive (by d€6nitiou) it follows that u, > 1'!'

Some üseful quantities sre the VsVPR.stio'7, VpveRatio f, and the Poisson ratio:

')(^ r'P) = Y" =

Vp \ A+zP 'l-+-
y2"
r(^, p, d= =

o()'¡r)' = =.:j""-
2(^ + p)
For tlpical rocks, 7 is about oüe-h¿lf.

Can you frnd o(up, o', p)?

3.7,3 Velocityvariation

As v¡ith acor¡stic wave sPe€ds, we ca¡ hsve or (z\, "o, of 2", el'¡,' The Í'orst case isotropic
elastic scenaúo is o'(t ,g, z\, o"(x,y, z) str¡d' p(t, V, z). The Esrth is actually something
[ke
this, but we never t¡e¿t it this E'¿y beceuse of cost 8Dd co!¡Plexity'

3.8 Ad\¡anced Tbpicr Elastic Wave Mode Conversion

poitrt of re
Unlike acoustic wat€q elsstic wsves cs¡r exp€lien@ rdode co¡l'ersio¡ at the
flectiol/transúissio¡. We colside¡ two ki¡d8 of shea¡ c¡¿l'€s for roode coÑ'eBion: Shea'_
t oriroulta 1S4 with pd¡ticle ootion p¿ra¡lel to tbe reflecting i¡te¡face,
strd sbear-vertical
Fig!¡e 13
1St4 witl paiiae notior i¡ the
pl6¡e Perp€Ddiculor t9.the ¡.e4.€ct:l8,surface
Eedia itt
]i.i" u á"4" coovenio¡ poesibüties br sol¡d (elastic) ¿¡d liquid (a'oustic)
cotrtact.
3 SEISI,(IC IIIAI¡ES AI¡D WLOCITIES 31

sv

I
M
re I
Figure 13: IUode con\,€lsioo cas€s for elastic wsves. The wave tyPes a¡e coEpressio[al
(P), shea!-l€rtical (S14, and sheo¡-horizo¡tal (SI1) The incident wave for each case has an
a¡¡owhead. Fluid media is shof,,¡t without 8 pstterD, while solids sre shown as gr&y.

3.9 Adr¡anced Topic: ADisot¡opy

We have seen that the siúplest kind of el6.9tic material is chardcterized by density strd
two elástic cor¡stants. There a¡e a few te¡ms that relste to velociw rB¡iatio¡r in an el¿stic
ma,telial

Ilomogeneous Velocity is constsnt from point-to-point in the mediuo, tr.

Inhomogeneous Velocity varies from point-to-poi¿t in the medium, o(c, y, z).

Isotropic At a¡y given point in the ¡¡redium, velocity is indepeDdent of propagation di¡ec-
tion.

Anisot¡opic At any given poiDt i¡ the medium, velocity is depends on p¡opagation direc-
tion, r.,(d) where 0 is the propaSotio¡r angle. Both P-c,aves 6od ,9¡'¿ves can exhibit
anrsotropy.

VTI anisotropy Special css€ of anirotrcpy whFre w¿1€s trevel 6t o¡e speed i¡ a¡y ho!i-
zontal direction, but at a differe¡t speed iD L;¡e verticsl dilectio¡. Betwe€o horizoDtál
a¡¡d vertical, the sp€ed varies with plopagstion a¡gle. There is also a thi¡d kiDd of
3 SEtS-\f/C ll:{f'Es -.1^\D \ELOCITIES 32

seismic !va!'e in this case. catted a slow g*'ave. T¡ansverse anisot¡oPy is twical of
finely laJ-ered rock like shale.
HTI anisotropy Anisotropy associated,tith vertical f¡actures.
Azimuthal anisotropy .{nisotropy ássociated with regiooal st¡ess orientation. For exam-
ple, r'aves traveling F.W mighi go faster than thos€ traveling N-S.

When people talk abovt ¿ 1)anable u¿loci¿y medium, they usually mean o(¡. y' z) rather
lhan a¡lsoiropy.

Here is one way to think of anisotroPy ln an isot¡opic homogeneous medium ¿ point

source will emit \r'ar€s which spread out in the form of an exPanding sphere This is a
sphe cal i!'avefront. In an anisotropic homogeneous medium the wavefront is not spherical,
even though the velocity is constant. The waleftont lrill stretch. or run ahead' in the fást
directior¡s and be dela)€d in the slow directions.

lt is noiv well known that adsotropy is prese¡t in rr¡ost resl rocks This efiect needs to be
removed f¡om seismic data because .! can introduce distortions tbat influeDce interPretation
It is becoming common to account fo¡ trans\€¡se anisotropy in seismic processitrg' To deal
properly with more complicated anisotropy will Probably require changes in acquisition
methods (e.g., routine use of muticoúPonent sources and receivers).

For isotropic elastic medi& we have three parametels, (ur, u,, p), while for VTI or HTI
media there are frve parameters, (uro,u"o,e,ó,p), where (u4,o,o) ¡efer to vertically trav_
eling wav€ speeds. The qüantities (c,ó) are called the Thoms€n anisotropy parameters'
When these ale zero the materia.l is isotroPic For Sener&l a¡risotlopy there can be uP to
21 parametersl Nfaterial ca¡r be anisotropic even if the velocity is constant, as shown in
Figure 14.

3.10 Adv-anced Topic: Elasticity theory.

Briefly, the elastic theo¡y of deforrostion goes somethi!8 like thi6. Defitre the thre€ space
coordinaies to be
r,y,2 = tt,z2,t3 .

This is necessary because without subsclipts we s,óuld quickly run out of letters' When a
seismic a¡ave passes a point i! the elsstic medium it csüs€s the roaterial to üb¡ate This
causes small displ¿¿eme4ts ftom the equilib¡ium position, Let these diBplacemeDts aloDt
the (¡r,¿2,¿¡) axes, resPectivelf be
u(x,g, z, ¿),v(.,!, z,t), ro(e,3r, z. ú) = üt, ¿r, ¡.
3 SEIS.\fIC IYAITS AVD WLOCITIES

t--'

'lrZ
l;
(A) (B)

Figure 14: (A) In a cor¡sta¡t velocity isotaopic elaatic material tbe wav€s emitted by ¿
point sou¡ce 6presd out i¡ co¡ce!¡t¡ic circles. Iucreosing tra!€ltime is denoted by fr, ,2, add
¿3. The aays ¡odistiDg fto¡o the source 8re straitht lines possing th¡ough the center aDd
perp€odicula¡ to sll waveftodts. (B) With adsotropy, the w¿vefroDts are not circles alld
ra,s a¡e oot perpendicula¡ to wa!€fronts. Heae the horizontsl velocity is greate¡ thatl tbe
vertical velocity, which is the usual cás€.

If th€se are not functions of ti!¡¡e, then q¡€ are tslki¡t sbout st.tic deformation (like bending
of a beam under actioo of gaüty or sloq, deformstio¡ of rocks De¡¡ a fault).

The deformation produced by the psssiog wave is des€rib€d by the st¡aiD functioD, eij,
which has ¡ine coúDonents.

LI oui Oltl \

ror -
exa¡nDle.
I órrr\ 1ut
ell = : /dur
A1r
t ;- 1- ;- | = ;- = ;-
¿ \o¡r qDr,l OXr OÍ ,

aod fo. t # j s/e get somethint üke

L laq .01u¿\ | / A1t Ar\

'r" = ,\a"r* aq)= r\ú+ 6;)
Note that st¡ai¡ is ¡ di8eosio¡less qua.trtity.

St¡ess is defined in terDs of stt6i¡ 6¡d the elostic cotstaots chs¡acte¡izi¡g the Eedium.
3 SErsttrc ltlvEs .4.xD wLocITIES 34

Like strain, st¡ess has trine components

\j =CrH eH t'J'&'l = l'2'3

This is catled Hooke s law, although in this ter¡eraliz€d form it came much l&ter thatt Robert
Hooke (165&1?03) The object d,¡n isa 3 x 3 x 3x3 = 8l element coll€ction of el¿stic
constants. Due to t€rious reasons of symmetry, the¡e are at most 2l indePende¡t C¡it¡'s'
For the isotropic cas€, there are only two indePendent 4¡tl's, although they show uP iD
several places.

C¡r = úp
CLD2 = p(u2p - 2 u?)
Cp¡2 = pv! ... etc

It is ¡athe¡ a n€sty business to manually calcul¿te a stress lmatine that you ale
constants' To
8i!€n fu4ctions describing the displacement ñeld (ür' r,2' ¡¡¡) and the elsstic
calculate the frrst stress, you start tbis way

flr = CtrH eH '

but the repeated ,t¿ ia this equatiotr is an implied summation, ft = 1,3 and I = l' 3 So it
becomes
¡rr = Crrtr e¡'l C¡tz ¿tz* ...17 more termst '
and every e¡:¡ involves takint one or two derivati!€s. Now repeat this fo! the other eight
components of ?¡i, and you 6¡e up to a¡ound 135 derilatives Although ma¡y of these are
duplicates, it is not something you would want to do every day!

The equation of motion (wave equatiol) for ge¡elal a¡botroPic w¡ve! i3

Af Ov¡l 8q
a", a;i- cVV = o
Lotn

where S is a function describing tbe source and e*h of (i'j,f'l) tdke oD values 1' 2'
3. Solving this equstion mea¡¡s cslculati¡U the disPl¿aem€ots (u1'u2,u¡) as functiols of
(e, y, z, ú) and thus simul&tiüg the evolvint wave field'
1 ].D SEISIúIC REWEW

4 l-D Seismic Review

When a source initiates a seismic *avefreld. that waveñeld intera.ts with the earth. The
waves a¡e pa¡tially tra¡smitted a¡d will never retum to be measu¡ed by receivers at the
earth s surface. But part of the waveñeld is reflected and returns to the su¡face. The
measured field at the surface is telmed the 3¿¡mic tespot¡s¿ of the esrth at that location
The fundamental problem addressed in seismic modeling, o! simulation, G calculation of
the s€ismic response (traveltime and anplitude) for a given ea¡th model a¡d recording
Seomerry,

As noted earlier, the earth model consists of those Physical ProPerties which influence
seismic wave prop€atior¡: t¡picall¡ compressional wave speed, up, shear wave speed, l,.,
and mass derisity, p. This set of parameters is suñcient to decribe the simplest possible
solid, called an isotmpíc el6úic solid. For some purposes, it is suffcie¡tt to considea the
earth as an acoustic (fluid) mediu¡¡¡ cba¡acterized by only two parametersi sound speed, u,
and mass densitf p.

Concepts of l-D s€ismic aie still paesent snd imports¡t in 2-D seismic, which in turn
undellies 3-D seismic. You can think of &D seismic knowledge like ¡n ooion, where 3-D is
built on 2-D which is built on l-D.
At the he¿rt of l-D s€isúic is the sonic log a¡d the creatioo of a synthetic seismotram
(o¡ simply ¡yrltr¡¿tic) for eve!¡t ider¡tidcation and depth coBversion of seismic reflectors. If
a vertical s€ismic profile is alailable for a particula¡ well, then a sl¡nthetic s€ismog¡sm ¡s
not needed. The VSP gives direct measurement of t¡oth time arid depth to a formatio¡ of
interest. An ¡lter¡atil€ to s full synthetic is to convert a sonic log to time and velocity
then directly overlay this on the seismic dats. A third pcsibility is to or€llsy the p¡oduct
of velocity and density or impedance.

Here is a brief list of l-D seismic co.rcepts that need to be undeGtood before moüng on
to 2-D and 3-D.

l-D deñned The purpose of l-D simul&tion is to create the s€ismic trace that theoretically
would h¿ve bee¡ ¡eco¡ded st a s€ll loc¿tio¡, bssed o¡ logs recolded i¡ the weu This
tlace is the syothetic sejsBog.8e The followiog sle ¡aeumd:

1. ze¡o oftset (coincident source aod receiver),

2. zelo geological dip,
3. relocity freld v(z) only (i.e., ao lateral velocity r€¡iatio¡s \ ¡hich could beld rays
af,'ay ñodt the !'€rtical)
I ]-D SEIS,\IIC REYIEIY 36

Velocity A v(z) \elocit) model is n€eded to create a synthetic or con!€rt othe¡ \I€ll in-
qri€ty of
fo..utlon do* depth to time. This velocity information can corÍe f¡om a
sources. Here is a list. in order of preference'

VSP A vertical seisÍric proñle is recorded by using a sou¡ce at the surface and nany
receiver locations dow¡ the !¡ell The receive¡s record full traces for interpre_
tation. The receiver spacing is usually someihing like l0 ft'This gives actual
traveltimes frorn the surfa4e to points in the earth lt is th€ best and most
direct
method of associating seisrnic events with Seologic horizons The VSP
consid-
ered here is often called a zelcoffset VSP, meaning that only a single source
position is used and that it is a.s close to the wellhead as possible' lt is relatively
inexp.n"irre. There are also muliioffs€t and multiazimuth VSPS which üse many
source locations. These a¡e much more expensive and sometirnes useful
for lo_
for event
cal, high-resolutio[ imaging- Ho¡¡€ver, a zero-offset VSP is sufficient
identifrcation snd oth€r standa¡d us€s'
Sonic with checkshots A checkshot survey is sort oflike a baby VSP The
receivers
are sparsely Placed dos¡n the well' usually on key geologic boundaries
Also' the
data_reco"e.ed is just the frrst ar¡ilol time (a number), unlike the full trace a
VSP gires. The checkshots a¡e used to cor¡ect for any drift in a sonic log due
to mi;ing log intervals or hole problems This m¿kes the calculated tla]€ltimes
more reliable.
Sonic without checkshots Good velocity information, but prone to drift
r¡hen con-
v€rted to traveltime if there were any hole probleús duri¡rg sonic log acquisition'

Checkshots only Very coa¡se velocity iDfo¡mation - maybe 6ve o¡ six

traveltimes
for the enti¡e well.
P¡ocessing velocities These are not ¡eally &ccu¡ate enough for us€
in making a
s)'nthetic'
horizoDa
ln summary, a zero-offset VSP can directly ¡elate s€ismic events to teol€ic
If one is noi a\aileble for a v.'ell' then a sonic log (Plefe¡ably $r'ith checkshots) caD be
used to create a synthetic trace

Density model Density info¡mation also cont¡ibutes to the Production of a

synthetic'
deDsity iúo¡_
Density caa be spP¡o¡mately estimated frold sonic, but i¡tdepeúdeat
mation is preferable (e.g., ftoro a rcutron de!6ity log)'

Tlaveltimes Figure 15 shows the Duúb€ring scheloe for layers ¿Ád interfaa€s is sho*'n'
The earth is assumed to cor¡sist of a st¿ck of horizontal layers'
J I.D SEIS.\fIC REIÍEIV

&nh 5/R s/R s/R

I
0
I hl.vt.pl

n-l

(A) (B) (c)

Figure 15: (A) Earth model for 1-D seismic simulation. (B) Detail of top ta'o layers showiü8
th&t each h¿s three paraEete6: thickness (h), velocity (v)' and deosity (p)' From this v'e
can calculate reflection tiúes arid reflection coefficients. (C) Detail showing the concept of
ir¡cident (I), reflected (R), and transmitted (T) waves.

There can be maay thousands of laj'ers, since a sonic log i5 t,?ically sampled every 6
inches or so. From the sonic readi¡8 we get layer velocity ftom
r 000 000
velocity (ft /s) =
sotLic (ps/¡t)

The first job is to calculate reflection time to the fl¡st intedace. The source (S) sends
energy out in all di¡ections, but we arc oDIy interested itr the Part that retu¡¡ls to
the receiver (R). Sioce zero-ofiset is 6ssumed, the source 6nd receiver are at the same
point. The gene¡al relationshiP for calculati¡g t¡aveltime is

.. dis¿ance dt .
ttme = '-----1- .-
dz ds
velocrtu vl Ú2 u3
where the second fo¡ú allows for breaking uP the distance into coústaat velocity
segments. This is just like estimati¡8 dlivi¡g time - you 8o 30 Eiles at 40 foph, thed
60 miles at 50 úph, etc. Total d¡iviDg time b just tbe sum of the segaetrt tiEe6'
Usiog this for la,€r I gives
ü =2ht/ttt
 J r-D sEIS¡fic REWEIT 38

For reflection to interface 2 *€ setment the distance into two Parts arid find
tz = 2ht/q *2hz/uz
t2 = tr +2h2/a2
Note that the las¡ form shoes we need 6nd ¿l oDIy once and ca[ reuse it for calculatint
ú2. I\fathematically, this is called a recu¡sion and is very efficient. F¡om here it extends
easIly

h = t2+2fu/1)x
hu = tou r 2hsu/utu
t¡ = t¿-¡ + 2h"/ún
ln this way we get a reffection time associated with each intetfáce Figure 16 shows
that the6e are markers do¡¡¡n the seismic trace we ale constluctin8, but what do we
put at each time?

'Ro*

(A) (B) (c)

Figure 16: (A) Earth model for 1-D seismic simulatio!. (B) ltaveltime calculstion6 gii€
poiats down tbe trace which a¡e the i[t€rfa¿e echo times. (C) The reflectioo coeficients are
placed at the time locatioDs t,o for¡o s ¡efl€ctio¡ coeEcie¡t s€ries' This is a seisEic t¡6ce
without the warelet or noise' Not¿ thst itr (A) the v€rtical ¿,.is i8 depth, while in (B) aad
(C) it is reflection tiúe. Well data üv€ i¡ depth s¡d sebbic dsto Ii!€ in tiEe'

Rrflection coefrcient Notice that the trsveltiúe calculatio¡ above do€s not itrvolve the
delsity. We sre efiectively maliog a aoise (soü¡ce) s¡d waiti¡8 fo! the echo (receive¡)'

-1
 39
., l-D SEIS.\flc REl'1Ell',

does Play a role

The time dela¡- depends onl]'on thickness and velocit]" But density
in determining the strength of the echo For each interface there is an a_ssociated
reflection coelicient gilen b.'"

--
ño:-
P2v2 - PLur
P2u2 + Prur

=,4
,2 -f tl
: r=Fa
_l
hpré are tomc things lo nore here
just above the inte ace of
1 The subscripts 1 and 2 are relative - I is the layer
interest and2 is the la)€r just below But it is usually written this s¡ay to keep
it simple.
2. Ro (pronounced "R nought") is a dimensio ess quantity This means we 8et a
R, .*n if velocities are in ft/s and densities are in g/cc' This drives
"orr."t
some people crazy till they figure out it doesn ! mátter'
depends on velocity and density cont¡¿st and these depead in turD
on rm-
3. R,
portant rock and fluid Prope¡ties lt is fai¡ to say that rock and fluid prope¡ty
informatio¡1 lives in Rn.
4. The range for R, is -1 to +1.
5. The qua.ntity pu is called the aaoustic imPedance This Dame coúes from an
analog which can be made betse€fr 1_D seismic simulstion ¿¡d certa;n kinds of
elect¡ical circuits. Note that imPedance is oot dir¡ensionless'

Reflection coemcient series By Placing eaah ¿. at its apPropriate time we create the
renectioncoemcientseries.ltisatimeseriesofreflectioncoemcients"R(¿)'asshown
in Figure 16.

Wavelet lf it wele possible, we would gladly a€quire and/or process seismic data to 81ve
just reflection coeficients. U¡fortunstely' echos hom inBide the earth are not spikes
we get a pulse ¡¡¡ith fi¡¡ite du¡otion in tiúe called a uo'¿leú Even if a Pu¡e
'Instead,
spike is püt ; the ground, the earth modifies it a¡rd returns a wavelet
Here a¡e some
itens developing the wsl€let concePt.
Sum of coaines Matheúatically w€ cao thi¡* of s vavelet 6s built by the summation
of many cosi¡re curves, see Figure 17.
The eqüation for one cosi¡e curve (orie coropone¡t of the wavelet) is

Cos(2it Ít)
{ 1-D SErS-\ltc REvIEiv {0

lh¡se {5
¡

0-5

-o.rl -o.2 0 0.2 0.4 -0. { -0.2 0 0.2 0.4

tin Ii0.

P!¡s. a5
I I
0...'5
0. ilt
0_5
o.F
O,J

0
t' \

-0.25
-0.5 -0.75
..0. !¡ -0.2 0 0.2 0-!t -0.4 -0-2 0 0.2 0.{
rú. lir

FigurelT:TheeffectofphaseshiftoÁco6ineq'avesr¡ithftequencyofl'2'3'and4Ilz
fuio". oto,"l. A wavelet is formed by summitrg the individual cosine comPooe¡ts (lo1€r
itÁ'. irt" á.-i"*, frequency for this case is (hrin+hax)/2 = 2'5 Hz' The formula fot
earh individual cosine curve i6 cos(2trJ¿ + ó)
J I.D SEIS,\fIC R¡WEIV

Nhere f is the lrequency in Hz and t is liñe in seconds. Figure 17 shows a plot

of four such cosines with frequencies of l,2.3 and { Hz The1Hzcun€isthe
i{idest one. and so on. The wavelet is formed by summing these four curves to
get the pulse shown betow the individuol cur!€s The dominant ftequ€ncy of this

fdñ = 6 + 12) 12 = (L + t)/2 = 2.5 H z

Clearly this example is not a real seismic wavelet, which would have an Jdd of
something like ,10 Hz.
Amplitude spectrum It is not hard to imagine exiending the cosine formula to
At Cos(2Íf tJ

where ,41 is the height of the cosi!¡e curve. The way it is wtitten, the height can
be difie¡ent for each frequency component. We can make a Plot of amplitude
against frequency to fo¡m the amplitude spectrum of the wavelet FiSu¡e 18
shows an idealized case with four frequencies ( h, Jz, h, h). It is common to call
(12,13) cut-off frequencies and (/¡, J¡) truncatio¡ fiequencies.
These define the frequency content, a¡ld a typical seismic case might be (8,14,70,E0)
r¡,hich we would call an &80 Hz wa\€let. Also shon n is /d.-, which is simply
the ce$ter Fequ€ncy.
Amplitude and phase spect¡um plots fo! a 100 r¡s window on a ¡eal trace a¡e
shown in Ficrue 19.

fd 80

180
fl f2 f3 f4 fl f2 f4
Frequency rreqüency

(A) (B)
Figu¡e 18: Frequency snd phase chala¿te¡istics of an ideslized wavelet. O¡ the left is etr
amplitude spectrum showing which frequencies live in the wavelet (here fi - Ja). The
¡ight plot shows the wavelet phase, in this case zero fo¡ all frequenci€g.
4 l.D SEISIIIC REWEIV 42

a
¿
P
¿n

5
{
tl¡
.n
o
o
É

Figure 19: FrequeDcy s¡¡d phas€ .h¿¡acte¡iEtics for I looEs wi¡dor¡ on a ¡eal seiBmic trace'
J t-D s-Ers.1f1c REI7¡lv ,13

Sinc wawelet A prettj_ good reP¡esentaiion of a zero phase $avelet is the so_called
sinc functioo. srn(t)/¡. For a gi!€n dominant frequenc¡ /¿-, and reflection
coelncient, Ro, we gel
Szn(2r f¿. t)
&
Phase The last extension to the cosine equatioo is to include in each component a
phase factor, ol,
At C ú(2r f t + ót)
The efiect of a cor¡stant phase (45") is shown in Figure lT The frequency content
is still 1-{ Hz. bui the resulting 45o wavelet is quite difi€rent thatr ze¡o phase
Figure 20 illüstrates wavelets with various phases.
Some things to note about Pháse:
1E0 A 180'or -180"-phase shift is called a polarity reversal lt is equivalent to
multipl¡ng e!€ry amplitude in the entire v¡avelet by -1.
90 Impo.tant: A 90" or -90' wavelet is very darite¡ous if undetected. This is
because the response of a thin bed as seen by a GPhase ws!€let is indistitr-
guishable f¡om a single interfece as s€en by a 90' wa!€Iet.
General \\¡hat ¡I€ really want to do is 6nd the Phase a[d ¡otate it to ze¡o. lf
this can be accomplished, then Phase is not an issue at interPretation time'
'Why zero phase? A zero phase wavelet is good for three reásons- It is st¡ongly
peaked (sidelobes miDimized), it is symmet¡ic (optimum v€rtical ¡esolutioÍ)' and
its peak amplitude is located ¿t the reflectioo coeftcient R{. lf the phase is
nonzero but ktrown, there is no ploblem. The phase can be easily rotated to
zero. Büt how do *e know what the phase is? The best estimate comes from
a VSP. second f¡om a s)'r¡thetic, and third f¡om numerical analysis of the data
itself lFou er t¡ansfo¡m).
Advanced Topic To generate a constant Phase, Rat spectrum walclet coDtaining frequen-
cies f¡om /l
- J2, the equation is
tl,
WQ,A,h,D = JI,
Cos(2Í¡t + O) df
Sin( 2tr f2t + ó) Sin(2r Ítt + ó)
21tt 21rt

Co¡rvolution The job is now to "hang" the chosen wavelet, I/(t), oo every spike in our
reflectio¡ coemcient series, 8(ú). It is a simple coDcePt. ThiDk of the wavelet as a
sideways hat a¡d the ¡eflection coe6cient 8s s nail. In coNolution' Í€ ha.ng the hat
on the ra.il. If it is a Iory nail the¡ we hang 6 tall hat, a short ¡¡arl a sho¡t hat, a¡d
so oo. We ñnally add up all the hats to make the synthetic seisDic t¡8.e.
 44
1 ].D SEISTTIC REWEÍV

Advanced Topic For examPle, if the wavelet is zero Phsse' u¡it amplitude'
aDd has

dominant lrequency J, then

si"=(2!.!t)
rvtt\
'' = zlt Ja

For sn &
Let each ¡eflection coefficieut in R(t) be given by R¡, where i = 1'¿¿'
time alrd sc¿led to
at time ,. we will add in a !¡avelet centeled at this samPle
tt i"'Á. i t¡" ."A""tioB coefficie¡t s€ries consists of a si¡gle spike' tbe s€ismic
t¡ace T(¿) is
s¿n(2rl(t - n))
^ --U;TFji-
t \t) = nn

For lots of spikes, this is rePeated for all & to get

t '"^
Sin(2n Í(t - t1))
h¡Í(t - t,\

t R(tí\ W(t - t)

Ji
R(r\ w(t - r) dr
This lsst itrte$¡l G a sp€cial c€se of the well'k¡ow¡ co'utollttior ¿ntegr¿l9iveÍ
by
s(t\.iQ)= l* sG\iQ-¡)h ,

where i denotes coñolutiotr.

convolutionalmodelwheÍl¡'eputsllthistogetherl¡,eefiectivelyhavetheanatomyof
a seismic t¡ace. It is
rft\ = R(t\ '¡ r¡(ú) +r¡(¿)
where ?(t) i8 the seisBic t¡a¿e 8s s fulctio¡ of reaedion tioe' E(¿)
is the reflection
*
coefficient s€ries, 1,(,) is the w¿velet, t¡(t) b ¡oise, aDd de¡otes
coNolutio¡' This
modeloftheseisúictraceasgrrmea!¡rs¡tythi¡gs,includiogrefoolslofsll¿Eplitude
e'ñects except Áo. It is the job of dsts Proc€ssitrg to deüver
dsla t,o the i¡terplet€r iD
u ior. **¡t"ot toith the co¡volutioüsl Eodel
But Ploc€ssi4 dota to the forn of
the convolutio¡al úodel is di6cult'

Svnthetic seismog¡a.m The 6!al s€isEic t¡ace ge¡elsted i! tbis way is termed
a 8y¡¿¡¡e¿i¿
'-';;;;"*; ft is the tu¡dsroe¡tal liÁk betr€e¡ w€ll dat& o¡¡d seiemic dats' o¡d
geologic depth horizors
;;h"'fut tool (along with vSP, if evsilsbl€) that dlo,*s
J ].D 5EIS.\fIC REI.¡EIV

to be associated lr'ith reflections in the seismic data. FiSures 2G25 show synthetic
seismogram examPles.

Remember. th€ goal is lo match a synihetic seismogram to field data The field daia
need to have been mjgrated, since only then does the time a-\is represent verticaltravel time
which is calculated from sonic log measur€ments.

The matching process involves simulating a seismic trace ñom well logs and user param-
eters (e'awlet form, frequency, phase), then ma¡ually, or statistically, alignir¡8 the simulated
trace with the lield trace(s) in the vicinity of the w€ll This is Dormally done over some
limited interval in the well. probably centered on the reservoi¡ tar8€t If the 6t is not good
enough, then the parameters a¡e changed (updated) and a¡¡other cornpa¡ison is Fade_ This
continues until a match is achieved.

In pra¡tice, slrrthetic seismog¡ams are ra¡ely a pe¡fect match to field data There a¡e
many ¡easons for this, including:

frequency Sonic loggrng oPer¿tes in the kilohertz ftequency raage (high ftequencf short
wavelength). while seismic data a¡e tyPically lG90 Hz (low frequenc¡ long wave-
length). This me&Ds that the sonic log is influenced by a tioy volume of ¡ock compared
to a se;smic a¡ave pa.ssing the borehole
Anisotropy Sonic loggrng measures velocity iD the vertica.l direction, while seismic waves
travel at significant angles away fiom the vertic¡l lf anisot¡opy is present (a¡¡d it
usually is) then velocity depends on the directio¡¡ the wave is t¡aveling lt is not
uDcommon to see a 10-15 percent difference between hodzontal atrd wrtical velocities'

Hole Sonic logging is sensitive to wsshouts and other hole problems, while long-wavelengh
seismic waves are not.

Wavelet The user is requi¡ed to sPecify the w&!€let, and is very easy to get it w¡ong'
it
Some advanced software products can scan the data and attempt to extract the
wavelet, But these scanners, i¡ turn, in\olve many user parametels.

Figure 26 is a synthetic fo¡ a well i¡ the Minneole ComPlex of Soutbwest Kansas [80]
Note tt¡is synthetic is the final ploduct, and may be the result of exteúsive túal and erro!
with €rious q¡avelet aDd siloulation Par¿loeters. In FiSure 27 the s]'nthetic traces ole
aligned with a 2-D roig¡ated s€isroic line Passing through the weU. This overlay process is
the essential liok betweet eveúts oD the seisrdic section a¡d geologic horizoDs itr the earth.
In this c&se, the alignr4ent is Sood aDd eve¡t identiñcatioo is coÁü¡citr8.
 J l.D SEISJTIC REVIEW 46

¡!as. -135 ?b.s. 45

-0.,t -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 -0.t-0.2 0 0.2 0.1

rin.
l!¡s. -90 Pb.re 90
I
0.5
r¡E 0

-l
-0.{-0.2 0 0.2 0. !l -0. {-0.2 0 0.2 0,4

Pb¡r. -{3 PL¡re 13g

I
0.5
a¡D
-0,
-1
-0.{-0.2 0 0.2 0.{ -o.1-o.2 0 0.2 0.1
ti¡.
¡DÚ. 0 Pbr. !40

0.

-0.5

-0.{-0.2 0 0.2 0.{ -0.4-0.2 0 0.2 0.4

!1ha Tlrle

Fi$re 20: Wavelets *'ith pb¡s€ rsDaing froro -180" to +180".

,\
.¡ r-D SEIS-\lrc RtvIErv

i.diYilú.] v.v.¡tt rqñth.lt l/&.

5000 o o2

( (
(.'
500 .1
(.
D f
i (

1000

v.y.ii: Loy fr.q.lo Hi fr.!' ¡lo low (.9.t' rt hi t¡Fd¡ 4

¡"r.¡'.üt, r-* c.q.ro Hi fr.q' ¡|() lov t¡9.F 4 hi tT"' 4 th5" o

Figure 21: Sitople slnthetic seisroog¡am. The velocity model consists of two
lal€ls (o¡e
.eñ*to4. fhe p"oeiof t¡aces at the bottoB is the synthetic trsce (uPPer right) lePeated 20
negatrve
times. ihe peaks have beeD 6lled, and the ¡eflectioa coe6cient se¡ies i5 sbovt¡ as a
overlaf Density G constant (not sho{'n).
J ].D SEIS.\IIC Rf !'IEII' .lE

hdiyidu.lv.v.l.rr iyñth.tictr¡c.
5000 0 o2

)
)
( (

500 I

D f
!1 \
T
fl
(:
)
| 000 .2 .2
(

fr.q. 40 bY t¡C.r. 4 hi l.pf,- 4 ph.tÉ O

For v.vel.t: Lov freq|lo Hilr.q.40 lovt¡9.r.4 hit.p.r.t ph!.- 0

Figule 22: Thlee laye! s]'nthetic seismog¡am. Note intederence ofsidelobes from individual
wavelets. Since a peak is associsted with the top atrd bsse of the middle bed, it is said to
be sbove resolution thicktr€ss.
 49
J l-D SErslffc RE!7Eiy

iñfiYüu.l v¡v.LtJ 39nth.i1c l.¡..

5000 25000 0. 03

l :).
500
tt:¿
D T
i (
f ( ;i,
.(, ir
1000 2
(.
Í,
dI
I 0Hi 40

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\N\\\\\)
Frvú.].t: t'r'r¡ 4
Lov ft.qrlo Hi fr.q¡ ¡tO lov hi t¡D'É
' Pn"ts
\^u

Figure 23: Simple sFthetic seismog¡alo with seven laye¡s'

Fleque¡cybotrt ofthe v'a\€let is
i¡terferetrce patteús snd lonalitqtneot of relection
coe6cieúts
rd¿ó H; ¡{*"
".-oucaied
with peak smPlitudes.
.t r-D SEIS.\Í]C REtlElv

iñdiYidu¡l v¡Y.hlt sg¡$.rrc rr¡c.

25000 0 o3

l ,l
500

0 f
E i
T
H

r 000 .2

:>
Fd v¡Y.bt:
I lovlr.q=to Hi fr.q= SO

lorv¡v.l.t: Low fr.elo Hi f..q' 80 bv t.Fr' hi t?f,- 4 Ph!.. 0

Figure 24: Same as 23, excePt r¡avelet ftequency is higher (1G80 llz) Most of the layers
are ¡esolved with this wal€let
J ].D SEIS.\fIC R,El'IEI!' 5t

Bonanza 12-1
V\hne P¡ne Couñty, Nevada
Section 12-f18N-R5gE
B¡g Válley
KB= 5071 ft GL= 6052.5 ft Datuú = 3571 ft
Time sc¿le = 5 inches/secoñal Trlcesilnch.10 AGC leñqlh = None
Sonple rate = 2 msec Acor/stic inpedañcc from son¡c añd dcnsity logs
Dáe plotted: 08-20-1S96 Measur¿m.rt Uñrts: Engl¡sh

Depth RC Normal Revehe Velocity (ktus) oo¡s¡ty (g/cc)

10 15 20 25 2.O 2.5 3.0
.0- lartof loq
\M Cha¡rrnan
3000
M Joaia
¡O Pílcl
4000 D D.vilsGdc
end ol bq

llor¡zon 0¿pth Sub... T¡ma Au. Y l.* V W.s¿lcl

s,tart ol log 25(D 0.000 5l &4(!55 Hz
12658
M Cha¡nnan 2591 3480 0.014 12658 Phas! - 0 deqees
13328
M Joana 3374 o.132 13255 Leñqlh - 0.1ú Sec
15903
lllD Pilot 3550 2521 0.154 13635
14533
D Devils Gate 4033 2038 o.220 13906
19628
end of log 4460 1611 0.264 14849

Qu¡cksyn @ 1996 by GeoTools

Figure 25: Field sFthetic s€ismogra$ hom a commercial software package. (Courtesy
GeoTools)
J 1.D SEJSTfIC RIT'¡EIÍ'

J ge g3 (^
z

i'lt -----,a(F -

O.Go----ü---1---- "
- [r úi _500 -
-06
- .! 'in - :
- ,ii tlt -
-:ilt:l-

Figure 26: Synthetic seismogralo for a well i! Ka¡sas.

4 t-D SEISI\IIC REVIEIV

r0 tllo ltq¡
o
g¡
50

¡É
at a
a¡¡,
s
t60
360

!e s
5S
I
@
@ =
2 @
F roo
tlo
7!0
dt ad

n0
tt¡
s o
go
60
ro¡
rotF
rdb
tt@
irú
It!0
rt50
l@
ID
,t2!0
r¿o

Figure 2?: 2-D migrated s€iseic line passing th¡ough the {'ell i¡¡ the plevions ñgue' The
syDthetic traae6 a¡e shifted to create the best alig¡roeot with s€isoic eveots' This is the
e$eential link between seismic eveDts and geologic holizo¡s.
5 LVTERFERE^\-CE Á¡\? TU¡¡f.\G

5 Interference and Tuning

5.1 Interference

Interfercnce is a firndamental prop€rty of wave motioa. It is at the hea¡t of many seismic

topics. i¡¡cl¡ding:

. optimum marine souace depth

. source/receiver a¡lays

. ve¡tical and common midpoint staaking

. dipmoveout atrd migrstion
. thin bed tu¡i¡g a¡d veriical lesolutiotr

tro fuDdamentally diffe¡e¡t ca.s6 exist. Filst, interfereDce of tno

Fo¡ thin bed aüslysis
$¡avelets (top reflection
a¡d bas€ reflection) with equ6l (po6itiv€ or negetive) polarity. Tbis
leads to the s€ismic ¡€solution limit. Secood, if the wavelets hsve opposite pola¡ity, we ¡¡e
lead to the concept of tuning.

Co¡sider the equsl pola¡ity css€ a¡d vertic¡l ¡e6olütio¡. The earth model implied by
this case is shos'n iD Figure 284. The Eodel sbocs increasiug relocity u¡ > ü2 > yl, which
implies a positive reflection coefrcieBt for the top arid ba¡e of the u2 loJ€r - the equsl
polarity csse. The opposite polarity case is shown in Figure 288.

c¿¡s,e = # case
Rcnc.lion coaffcicn!9 R.n.crion co.fnci€oB

.l
"'l L -l
I
I

r
I

"Lr I
---l
vl - I

(A) B)

Figü¡e 28r Thi¡ bed models for equal (A) and oppo€ite (B) pola¡ity cas€.
5 /NTERFER¿N CE .44'D TL'\ING

5.1.1 Tuning

Amplitude varialion of an isolared reflector can be due to changing reflection coefficient or

acquisition/processing problems. .{ different kind of amplitude eñect, called tuninS, results
from interference when lwo reflectors are close together.

Here ¡r'e conside¡ a hlpothetical sandstone with Positive refl€ction coemcieot at the top
and a negativ€ coefficient at the base, Figure 29. Ea.h coemcient has the same absolute
value and the $'avelet is zero phase.

R€fleciior coeffi cients Geology

Shale

*"*"*
= Illl
timedelay=^t Sardstona
) 2
rdom)

Shale =t\t4
Figure 29: The tuning model (case = +-).
If the bed is sufficiently thick, distiDct positive and negative reflections Proportional to
the reflection coefficients are visible. As the saDdstone goes to zero thickness' the r€flectioB
coemcients cancel and the net amPlitude Soes to ze¡o

For ir¡termediate cas€s the t*o reflections interfere in a comPlicated way. Figure 30
shows how wavelets align to develop tuninS. The tu¡in8 efiect then is an anomalously high
amplitude related to a magic thickness rather than aoy interesting ¡ock or fluid property
changes. This occurs when the bed hss a thickness of )/4. In the case shown, this amplitude
boosi is about 22% above the "true" amplitude (i.e., -Ro) We can expect to s€e this efiect
in real data, but the details r¡ill strongly depend on the actual Yeavelet in the data T\¡ning
is shown in relation to a wedge úodel in Figure 31.

With su6cient density of well cont¡ol Poists, this efiect can be lemov€d from horimn
amplitude maps - this process is called detuninS. If well control is sparse' statistical methods
are evailable to do this ¿pproxirnstely. See U] fo! details.

As úentioned ea¡lier (P. 43) there is a fu¡¡dametrtal ¡mbi$iry betw€e¡ the tuni¡g wave-
fo¡m ond a 90o phase shift. The results show! in this section ¿ssume s¡e really have a zelo
phase vravelet,
5 IMIERFEiETVCE AND TUN&\¡G to

Thi¡ Bod RerDoD

0.6
0. oa ldo. . St E
t¿o¡ . .0t85 r.o
0. 02 bad . 0.25 la¡rd.

0 o.gl
DaLl ¡s
-0. @
lraotl'ó ol
dcri.nú Frfo¿
-0.0{

-0. 06

Figü¡e 30: Alignment of a,ai€l€h to de!€trop tuDi¡g st b€d thic¡sr€€s ol. )'/4 = ui"¡/(A f¿o'J
Or the left a¡e the i¡dividur,l r€Aection wsvelets - Positive Éom th€ top of the bed a,Ed
negstir¡e froB the bottoD. OD the ¡igbt is th€ uct *ü¡elet P¡odued by summilg tb€ te¡o
i¡diüdu¡ls.
5 INTERFERENCE .{.\D TUN'¡NG

(^)
urvdd¡ú&Lt r l /I2'ld6)

l0 30!t40¡155055@667
(8) Bd ducblr¡ s . ¡ ol d.d¡d r.v.¡..,tt

Figu¡e 31: A¡othe! view of tu¡i!8. B) Each trace se€s a diffe¡e¡t M

thickne€s as the tbin
the b€d is
iá pio"ho ottt (darker lioes) to the left. Eigh'sroplitude t'r¡ing occu¡s vheDst this Eagic
ái*q"*t"i fzsZO .f a wovelergth thick. A) Det.il of the top/base sligüeent
possible Tbis gives an
iii"tno". e-notft"" ¡ignme¡t;albd s€cotrd tuning (not showD) is
.apUtu¿" ¡o*t much smaller tho¡ staudard, or 6rst, tu¡i¡g Seco¡d tuni¡8 is someti¡les
discussed, but seldoro seetr i¡ real d8t3.
5 I.\TERFERE.YCE AID TUI I.\C

5.1.2 Resolution

reflections are the same srgn'

Similar arguments appl)- to the case where both top and base
the thin laver' the
¡ig,rre fZl Since the.¡lavelet ha-s t¡areled dor¡'n and back up through
.""'Juilon ti-it .o..".ponds to a bed thickness of )/{' \\hen the bed is
just this thick th€
wavelet.period- Thinner
,.0 ."Ji*" t"n*rl.ns a¡e time-shifted by half of the dominant ihan )/'l and
ii""" iftf., ."a lhe top/base reflections are me¡ged into a single event; thicker
;;J;; ; *'áistinct peaks Figure 33 shows the onset of vertical ¡esolution
""".
Reflecl¡on co€fficients Geology

tffiliJ?.=^, {
L- "."
Shale

Sandstone
) 'r'i.t** = 2
fdom)
xt4
l__ "", Shale

FiSure 32: The resolütioü model (case = ++)

5.1.3 Both
thick¡¡ess is ld'-/4 The tun_
TheoreticaUy tur¡íflg 4¡d reso¡¿¿iotr occur when the bed
cotrtent tdo- of the u'avelet at¡d
-g7r"*irii." ,rric!it*" d can be predicted ftoú frequeocy
interval velocity ¿i¿¿
t:úñs
d=4=v14 z - -u!¡l
' J.ttr.
vertical travel time through
In this formula, ¿¿úning is the tuDing time thichless (two-way
the thin bed) given bY
1

to calculate tutriDg thick[ess numerF

l¡addition to the equatioDs, it is ofteD lecessary
cally because of coúplicated albitrdry-pbas€ s'svelets'
fo¡ each of the followinS pass bands:
ñess
roñ-gr,lii i", r¡-115 Hz. If the bed inrelvat velocity is 8500 ft/s, what i6 the t¡¡dng
thickt¡ess (ft) in each case?
5 IN"ERFER€NCE AND TUNING 59

Ttri¡ Bed RsepoDra

0. (5

0. 0{ ldq-Sb
t¿o¡ - .0288 ¡.o
0. 0f¡ lGr - 0.21 L¡¿.

0 0.50
Dalt ¡t
-o. t2 t ctioa ot
Ooñi¡É¡t tr.rio¿
-0. ot

-0. G

Fi$re 33: Wh€¡ both top aod b.re ¡€dectiou coo6ci€úts a¡e equ¡I, thickness = V4 co¡¡r-
spo¡ds to f¡e ouset of verticd t€solution.
5 I.VTER¡ERENCE A,\? TT,'.\'I}'G 60

()
¡.v.la úú ¡r.¡., =¡/(2rfdm)

¡!o15.{0a5$JJ@6t?0?J
(8) E d ú¡dG35 ¡9¡ of ¡ro6id e.v.l..|¡n

Figure 34: Anothe¡ view of vertical tesolutio¡ I! the lor,€r Plot e¡ch tlace s€É a differeDt
beá thickness as the {¡edge (thi! bed) piocbe out to the left. The vertical resolutioB liúit
occurs r¡hen the bed is one-qu¿¡te! waveletuth thick. Detail of the top/bas€ aligqEe¡t at
this matic thickness is show! iD the upper plot.
5 INTERFERSNCE AND TUNING

Exercise 5.2, A ¡esenoir bed has v = 3000 m/s on data with bandwidth of 2G6O Hz
and $¡e observe high-amplirude tuning . lvhst is the bed thick¡ess in the tuning s¡e¿s?
lvhat is the bed thick¡ress for tuning if the baodwidth is 2G100 Hz?

5.2 Subresolution Tl¡ickness Mapping

It is possible, thlough ra¡ious means, to estim¡te b€d thickness belo$' the resolution/tuninS
limit. These €stimates hinge on subtle cha¡8es in amplitude (tuDing) or appore¡t ftequeBcy
(resolution), s€e Figu¡e 35. These a¡e ve.y seositive to noise and precise knowledge of tbe
wave¡et. As a r€sult, the risk of getting it t 'rong pows rapidly (p¡obsbly expoDentially) as
the bed thins below resolutio¡ thickness. Figü¡e 36 is s cs¡too¡ illuat.stiDt the coDcept. A
prospect which turns on sub-resolution thiclrtl€ss mspping is I high-risk ploject. ODe w¿y
to thi¡k of the situatiori ia thst seistoic is very gqod st i¡te¡pol¿ti¡t info.DatioD betw€en
wells, a¡¡d l€ss succ€ssful at ext¡spolsting away ftom theÉ.

This üaitation should trot b€ conñ¡sed ¡¡ith süb-r6olutioD detectio!, which sttempLs
only to est¿blish whethe! o! ¡ot s thin festu¡e exist3. With good quelity $D dat¿, it m¡y be
possible to detect thi¡ beds weü below !4. This is best done by r€cog¡iziog chsract€.istic
patte¡ns, such ás c¡an¡el fores, oo tiEeslice or-horizon slice enplitude Bsps.
5 I.VTER.FER¡NCE AND TUNING 62

&d ü¡ct¡Es

Figure 35: There a¡e clues to thiclúese belov, ,\/4, includine amplitude and frequency
behavior. Hov¡ever, in real data the presence of nois€ mokes these subtle changes very
difficult to detect and relY on.

I
I
I
I

BÉd ¡ltrck|s

Figule 36r Mapping bed thicloess is ¡iBky bu8iuese, made les: risky by deDse well coltlol'
 63

Part II
Acquisition
6 Financial Aspects of 3-D Seismic

Here we conside¡ the economics of 3-D surveys while recording gmmetr-v topics a¡e deferred
to chapter 10.

We consider pre-design to be those issues which are distinct from detailed acquisition
geomet¡y and logistics. To a large extent, economics is a predesign item. Predesign includes
recommendations for time sample rate, target frequencies, bin size, su¡vey area, etc,, as w€ll
¿s cost and economics. The detailed engineering of the survey (source and ¡eceiver locations,
fold map, etc.) is only done after predesign indicates the suney is feasible.

6.1 The Big Picture: Stock Price

For a publicly t¡aded oil company, long-term success is judged on stock price and perfor-
mance. Stock price is a t¡ailing iDdicato! of compatry matragement. In a broad s€nse, stock
p¡ice is based on assets, eslni[gs, and dividends. ]D seismic data can impact these factors.

Assets Iücludes booked rcserves and carry-over ca.sh from the previous financial year. The
company assets set a floor on stock price, c¿lled the book L?lue. When a stock drops
to book value or below, investors are indicating they s€e no gro¡¡th potenti&l in the
company, 3-D seismic can na¡row unce ainty in resen€ estimates. It may inc¡e¿s€
reserves in various ways. It can also help ümit dow¡side res€ñ€ surp¡ises.

Ea¡nings Generated by revenue from p¡oduction and othe¡ sales, minus production aBd
sales expenses. Ea¡nings, and eamings g¡owth, are prime stock price factors ove¡ long
pe¡iods of time. The price-ea¡nings-¡atio, or PE, is a closely s'¿tched factor. A PE
above the ma¡ket average fo¡ similar companies indicates that investors see g¡owth
potential in the company aDd the stock. And they sre s'illi¡g to pay extla for thst
pote¡ltiol. LD seismic can hel maximizint earnings by lowering expens€s related to
the number and pla.ement of developmeot w€lls,

Dividends Psid f¡odl curreüt yea¡ cash, es d.ividends go up earnings go down. So long as
dividends a¡e stable and show soroe steady g¡o*4h, they afiect stock price !,€ry üttle.
6 F 'A.VC.¿-{¿ ASPECTS OF 3-D SEIS¡ÍIC 6d

Ho$ever. cutting dividends or dividend growth can be seen as as sign of

ñnancial
t¡ouble an<l thua lower the stock price. A stock valuation factor' but not directly
relaled to &D seismic.

Of course, 3-D seismic t5 only one Part of the flnancial piclure for a company But
it
calr be an important part if used Prope¡ly,

6.2 Economics
project there is a
Any 3D survey is an economic undertakrng [36] For a seismic/drilling
fix;d budget. ihe question is how to sllocate fr¡nds between thes€ two activities so ás to
maximize return on invested caPitsl. The connection is that seismic data redüce
drilling
risk. and that 9D seismic reduces nsk more tha¡! an equivaleút aerial coverage of
2-D
seismic. There is ample scientiñc evidence lll that 3-D seisúic is suPe¡io¡
to e!€tr a dense
grid of 2-D lines for st¡uctural, stratit¡dphic, and r€servoi! iriterPretatioa'

One cornparison that a.rises concerns shooting a 3-D su¡vey or a 8!id o{ 2_D
lines For
U.S. onshore data *e catl generalize that one square ñile of Proprietary 3-D
colelage ($25
000 - $50 000 per square mile) is cost-equivale¡¡t to slO li¡ea¡ mil€s of 2-D
data ($4000 -
$7000 per line mile). So there is a choice betwee¡¡ shootin8 the lD survey
or a 1/2 -l/4 mile
grid of2-D seismic. lvhile thes€ are cost-equivalent, they ale not equivaleDt in ¡isk-reducing
info¡úation content,

Anothe¡ common compa¡iso¡ is made betEeen the LD survey cost a¡d dly
hole cost'
risk (unkBo*'n)
On" *go" in this cai that the choice is to dlill two wells with e certah
"o,rlá
oil"ing a.yl. the &D and d¡ill one well with & certain risk (unknown' but lower)
"hoot
of being dry.
d€scribe the
In general, these single-paral¡leter economic models are too simple to really
econmics of a &D seismic survey

6.3 The Exploration Process.

poiDt of view to be
The petroleum exPlo¡ation business can be considered ftor¡ a finoDcisl
a lalue added exeicise. An explor¿tion project is aÁ exPer¡sive
long_tem uodert¿king The
lif" fto* to initial production con be l0 yea¡s or Eole For ¿D inte ratioü¿l
"y"1" "oo""pt
operation, the life cycle cotrtalDs tbese elem€8tsl
6 FL\.{ICln¿ ..ISPECTS OF 3-D 5EIS.\IIC

l. strategic planning

2. play generation (acquire. process and interp 2-D: predesign 3-D)

3. acreage acquisition (design 3-D)

{. prospect deñnition (acquire. process and interp 3-D)

5. initial discovery (calibrate 3-D with VSP or logs)

6. appraisal (extend 3-D and/or +D)

The current t¡end is to apply full cycle economics to the exploration project. This is
common among major oil companies wo¡kiDg int€mdtional projects, but U.S. la¡d op€rator
tend to do compo¡€r¡t economics.

Í\rll cycle economics R¿te of return ta¡gets ¿¡e calculsted by bundlilg all parts of the
explor&tion project life cycle.

Component economics Each major step (&D survey, well, etc.) in the explor¿tio[
project must meet rate of ¡etuto targets individually.

Risk analrsis is 6r¡ importaat pa¡t of econoraic €!€luation, It is coEEon to sttribute

risk facton (or probabilities) to va¡ious key pa¡atnet€ls. This allows high-end and low-eod
rate of return scena¡ios to be const¡ucted. Figure 37 shows part of a rÉk t¡ee.

(Prob)
ARR=?
25% 40 MMBo /1
,rourto / |

I*"o\l I
Figure 37: Part of an explo¡stioo p¡oject risk tree (ARR = anaualized rate of ¡etu¡D, P¡ob
= probabilit¡ lvlMBO = million ba¡rels of oil, PDF = probsbility del8ity fuaction).

6.4 A Savings/Gain Model

Here we will look at I compo¡e¡t eco¡oúic so¡l]5is for gD s€isEic dsta. Folon'ing [36],
the economics a¡e divided into catagories of saüngs and gains from r¡'hich net value, p¡ofit
and rate of rcturn ca¡ be develooed.
6 Fr-\'A.\cL.l¿ ASPECTS OF 3-D SEISIÍTC 66

This discussion is dPproúmate, but Sives a Sood indicalion of the economic profile of a
proposed &D survey. Ho$ever. the reader should be aware that it iSuores the iime value of
lve are not attempting a iull accounting
-oney and issues like timing of costs and expenses
of the survey aad its effects. just a reliab¡e €slimate'

A 3-D survey. land or marine. v¡ill only be done if it makes economic sense W€ rnust
proht'
save and/or gain for the suñ€y to be viable. The survey must generate a

ln whai follows. the tolal cost of the survey mr¡st be used

$r,r.¡ = $.-,'",¿¡a + $-.n",unc * $in".,p,.ro",

Some of these costs are external (acquisition snd some Processil8)

while some are int€rnal
i*rn" p.o""*ring and interp¡etation) This can make it difficult to get a real estimat€ of

Consider an oil ñeld on which s€ propose to shoot a 3D seismic srüvey'

we must
imagrne two future scenarios for the freld - one with the 3D data and one
n'ithout it To
cac"ul.t"thel'a]ueofthe}Dsrrrveywemustestimate'bywhatevermea¡s'severalkey
field paramete6 in each future.

6.4.1. Savings

There are three kinds of savings derived from ¡educinS:

1. the ¡isk of drilling dry holes

2. the risk of drilling ma¡giÁal p¡oduce¡s

3. the numbe¡ of w€lls required to produce the total ¡es€rve

How many dry

is necessory in this analysis to try and quartify the ¿voided 1isl":'
lt
data' and ¡¡hat o¡e
¡A*..J.*gi"uf p-ducers áre Ikely to be avoided by usitrt the &DEells is money sar€d'
ii" net "o"t" o'f suÁ ¡ 'ells? Mo¡ey not sPeDt on tbes€ unsuccessh (small) p¡oduction
iut *. ul"o t uu" to a"cogtDz€ ilcome thst e/ould have been generated by
ftom the malginol s'ells.

Savings are calculated froo the following formula'

Savings = (cost of dry holes avoided)

6 FI.\A.VCIA¿ ASPEC2'S O¡. }D SEIS.\IIC

+ (cost of marginal producels avoided)

- (ralue of hydrocarbor¡ lost flom marginal producers)
- (cost of 3-D sun'ey)

(cost of dry holes aroided) =

(number of dry holes aloided) * (dry hole cost)

(cost of marginal prodüce¡s avoided) =

(number of marginal producers avoided) * (production well cost)

(value of hydrocarbon Iost from marginal producers) =

(numbe¡ of marginal producers avoided) t (value of oil/gas pe¡ marginal weu).

Exercise 6.1. A &D survey has s tota: cost of S4 000 000. By using the survey, we
avoid drilling th¡ee dry hol€s, vrith ¿ Det cos: of $500 000 each. We also avoid tn o m¡¡gitral
producers, with a net cost of $ I 200 000 eaab. The marginal producers would have geaerated
oil/t¿s worth $2, 000 000 / *'ell. Whst is tbe ssüngs reálized by this gD sur!€y?

6.4.2 Gains

Savings are only half of the pictu¡e, gains ale the other half. Gains ere achielcd by increas-
ing the totsl volume of recoverable reselves, Iess the productioo well costs to ext¡act this
new rcserve. Cains can be defined ¿.s oet value of additional recoverable ¡eserve directly
attributed to the sulvey.

Gains are calculated as follo*s,

Gains = (llalue of new re6erve6 dttlibutable to &D survey)

- (productioa well costs to ext¡act the ¡ew resen€s)

where

(ploduction well cqsts to ext¡act the Eew !€s¡ri€s) =

(number of additional p¡oduci¡t welb required) t (production rlell co6t).
6 FL\-.1-\CI-'I¿ TTSPECTS OF 3-D SEIS'\ÍIC 68

From the savings and the gains we calculate

Net ralue o[ ]D survey = savings + gair¡s

\1'e must also allo*' for expenses (tax. royalties etc ) to calculate p¡ofit

Profrt = (net value of 3-D survey) - (value of new rese¡ves):r

- if (ralue oi new reserves) > 0
*'hereristhefractionalexpense¡atio.ThisissayingthatweonlypayexPensesonProduced
on countryr Partnership
h-vdrocarbons. T¡pical expense ratios are 2_ 4 (2S40%) depending
arrangements, €[c.

Another useful quantity is the lifetime rate of letum (%)' LRR' on

the !D survev

LRR % = 100*(pro6t)/(cost of LD sürvev)'

An LRR of 1OO% means that you recovered the moley invested i¡r the survey'
20070

mea¡rs ,ou recovered twice the moneyt etc-

if no 9D
Exercise 6.2. A field will Produce 10 millio!¡ bbls of oil (assume $20/bbl)
i" aon". If the survey froro Exercise 6 l is dooe, it is estit":*.'11
fr"Il ."l]
T:1Y
ii rnittio., u¡t". Tno additional producing w€lls will hal,e to be d¡illed to extract the n€w
"uro.f
reserves. What is the gain realized by the su¡vey?

value of the LD survey?

Exe¡cise 6.3. Floro the h¡¡o prevlous exercises, whst is the net
What is the LRR
If e*penses run at 35%, what is tbe Pro6t achieved by this &D survey?
on the 3-D investment?

to eJcPress financi¿l
While LRR may seem like a natlüál measure' it ia mole cofomo!¡
Derformsnce of an in!€stment in te¡ms of a[nualized
rate-of-retüln' ARR The ARR is
tased on the finance equation for timevalue of money

Fv = Pv(L+ i)" ,
6 FINANCIA¿ ASPECTS OF 3-D SEISAÍIC 69

where Py is present value, Fy is futule v¿lue. i is rate of retü¡r¡ Per Peliod' a¡d n is tbe
number of pe¡iods.

If we kt¡ow the present value of our investment, the futule value of ou¡ in!€stmeot, atrd
ihe oumbe¡ of periods, we can find the rate of return Per Period froñ
Í Fvlt/"
'=lfrl '
Furthermore, if the number of periods ¡epaesents yea¡s' then this gives the sn¡ual rate of
retuln on our invest͡ent

Example:
You buy $20 000 worth of stock io a Srowth comPany, hold the sha¡es six yea¡s, and sell
the stock for $28 500. What is the ARR oD you¡ inv€stmelt?

, = [2-!-!Q1'/u-,
tto oool

: h,ff,'*'-'
= 6.O8Vo a¡n ttn,

Example:
You buy $28 500 worth of stock in 8 gro*th (?) company, hold the sha¡6 six years, a¡d
sell the stock for $20 000. Wh¿t is the ARR o¡¡ your i¡ve3tme¡t?

,= [ffi]""-'
: l1:#ll'*'-'
= -5.73Yo o;ñn r'
In the s gD sei*nic su¡!€y, we take the i¡iti8l i¡v6tme¡t (PV) to be the cost of
caae of
the survey. The (recorered) co€t of the &D su¡vey plt¡s the P¡oñt repr€s€¡ts tbe Fv The
a¡¡ru¿liz€d ¡ate of retur¡, ARR, o¡ capit¿l i¡vested iD the &D seisDic is give¡ by

.--
AnK= fCostsD + Prof \tt" _¡
l_@E_j
Note that whed r¡ = 1 (i.e., the peliod is the life of the project) we get ba4k to oul oúgi¡81
def¡itio¡ of LRR. Figu¡e 38 shoa's i¡put pa¡smeters a¡d ¡€sult€ i! s coEpact fo¡ú.
6 FI}A.\CI.,T¿ ASPECTS OF 3-D SEISTIrc 70

Once ARR is estimated the decision whether or not to make the !D seismic investment
is one of relative l'alue. In a sense the seismic dolla¡s a¡e in competition with llinS' d
refineries, and other captial investments atr integrated company útlst make Also'
the
seismic ARR ne€ds to be in line with internal company targets, which in turn a¡e driven
by external factors. In particular. ferv would make the high-risk investment in seismic
data
iithe ARR were less than the risk-free yield available from U S Tteasury 3Gyear bonds
(currently about 5.5%).

Exercise 6.4. Assüme the shooting aIId Productiou Project described in the P¡eviot¡s
three exe¡cises has a lifetime of 10 years. Wlat is the ARR of the 9D seismic investment?

l7 S/bbl
600 000 ¡
r 350 ülo s
duc to !D sun.v
l Nuhb.r of dty hol.s avord.d
2 Nu¡nbcr of mafr|nal produccB ar ordéd!!! !9ri:qMl
bbl ¡"-cra*"marg'n¿ po¿u.t'on fmn c¡ch mdt *cll¿rode(
120 mo
2 ó50 000 ñctor_lDru-eytp..m't*¿.qure+pro..s3+¡nt.rPctr
tó0 {xro bbt nodrrional rcscnes attri¡q¿U!49.Lq-glcf
2 F¿onon¡ o,o¿uc'ng *clts ."qu¡Bd to.rka.t add rccrve
e,+.''rc ta.t . to".44.q4¡¡9.¡3l,¡91
l0 Lifc of Drcier (úmc to crrtrl rcsed.s I

-2 210 000 $ Savrnrr senerat.d bY 3'D r€rtnic

l0 5?0 000 óa¡nr rcn€raÉd bY 3'D !.|!n!!
E 340 000 f Nci v.lue of 3-D s.Énic
3 221 000 ¡ Áfrcr l;¡ orolir from 3'D scishrc Inv.stm.nt
t2t.62 il¡m ar¡ ofrcrum on l.D sssnic
Ánnualzed Btc ofrcNmon 3_D seisñic

Figure 38: A quick_scan economic onalysis This one may not be 6

wi¡ne¡ since it is a rislry
i.ri""t."nt *iih a u".y small premium belond the lisk-ftee rate of returu (3$)€ar bond
yield,5.5%).

Nlostoften,3-Dseismiceconomics¡¡edrivenbyadding¡€seÑ€swhich¡ne¿ú68aro.
there arc xceptions: Very high
Gains can be very big, savings a¡e usually smaller' But
J"rl'"*[ ."t" Uiá savinis, erea if the surrcy is expeosive and little o! no edditional
"""
reserves are discoverd.
 6 FIAANCI,.I¿ ASPECTS OF 3-D EISTIIC 7l

Exercise 6.5. You a¡e now working in the North Sea where 3-D surve),s and wells
are very expensive. The 3-D survey cost is Sl million. dry hole cost is $10 million, a.od
a production well is $20 million. Marginal producers average $2 million worth of oil/gas
production. ,A.ssume the &D survey has allowed you to avoid one dry hole and one marginal
producer. What savings are realized from this 3-D survey?

In summaD,. to determine economic feasibility the parameters that we mr¡st estimate

into the future are listed in the table below. Oil is a.ssumed in this csse. but the exrcnslon
to sas is obvious.

Pa¡ameter
Survey area
Acquisition cost $/ u¡lit area
Processing cost $/ unit a¡ea
Interprctation cost $/ unit a¡ea
Permitting cost $/ unit area
Dry hole cost $/ ¡lell
Produce! cost $/ well
Res€rves without !D bbl
Reserves with 3-D bbl
Oil price $/bbl
Dry holes avoided number
Iúarginal p¡oducers avoided number
Nf arginal well productioD bbl/well
Additional p¡oducers required number
Fractional expense latio number

6.5 Some Industry Tlends

One important factor coBcerning economic justificatio¡t of a gDseismic project is where ia

the life cycle of a ñeld the su¡-vey is dotre. If shot in the ea¡ly life of a field, the $D costs
a¡e weighed atainst all futu¡e benefit the su¡vey provides. However, if the LD is a¿quired
in the late stages it is mo¡e dificult to make rate of leturn ta¡gets because the fleld has less
pote¡tial. These facts have resulted in a steady move toward shooting LD seismic ea¡lie¡
in the 6eld development cycle, as eüdetrced by Figure 39 (after [12]).

Costs for land LD a.quisitioo vary widely ftom are¿ to area depeoding on te¡¡a¡n,
pe¡mitting, and othe¡ factors. Ho$¡ever, the general t¡eod is towa¡d more e6cient ñeld
 6 FII¡{¡VCIAL .'ISPEdIS OF UD SEISIúIC

50

440
a30
:
!20 ./.-' "::---\''-. :-----_:,
E¡n
z
0-
pr"-r"t""r, E¡Plo¡ation Elclincation Ea¡ly dcv Lrtr d'v'
StrS. oafdd l¡ldoD@t
tbé tre¡d tof,ta¡d shoot'
Figure 39: &D seiemic suveys acquired by Er<ol 1980'92 showi¡g
i!¿ 3-D d¡ta ea¡lie! i! tbe ñeld de've¡opoent cyclc'

¡horys some
ptocedurea 8Dd fslli¡g co6ts o¡ ¡ dolla¡ pe¡ p¡esta'k t¡¡ce b08is- ' Figute'10
^ j
;ec€ot o.quisitio¡ ond plici¡g t¡e¡ds froE s '¡gle €oviro¡ú€dt
(froo ["2])'
6 FfiANCIA¿ ASPECTS OF 3-D SEIS¡Í/C 73

E t.4
E 1)
I
0.8

0.4

0
F F!too\o-o¡
atoóooro\0\
Ya¡r
1.6
ah
t.4
1.2
I
0.8
ü o.4
o.2
0
Fn@o\o-N
F@@@O\(^dr
or cl or0\o\o\ o\

Ya¡r
Figure 40: Recent t¡ends for lal1d ]D seismic a¡e fo¡ more efficient operatioris leadi[g to
falling prices oD a pe¡-trace basis. These data a¡e for onshore Indonesia.
7 2.D }cQU ISITION GEOTfETRY

2-D Acquisition Geometry

Acquisition geometry for 2-D seismic data contains many elements commol to 3D acqui
sition. \t'e *'ill review 2-D acquisition by goint, in detail, th¡ough the geometry section
of the line heade¡ for a Unocal line, Figure 41. Throughout the descriPtion, *'here it will
clarify n¡atters the original item name will be placed in capitals atrd parentheses (e'9,
TRACES/RECORD) for reference.

The recording system used had 240 date inPut channels (TRACES/RECORD)'

The fundamental rcceiver unit is a geophone sensitive to vertical Sround motion, se€
Figure 42. As ihe geophone moves wiih the Sround (os it has to, since the spik€ is stuck
in the ground), we have a conductor (wire coil) moving in a magÍ€tic field (f¡om the
permanent magnetic core). The r6ult is electrical curreot out the wires labeled +/-, which
goes (ultimately) to an analog-to-ditital co¡¡verte¡

This line used a geophone array consisting of 24 individual geophoDes (geophones/8rouP)

on the perimeter of a rectar¡gle llGft long ¿¡d 2Gft wide (GEO DIMENSIONS). Th€
long dimension is palallel to the üDe directio¡. The 8€oPhone has a 10 Hz (CEOPHONE
NfODEL) resonsnt ftequency, which meáDs it is reliable for Fequencies at¡ove about l0 Hz.
The geophone array consists oftvro strings of 12 geophones (PHONES/STRING) hardwired
togethe¡. All 24 elements of the geoPhone alray go iDto o¡e si8üal, representing one channel
into the recording system. The role of the geophone array is to p¿ss reflections which come
f¡om below and thus strike all geophones at the same time. But source-generated ground
roll (Rayleigb waves) moves along the a¡r¿y past differeot geoPhones at different timesi son¡e
geophones are moving up while others a¡e moving down. If the alray is properly desigDed'
these surface waves will pass the array without ge[erating s üet signal. The cent€r to center
distance betwe€n geophone aüays (GROUP INTERVAL) is 80 Í1.

The source for this liae is vibroseis, a controll€d source which puts a signsl into the
ground. The signal is called a sueep. Figure 43 shows the ñequency cootent of a few
common kinds of s¡¡€eps, but swe€p technolos¡ is ¿ whole freld of study and s€ canDot
pause here to develop it. The li¡e uses ¿ source arloy consistiüg of tb¡ee vibroseis t¡ucks
iNUlfneR Of UXfiS), spaced 53 ft apart (UNIT SPACINC) fo¡ a total lentth of 107 ft
(SOURCE/ARRAY). This is basically budpe! to bumP€¡. Figure 't4 gives a scaled drawing
of the shootiDt teoaoetry, i¡cluding source strd receiver arrays.

Since this is a 2-D liDe, the ¡eceil€r a!¡ay i5 a lont rectangle desigaed to deal üth surfáce
waves traveling along the üüe. Fo! !D shooting' r¡e will want to reject sudo'e weves Soing
in any direction. Filure 45 shows hov¡ a squa¡e ar¡ay might better ¿¡comPli8h thi6 Soal'
7 2-D ACQUISITION GEO\\ÍETRY

UNOEAL@
Llr€ 1 ( tllGRnT¡ON-NORrnL )

u.P.a¿ RnNG€ 1@1 - ¡S59

PREEFECT sII¡€MT
cd¡rfY l{ T$(É6
FECM€O RT Kis
0ñ1E R€Cm€D 1S
PFTESSED BT S€¡S ¡RTPH SERVICE LE
mE Pf,fress€o 1sx)
C(nlECÍ ¡O.l |"€LGI TY 9OO FEEI p€R SECO.o
m¡tr 3t@ FT.
SPEC¡NL REMNFKS
Én¡aN¡A- scÉE: 4 InvntLE
NI

ssc - s6P
INFTTfI{ #F
A¡t-oqrEt
ú'¡(rA- - LG

RECORD-¡ I¡6. MA¡4ETERS . ANO GEOHETRY

LIt€ FRGESSII€ ltl¡ - SE ll{¡lR.Erff llls oFS v
sd,RcE utStG€ts
TnÍEs/ÉE(m aao
GFo¡o s€IEr
FIELD FILTER
oFs vr I
GSD Ot¡F\6rO6 20 x tro Pr 8,/ta a-tazz a dJl
tz
EEFtOf iEÉL G6C 2CD 1OI¿ r€ró{
ÉrFr(}G9Gtü.P
Fro€s/sTR¡ r€
21
t2
gFf'Lg ¡I|ERJH.
gfEP !6Gllr ta sEc
ñlrg *t¡6 1o F lrllr€ IECCFD LE¡GII{ ts sEc
GFo'P ¡t{fERN- S F' E€EP FIÉO6fi I¡RIgEEP
so¡cE tir|Entq- 1E) F F60 ra-7? ¡6-A4
SO.aCE/*iFr llC1.€-19 F
f¡Íl ro,Ert o fl
+s ¡¡-r08
+te s-!+l
23-r2o
rxri gPÉl¡6 st Ff !*táe.€ tFÉR s€E G
sraEPS FER t¡,Út
t{lGR c rr¡t¡s
t3 EfiENO!
fR! tRr20 tü?r tE¡ao
9?O - &--x-A- %O

Figure 41: Part of line header ftom a 2-D seismic üae (mu.rtesy Uüocsl Corporatioü). The
plocessing part of the liüe header is üot show¡.
; 2,D ACQt'.lsl'trc.\ cEolfErRY

tr a
a
a
a
a

l-
a a
a l'*l
tl---I--- a
a

@ro ror @l
Figure 42: Outside and inside view of a Seophone'

of
But ¡emember, the ¡eceive! array is orly part of the story' It is the combined ¡esponse
both source and receiver arrays whic-h dete¡mines actual surface wave sup¡esslon
(SWEEP
At a¡y source point the thlee uaits each sweep' or vibrate, in uniso¡ for 12 s
TI\IE), ;hile the ¡ecording systeú Iistens for l5 s (LISTEN TIME) The three secotrd
difierence between sweep time arid list€n time is th€ length of ñDal traces
after s process
shot was refreated atrd
called ta¡mse¿s .,,nelatiott- After eacb sweep, and a short delay, the
the¡esultaddedtothefirstsweeP.Thiscontinuesstotalofeithttimes(SWEEPSPER
random
UNIT) fo¡ each soulce point. This is called uert¿cal staching all'd helFs attenuate
eiSht-fold vertical
noise. The vertical sta.k of this liae is eight, or it might be said to
have an
stack.

The sweep details ale given, but it is bsicatly a troaliúea¡ sweeP

froE &144 Hz Or
linear
¡ ,rruy ¡"
-ó""t¡tt each of the eight sweeps making up the vertics'l sta'k has a difie¡ent
signal and
of üÜroseis is the ability to precisely t¿ilor the source
"*""i "rát.n
have'multiple 60 00Gpound trucks Pouúdrng energy into the
g¡ound over.a period of severol
ii g"t**"ihe equiraleni energr with dynaeite (released io about 15 r¡¡5) v'ould
""".rá".
gene¡ate quite a crate¡!

The small sketch wbich looks like this:

7 2-D .ICQUISITION GEO-\fETRy 77

A|P.spcc. of l¡rÉ!. hp.sp.c. of T-pd.á"

t ri

nhp.sp.c. of dDl)ct.ve ft'p.3p!c. of linor-scgÉt

Figure 43: Vib¡oseis is a source techoolory which allows precis€ control of the sou¡ce fre-
quency content. Ilere a¡e four aEplitude spectrd tbat Digbt coEEoDly be eDcountered i¡r
wo¡ki¡g with vibroseis.
7 2.D ACQUISITION GEO¡}fETRY 7E

ñaaroll¡at ¡ 2(I,

l-- tó()

-l

F- 0
übñror | \ürloaz $trüor3
B l- t0?
ll F¡s-'{
-l
5ot¡0a aiBt

Figüre 44: Ilt¿p view scaled d¡awi¡8 of shooti!8 geooetry d€3criH i¡ the line header' R
boies are receiver flag locatio¡s, a¡¡d S bo(es a¡e sbot loc¿tio¡s. All diroe¡sio¡s s'e i¡ feet,
and details are given for the source and receiver arrays R€ceir¡er alr¡ys Psrtially ove¡lop
and are show¡ st¿gge¡ed fo¡ clority.
7 2-D ACQUISITION CEO¡\ÍETRY

2-D gcophon. day añd 2-D g€ophonc arr¿y ed

cossline surfacc wavc

(A) (B)
3-D gdphonc atr¡y ánd 3-D g.ophoñc aff¡y a¡¡d
cüslim 3u¡f¡.! wavc

(c) (D)

Figure ,15: Concept of 2-D a¡d 3D ¡eceive¡ arays. A) A 2_D array cancels an i¡li¡e surfdce
wave because half of the geophooes a¡e going up while the other h¿lf are Soing dowo. B)
The sa¡!¡e a¡ray ca.¡oot cancel a surfaae wave Soing i¡ tbe crosslitre direction. C) and D) A
3-D array has equal power to reject iDline ard crossline su¡face v¡aves.
7 2.D ACQU ISI'IIO.Y CEO.\IETRY 80

TRl TR12O TR121 TR24O

9720 - 200--X--200 - 9720

says the far offset is 9720 ft, the near ofiset is 200 ft. and the dat& is shot sl.rnmetric_split-
spread (the source is in the middle). The TR labels identify how the traces within a shot
record are organized on taPe.

This style of shooting is c^lled common-rnídpoin¿ (Ct!lP) shooting. and is summa¡ized

in Figures {6 - J8.
aaaaaaa

a aaaaaa
Figure 46: A shot record shorvint sou¡ce, receivers, rays, refl€ction Poi¡ts, and midpoints'

a
aaaaaaa
aaaaaa

aaaaaaa
dista[ce
Figure 47: A s€ismic ürle is acquired by rolüog the sbot s¡d leceive¡s s certsin
forward. This giws more than one t¡ace with the saúe midpoint'
 EI
7 2.D ACQÍj]ÍSITION GEOMETRY

t¡Setber
which ü\¡e dt- lhe CMP locsf¡od wiU b€ Proces€€d
Fi.u¡e 48: All the tr¡c€s at
'r'o€ to nd¡' oDe stt'L trace thst uv€E
os; f¡sily. Ultinstely they wiu be *áJ iJ"¿"¿l they s¡e oddcd
thil locstio¡. Many processrng stepe t*i"i't*Éo-"
trac€s beÍo¡e
'he
togethe¡.
 82
S SUR1EY PREDESICN

Survey Predesign

8.1 Acquisition Parameters

three cata8ones
which drive survey design can b€ divided into
Itajor items
ftom other
supPly logist¡cs; sou¡ces of cultu¡al nois€i i[terference
Operational Access;
surreYs [2{])
avail¿bility
of field; seismic c¡eq' costs aDd
Economic Surr'ey budgetl economics
r¡¡e c¡ili conceotlete on'
GeoPhysical These are the ones
(thi8
paramete¡s to geoPhysical coDcerna &s follows
we cao relate ce¡tain acquisitiori
gource):
assumes vittroseis

concef¡
Acquisitio¡ velocitY (r,
tror¡
Ambieút tro¡se
Sicoal-to-noise (S/N)
Sweep length Ambieüt üo¡8€
Soü¡ce efiort
Si;alio-noise (S/N)
Depth, ¿
Target dePth end diffractions
ListeB túe
Source/recEn¡ER ilterval Spatial aliasi¡g, c!|P sPacrng
(o,l)of grouad roll
Receiver arraY
Grouud roll
Experimentsl
Recordi¡g sPrea'd layout Ape¡tu¡e and fold
Target siz€, r¡ig¡atioo aPerture
Image a,rea
RecordiDg sP¡ead size

Adetailedexsmplefol}DlúdU.s.a¿qubitiolisgirenaoddircussedil[2fl:
ExalBple
P¿rameter
12-96 Hz
S*eep bald

6 vib!¿to!3, 6 sweePs
4 s beyo¡rd sw€€P
660/110 ft
Sou¡ce/leceive¡ interval
12 pbo¡ee i¡ 2&ft circle
Eeceiver aúaY
768 cha¡¡€16
R€co¡ditrg sPread layDüt
1.5 x 1.0 foileg
P@corditrg sprcad size
 83
8 SURVEY PREDESICN

Some land recomrnendations:

L insist on good geophone Plants (angle and coupling)

2. mofritor vibrator Performance

3. check geophone array and instruments

thoroughly
qua¡ity
use field úonitori[8 and processint to optimize oversll dats

8.2 Rrsolution
kiBds of resolution P€ople
A key concerü in ¿ny seismic proiect is t€¡ol¿¿¿o|r' There ¿¡e te¡o
';;;J;"ot,rioi
l#'J;;. i" tl" ouititv to identifv indiüdual peal'.s on a s€ismic trace
**iii"i.o -i ¡"* of geologic uoit or bá (asview' seen earlier in Figu rc-33\' .lateml ''sol1'tion
such as small reefs arrd chan¡el feature€'
o'iil" n"*Jd" feat'.'re" in 'nap
"iiiiói. "*
;;;;;i;;lt;i." local velocitv nea¡ the f€8ture of interest 6nd ftequeacv
a¡e based on
conteút of the wave¡et.

E.2.1 Vertical Resolution

and bed thickness, l¡..The ve¡tical
ve¡tical resolution is b¿s€d oÁ wavelength, ) = r-,¡.¡/J¿o-,
iofe!¡ed io th€ d¿ta ftom distinct
.;ñ;limir, )¿d/4, is the thinn€st bed th¿t c¿n bereflections ftom the bed a¡e of the
too and tr¿se ¡eflections. Th¡s assumes thst toP/bss€
sarne polarity. snd the w¡velet is zero Pha¡e'
or it has sxb'zsolutioÍ thíckress'
For Hs thinner th¡n I/4 the M is b€loü' t€6o¡ü¿io¿
See chapter 5 for a detailed dccouot of
interference 8nd tuninS'

These effects are sumú¡s¡ized i¡ the follo{'ing table'

Case Seismic efiect Top/base R

Top distinct Eqoal
Higb a¡¡Iplitude tuoitrg Opposite
h<^/4 Amp builds to 2R EquEl
Amp d€c¿ys to 0 Opposite
h Lirrit of detectsbiütY Oppo6ite
=
^/r5
 84
8 SL'RIEY PR'DESTG.Y

Frequenca (H¿)
20 40 60 aot00 120

L? rao

Frequ.ñca (Hz)
20 40 60 80 100 120
1s0.00

I v\A,_
'
3-6 s.c :
6000
'tt:-:

Frrqr.¡or*g (!f¿)
m ,€ 60 80100 t2o

5.? t.o

a!!d
Figure 49: Vertical re€olution decle8es
with depth due to loss of high frequeDc¡es
itrcre¿s€ in seismic lelocity'
8 SUR!'EY PR¿DESIGN 85

As shoqn in Figure 19, vertic¿l resolution is a function of depth (or travel tiñe).

Exercise E.I. What is the thinnest resolvable bed for a 1S80 Hz survey over a talget
with interval velocity of l0 000 ft/s? 20 000 ft/s?

Some points on vertical resolution:

l. tuDirig a¡d resolution occur at the same thick¡¡ess

2. thickness mapping below l/4 is higher risk

3. instantaneous amplitude aod frequency can be used as indicators of sub-resolutio!

thickness

4. limit of detectability requi¡es u¡ususl ci¡cu[rstá,Áce3 related to sig[st quslity ü¡d

8eolory
5. detuning is possible if s€veral wells s¡e ¿ldl¿ble

E.2.2 Latera.l Resolution

Befo¡e mig¡ation, later¿l ¡esolution is limited by the Fr€snel zone 8s discussed io ch¡pter 19.
Mig¡atioD improves lateral resolution, ¿R, to the theoretical üBit of

¿s=+=#'- '
However, this can ody be achieved if the survey is properly desigoed aad €r@cuted. Sp€cif-
ically, the bi¡ size catr s€t a liúitatioo

t a= uo,[l.zai,,]
L'J

Exercise E,2. What is the late!¿l resolutio¡ of a lG90 Hz d6ta set witb bi¡ size of b5
ft, io relation to a bed with idterval velocity of 7500 ft/s?

Sortre points on latelal resolution:

1. va¡ies with depth

8 SLIRYEY PREDESICN 86

:. is sorse than theoreiical if bin size is too large

much worse before mig¡ation

{. useful for setting error limits on ñap view fault location (Figure 50)

for.orre"r design equal to tsice the tra.e spacing

Ckcle whosc
ndius is equ¿l

Figure 50: Lateral ¡esolution is iúpo¡tant in uoderstandi¡g the accuraay of &D s€ismic
data in locating featu¡es of interest. For example, a f¿ult msy seem to be precis€ly located
but actually has some uncerlainty.

8,3 Signal-to-Noise R-atio

Seismic data always contains nois€ as well ás si8nal. The signals \r'e are interested in are
primary reflections and any othe¡ kind of e!€ot or ¡andom jitter is cor¡sidered nois€ The
signal-to-norse mlio (S,v) describes hos¡ strong the signal is relative to the random noise'
ft is the ratio of peak sig¡¡al amplitude to ave¡age nois€ aúpütude'
lfodem recording is 16, 24, or 32 bit analog-to-diSital conversion, which allo\¡¡s very
small signals to be f;ithfully recorded. But these s¡[all siSna]s ale only useful if the 5r'
ratio is high. The process of vib¡oseis correlation can signifrcaotly imp¡ove SN Usuallf
raw ,9N is taken to be that observed on correlated ñeld traces fo¡ vib¡os€is work'

The primary method for 5N enbancement is stackrng There ale two kinds of st¿rckin8
Vertical stacking is the repetition of a shot plofile in the 6eld with the result ftom each
shot being addá to the pre\¡ious shots. Tnical vertical stacks are I (msrin€) to 6
(la¡d'
vibroseis).
associated
Comeon-midpoint (CMP) stackhg is a dat¿ Processi¡8 step whele all t¡8ces
with a ce¡tait¡ positioo on the earth su¡face ¡re added to give a siDgle trace ¿t that PositioD'
E SI,RYEY PREDESIGi\¡ E7

The number of traces added in CllP stacking is called the CI\IP fold, and t¡pical oumbers
are 20 (low-fold land 3-D) to 200 (2-D marine).

For 2-D data the CNfP fold is give¡ by

¡f'R'
FzD=-:9'
where is the number of channels, S, is the shot interval, and & is the receiver g¡oup
inter!al.^¡.

I¡
either stacking process, 5,1 is improved by y'rT where N is the numbe¡ of traces
summed ir¡ the stack. This applies to incoherent, or aandodr, noise or¡ly. The net efiect of
both vertical and CNfP sta.kilg is to produce a¡ impiovement iÁ Srv of

sNI =,/frE;
and
S¡¡ = S,va S,vr .

Tbis factor ca¡ repreaent an important improvement io data quslity.

Some points oo sig[al-tonois€ latio and improlement,

l. at¡biguous to quantify and not used as a hard design criteria

2. main thi¡8 that rookes dats look 'good" v. "b6d"

3. vertical stack is an expensive ñeld procedure
4. geophor¡e a¡ray is also imfrorta¡t
5. staaking (of a¡y ki!¡d) oDly knock dow¡ m¿dom noise

ExercGe 8.3. In a certain a¡ea the ra$' S/v ratio is 1.25 (ñoru ñeld test). What is the
ñnal S¡ if a 2-D line É shot with the followi¡g p¿¡ameters?
t!aces/shot 240
shot i¡¡tewal 160 ft
¡eceiver interv¡l 80 ft
teophones/g¡oup 24
ssr€eps/shot 8
vibs/shot 3
8 SL?IEY PREDES¡G.\ 88

0.4

Stack (s/n:l ; fold=50)

Figure 51: Stacking tends to cancel random noise. ln this example, 50 trac€s have thre€
identical signals embedded in ¡andor¡ ¡lois€ On each individual trace ^9N is 1. These traces
are summed sideways (stacked) to make the st¿cked trace shoe¡ú on the right (it is rep€ated
se\eral times for visibiüty). Whst is SN of the sta.ked t¡ace?
8 SURVEY PREDESIGN 89

8.4 Listen Time and Maximum Offset

It would do little good if a seismic survey were shot aDd processed with 3 s of data and it
turned out that the target horizon was at 4 s. The ¡equired recording time, ¿.G, can be
estimat€d by

t* ¿!! G +4.2
where v is the average velocitf and x is the maximum offset, z is the tartet depth.

The ¡ule for maximum offset is r ^,

z, !,¡hich gives a simpüñed fol¡ú

,^*¿3!1

This formula represents a ,a@ of 1.4 timé the leflectio! time of a hori?,ontal leflecto.
at taltet depth. This allows eüough tiBe fo¡ horizo¡tal rcflections, ñoder¿tely dippi¡g
reflectior¡s, atrd difiractions from the tartet depth (see Figu¡e 52). Ilowever, this should be
used ¿s a cons€native estimate since deeFr events may be of iDte¡6t, and because curved
¡ay effects a¡e not taken iÁto accouDt. Use a longer f-* if very steep diF and/o¡ tu¡nhg
wav€s are expected.

Some points on listen time:

1. safe direction is la¡ger

2. ú-- will be a¡r integer value (1,2,3, etc.)

3. allos¡ more time for tumint wa\¡es (likely in cldtic basi¡s oúly)
'ou¡g,
Exe¡cise 8.4. Is 3.5 s listen time süñcie¡t i[ a¡ a¡e8 where the ts¡get depth is 3 ko
and the average velocity is 2 km/s? Assume dip€ are r¡ode¡ste.

8.5 Time-Sample Rate

Sampülg rtrust be adequate in time, space, offset, a¡d azibuth. Figüe 53 shows the ide6 of
adequate time sampling. Imagine tbe high ñequency curve is sampled 8t tbe dot locstio¡s,
theD we try to reco¡rstruct the origiasl cu¡ve. Cleallf tbe dots 6re too fs.r apart (i! tiEe)
 8 SL?TEY PREDESIGN 90

Disbnce (ft)

1000

^ 2000
;
t 3000

4000

5000
2000 4000 ó0m 8000 10000

(A)
Disrancc (fi)

o.2

,= o.B

1.2

1.4

40m 6000 t000 10000

(B)
Figure 52: (A) CommoD ofiset exPeriment over an ealth Eodel with faulted i¡telfa'e (beo1T
line). Two kinds of events a¡e retu¡tred, ¡eflectioos (dssh) ¿¡d difi¡actions (solid) (B) Time
datá ftom the experime¡t showiog reflectiols and diff¡actioos' We oeed to tecord eoough
time for both. The eveDt labels relate to ¡ayPaths iD the upper plot' Mig¡etion wiü u.ge the
difiractiotr eDer6¡ to rebuild the faulted bed terEi¡stions.

^\
8 SURYEYPR'DESIGN 91

to do this. lnstead, \¡€ would reconstruct the low-f¡€quency curve shown. This effect is
called ¿€mpo¡al alidsing, or simply aliasint. B¿sically, any ft€quency it¡ ou! d¿ta above a
magic value, called Nyqüst, is alia.sed.

For a given time sample rate, d¿, the hithest frequency that can be ¡eliably measuled
is the Nyquist frequency, t¡r, given by
-1
"'- 2dt
Fo¡ good amplitude control, the highest actual frequency in the data, /--, should not
exceed one-half of the Nyquist ftequency. Using this rule, the desitn condition for d¿ is

d¿=
frl
< nLml
This É termed n/f]¿riíg at ha[-Nyqx¡¿. The farthe¡ the sun€y is tuo uoder Nyquist, the
less yrorry there is of clippiog amplitude3 impo¡tant to AVO ¿ld reservoir analysis.

Nyqüst frequency is the primary re¡son fo¡ choooi¡t s time sample rate, but there is
another issue to consider i¡ ¿reas of subtle stluctuae. Coosider ¿ prospect that hiDges oD
30 ft of closu¡e st 2000 ft d€ptb i¡ rocks witb idtervsl !€locit¡€6 of l5 000 ft/s. If tó@ = 70
Hz tber s time-s¿¡aple rate of 4 ¡¡3 mitht b€ recommeoded, But, the t¡aveltiEe difierence
for a locatioo oD structu¡e a¡d off i6

4¡'
2dz :::i::Án
= ----!
r, = I¡ U|"U = .004 ¡,
which is one time sample. In order to get s few additioDal points for coo6de¡ce, the time
sample rate could be lo$e¡ed to I ms. This would i¡cu¡ little or Do extra aaquisitio! co6t.
But processi¡g at I !¡5 ¡atber thao 4 ms q'ill be moae expensive.

It is common praatice to acquire, process, á¡d interplet at diffe¡ent time sample rates.
Each time the sample r¿te is doubled, the volume of data to work with is cut in h¿lf. A
t)?ical modern survey úight acquir€ at 1 r¡s, process ¿t 2 ms, 6¡d inte¡pret st 4 ms.
Some points ou time saeple r¿tel

t. ssfe direction is s¡Dalle!

2. for careful ampütude coutrol üse dt les! tha[ 0.5 or 0.3 tiues Nyquist
3. smaller d¿ costs alrDost nothi¡t at acquis¡i¡oo tiE¡e (Btolage eedia oDly)
8 St,?!€Y PR'DESICN

.t. processing cost and data size iD bltes is io!€rsely proPortional to d¿

structural resolution cao also b€ a consideration

Exercise E.5, In a high-resolution ma¡ine seismic survey you exPect to recor<l trequen_
cies up to 90 Hz. [f amplitude control is imPortant, what should be the time sample rate
of the data? (You¡ choices are t. 2. 3, or 4 ris)

-1

Time

Figure 53: The concept of aüasiog in one dimension (time). The hith frequency curve is
saÁpled at the dot loc¿tions, sr¡d we attempt to ¡econst¡uct the o¡idnal This caÍnot be
done becaus€ the samples are too far apart itr time.

8.6 CMP Fold

For a 3-D sulvey to yield good data quality, the taryet fold should be about one-half of
the fold requited to shoot good 2-D dat¿ in the 6¡e6. This is s ¡esult of Big¡etioD 6¡d diP
moveout which result in mole mixinS of !D data tha¡ occuÉ io 2-D

Some points oD fold:

l. high fold costs more at scqubitio! time

2. lor¡ fold (< 10) $D has bee¡ successft¡l

8 SL?!aE¡" PREDESIG-Y 93

3. lower fold $i!h right bin size may be better lhan high fold with wrong bin

8.7 Spatial Aliasing

Spatial aliasing is an eFect of trace spacing relstive to frequencf relocity and slope of a
seismic event. l\'ith adequate trace spacing, the points along a seismic event are seen and
processed as part of the continuous e!€nt. llJlen trace spacing is too coarse. individual
points do not seem to coalesce to a continuous eveDt, which confus€s not only the eye but
processi¡rg programs as *ell. This can serionsly deg¡ade data quality and the ability to
create a usable image.

Figure 51 shows one way of defrning spatial aliasing. In this view spatial is based on
trace-tctrace delay associated !¡ith a dipping renector. Since the delay is related to trace
spacing, the issue is really one of midpoint interval. This, irl turn, is related to shot a¡d
receiv€r ir¡terval,

For 2-D data, midpoint spacing, .{ff, shot intervd, Sf, and receiver g¡oup interhl, 81,
are related by
tltn(S I, RI)
2

To avoid spatial aliasing on the stack section we requile

<
^tI 4 f^* Srn9
\r'here uin, is the int€rval velocity near (or immediately above) the ta¡get, /ño¿ is maximlrm
signal frequency and d is the physical dip angle of the renecting bed. When interva, velocity
is not known, average velocity cas be used. But this wiII give a bin size estimate that is
smaller than required. The design condition is rightly bas€d on maximum ftequenc¡ but
the dominant frequency is often used. This mean. iligh ftequency components risk being
aliased.

Spatial aliasing is not difficult to recognize on real data, Figure 55. The main problem
with spatial a¡iasing is the detrimental effect it has ott two very expeDsive processes: dip
moveout and migration. Figures 56 e¡d 57 give a mig¡ation example.

We note for design purposes that difiractio¡ limbe (Figure 52) appear as ú = 90o events.
The ^Sin, term is sometimes i[voked to justify a non-squale bin iD ]D
shootint. However,
this incleas€s risk of spatially aliasi¡g the data, so the safe desigo rule is :o use 0 = 90ó. In
this case, the midpoint spaciDg condition reduces L
MI < ),aon/4. Th: g¡ees *'ith the
minimuro biB size requi¡emeDt, Idoñ/4, for a !D
survey as discussed iD ci.apte¡ 15.
8 SUR!€Y PR€DESIGN 94

The unaliased midpoint interval g¡or¡s with depth due to increasing ui¡¿ and dec¡easing

Some points on spatial aliasiDg:

l. safe direction is smaller

2. *ill be difterent for shallo¡{r and deep ta¡tets

3. use /-- and ú = 90' fo¡ safest lvfl

4. smalle¡ midpoint iüterval costs more et scquisitiolr time

5. same equation for 2-D !¡idPoi¡t ioterval ¿r¡d 3'D biD siz€

Exe¡cis€ t.6. In an alea vtith iDterv¿l l€locity of 8000 ft,/s w€ n¡ant to record u¡aliased
dips of 70" with a dominant ftequeacy of 60 Hz. Whst roidPoitrt i¡tenlal is necessaqr?

Figure 54: Spstial aliasiag occurs when úoi€out beh¡¡e€[ adjsceÁt tn'es i5 ge¡ter th6!
hJf the domioont period of the wsvelet. Floñ left to ¡igbt, the t¡sce pai¡s shown here
have morcout of.25, .5, a¡d 1.0 tiloes the doBinaat period' ODly tbe l¿st Pai! i8 sPatially
a.liásed.
 8 SURVEY PREDESTCN 95

1q

tq

Spati¿l Cl i Esing

Figure 55: In these data steeper dips (square area) a¡e spatially aliased, while low dips
(circle area) are aot. With a smaller trace spacisg, aliasinS could be avoided. The problem
is that dip moveout and mig¡ation will s€e the true slope and an opposite slope in the
aliased a¡eas. (This is actually gound penetlating ¡adar dstal but that is r¡ot importaot.)
8 SLRIEY PR¡DESIGN 96

!1@
Á

s!¡thtlc !.¡ (.* : 20 i) !) St ¡i ilg.tto (c* = 20 .)

^)
Figüre 56: Spatiat aliasi¡8 seriously deg¡ad€s mig¡ation results (A) Stack s€ction with two
ste€p aliased eveots and al¡ unali¿sed horizo¡tal one. The tlace spa.int of 20 m is too bi8
fo¡ the steep events. Horizontal events a¡e ¡eve¡ aliased. (B) I{igratiou of the sta¡k dats
shows the reflections in proper locatio4, but also stront rDiS¡ation altifscts caused by data
aliasing. ItI ¡eal data, we eould have Do way of knowing what is an artifact and what is a
¡eal reflection.
8 SURT'EY PRED.I-SIGN 97

5 10@

E¡ultrc ¡¡.!. (c+ : 10 r) !) st¿lt ilg.tlo (.r = 10 .)

^)
Figure 57: Unaliased data ore properly ha¡dled by migation, (A) Stsck s€ction with l0 m
trace spscing is not spatially sliased. (B) Migratioo correctly positions the reflections a¡¡d
gives virtually no artifacts.
9 ,TfAR.trVE SURVEY ISSUES 9E

9 Ma¡ine Survey Issues

N{ost of the land design items a¡e also lid for marine surve¡s. These, however, are of
generatly higher quaüty and accuracy because of

l. no n¡eathering layer

2. no coupling probleür with sou¡ce/receiver

3. pressure messu!€meots (scalar) are less a¡nbiSuous than Sround motio¡ aoessureme¡ts
I veclor l

Nlarine data also have problems not fouDd in ¡snd data. These include, water bottom
multiples, source/receiver ghosts, snd less Precision in Positioning data.

9-l Reco.ding System Accuracy

I{aüy oil compani€s wa¡¡t their s€istrúc contractoF to st¡iv€ fo¡ very hi8h accuracy - perhaps
+l%. But this is, st P¡ese[t, unsttain¿ble ['l8l' Accuracy of l% is ambiguous: whdt doeg
this meari?

l. positioDing accuracy (of ship. source or migrated image).

2. timing accuracy (of source firing or reflection time )

3. amplitude sccuracy (gu¡ outPut, receiver output, consistent reflectio¡ smplitude)

We will examioe some of th€se issües in this section.

A sleeve airgun (i¡dustry stsndard) has output aDPlitude varistio¡s due to Eauy caus'es'
Typica.l accuracy is show¡ in the foüowiDg table:

Timitrg lo¡iation +1.0 !¡s

Gun pressure +5%
Comple6sorpressu¡e f6%
Depth !€¡iatio¡ +1.0 d
Individüal gür rari¿tio¡ vá¡i¿ble
Failed gutrs as sllos€d
9 ¡'áRIN¿ SURVEY ISSUES 99

ln getreral, output amplitude for sleeve gun aaray is +10%. This can b€ much b€tter
v¿ith a well-assembled arra]'.

Receive¡s are ar¡ays of hyd¡ophones. Aúplitude va¡idtioos of a ieceiver alray can be

caused by:

Depth of streamer +10% (0 - 200 ft)

Position er¡or
Hydrophone temperature *10% (0 - 38 C)
Elemeot agiog ?
Elemeot tole¡a¡ce *27o
Transfo!!¡e! toletance ?
Elect¡ic&l leakage ?
ElemeÁt failu¡e x t2%

In general, receiver group accuracy is *1570, with +25% coú¡mon aod +6% pqasible fof
special (i.e., ususally exp€nsive) ope¡stions.

Air gulr anplitude v. volüme fo¡mula:

amplitade = cansl t (oolxm¿\r/3

This means a bigger gun does not gedeúte a mucb bigte¡ amplitude thsn a small guo.
In teneral, dominant f¡eque¡cy froú aü air gun decresses q¡ith increasing volume.

Exercise 9.1. Assume the air tun amplitude consta¡t equals 1.0 and c¡lculate the
¿mplitude associated with ¿ 300 i¿3 a¡d 6 50 in3 gun, What is the volume ¡¿tio a¡d the
ñrio Amp(sOO in3)/Amp(50 in3\ ?

Indust¡y standald for p€¡mitted g¡¡n failu¡e is l0 - l57o of the full array. But 6¡ s¡ray
is made up of difiereDt size guDs, and wbich guns fail c¿n have s sigDifcant effect otr the
net amDütude loss.

volt¡¡le 70 lauu¡e Size of failed tuDs Net s¡opütude lcs

2O -
257o
l5

Positioúi¡g ¡ very i¡o!,orta¡t to the success of s su¡v€y, s¡d iDclude6

9 ¡¿ARINE SURVEY 100
'SSUES

l. eáa.h sit gu! i¡ an srt6y

2. eaah sub¡¡t6y withiu s¡¡ ¡¡¡¿Y

3. all Bub¿¡¡sJa ¡el¿tive to st¡e¿Der

4. st¡€súer oftBet

5. ño¡t pogitio¡ of esc.h st¡ea¡ler

6. 8tesner featbe¡itrg atrd sh¡Pe

Cu¡re¡t syste¡¡s git€ poeitioDs of ce¡tsi¡ coúPo¡e¡rt8t the¡ i[terpolate' New systems will
soon give positio; of sll i¡_r,/ater comPo¡e¡ts. CÜreDt totsl sj¡ste¡n accü¡acy is p'obably
+15% with +5% possible i¡ 'L5 ]€¿¡3.

Some Darine recoEDe¡dstions:

1. tet the Dost arcü¡ote str€súe¡ positioBi¡t systen Pcsible

2. ca¡efuüy a!¡b'¿e the allow¡ble f¿ilu¡e of guns and &aorels
3. .heck i¡strume¡Ls thorougbly
4. üodelstatrd allowable positioniog va¡iatioDs
5. use ñeld Eo¡itoring s¡d Prcc€ssint to oPtiDize overall data quality

Othe! d€sig¡ a.tor6 to be coasidered include [31]

1. geologic objective (structu¡al, str¿ti8¡¿Phic, is sEplitude citical ?)

2. op€rationol iEsues (access, shipping tra6c, supply liaes)

3. co6t 8!d crew avsilability

9.2 Mult¡eleme¡t Acquisition

Ilow mauy 6hips' be i¡volved io the su¡vey? Using more

Eou¡ces eEd stlea'me¡s should
tɡd ove! the
-"-" f*t", acquisitioo and, P€rhaP€, lo{e! co6t per image point' A clear
l6st15}€a¡sh¡gbeeDtoilc¡easetheDumbe¡ofsourcesa¡dstreaoerspership,FigureS8.
9 ¡4ARI1VE SUnvEv TSSUES 101

300
25t km2/month
2 sources 2 sourccs
250
I srÉamct 2 sl¡ramcrs
200 2liÍevp¿*s 4lincvpass
4 st¡eamc¡s
150 l2lines/pass

100 78 km2/monü

50
33 kn2/monü

0
1986 1981 1988

Figur€ 58: Ave¡age single-ship productioú ¡at€s of &D m6ri¡e acquisitio¡.

A 19m qúsd-st¡e¿¡oer qüad-sou¡ce suri'ey is decrib€d i¡ [28], ¿¡d Oue study [32] rcports
acquiriu8 126 lir¿2 iu 36 shootiDg daj6 usiDg one ship, one source and six stre¿,mels. CurreDt
shootiüg emplo]s up to six sources and 12 streamers.

Note that with eaah impro\¡e¡¡e¡t the totsl co6t go€s üp, but co6t pe¡ squa¡e kilometer
go€s dow4. Tbis is another *,ay of ssyint that &D surve¡s are gettiD8 bi8ge¡ vith ea4h
ioprovement iD tbe a.quisition teometry.

9.3 Bottom Cable

ID aress with d¡illiDg platform cl¡¡sters and/or othe¡ cultural obGtaales, aaquisition with
torred streamers is ¡ot feasible. In th€se situatioDs gD data can be gathered usiDg atr
ancho¡ed bottom cable of ¡eceivers. Be$,a¡e of long period ghost, but s€e {21].

The vertical ghost delaf ¿, for a receiv€¡ at depth d is

.2d
where t, is the water velocity.

Cobles a¡e up to 10 km long. Shooting boat(s) tow sou¡ces only! so obstacles ca,D be
closely approached. Us€ to dote has been üúited to wste! depths of 50 - 90 ft.
9 MAR¡¡\¡E ST¡RVE"T ¡SSUEg 102

E .cd!. 9.2. Ca¡c|¡l¿te the gbct dclqy fts two sltuat¡oo!:

1. r tow€d lt¡co¡ocr 6t ¡ depth of 5 ft
2. ¡ htoü¡ c¡t¡€ h 90 ft of v¿ter.
(r¡e r¡.o¡.' = ¡m tr/a cod asarue vtrtical krvBli¡g rocsar).
¡O ¿AND SIIOO?TNG CEOME'TRY 103

10 Land Shooting Geometry

The¡e ar€ Ea¡y w6ys t,o a¿quirc $D seisúic dots' Ms¡y of these a¡e modided foru¡ of
2-D acquisitioD. Key factors in su¡vey d6ig¡ a¡e hidPoiot spacing, CMP fold' ¡¿imutb
di.stribution, ¡¡d oFset disttibution. The fu¡ds¡¡eDtal distinction between a &D a¡d ?D
6eismic sutvey is a¿i!¡uth, Figu¡e 59-

Here we rcview some histo¡icsl ¡¡'sys of ¿aqui¡iq &D dots o! Iaúd,

No¡ih

i In = Midpoint
L---{>
I

Rcccivcr

%*,

Figure 59: Geometry aDd de6nitio¡8 for a sintle Eource ¡eceiver pair.

lo.1 Crossed-ArrayMethod

Beginning ia the ea¡ly 19?0s the c¡oes€d-srray tednique was used [36]. It i¡volves o¡e
sou¡ce li¡e aDd ooe p€rpe¡drcr¡lar ¡eceiver ü¡e.

II there a¡e N shots and M ¡eceive¡s the¡e vill be N'M singlefold midPoi¡ts 8erc¡st¿d'
For this method the itrline di¡ectio¡ is talc¡ to be P¿¡ollel to the sou¡ce line a¡d the
cross-ütre dir€ction is ps¡ellel to tbe &ceiver line.

The shot snd receiver spaci¡8s deterBi¡e the didt¿nce betweeú midPoiÍts iD both di'
rectioDa,

Ia-üoe CMP epacing = 5 * source iote¡val

C¡oss-ü¡e CMP spa.iog

* receive¡ i¡te¡vd'
= '5
 104
IO ¿AND SIIOO?ING GEOMETRY

o Rrcaivcr o
o Sou¡c¡ o
o Midpoi¡t

trotrEEOtrEOOtr
In-linc di¡Ec¡ion

o C¡oeeüt|r dicctior

Figu¡e 60: Ct€s€d-srrsy tec¡trique.

Each midPoitrt has a¡ whi'h iÁdic¿tes tbe di¡€ctio¡ of tbe soütce-¡eceive¡

azimr¡¿,} t'¿cúor
ceúte¡ed
p¡.-s"raglnálh.iólti The ¡zirouth c¡D be rcp¡€seuted by a small lire segme¡t
au aziúuth plot for
liif".i¿p"it .figo"¿ with the sourc€ s¡d rec¿ive¡' Fitu¡€ 6l showsfo¡ pfoc€ssi¡g of the
il" c¡Jl*riv é-"ty. The distlibutio¡ of aziEuth is iDport¿nt
dsts.
the fold of thst CMP FoT tbe
The nüDbe! of a¿iDuth vecto¡s asrocioted with s CMP is
closs€d-¿rr¿y the fold is one.
is lo6t t,o
It i8 i¡¡ports¡t to ¡ote thst for the cro6sed-a¡lay 75% of the acquisition s¡es is that
Z57o of the acquisition s¡ea is covered by CMPs'
Anothe¡ issüe
tioe.. ib;, i",
;;ñ"J, ;r;i "ofy dda will ti!€ aú ioage wbere there a¡e DidPoi¡tts The image lives
wher€ the roidPoi¡ts 6re' ¡tot st the source or receivet l'ocat¡oDs'

10.2 Flinge
Hor€ve¡' ¡'e tDrr!|t a'cept'
A $D survey should gi!€ quslity i¡ford¡atiotr r'ro6s the tsrget'
;;; i;;, edge tú" dats FiSure 62 shows ¿ cs¡too¡ of the varioua 3¡e¡s
"ñ""rc'io
Reoeober, tbe 6nJ image will only extend as far 8s tbe
úidpoi¡t
".*"jrt"¿
,itl
"-"ur,r"y.
coverage.

Thea¡e¿co¡t¡i¡i¡tsourcea'Dd¡eceive¡locstioDsistheo¿gr¡fuiúúo'}4't¿,whiletheim¿g.
JJpitt locstioDs' The a¡e¿ bets€e¡ the two b c¿ll€d aqníci,tiotl httLge"
"r- -:"ii^-¡r
10 LAND SHOOTING CEOMETRY 105

tttil \\\\ üt
./././/t|\\\\\
///2,/O\\.-.:-
| \'\--\
tro -¿-¿-,'.
| /¿2-
oo
-\\\ \\ | /,/,/,/-
O
/ //.//
\\\\\ ytrrl
'\\\\
-\\\

;
Figu¡e 61: Azitouth v€ctors for cros.e€d_array shootinS.

it is whe¡e we bave to pe¡Eit for scces but tet ¡o toidpoilt co!€¡age a¡d tberefore ¡o
ilo¿ge. Pa¡t of the image ¿res is u¡teliable due to various edge efiects (build-up of CMP
fold, ¡eflections lo6t to toigr¿tion distaoce, etc.). This is csll€d the told/mí9'v,tior hi¡gc.
Findy, i¡side sll the ftiDg€s lies tbe su¿e¿ spoú whe¡e the dsta is too€t reliable. Ideslly the
ts¡get should üe coEpletely iD the sweet sPot.

10.3 Swath Method

By 1973 sw¿th sbooti¡g, ¿lso c¡tled vide-li¡e shooting, was in use. The 6w¿th Eetbod is
a continuous er<tension of the crossed-a¡ray techaique. The source line is exte¡ded th¡ough
ma¡y short pelpendicular receive! li¡es. A discussio¡ of the ñrst thootint of this tyPe is
given in [46].

In swath shootiDt less acquisitioD are¿ i5 lost to fringe a¡d Dultifold data are generated.
The6e a¡e improve!¡e¡ts ¡elatil€ to cross€d_a¡ray shootinS.

Flom Figures 64 and 65 !¡,e co¡clude:

t. ¡umber of CMP li¡es = ¡umbe¡ of croes-ü¡e receivers

t cross-li¡e CMP li¡e sfra¿i¡g = i leceiver 8¡ouP iDteffal
in-lioe CMP spacing =| source iaterval
10 LAND SEOO'IING GEOMETRY r06

Sweet spot

Image ¡¡ea

Figure 62: Mop üew of s¡e¡s snd fti¡ges iD s 3D seismic surrey.

4. Eaximum fold depeDds o¡ the nu¡¡bet of üv€ receivel lines (chaonels)

Exercise 10.1. A 9D swath is acquited usi¡t six c¡o68_line receive¡ groupo spaced 100
m apart, 8 distaDce hs€eD receive¡ ünes of 200 m and ¿ sou¡c€ iDten¡sl of 50 rn What is
the iD-liue and cross-liue CMP spaciag? Ilow roany CMP üoes a¡e acquired?

Rcceivs ¡incs

Sourca
linc

Figure 63: Swath shooting t€chlique.

1O.4 Cross-SpreadMethod

This is a¡othe! €rateDsioo of the original croesed-array method' Fo! the cross-sp¡eád method,
Figü¡e 66, roultiple perpeúdicula¡ source o¡¡d r€cei'e¡ ünes ¿re used'

The i¡-ü¡e CMP spaciry i¡ this eethod is ¿ fu¡ctiotr of

 107
tO ¿A¡ID SEOOXING GMIET.RY

oooo 5 . Sour. irtsval

T''l
olP lhc o o o o '-'l

oooo
F¡gu¡€ 64r Sr|¡th thooti¡S (d€teil).

oooo
//ixx¡.+*xrs+rrx*ü\\ \
.. ,/ +:r'x* +xt{t'.+xt(t + \
tr €I-{b-e-$-e-+-s-{F-e tr
\ \ + f t< * + *r< ¡c +7É ¡'( x + / /
\ \ $.tx)É+r(x)G+)kx x t | /
oooo
Figu¡e 65: Azimuth ¡¡d 6ld 6r swath rhooti¡g. All ¡cceir¡ers a¡e lssuD€d üt¡e fo¡ ear¡
shot.
 IO LAND SúOcE,¡lG GBOMS'ÍRY 108

Rlcci\nf litcc

Figur 66: Ctss"€p¡€rd .hooti¡g.

I' Eceilrr8 lire ápociDg

2, sou¡ce g¡oup iBt€rrrsl

ñ a¡d the qe-ü¡e CTI{P 6p6ci¡g is dct€rni¡ed by

l, ¡€ceiv€r group iDt€rvsl

2, source üae spacing

ü tb€e h.pp€o to sll b€ equ6t' th€[ CMP sp..i¡E is half the group interval both i¡-li¡e
¿¡d crooe-ü¡e.

Tbe fold of st¿.k obt¡i¡¡sble by this method c¡¡ be rcry high aod ir tinited oaly by the
numbe¡ of receiver¡ a¡d recording chaolels ovailrble.

For large aurveys the cre+epread Eethod hrs rel¿tin€ly little ñi¡ge. For ¡m¿ll survey¡
it c6¡¡ hsl/e up t. ó(M fri¡gp'

10,5 Parallel-LineMethod
Thi.B l¿Dd tr€rsio¡ of sta¡d¿¡d Er¡iue shooti¡g wiU bc diacussed il dapter 12 oD Ea¡i¡e
a¿quisitioD geoE€try.
IO ¿AAID S¡IOOTIAIC GEOMETRY 109

10.6 Perimeter or Loop Method

Perimeter shooti[g involves sou¡ces aDd receive¡s placed on the perioeter of a re8rlá¡ o¡
irregular area. T¡pica,lly the sou¡ce and receilc¡ lines ¿¡e coi[crdeÁt sDd all the ¡eceir'e$
on tbe peliloete¡ are reco¡ded fo¡ ¿ll the shots.

In Figure li¡es o¡d t¡¡o ve¡tic¿l ¡ec€iy€r Ii¡€6. The

67 tbere a¡e two holizontal sou¡ce
result is ¿ maximum fold of two. If the a¡ea wele complet€ly surounded $ aources and
¡eceiveF the maximum fold *'ou.ld be fou¡. The fold cao be inproved by iocluding one or
mo¡e interio¡ sou¡ce/¡eceiver ü¡es.

One !¡ay to unde¡sta¡d how midpoiüt coi€¡age works is to co¡¡sider a Patch of lec€ir'erg
and a sou¡ce point s,ell away f¡om it, Figure 68. The midpoint coversge gener¿td ftom
this one shot into the receiver g¡id is a midpoint grid which is a half-scale version of the
receiver geometry. This makee very 0eúble at undershooting obstacle€ - that is, s,e
'D
can get data under a pa¡t of the ea¡th where Do sou¡ces or receivers ca¡r be placed. This
id€a works eveü for ir¡egula¡ leceir€r a¡eas and geometn€s.

This method gives the most CMP image coverage fo¡ the lesst su¡fa.e a¡d sou¡ce efiort.
There iE ¡o acquisition ftilge.

| / ...- .---..\\ \ I

6/z.'-.'><'r':\\0
lllz,/><\\\\l
o ó I / /,/x\\ \ \ O
I I X XXXXX X I I

o ó \ \ \ \x / / / I 6
| \ \ \\></ / / | |

O\\\'-.><..///ó
lr..r----¿.'../ |

o o

(A) (B)
Figu¡e 67: The perimeter shooting Eethod showing sources (square), ¡eceivers (circle),
midpoiDts (dot), atrd szirouth vectors (line). (A) Midpoiot plot. (B) Azimuth Plot.
 10 I,AND SEOOInNG GEPMEÍRY 110

Rlcd$

^1

Figu¡e 68: A !üot i¡to a patch of rceivtra giwr s collcctitD of midpoi¡ts rhich i¡ ¿ h¡lf-
sc6le E¡sioD of tbe teceit¡€r geo¡¡€try. It mrls br trgul¡¡ or ir¡€tuh¡ ge@etry !¡d ¡[oits
effective imeging ulder obstachs.
10 LAND SHOOTING GEOMETRY 111

o E EI o E

? &
.o
.?
.?
.o
o. *;
o o
o o o
o EI o o EI

Figule 69: Midpoint plot of a perimete¡ sun€y with one interior leceiver üne.

Exercis€ 10.2. Figure 69 shows s pe¡imeter survey with oDe iDte¡io¡ ¡eceive¡ lioe.
D¡¿vr azimuth vectols fo¡ midpoints at trisDgle locatioDs I aüd 2. What G the fold of stack
at these poi¡ts?

10.7 Cabling, Template Shooting, and Fold

To this poi[t we have assumed that all ¡eceile¡s ¿¡e live for all shots. This is seldom the
case in real deta, except for small su¡!€ys. For larger survey areas oDly po¡t of the r€ceii'ers
laid out on the ground a¡e live for any giveD shot. The details of which Éceivers are live
for rrhich shots is termed cahling. If all receivers ale li!€ for all shots, the survey is said to
be shot s¿a¿ic.

Cabütrg is atr irsue for two ¡easons. First, the recordiDg systeú h¿s only a fiDite oumbe¡
of data chanoels (one cha¡oel P€r ¡eceiver g¡ouP). Seco¡d, by coBtrolling the cable we c¡D
tailo¡ the survey to roeet fold, ofset, a¡d aziEuth desiSn crite¡ia.

Templste shooting i¡volves siBple cabliDg. The srea to b€ shot is laid out with as
maoy ¡eceivels as 6¡e al¡ailable. The source is loc¿ted i¡ o¡e corner of the ¡eceiver splesd.
Centered on the sou¡ce is an imaginary temPlate or box. Tbe temPlate i5 üsually squa¡e,
but may be ¿ lecta¡gle, circle o¡ somethiDg more complicated. All receiver g¡ouPs on tbe
iDte¡ior of tbe teEpl¿te are lire a¡d all othe¡s arc dead The sou¡ce Position moves iÁ a
regular fashion along pa¡sllel lines to roll th¡ough the sr'
-'€y a¡ea As the sou¡ce Positio!
moves, the template moves with it, and so do€s the live receiver ar_,a.
10 LAND 9EOOTINC GEOMETF.Y tL2

Fo¡ l6rge surl€ys tbi6 roll-slong is very efrcieot. R€ceiver€ behiod tbe teloplste can b€
picked up aod loid out ahead for co¡ti¡úous shootiDS.

Since the size of the teEplate is a deaign PsrsDet¿¡, v8¡iol¡s siz€6 ca¡ be t¿6ted i¡
coDputer 6i6ulstioD to fud the oDe th¿t k delive¡¡ the needed fold, ofset, s¡d azimuth
distlibutioDs.

For simplicit¡ we drop the terms in-line a¡d c¡oee-li¡e which h¿ve conflicting defrnitions
in the industry l$teád, w€ use geleúc (x,y) c¡ordi¡4t6.

Figü¡e 70 itlust¡¿t€s 8 sp€cinc teoplata sbootiDt geoEetry. We have the foll4'i!8

i¡tervsls
s' = l10ff ... slbt interltal
su = 2X lt .. shot litr¿ inten al
h = 2m Ít ... receü)er line intetval
r, = 110 ft ... re@ioet irrten)al
¿¿ = 9 -.. cia¡nels in, dirediotr
¿l, : 13 .'. ch&¡Íelt i7¡y dirediotr -

The midpoint interwls (natural bio size) a¡e determi¡ed by

¿= f,uin1",,,.¡
h, = ;Min(sv,tv)

Tbe fold that rrill be schiev€d depends o¡ (s',tu,r',tu) ¡nd the nr¡mber of ¡eceir¡er
chünels (tt', r¡y) live i! eaaü di¡ectiotr for ea.h shot. We c¿n $'rite the !D fold f¡¿ io te¡os
of the 2-D fold in €ach direction, (t, /e), as

fu= kh,
where each individual úold c¿lcul¿tion is give¡ by

" 2s'
Ír=+
This fo¡oulo does Dot al¡¡¿yg wo!k' but it gets- you clos€. The totsl ¡ueber of recording
chanaels, n, requüed is
n= ''t\ .
IO ¿AND S¡¡OO?ING GEOMETRY 113

The template dimeDsioDs sre (l', rr) SiveD by

t, = (¡r - Dr,
t" = (\ - \)tv
And, ñnally tbe far ofiset is givetr by

tar =o.s,lllv.
For the example intervals in FiSure 70, ¡/€ 8et

.'¡_ = (21 lr0) /220 =9

-_:-
h = 13/2
..f¡¿ = 9*==585
-13
n = 9 .l3 = lI7 chantuels
ú, = (9 - 1) * 220 = 1?60 Jú
¿v = (13 - 1) * u0 = 1320 J¿
Jo' = 05* "476ót+Jll6t= lroo J¿
Si¡ce the &D fold is trot atr itrteger, we can expect that the sur'vey will not attain a constaBt
fold vslue in the sw€et spot. This is called /o¡d striP¡t¡g. Sevele st¡iPing ca¡r occu¡ if J¡¿ is a¡
intege!, but the indiüdual 2-D folds (/¡, 1¡) a¡e not Fold st¡iPi¡g is uDdesirsble bec¡use it
gives ¡is€ to sitnal-to-noise aüd dats quality varistions ün¡elated to geologic chanS€s This
is psrticula¡ly disluptive to amplitude and phase information. Fold striping is avoided if
J3¿ is designed to be sn integer. As mentioned earlier, it is üsually
adequate for $D fold
to be onehslf of the fold required to g€t good 2-D dats in the a!es.
For a real suwey, there are mariy teasons that a n¡ce regular 8!id of sou¡ces and receivers
may not be possible. But there a¡e many locations whele aüch s survey can be shot and the
desig! equatioDs gi\€n here would then be !did. Another issue with the real $¡orld is that
shot and leceive¡ intenBls a¡e coústraiDed to take oD o¡ y certaiD lalues For U'S work
these are l€,lues that diüde evenly iDto a mile (5280 ft). Fo¡ metric work the intelvals Bust
usually divide into a kilomete!. Also, the trumber of reco¡diDg channels on a $D la¡d crew
ca¡ ¡anse from 200 to 2000.

Exercise 1O.3. Modify the te¡lplate size (i.e., n" aDd nr) iÁ Figu¡e 70 so tb¿t s flst
fold of 48 io the sw€€t spot is s.hieved.
10 LAND SEOOTING GEOMETRY 114

Exercise 10,4. C¡eote ¿ template design fo¡ a tsrget with velociw of 15 000 ft/s a¡d
dominaot freque¡cy 55 Hz. F¿ults a¡e suspected i¡ the axes, so desigD fo! 90" dips. Design
the sun€y so that $D fold is flat at 24. AssuEe onshore U.S. cotrditions.

Digital pcitioniug dsta are very importa¡t to the accu¡acy a¡d timely processing of land
3D d¿ta. In f,srticula¡, incorrect LD c¿blilg i¡foíaatioD csú delay processitrg for montbs,
or bdefiDitely. Tbe¡e are te¡o domiDa,nt üdustry-standard form¿ts fo¡ this infotmstio¡.

SEGPI (x,y,z) fo¡ each sou¡ce atrd receive¡ point

SPS (x,y,z) fo¡ each source a¡rd ¡eceil€! point, and cabling informstion

10.8 Advanced Topic: Offset Clustering

The üooting arraDgement discussed herc, teEplate sbooting, is a¡¡ exaúple of olthogonal
acquisitioD. This mesns that the shot and receiver lines are perpeDdicula¡ to each other.

If we think sbout all the tra.es that üve in o¡e bin (l¡¿ of them), it is desirable thdt
a fr¡ll aud u¡ifo¡m range of ofis€t b€ p¡e6€¡t. This allows optimum processing of the data.
However, orthogonal shooting tends to create a nonuniform distribution of ofisets te¡med
ofrset chrsteriflg. This €flect is show! iD Figure 71. There a¡e many stletegies to minimize
this effect, including stagge¡ed brick or zigzag pattelns. E$sentially, the idea is introduce
irregularity iDto the aaqui5ition geometry Ttús breoks the s]'¡nmetry that gives rise to offset
clusteling, but slso complicates the survey desiE¡ and execution.
10 LAND SHOOTINC CEOMETRY 115

E So¡¡¡ca
x Rccoivar

Tx= 1760 fr

a E EOAO l! t! a

ll B E

tl B a It E Egtr B E

E a AEEO B

a BOBO a E B "lF
E -t=
Rx Sx

220 Ír ll0ft
Figure 70: Te!¡plate.method 6hootitrg geometry fot land $D seismic dsta. Tbe bold S is
tbe cü¡¡ent shot loc¿tioq and small borces shoi¡ psst sDd futü¡e shot locstions. Aü ¡eceive¡s
iDside the imagi¡a¡y te&pl6te center€d oD the 6hot ale ¡¡v€ for that 6bot, sDd as the shot
moves the teEpl¿te mov€s with it'
10 LAND SHOOTING CEOMETRY 116

Offsct (ft) Offsct (ft)

5m0 lm00 5000 l00d)

3-DCMP gaüer 3-D CMP ga¡hcr

Figure 71: Ofiset cluste¡int in onshore &D seismic dsta. Sho$¡n are tso common midpoint
gathe¡s with t¡8ces plotted in true ofiset location. The clustering is related to shot and
leciever line interals and Perpendicular geometry
11 ADVANCED TOPIC: LAND LD DESIGN OPTIMEATION 117

11 Adr¡anced Topic: Land 3-D Design Optimization

The¡e are many tradeoffs in the de6i8ú of d land !D seismic suney The aim is to aahieve
ta.rget values of 3-D fold, bio size, a¡d far ofiset while maximizi¡g ozimuth cove!88e. And
this rdust be done usiog no more tb¿¡ the atlEilable number of recording channels. This
ub€st" set of acquisition pa¡a.meters
can be set up 6a 6n optiroizstioÁ probleE to 6úd the
to Eeet these goals.

Co¡side¡ an o¡sho¡e U.S. situation [39] where p¡edesign calculatiotrs h¡ve beeD ¡¡ade to
deternine ta¡get v¡lues fo¡ lD seisnic a.quisition, These i¡clude $D fold, bi! 8ize, atrd
fa¡ ofiset, ¿s r€ll as tbe number of recordint chao¡els arlailable.

11.1 Assumptions and Basic Equations

We a¡sume the d&ts will be shot usiDg tbe shot centered templste method. Tbis aaquisition
method is co.úmon and rcry aexible (swath shooti¡8 is a special case). It b d€scrib€d by
two orthogoDal cooldi¡ates, (r, y), ¡¡d six pa¡¿meters:

1. 6, = shot i[terval iD x-directioD

¡y = shot interral i¡ y-directiotr

3. r, = receiver inter l in x-directioD

4. r, = ¡eceiver iDterval in ydirectioD
5. r¡, = numbe¡ of liv€ ¡eceiv€rs i.B x-direct¡on

n, = úümbe¡ of live ¡eceivers iD y-directio!

Table 2 at the e¡d of this chapte¡ Sives a full üst of s¡'nrbols used. To rePeat s point msde
eorlier, using gene¡ic t and y ¿voids confusion ¡elated to \¡a¡ious defrnitions of the terrDs
in-line aod cross-line.
' tl ADVANCED TOPIC: ¿AND gD DESICN OPTIMAATION 118

Stmbol D.finitian
Simúol;orL Variatlct
b, s bi¡ size
t biD size
¡ 2-D CMP fold
g 2-D CMP fold
ls¿ !D CMP fold
ül€ recei!€É in o
üi€ ¡ecei\€r in g
fl total lii€ leceive¡s
¿ leceiv€r ioterv¿l
I receiver i¡ten¡sl
r shot i¡terval
9 shot i¡terBl
r dimeDsiotr of temPlst¿
g dimeDsio¡ of teúPlete
Dea¡ ofiset
fa¡ oftet
Cos¿ F\t rcaion Variables
t¡rl w€ight fa.to¡ for ü.
u2 weight for \
lL\ ¡¡eight for /id
u1 w€ight for n
t5 wetht for r*
U6 $ei8ht for teúplate "squa!e!es"
w€ight fo¡ c-in
Tdrget Variables
B, r biÁ size
g bi¡ size
Fu $D CMP fold
svsilsble lumbe¡ of chantrels
X^¡" m¿tdmüE alloq,able Áear oft€t
x^- fa¡ ofiset

Tsble 2: De6litio¡ of variables for desiga optimizstion diÉcr¡ssio!'

11 ADVANCED TOPIC: ¿AND 3D DESICN OPTIMIZATION 119

Giveo a eet of eix design p6¡abet¿rs, se can si¡oul¡t€ all the Dec6sary qu¡ntities

b" : 0.6 Min(t",r,)

bv = 0.5 Mi*(eu\\
Í, = (0.5 n, r.)/s,
h : Oínt
fu = Lh
(a' - r) r'
("y - 1) ¡r
o.r \fÑv
Nme ul

11.2 Constrainte

There are se've¡¿l co¡st¡¿ints it¡volved i¡ gettiry a v¿lid d€6i8¡- The msiD o¡e3 a¡€:

&D fotd The &D fold uust be an integer, túo'e¡l fo, tohL OthediE€ the bld wiU vsry
60l¡ bin to bin a¡d ge¡e¡ste fold stripi¡g, which ca¡ i¡troduce aoplitude erro!8 ald
6ign6l-toDoise !!¡i¿tio¡s i¡to the dats. While &D fold mr¡st be a¡ ioteter, we rdight
be satisñed if it is just clo€e to the target fold. For example, f/€ might be s¿tisfied
Íith a¡y lat fold bets,€e! 20 ar¡d 25.
2-D fold Ea¡i 2-D fold needs to be an integer.

Bin size The ts¡t€t bi¡ sizé muBt be hoDo¡€d p¡ec¡sely.

IDtervals The sbot and ¡ecei!€¡ int€rvals can o¡ly take oD certdi¡ ¿llo¡/€d rt¿lues' For on-
sho¡e U.S. crork th6e ¡llowed v¿lues wül be ¡u¡obers thst diüde i¡to, or a¡e toultiples
ol one mile (5280 ft). For example, 27.5, 55,82.5, 110, 165, 220, 330' 440' 660' 880'
1320, 1760, 2640, 5280, 10 560.

Cha¡nels The tot6l ¡uEbe¡ of cha¡oels us€d cr¡lot exce€d the <üau¡els ¿v¡il¿ble o¡ the
specific reco¡di¡g 6,€teE us€d. This is a ha¡d co¡strsi¡t.

tb¡ oGet We s¡€ satisfied with 6 ¡¡¡ o&et with i8 siDply clce to the d€sir€d value. Fa¡
oft€ts a¡e iúportá¡t fo¡ vetocity analysi¡ du¡i¡g p¡ocessilS.
11 ADUANCED TOPIC: LAND sD DESICN OPTMIZTfiON 120

Squa¡e template ln o¡der io get ñ¡ll aziúuth cove¡age, s squarc tempLate is prefeEed. A
perfect squa¡e is not SeneBlly poesible o¡ ¡ecesssry.

Maximum near offÉ€t The maxi¡oum nea¡ ofiset ca¡ be deñned from the six shooti¡g
paramete¡s, and should be honored appro<imately Nes¡ ofisets a¡e impo¡ta¡t for
statics processiDg.

Some useful temporary quantities hsve been introduced for coavenience, including o
and xr 2-D fold aad template drmensiols. Efiectively, this array of equations says that 8i1€Á
(s",so,t',r",n,,no) qte cán simulate a utrique (r3d, ü', üy' tñi", c'*,
a)'

A set of target parameters is denoted by capital letters (Fsd' B"' Br,X*,N). I¡ gen-
e¡al, the¡e are many ralid &quisition Paramete! sets (sr,3r, rr, ¡!, ¿', ry) *hich give results
¡e¡r the target values, but noDe exactly. For a typical ca,se the¡e are EillioD.s of total po6-
sibilities *'ith hundleds of desig¡s that deliver the correct fold, bitr size, aDd chaDtrel üssge

I¡ p¡a.tice, coEplicated survey desiS¡ lules exist [4. lvithiü ¿ giveD corDpaDy there
may also be p¡oprietary methods and standa¡d shootiDg Patterns th&t have b€en de!'eloped
ove! time. But how do we lúow if these desigDs are "optimum"?

11.3 Method 1

To test the idea, define the following fuDctioD to mi¡imize

/b.-f'\2 ' -\2

:
cost ,,r,, (tu=) --, \L#) *^ (!4)
/n-N\2. *'u /r^o,. X^*\2 . (t,-r"\'
-'\ \........;;iF/ "' \¿,+¿,/
" )
where t,i a¡e weight functions as described in Table 2. The cost referred to is not doUars'
büt deviation ftom the desired results.
The fiIst 5 terms oD the riSht-hsüd-side of this equatioD, iD order, ¿¡e aimed at aahieviÁg
the ts¡get t bi¡¡ size, 3r bia süe, lD fold, aumber of chan¡els' ard far ofiset. Ea'h of th6e
peoalty terus ts íomalized - thi6 guards atainst the cost functio! beint doroimted by
larger parameters. For example, tlaPical bio siz€s a¡e ll0 ft, while far ofisets might be 10
000 ft. Withoüt lomalizatioB, a'try solutioD would quickly lock onto the correct fa! ofis€t
while bio sizes would Dot coDve!8e to the ts.rtet Yolue6.
lt ADUANCED TOPIC: LAND ?D DESIGN OPTIMIZATION L21

The l¿st terro in the cost equatioD proEotes the template to be as 'squs¡e" ¡s Po6sible.
The ad!¿otage of s square teaplate is full and ünifo¡m distributio¡ of azimuth srd oftet.

To quiddy t€st the ide¿, the cost function ¡¡as implemented using Moúñemoticc [9]. The
built-in functioa Fi¡dMinimuofi proved suitable and eccu¡ote. This G a local (ss oppo€ed
to globa¡) optimization based on the method of steeP6t descent.

11.3.1 Example

Many t€st cas€s were ¡un st¡d studied, but o¡ly one will be discussed here to illuat¡ate the
¡esults,

The tartet pa¡¡E€te¡s and weigbts are:

(\¿,8", Bu, X6, N ) = (24, 110, 55, 6700, 500)

(u\ u2' ux, u1, nts, rtt6) = (5'5'5'1'1'1)
A vslid result was expected to match fold aDd bi¡ size e)(actly, so these ¡/ere heavily weiShted
coDpaled to far oft€t, chaú¡el count, and template squareness-

The s]'stem of equations given above is not suñcieDtly well_pos€d to allow a continuor¡s
optimizatioD with respect to &ll l¿¡iables. It was necessary to add the co¡straint (s! = 2óv)
to solve the problem. Clearly, tbis is a.d hoc and not very rigo¡ous

The calculation took about 30 s on a mid-¡snge desktop computer and coúverged to

s cost functioD minirsuro of 4.13E x 10_6. All taryet palanete¡s r€re E¿tchd to within
t0.1. The f¡al result was tbis acquisition para¡¡eter s€t:
(s,, su, r', r¡, n', q¡) = (4762,t10,220,915,,t4.11) ,

which gives a very square te![ptate of 9472 ft x 9464 ft.

Th€se a.quisition pa¡ameterc yield the target valu€s and a sqüare template. However'
they a¡e unusable because some shot and receiver intensls are not standard values (i.e.,
divide evenly into 5280). It is occssionally Possible to use such outPut &s a stalting poitrt
for manually adjusting ioteri'als sDd chaDne¡s to get a ldid d€sign.

The¡e a¡e thÉe issues here:

1. There are fa¡ too r¡sly perEut¿tioDs to ma¡ually tweak this kind of result on a regular
básis.
11 ADVANCED TOPIC: LAND LD DESICN OPTMIZATION 122

The steepest desce¡t m€thod (used by FindMinimumfl) can only guarantee a local
mi¡iEum and we wsDt the global miDimum.
Si¡ce all of the acquisition pa¡a,Eete¡s srto¿l¿ be i¡tegers, this iB realy ¿ problem iu
combid¿torial ¡Dalysis üot midimization of s contiDuor¡s fuDction.

ll.4 Method 2

To ove¡come all th¡ee of these issues, a hybrid !¡ethod \ras developed based o¡ semi-
e}áaustilc sea.rch and optimizstio¡ [40]. For onshore U.S., the paxuneters a,,as,t',,rt
s¡e ollow€d to take on s¡y of 14 stsDdard valu€s bet\ reen 55 ft and 10 560 ft. For met¡ic
units, these would be replaced with a s€t of stando¡d values in meteÉ. Th€re a¡e also
natural ümits on n,, nr.

These choices result itr a la¡ge, büt ñDit€, ¡umber of possible acquisition para.Eeter s€ts.
Since all cases are tested, we o¡ly pasr tho6€ which have

1. accept¿ble gD fold
2. irteger 2-D fold iD each directioD

3. correct bin size i! eaah di¡ectioo

uses no more charinels than a¡e arailoble

5. near ofiset less tha¡ the ta¡get maximum ne6¡ ofis€t

There will be hundreds of such a.ceptable designs. Of the remaining csses the best one
is dete¡mined by midmizitrg the following cost function lelated to fa¡ ofiset aod te¡oplate
Squarefiess

aosr
. =?rs I| ,* - X*\2| + l¿|6
lt, - t"\'I
l:------
\ ¡ll@ ,t \u+.el
Thi6 &ethod w¿s iropleúented i¡ C fo! sp€ed and portability across operatitrg systems.

11.4,1 Example

He¡e is ¿ test ¡un of the method. We are trying to achieve a 18 fold (+4), biü size of 110
ft x 82.5 ft, Eaxiúuú oea¡ ofiset of 500 ft, fa¡ offset of 5000 ft, a¡d we bave 500 cbau¡els
11 ADVANCED TOPIC: L ND ID DESIGN OfiIMZATION 123

to wo¡k with. Noa-square bi¡ ¡ize is used to ilh¡st¡ste flodbiüty of the eetbod, but is
ge¡ef,slly discouraged as discu8sed i¡ ea!üe! s€ctioDs.

DesigD3D 2.2 ... by C. L. Li!€!, ltliv. of Tulsa (10.30.98)

Ta¡g€t v¡lueB I

F3d - 3D fold
+/- - tolaranc€ o¡ 3D told
Br,By - bi¡ rizc i¡ t¡t r¡d ¡l¡¡ di!€ctio¡8
f|¡x - úr¡i¡r¡i Dea¡ ottlat
XDai - tar offaet
ll - ¡u¡bar of ¡€coldilg cha¡¡eLa av¿ll¡b16
ErTER: F3d +/- 8x By ll¡¡ Xnar N ... 18 4110 82.5 500 5000 50

Ile¡e a¡e the two c,eight fa¿tors f'hich speci& whethe¡ the fsr ofiset or templste Equ¡¡e-
n€ss is úole iEportatrt. h this csse, r,e d!€ the¡! €qust ¡¡,eight.

v1 - ¡€latlv.iüporta¡ce ot latchilg fa! offset [0.0-1.0; urt¡¡lly 1]

r¡2 = !€1¡tiv€ iDporta¡c€ ot gott¡lt a squa¡a teEplat€ 10,0-1.0; u3uaUy 1l

EIIER: cl s2 ... I 1

Sometimes data a¡e acquired i¡ suah s eray tbst shots a¡e €t(fre¡¡sive, sDd other tirdeó
¡eceivels a¡e €D<pensive. There ie e flag for telli¡g the proS¡a¡n which situation \¡€ a¡e itr.
Basicollf the Dumber of shob 8Dd receil€ls per square mile (shot and ¡eceiver deDsity) a¡e
calcul¿ted for each candidste desig!. Tbis i8 tested usi¡g the rdue of flsg. Usi¡g tlag 3 '
shorrs ¡o prefereDce for shot or Eceive¡ deDsity.

flag = ¡¡oirir" shots (1), ¡€ceive¡s (2), or !6ithe¡ (3)

EIIIER: fl¡g .,. 3

Nos' the plotr¡E ts&€s ofi ¡¡d do€s t¡e work, ¡etumi¡g the top tb!€e desitps.
'\
11 ADVANCED TOPIC: LAND &D DESIGN OPTIMIZATION t24

Raaült vaLu€a:
f3d = 3D fold
+/- - abaoluté dlfJ ot ta¡8€t ¡ad !€suLt 3D fold
bx,by - bia sizo ia t ¡¡d y alll€ctto¡s
ltt¡ = úüa Á€a¡ ofla€t
a.x - ta¡ offset
¡r - tot¿l r€cordi¡g cha¡¡ela uaoal
sr,sy = rbot i¡terv¿l lD x a¡d Y
!t,!y - !€c.lve¡ i¡t€rval ir r a¡d Y
¡¡,¡y = cb!¡tel3 ü3.d i! ¡ a¡d Y
tr,ty - 2D tofd iD r !¡d Y
tx,ty - taDPIaté sizo iE ¡ aBd Y
¡a,D¡ = !ü¡b€! of shots 5¡d r€caiv€ra Pe! u¡Ít a¡€a
vo¡kiDg ...
---- TOP 3 CAIIDIDATE Soltt¡Iolls ----

---- orE ----

cost = 0.0038987119
Civ€¡: F3d, +/- , Br. , BY , ü¡t froa¡, -
18, 4, 110, 82.5, 500, 5000, 500
N

B€sult:
'
t 3d, +,/- , bx, bY, !¡x, úa:r
'
-
18, o, 110, 82.5, 347.851' 5291.45, 432
¡
Pa¡s: sx,sy,r:,rY,Dr,¡Y = 1320, 16s, 220, 660, 36, 12
l{isc: i¡,tY,tr,tY,¡.,Dt = 3, 6' 77OO,7260, L2A, t92

cost - 0.0074372389
Giv€D: F3d, +/- ' Br ,8Y ' !t!¡ ' rDa¡ ' r - 14, 4, 110, a2.5, 5OO' 50OO 6225'A7
' 500
Result: t3d,+/-,b¡,bY,@x,sr¡'¡ - 20, 2, t1O, 82.5, 453.S2, 32O
'
Pa¡s: Bx,6y,rx,ry,Dx,!Y = 880, 16s,220,880,32, 10

llisc: tx,fY,tx,tY,Es,¡! = 4, 5' 6820, 7920, 192, L44

cost = 0.0091671068
CiveE: F3d,+/-,Bx,BY,tl¡t'X.Eat,l¡ - 18, 4, t1O, 82.5, 500, 5000, 500
Resr¡1t I l3d, +/- bx bY ' !¡x, n5¡ E - 15, 3' 1,.0,
, , ,
82.5, 463.s42' 6523 05, 360
Pa¡s: s¡,sy,r:,rY,¡t,!Y = 1320, 165. 220, 880, 36, 10
tliscr fr,fy,t¡,ty,¡s,t¡¡ - 3, 5, T7OO,7920, L2e, r44
 A
11 ADVANCED TOPIC: LAND LD DESIGN OPTIMEA'|ION L25

The top d€sigü is resUy quite good. The fold is 18' bin size b co¡tect, Estdt¡u¡n ¡e¿¡
ofret is 3,tE, f¡¡ oftet is 5291, srd 432 out of 500 ch¿¡¡els ¿re used. F\¡rtherEor€, tbe }D
fold iD esch directioD ¡s o¡ integBr, the t€opl4te is pretty squ¡¡e (7m0 x 7260). This is all
aa.hieved by usiDg shot s¡d ¡ec€iver i¡tervsls thst s¡e stsDds¡d !¡¿1u€3.

Note tbst solutio! 2 i6 oe¿rly as gwd as solution 1, but us€6 o¡ly 320 chs¡¡els. If
Da¡&et c¡¡ditio¡E a¡e such thst gD acquisitio! p¡ici¡g is ba6ed o¡ choD¡el Gsge' tüeü
co6t ssüDts Eigbt b€ re¿lized by using thi6 desig¡.

Ile¡e ¡s sone indic¿tio¡ of how hsrd it w¡s to solve the problem.

84 169 456 - lot.l c.r.! ch€cl.d

4 47A - Acc€ptabl. c¡!€t
248 s.c. (4.13333 Did - Ellps€d ti¡e

To tet the3e ¡€sults, over E4 Dillio¡ pslaúete! sets ¡,ere cb€cked. ADaziDSly, the¡e w€re
alm6t 45m with aacept¿ble fold, oe¡¡ oftet, ch.¡¡e¡s, cor¡€ct bi¡ size, o¡¡d i¡teg€r 2-D
foldsl Not somethidg you w6¡t to test by hand c¿lcul¡tio¡. FiDslly, it took s little ove¡ 4
minutes o¡ a úrid-rsDge d€sktop compute¡.

11.5 Summary

Tbe metbod described here is very promising for the quick aad sccu¡¿te design of $D
seisEic su¡veys. AlthouSb dliveD by just six desitn par¿Det¿.s, the¡e ¡¡€ Dillio¡s of total
posribilities sod hu¡d¡eds of desigDs that deliver the cor¡€ct fold, bin size, and chanael
usage. T*o crit¿ria sre us€d to s€lect tbe b€st c¡¡¡didst¿s: DstcbiDt the d€sired f8¡ o&€t
and "squareless" of the ¡eceiver t€bpli¡te to ossu¡e full azibuth shooti¡g.

The method is simple e¡ough to ir¡pleme¡t oa low-eod desktop comput€rs a¡¡d p¡ovides
a¡ objective measr¡¡e for the quslity of a surrney design. This allows both er<perts ¿Dd
notrexperts to contribute to the desigD proc€ss.
12 MAR]NE SHOO'¡ING GBOMETRY 126

12 Marine Shooting Geometry

Methods like cross spread, perimete¡, snd templste sbooti¡g a¡e o y fe¡sible fo¡ La¡d d¡ta
where 6ou¡ce s¡d receiver positioDs sre e¿sily co¡t¡oued. Although bottom cable, verticsl
cable, and telemetry (sballow) are becoming more populs¡, úost Esri¡e s€isDic dsta a¡e
acqui¡ed i¡ a tofved-cable r¡ode. Th€se acquisition geomet¡ies are sll extensioDs of the
si[gle sou¡ce 6¡rd single cable confguration. For 2-D shooting the sou¡ce lies in the liDe of
the cable, while for !D work the cable (or source, o! both) a¡e ofiset bom the s¡úp's track.

12.1 Pa¡allel Line Method

Most maline su¡veys are a.quired with the puallel line method.

The simplest pa¡allel liDe &D coversge is obtained using a siogle sou¡ce li¡€ (the soulce
t'oat track) 6¡d two ¡eceiver lines (cebles). A single ship operetio¡ is possible by ofisettinS
the recei!,€¡ cables from the boat t¡ack.

Figü¡e 72 shows source, ¡eceir€rs, aDd Eidpoints fo¡ o¡e shot iD a si¡gle sou¡ce, single
csble, single ship operation. Not shown is the source inte¡val and sou¡ce line iDterv¿l. $D
coverage i6 built up by cmisitrg the ship back and forth in parallel lin€s. CMP (biu) bterv¡ls
a¡e gi!€n by

bz = .5,, Mitt(sx,rx\
by = '5 * Min(s1,,ry)
'
where sr,r",sr,r, are, lespectively, shot iDterval, receiver iDten¡¿I, sbot li¡e iüterval, and
receiver line intenel.

Figure 73 shows azimuths for one shot record. Unfo¡tuDstely, the ¿¿iúuth8 ¡¡'ill b€ the
same for every shot (except fo¡ small cable festheriog due to curreDts). Compa¡ed to a
laI¡d su¡wy, this azimuth disttibutioÁ is very poo!. }'D sun'eys ¡¿qui¡ed in tbis Eslmer
have beeD termed 2.tD to emphasi?,e th¡ p¡oblem. Improl'ement iD azimuth dGtributio¡
is po6sible through multielemelt a¿qtisitioÁ, iÁcludiog

multiple source lines per sbip

lrore thari two receiver cables per ship

Bultiple ships
12 UARINEffiOOT,¡'G GN)MI''IBII tz?

ooooooooo
Rlc.iwr¡ da¡¡8 cabb

\.
tr \- v¡¿po¡* v
shd
t_
ooooooooo
Figu¡e Z¡: Ge@etry of e ai¡8l6 eu¡cc' düa¡ reciva, pcralld line !u¡l¡€y. Tbe DidPoi¡tr
s.re frr oDe rhot ¡€coüd, Shot i¡t¡rtal !¡¡d shot-liD€ i¡t€rvsl r¡e ¡ot show¡.

't^

ooooooooo
//¿¿
n
\ \\.\
ooooooooo
Figu¡e ?:¡: AziDuth dirpl¡y fu the si¡gle shot ¡ecod. Not€ ¡¡¡¡oi' ¡rimutb ra¡ge-
12 MARINE SHOOTING GEOMETRY 128

12.2 Flip.Flop Shooting

Figu¡e ?4 shows a dual-cable dual-sou¡ce coofSurstio¡, and Figu¡e 75 is the same c¡n'
figur¿tioü 6s üewed i¡ c¡oss sectio¡ perFDdicula¡ to the boat track. U the sourc€8 are
6¡ed simulta¡eously, Figue 75 A, theD the receiver o¡ the left gets ¡eflected sig¡als ftom
midpoi¡ts a and b. But the receive¡ csntrot distiDguish tbese sigsls ¿nd the i€sült is a
sroesred single midPoi¡t track at c.

However, if tbe sources axe fired altemstely at tiEles ,I aDd t2' Figorc 75 B, the¡ the
smea¡iDg efiect is avoided and t¡ue CMP tlacks at a and b are tathe&d This technique
of alter¡ate sou¡ce firing is called flipflop shooting. In this cose the y soürce interval is
fixed by the source sePaxstion. Th€ t soulce iúterval csn be s€t to any desiled dists¡c€ b¡
adjusting tbe time of sou¡ce fr¡ing.

R.ccivcr csblc

- Bort üack L-
Rcccivcr c8bl.

Figure 74: A dual source, dual cable, single ship ope¡ation'

The dual source, dual cable, single ship geometry gives four CMP lines/pass with c
CMP spacing of half the 6ource iDteÍlsl a.nd y CMP sPsci¡8 deteEnin€d by the relative
sepa¡ation of the sources and receiler c¿bles

Exercise 12.1. A dual-ship, dual_sou¡ce, dusl-cable cas€ is showD ü Figure TT Assume

that flipnop shooting is er¡ploy€d s¡d the sou¡cd a¡t iD e,equeDce (as Lebeled) st tl, t2, ¿3,
aDd ú1. How maDy úidpoiBt traaks are a.quired ?

The same method as Exe¡ci¡e 12.1 yields 12 CMP üles/Pass if the sbip sPaciDg is
inegülar [28].

A siogle source, six streamer suney [32] used the followiDg a¿quisitio¡ pa¡sneters:
12 MAEÍVE SHOO'ÍNC GEOMETRY

t-
water surfaca

Rcflcclor

(A) simulun.ous firing of bolh sourccs

W¡tar sü¡fe
I

Rcflccto.

wrlarso¡fer
I

Rcflector

(B) n¡pflop shooting (r¡rc¡natc fi¡ing of sor¡rc6)

Frgu¡e 75: Si¡¡ultsrcous v€rsus 6iFfloP shooti¡g. Cro6s'sec,tioDsl vie$ p€!'Pendid¡lar to

bost tráak.

o
L-
o

ooooooooo
Figure ?6: CMP/azimutb/fold plot for dual source, dual c¿ble, si¡gle sbiP op€!¿tioü'
 12 MARTNE SHOOT,¡ÍG GEOMETRY 130

w&r írffacc

{ Ship I ñring ssRRss I

Rcflcc¡o¡

RSSRRSSR I
Ship I f¡ririg

Ship 2 fring
RSSRRSSR l--
z

RSSRRSS I
Ship 2 fi¡ing

Figu¡e 77: flipflop shootiúg ior sD idesl dusl-ship, dual-eource, aod duel-c¿ble operstion.
12 MAEtr{E SEOOTINC GEOMETRY 131

Number of streamers 6
Recei!€r groufrs/st¡esEe! 40
Receii'er 8¡oup iDterval 12.5 E
Stre8me¡ sepa¡atiotr 25m
St¡ea.Eer depth 5m
Numbe¡ of sou¡cee 1

Source depth 4.25 ú)

Sou¡ce volume 1370 cu.in.
Shot intelval lz.¡ m
Exe¡cis€ 12.2- For the acquisition paratnete¡s tabled aboYe, what is tbe t and y CMP
spacint ? How matry CMP lines were acquired per pass ? Make a sketch of tbe ship, sou¡ce,
and cables. IDclude dimensio¡s.

Two ship operations are now commonly used fo¡ undershooting platforrns a¡d othe¡
objects in clutteled are¿s. One survey g¡ouP [28] leported a ]D ploduction level of 1438
tm2 in 6ve montl¡s shootiüg time. This averages out to 9.5 square km per day, including
downtime. Some cu¡rent records are 16 stleaners/ship (Septembe¡ 1998)' 12 m0 m cable
length (July 1998), and 48 ttn2 total vessel footp nt usitrg sü 8000 m cables (September
1997). Ships now io production heve toe¡ing caPacity for 20 c¡bles (March 1999).

12.3 Fixed-Receiver Acquisition Methods

ID certarn cilcuF¡statrc€s, towed-cable sJ¡sterDs a¡e ¡ot the prefelred form of scqüGition.
This caD b€ due to strong cur¡eDts, heary ship trafrc, or de¡se surface obstructioDs (e.9.,
drilling platfo!¡Ds). Also, fixed receiver methods allow much bette! control on ázimuth
distribution in the deta, close to whst can be a.hieved on land. Using 6xed receivers leads
to improved survey ¡epestability, which is vital in 'tD 6eismic.
Some ñxed ¡eceiver methods are:

Buoy/tele¡netry Indiüdual ¡eceive¡s o¡ small g¡oups of receivers a¡e leid out on the
seafloor. Surface buo¡s tr¿Dsmit data to the recording unit. Limited to r€ry shalloer
water (traDsitioD zoDe).

OBC Ocea¡ bottom cable iE a bystem in wbich ¡eceiler cebles s¡e laid out on the oce&o
bottom. Bei¡g below ¡¡arc base and away from ship vibratio!' noise is reduced'
9D eidpoitrt @verate is achieved by c¡uising sor¡¡ce ship(s) in a retula¡ patte¡n'
LiEited to leletii'ely shsllow wate¡. It is becoming common that bottom c¿ble is
12 MAEI{E SEOO'ÍING GEOMETRY 132

mülticodpo¡e¡t roeasuing th¡ee pa¡ticle rtelocity coEponetrts plus p¡essu¡e. See OBS
fo¡ adtr¡¡tege5.

Vertical cable A method dewloped (c.1993) where cables are vertically auspended be,
twee¡ s bottóE anctro¡ aad eurface buoy. Thi¡ ofiers noise ¡d.va¡tages aúd shooti¡g
tr¡ethods sre sinilsr to bottoD c¡btre. Ca¡¡ be u!€d i¡ modesté t¡ deep wat€tr. Ver-
tical ar¡atrgeBent of rcceir¡ere allows ¡ew ki¡d¡ of processing, iacludiog separstio¡ of
üptoi¡g o¡d do\Mrgoiug energr (useful for remord of deep w6ter multiples).
OBS The ocea¡¡ bottoe seismo¡¡ete¡ is a sJ6tem wbicb deploys a tb¡ee-@r¡po¡etlt ¡€cei\€¡
¡¡¡d a pressu¡e sensor (bydrophone) otr tbe oce¿D floo¡. Theoe are €r(peDsive s,!d
therefo¡e few a¡e deployed; deta deosity is uade up bf shootitrt s tight source pstt€tr¡
with a surface ship. OBS is viable i¡ deep w6t¿r, and tiv€s vector sei.smic ¡€{,oDae
(the 3 compotreots) thst sl¡o$"s proc€6si¡g for sbea¡- a¡d mode-converted s¡veo. The
hydrophone is useñrl lor ide¡tiffcstiotr aDd supprBsion of se8floo! multiple reflectio¡s.
13 MARINE EAEDWÁ¡I.AIVD POSTI¡ONTNC 133

L3 Marine Hardware and Positioning

The st¡e¡De¡ c¿ble s¡ss developed fo¡ antisubtos¡irc warfa¡e i¡ World W¡¡ Il. The c¡ble is
2.S3 iDches it¡ diaúeter, plastic css€d, ¡eutrally buo,¿trt, snd fiIed with oil' It will flo¿t
for easy recor€ry, being designed to bove about 1% Positil€ buoyancy rclative to 3ea wste¡'

Tbe basic ¡eceiviDg €lenent is a ple€sü¡e seD6itive hyd¡oPho¡e comPoe€d of a small

soüd-st¿te device called s Piezoelectric celaúic crystal. This has tbe p¡operty tha¡ whetr it
is subj€cted to st¡e6s, such as when a sound r¡sve pass€s by, it etoits a weal{ electical signal'
It is small, r'ery ¡obust snd has Do movi.Dg parts. Csbl€s are built r¡ith s ¡eceiver hardwi¡ed
every meter or so, sod tbe desircd ¡eceiver iBteÍal can b€ customiz€d by softwde li¡kiüg
of several iüdiüdual teceivers.

Moder¡ stresEer cbaracteristical

t. up to 12 000 m long
2. up to 1000 chaDnels

3. 12-30msegme¡ts
4. 60 - 100 B i¡terchaDgesble s€ctioüs

Befole 19?9, all m¡¡i¡e c¿bles $€re analog. E¿ch receiver (hydrophoae) fed a r'üe-
pair that passed to the ship for recordiog. Analog-to-diSital (A/D) convemion occuned on
the ship. Spsce or'¡ilable i¡ th€ c¿ble liEited this to about 96 channels/cable By 1985'
digital cebles were in use (25%) with uP to 240 chanaels. Hydropbone signal-s were carried
along analog wirepairs to A/D coni€rteB built into the cable o¡ co¡¡¡ections betw€en cable
sections. Also by 198, individuol hydrophone digitizers e,ere availeble allowing a higher
nuruber of chaonels/cable.

13.1 Cable Ha¡d¡r,a¡e

Figure 78 is s ge¡eric sketc-h of the hardwa¡e coDñguratioD fo¡ 6 staüda¡d marine cable'
Soloe aspects of the coEPotre¡ts ¿¡e listed below.

Lead-in cable:

L. hes\¡y, arBored
13 MARINE HARDWARE AND POSI ONI¡\¡G 134

Ship

Fadngs Tai¡ buoy

C¿ble s€ction
t¡ad-in cable

SEetch

El.cúorica Hydrcpho¡es/
nodulc dai¿ channcls

Figure 78: Sketch of ma¡ine cable hardn'are co¡6$¡¡ation,

2. dep!€ss€s cable to approrcimate operating depth

3. isolates cable froE pitchiüg a¡d tossiDg of ship

4. isolates cable ñom ship maabinery vibratiou

Farings (rubber strips on lead-in cable) cut down turbulence of wster due to trsD$
verse dragging of lead-in cable. Without faún8s the lead-in cable would strum a¡d fiutter,
trarismitting ooise to tbe streamer.

The stretch section betw€e¡ lead-in aüd streane¡ is üsually made of trylon lop€ or similar
rcsilietrt ¡ísteri¿l üth elect¡ic wi¡es from the st¡eá¡oer coiled looeely a¡outrd it. ThG section
can st¡etch by up to 30% to further atteDuate vibrstioD sDd lu¡ching of the lead-il¡ cable
and ship.

The tail buoy is attached to the eBd of th€ cable by about 200 meters of line and is
esseDtial fo¡ recovery of severed cable (light bea.on) atrd coDtains po6itiooiog equipment.

Bi¡ds, o! depth codrollers, keep cable at optimum operstiDg depth (a I meter). They
are pressu¡e seDsitive aDd hsv€ wi¡¡gs that üft o! lowe¡ the csble iD resPoDse to dePth
(pressure) changes. The bir& can be preset oD ship o! electrooically coútroled du¡ing the
survey.

To minimize ghosting, the optimu¡¡ cable depth is

d"pth=+ = +
13 MAEINE HAF:DTryARE AJVD POSIIIONtrVG 135

wbe¡e t = /&'r.
Exerci.e 13.1. Wbst is tbe optimum st¡€áEet depth for s su¡v€l¡ acquüiDt d¿ta with
6 doúin¡út ñ€queDcy of l00II¿? 50 Ez? m Ez:!
(Ú* o^¿, = 1524 ¡¡e¡

13.2 Cable Positionit¡g

The c¿ble is delected froD the ship's track by croescrne-ots. Actu¡l csble po6ition a¡d
shape a,re determiled from

1. msgnetic colopass€g
2. high-ftequelcy acoutic t6¡8i!8
3, l¿ser ¡sngi¡g

4. glob¡l positioniq s]'st¿n (GPS) ¡ecei!€r6

Acoustic ranging syste&s r¡ae sigDal ge¡elstors on the ship's bull, si¡ gü¡s ¡nd/or tail
buoy shootilg iBto leceivers aloog the cable. Typical distance bete€en ¡¿oüBtic receivers
b 75 ftr la8l. Acoustic ratrging accu¡a.y dePends oo a.cur¿te estimetes of the local 6ound
6pe€d i! wste¡ aDd precis€ travel time measr¡¡eúent (geDerator - receiver).

Sou¡d speed iD le¡!-su¡f¡De wst€t is ¿ ñr¡ctio¡ of teBp€r¿tü¡e aDd sali¡ity

o = 1449.14 + 4.57 T + 1.40 (S- 35)

where uuora is in E/s and where ? is te¡nPe¡stu¡e ir'C (-4"C < ? < 30'C) and S is
s¿linity i¡ p¿¡ts/1000 (0 S S < 37).

Exercis¿ 13.2. Calculate the souDd sp€€d iD the oce¿tr at a Place ¡'he¡e tbe salidty is
14 p6rts/1000 ¡¡d teEPe¡¿tue is 20PC. What i8 the souDd 6p€ed for 6 Éesh water lske at
20"c?

The distance from tbe teDe!¿to! to a¡ry SiveD acoustic receil€¡ i5

13 MARtr'¡E EARDWARE A^ID POSIIIONI¡\¡G

The error, A.R, in 6xilg tbe distsnce bween the aaoüstic source ¿t¡d ¡eceiver is

A8=oA¿+¿At,
whe¡e A¿ ¡ the traveltime error aud A1r is the ealo¡ is the estiEsted r¡ster sound sDeed.

Exercise 13.3. An acoustic getre¡¿tor on the ship hull seads a pulse which is detected
by a ¡ecei\,€r on the tail buoy. The traveltime is 2.0 ss and water sound speed G thought to
be 1500 m/s. Wh&t is the distarice ftom the generato¡ to the receive¡? What is the e¡ro¡
in thiB distance estimate if u is o!€restimated W L% ?

Las€r-¡angi¡g syst€Es a¡e rnuch mo¡e acculst€ thao aaol¡stic ones becsuse the speed of
light is consta¡tt and very large. This allows precise tr¿!€ltime measurements, but lase¡-
¡atrging systems need a clear üne of sight.

Taken all totether, cu¡re¡t pra.tice gives a t)¡pic¡l ¡eceiver position accuracy of S - l0
metels,

13.3 Ma¡ine Source Array

The sou¡ce for most msxi[e seismic sun€ys is an a¡ray of air güns. The ar¡ay is t]¡pically
composed of a few subarrays, each composed of ¡ few individual sir turis. Each ai! gun
dve6
a timed release of compressed air which generates sou¡d v¡ai€s in the wster. Th|s process
getrerates a bubble e¡hich ris€s to the surface slterDstely eeaDding and contracting. Also,
the f¡ee sudace of the wate¡ gener¿tes s ghost ¡enectioD of opposite pol¿rity ta ibe direct
pulse Fom the air gu¡¡ (since the reflectioÁ coeftcient ftom below for the air-w&ter conracr
is -1). Compared to land data, the net efiect of an air guD aDd water gurface is to generale
a much mo¡e compücated sourc€ pulse.

The air gun array is desi$ed to f34l with seve¡¿l goals in mind

Give moie power Usiug more guls püts more powe¡ itrto the system, s'hich iD turD should
give mole returDed signal power.

Assist in bubble cancellation By using sercral gun6 st süthtly difiereüt depths, and
perhaps 6¡i!g at slightly difierent times, tbe Det bubble oscillatioo ca¡ be minimiz€d
(but not elimi&ted).
Give desired frequencJ. content Eaah ¿i¡ gü¡ eEits s cbaractedstic dominaDt frequency
based o¡ its size. Ai! güd 6ize is Ee€sured in cubic inches. Like indiüdual bells in a
13 MARTNE HARDWARE AND POSffIOivING L37

bell c.hoir, the big o¡es eroit lor' frequenci€B .¡¡d the sr¡6ll oD€s high frequeacies. By
coDbi¡i¡g tbe biabs and lows auy desired range of frequerciee can be geúerat€d itr
the Det pulse.

Control directiüty A¡ indiüdu¡l arr gun emits pos¡€¡ ev€nly i¡ sll di¡ections, but otre
effect of the ghost is to to¡le the ladiated power angle-dependent (see below). Tbis
effect is called 8ou¡ce di¡ectivit¡r Each individual gun shows tbis directivity, a¡d there
is s let di¡ectiüüy fo¡ the estite a¡t¿y. lt i8 d€si¡sble th¿t tbe Det power ftoE üe eDtire
a,rray be focused between ¿bout zero a,Dd rO" (me¡su¡€d froD v€¡ticsl). This will put
E¡o6t of the pow€r irto relectioD eve¡h, ¡athe¡ tha¡ di¡ect s¡¡ivsls aDd ¡ehsatio¡s.

Fi$te 79 shows geometry fot the gh6t pulse I3l. The tine delay Me¡€€o the gho6t
and priDsry ig
T(il=2-!S:9
Tbe net sou¡ce puls€ is the sue of the primary s¡¡d the thost. Sioce the delay ¡s a¡gle-
depeDdetrt, so is tbe net sou¡ce pulsé.

It is ¡,ell hox¡¡, ¿¡d itt¡port¿¡t, that m¡¡i¡e se¡aEic arra¡rs should be desigaed as small
as possible. ID pa¡ticular, a m¿¡be ¿¡rsy with signiñca¡t c¡oes-liDe diDensioa caa degrade
!D miSrstion ¡esults [34]. Unwanted effects cari occür with clo6a-lioe dimeD3ioDs of 50 m,
o¡ l6s.
¡3 T¿{AI¡¡E FÁNDWARE AND POSIflOI{TNG 138

¡naF aor¡ra

Saiaob.drcc

cho¡ Ptiúy
F¡ba FL.
Figule 79: A ba¡i¡e sourcé pub€ ¡s [email protected] of I p¡ioa¡y pulae ald a (del¡y€d) 8b6t
puls€.
14 ACQUEMON TRENDS FOR THE FIfiIURE 139

14 Acquisition Ttends for the F\ture

14.1 La¡d
Sooe facts ard ñgures
(it€us ma¡k€d with -
ale dircussed below)

1. over 50 % of laud no¡k is !D, maybe over 75 % in U.S.

2. up to 20m .ha¡¡els
3. stand¡rd CMP fold l&2t, but c¿tr ra¡ge up to,l{) ¡¡d dow¡ to l0
4. oDe t¡e¡d iB toward shallow ta¡gets, small birs, ald very low fold
5. - didtal telemetry
6. - !¡ulitcomporcnt, tiDelsp€e, aDd 4D
7. for Vibroeeis, shorter ¡.¡d fei¡€r sweeps to lour€r ¿cqr¡isitio¡ co6t
8. - ¡i¡ecomponent surveyo (!C &D)
9. higher Bpatial ¡esolutio¡ (highe¡ &equeocy, small bio size)
10. - freld QC/processing systens

Fo¡ U.S. (lowe¡ 48 states) p€rEitting c¿D reFes€¡t 60 - 65 % of the totol lD surveying
co6ts.

14.1,1 Tel€rnet¡y

L¿od telemetry me¿Ds thst geopho¡e c¿bl€s a¡e ¡epl¡ced by field digitiziog ünits. One o¡
several teopho¡e g¡oups can go to one A/D u¡it. The digitized dsts is the¡ s€t¡t viia radio
to the lecordioS truck.

14.1.2 Multi-compon€nt, time.laFse, and &D

The¡e is ¿ co¡t¡oversy brewi¡g sbout the t€rE "¡l-D seismic". But b"fore digging i!t.o 4D
6eis¡oic, it is us€fr¡l t,o co¡aider s 2-D dst¿ set ¡s iDdicsted in Figüe doA.
r\
 14 ACQVISmON TRENDS FOR T$E FWURE 1,l{}

2-D

l¿

X.mp
comnon ¡nidDoo¡ (Clitn

(A) (B)
,^\ Figure 80: (A) A prestack }D dsts set is a !D volu¡re. (B) A pr6ta.ü !D d6to s€t ü s
.t-D object.

The dats as s€en by tbe ilterprete¡ is iDd€ed s ?-D ibaSe with ho¡izo¡tal axis of CMP
strd r€rticsl axis of ¡eflectioD tiDe. The seisllic p¡oc€€o!, bowever, has seeD the data
before sts¿king {'heD there was 8¡othe! diBeDsion, ofiset. The¡e is slso the fact thst the
2-D data a¡e the result of usi¡g ¿ v€rticsl source (sz) and a rcceiver seÉitive o¡ly to verticsl
übr¿tions (r¿). So we could jr¡sti66bly s¿y s 2-D p¡€sta.k dsts set i8 s fuDctio¡ of

2-D: cop , tla€ , off ael ,a¿,tz.

In what this object twcdiDensiotrsl? Thete s€ems to b€ some coos€Dsüs thst s¡e
sense is
should distinguish (cop,tine,ofiset) as ¿,m¿asiotts trd (sz,a) s otnpot¡¿t¡¿s. F\¡rtbermore,
io ¡s¡¡int the object, the coDEon uaage b t,o o¡ly iDclude poctst¡ck dime¡¡sions a¡d Dot
Eentio¡ compoDe¡ts uDl€s rte have more th6t just verticsl o!€5. To suema¡iz€, ¡/€ c¡D
co¡side¡ 2-D dats ss 2-D iB this se¡¡e

2-Df cDp,tlEe, {ott.et,sz,tz} ,

where the iteEs i¡ cully brackets á¡e iEPüed' but trot u¡€d ia ¡8DiB8'
.14 ACQUISIT'ON ?RENDS FOR TEE F¡/TTJRE

Going up to $D data meaos we have two CMP coordin¿tes (map view)' termed xcmp
aod ycop. Thus pr€stack LD data is a,!D object with diFe¡8ions (xcrP, ycúP,ti¡0€, ofi8.t).

How cs¡r we d¡sw ¿ ,!D object? A 1-D line is a couectioÁ of GD poi¡ts, s 2D pl.De i8
s collectio¡ of l-D lines, ¿ !D voluEe is a collection of 2-D pl&¡es. So it bskes eeDse that
¿ 4.D object ca¡ be co¡sidered rs s collectiotr of &D volumes.

Apptyi¡g this to prestaEk BeisDic dats, we ¡ote thst all the nea!-ofs€t traces i¡ ¿ $D
sun'ey form a cube (o¡ volume) stl by theros€1v6. The ¡ext la¡ger ofisets fo¡ú atrother cube,
a,trd so o¡ up to the far offs€ts. The 3-D P¡estack d¿t¡ csn b€ coúsideled as s collectioo of
common ofiset cut¡es as sho*,u iÁ Figu¡e 808.

Note thst i¡ resl dats there will be aa¡y (10'.1m) oftets, er€n tboüsb only fiv€ s¡e
showD in the ñgü¡e. Si¡ce we ale still assuEing l€rtical sou¡ce a¡d receive! @¡lponents'
the dsta is a fuÁction of

3-D: xcDp,ycsp,titoé,{ottget,sz,rz}

As with the 2-D case, by calliog this object !D seismic the bla.keted items e¡e implied
¡nd the dime¡sio¡s a¡e (xcDp,ycúp, tiD€) .
Now imsgine th¿t this eDtile $D survey is lepeatd eve¡y few yea¡s. This adds anothe¡
tiúe dimension *e might call '!irtage". We need to d¡aw a 5-D object to illustrate the
p¡estsck data. Clea¡ly, this l^,ill be a collectioü of,l-D objects like thst showú iD Figure 808.
This 5-D object is shown in Figure 81A. Now we leach the cn¡x of the Estte¡ - should w€
call tb€se dsts ,!D o¡ Time-Lapse (TL) 3D?

The¡e is a cas€ fo¡ both. To b€ colsistent with pr€vious (accepted) deñnitioDs, r¡e heve
thes€ data as a function of

4-D: xcnp, ycDp, tiD€ ,viltage, {offs€t, sz,rz}.

The roedical irDaging commu¡ity has cle¿¡ly endorsed tbe term 4D - os iD {"D ultrssoud'

But ro6¡y geoph]'sics t]?es s€e ilcoDsisteDcy lurkiug. If 4-D sounds logical to you, the¡
co6ide! this, Wbat do we call ¿ rePeated 2-D sei66ic survey? The vint¿ge axis adds a new
dimension ¿nd our naming method would give

3-D: cDp,ti¡e,vi¡tsto,{offset,sz'!2},
 14 ACQUISITION TRENDS FOR TgE FUTURE L42

-*¡
R.c.iva cübo6L

+D?
rl3-o? eo?
\ TL 5-D ?
TL 3-C 3-D ?

--^
-_!cmP

ffi; (B)

Figure 81: (A) A multivi¡tage plesta¿k 3-D data set is a

''D
voluroe, but is usually lefer¡ed
to 6s 4D seismic dats. (B) Recoldiry rDultiple leceiver compoDe¡ts adds ónothe¡ dime¡sio!.

^t
¡4 ACQT,ITS-ÍNON TREADS FOR THE FUTURE 143

which is in direct conflict with the standard meani¡g of 3-D s€ismic dats This Problem
goes

ayray if ¡r€ te¡B these dats TL 2-D, which clea¡ly distinguishes theú ftom single'viDtage
lDiato. Perhaps the only way to be colsistent i's to use the Pre6x tine-lapse for a Eulti-
vintage seisoic sun'ey of any kind. It may be a lost cause, but hoPefully the dilemma is
now clea¡.

While o¡ the subject, q,e lday as {'ell push it to the limit and see how this all extends
to
which coüld
the confusing world of multicomponent seismic dsta Figule 81B shor¡:s d&ta
a¡Suably be terBed &D according to our ¡eciPe

6-DI xcnp, ycDP,tiEe,vi¡tag€, {off36t 'az'l,tx,ty 'ltz} '

Would TL tD be
"&D s€ismic" would, of course, be e conñrsiog and ambiguous te¡m
*fu.ttot Probably !ot. For the sake of coDsisteÁcy, the teÍo for these data should be
(rx'ry'rz)' Our
"iL gC CO", whele the &C de¡otes tbe three receiver was oDly iúPlied itr sll other
componeDts
consistency is aot perfect, hovteve!, sioce we include rz r¡hich
narnes.

We a¡e almost done. The ultimate s€ismic exPeritnent is shoe¡! iü Figure

82' Here we
soulces'
have multivintage &D seis¡nic usi¡g tbree ¡eceive¡ components and three difierent
iu"¡ *u."" t"tJ.tong only one axis (x,y' o¡ z), or 6omehos' spans this !D space we klow
this is the ultimate experiment beceuse there a¡e only thre€ possible spa'e cooldinates'
a'Dd

we have excited them sll with sources a¡d measured them all üth receivels_ No matter
inforEation
bow complicsted the subsürfa¿e súd the ¡etumiDg wave motioDs, this G eDough
to completely c¿pture it. Our reciPe would 8il€

8-D: xcnP, ycnp, tiEé,viDtage, {offset} , sx, sy, {sz},rx 'ry ' {!z} '

be 'TL 9C
But do we really !¡ant to cal this &D? Ha¡dly The term for this datashould
like this
3-D". The Colorado School of Mines h¡s actüally acqui¡ed a monster

It that these ki¡d of vector seismic data require specialized and exPensive
is worth ootiDg
processing (elastic mi$atioD, etc). While we know in theory how to Figrate
it' computer
iechnologr is insumcient to do it in a le€sonable amoutrt of tiúe'
mmeone q¡ill coiq a
None of our cunent naloing conventions ¡lay persist Eleutually
¡'vector 4-D seismiC' - and we witl all have to live with it
ph¡ase thst sticks - maybe
iDterpretstion it will
Just one früal thought. Tbe data in Figure 82 ¡s prestack Before
be (expensively) Procees€d to a reflectiüty image
l.-
 14 ACQÍJ'8ITION TBENDS FOR TEE FWÍ]RE t4

Rcc.ivcr co|rrmc¡¡

8-D ?
TL7.D ?
TL $C 3-D ?

Figu¡e 82: The ultimate EeiaDic expe¡imeDt.

-
¡¿ .ACQUTSÍ?¡ON FOR TEE FrúTVRE 145
"RENDS
IDag€(xcrp,ycúp,ti.¡6,vL¡tagc),

which is i¡deed ¿ fou¡-diDe¡siolal object' So the discussio! of ¡sDi¡g co¡veltioDs iÁ ükely

to coDtinue.
Exercise 14.1. ln a !C 3-D peri¡¡etet suney the¡e 6re 5m LC receive¡s ¡ive fo¡ each
of 300 &C sbots. How ma¡y trr.€s a¡e Senersted i¡ this survey? How Dany túce8 for the
sa,De survey usi¡g aingle coopoDe¡t soulces/receivers?

¡ie¡d QC. Field qu¿lity coBtlo¡ systeEs sllow resl tiúe eo¡itori¡g of the acquisitio¡
sl|8t¿m 8Dd soEe processi¡g cspGbility. AcquisitioD psramet€rs like array geometry and
eweep leagth c¿¡ be Dodided oD the site. Po$e¡ñ¡l sú6ll comput€rs bsve D¡de this pGible'

14.2 MariDe

The tr€od iB towa¡d

(iteEs Ba¡ked with - ar€ d¡scursed below)

1. lo¡ger st¡e¿rde¡ csbles (> 12000 m)

2. sophisticatcd QC
3. mo¡e str€s¡úe¡s/ship (> 16)

4. úole ships/6u¡vey (> 2)

5. highe¡ lesolutioo
6. freld plocessi¡g
-
7. * GPS oaütatioD system

8. highe¡ de¡sity ¡ecordi¡t

-
L Eu]ticoúpoDedt

10. m¿rioe ghea¡ w¿ve data (ñou mode conversiol)

F-
14 ACQWSITION TRENDS FOR THE FVTUKE 146

14.2.1 GPS

The Global Positio¡ing System is a sstellite radionsvigation systeE deplot'ed by the U.S.
Department of Defense (DOD). Tbere sre ol€r 20 GPS sstellite6 iD o¡bit. At any poi¡t o¡
the ea¡th multiple (14) GPS sotelites a¡e in ¡adio üew. Mini GPS receivers a.re readily
availoble. A GPS receilc¡ t¡a¿ks the ssteuites snd dos'Dloads precis€ position d¿t¿ ho!¡
each one.

This system Fves absolute (3r, t, z) coordinatB at ses without l¡s€ of coEpsss or acoustic
locato¡s. This would locate the ship aüd tail buoy while acor¡stic locators and compasses
would still be used to i¡te¡polate iDdiüdual recei!€! locstioDs.

Because of iute¡tio¡e¡ DOD signal degradation, civilia¡ GPS horizontal scculacy is

Iimited to about 100 m. This sccalled s¿¿e¿¿i¿e aoailobrlíttr is a no¡mal cha¡octerhtic of
civilia¡ s]€tems.
GPS is alEost always used in difie¡eotial mode, meani¡g tbat positioris ale determiDed
oBly ¡elati!€ to s b¿se GPS receive¡. The plorDised goal of the systeD is 5 !¡ aaculacy with
95% conñdence. Current accu¡scy is estiEated to be &10 m. However, s]stematic d¡ifts
hai€ been reported that deg¡sded accu¡acy to 20 m or le6s ove¡ a period of hours.

14.2.2 }Iiglr Density Recording

Data ma[agement/storage is important becaus€ of the buge lumber of t¡¿¿es involved in

la¡ge !D surveys. This me6¡s that higher density ¡ecoldiDg is alf,'ays needed. The switch
ftom DiDe-track high-deDsity tape (6250 bits/inch) to digital audio tape or optical storage
devices is well underway.

T]?ical cur¡ent sto¡age capaciti€s a!e:

1. I track tape (6250 bpi) = 20G700 Mbyte/tape

2. CD-ROM disk = 650 Mbrte

3. optical disk = 2 Cb]'te/pl&tter

4. Digital ¿udio taPe (DAT) = 2-5 GbJ'te/tape

5. DVD disk = 5 Gbyte

6. Digital linea¡ tape (DLT) = 1G15 Gbyte/tape

14 ACQI'TSÍIION TKENDS FOR TIIE FWT]RE t47

7. msgnetic h¿rd disk = 50 Cb!'te/drive (3.5 i¡ch)

8. custoE i¡temet dowDtroad = u¡liDit€d (but sloq')

Exercise 14.2. A bsri¡e $D survea is coEpo6ed of 500 2-D Pss6es each iorolving '100
shots into two 96 ch¡¡¡el streamers. How meny tlares a¡e acquired in esch pass? Eow
maoy (preetack) tÉces a¡€ there i! the e¡ti¡e $D dota s€t? How many pootstack traces?
(assr¡me co¡st¡nt 96 fold)

It is iEpo¡taút to note that rsw positioDiDg dat¡ fo¡ a ma¡i¡e survey cs¡ ¡epres€nt
al¡¡rost the s6me volume of date as the seisúic dats itself. After position proceasiag' ¡ou
have z, y, z for earü individu¡l shot a¡d ¡eceire¡. Th€se six Dudbe¡s ¡¡e theD sto¡€d in the
t¡ace hesders.

14.2.3 FieldProce8sing

The delsy betw€en a.qui¡iag a Large moriue 3D survey ¿¡d the delivery of ¿ mig¡sted data
cube catr be 6 - 9 mo¡ths. Field p¡ocessiDg systeos using powerñrl comPuter€ a¡d siFplified
ilosgi¡g algorithms are becoBing coflmon. These ca! delive¡ a blute migated dsta cube
iD resl-time duriDg acquisitioD. R¿tbe! thaú wait for sü months, the i¡terPrete¡ is able to
begitr i¡te¡pretatioD {hile the acquisitio¡ i5 still u.oder$Ey. With the emerging t€cb.oolo$¡
of sstsllit¿ data delivery, this is becoroi¡g s ¡eguls¡ ptactice.
 14E

Part III
Processing
15 Processing Overview

15.1 'why Do We Need to Process Seismic Data?

B¡oadly speakiDg, mo6t seisEic processing steF add¡ess one of fou¡ categories: wavelet,
traveltiEe, aúplitude, or nois€. By luaping these o¡eas, soÍle sense can be made of tbe
bewildering array of p¡ocesse applied to seismic dats.

'Wavelet adjustments Vibro6eis correlation, decolvolution, filtering, phase rotation.

taveltime corrections Statics (elevatioD, s€atheriDg, residual), NMO (and velocity anal-
ysis), DMO, mig¡¡tion (and velocity aDal}sis).

Amplitude corrections Geometric spreading, attenuatioq gain (ú',e'¿, DorE, AGC, etc.).

Noise reduction Vibro€eis cor¡elation, vertical st¿¿k, mute, CMP staak, /-,t 6lterin8,
radon frlteriug.

These processes have delcloped over time. A popula¡ free p¡ocessing system, S€isúi-
cun*x, coDtaitrs about 250 indiüdual pro$ams. Allowing for many of these to be g¡aphics
and utilities, there á¡e still over 150 core seGmic p¡ocessing prog¡añs. Interested readels
a¡e ¡efer¡ed to the standard seismic processing text by Yilmaz [10].

Figure 83 demonstletes the Deed fo¡ three t¡aveltime co¡rectioús, NMO, DMO, and
mig¡ation. It is ooly after mig¡ation that the trav€ltime i¡ seGmic data r€pres€nts uer¿i¿o¡
reflection time which caD be lelated to measured depth ia wells.

In tbe inte¡pretation phase, there may be many additional processes aPPIied to seismic
dat¿ (att¡ibutes) that deserve to be called image Proc€ssing rather th¡D s€ismic P¡ocessiDg.
Items is this category include edge detectioD, coherer¡cf Hilbert attributes (ir¡sta¡taneous
amplitude and phose), shadow processing, smoothinS, latersl gradient oPerations, strd con-
volution with user-def¡ed kemels (Batrü of oumbers). This is discu.ssed in chaPte! 27.

A common theme itr p¡oce€sing is the &moval of ¡oise fro¡o seismic data. Noise cao
take many forms, f¡om surfa.e wal€s to multiples to direct a¡¡ivals. These are examples of
r5 PROCESSITC OVERI4IEW 1,19

r
z

Figu¡e ttlt: St¡¡ti¡g witb thc ¡¡t.edecti@ tiDc, ¿ (Dcth l) ' tbeo 1t- tbre ccrectios
reqoit"a. f.lUO t"auco tiEc to fn (prth 2) seeo at the midpoint. DMO cor¡ects to tiúe
to ipoth 3) trorDsl to the iDt¡rhce throt¡gb tbe Eú€ctioo po¡nt' Migrrthu fuelly gircs
,,""ii"¡ ti-" ¿t|¡ (peth 4) tb¡owh the ¡edectio¡ poi¡t. A Íoutth corrc€'tioo' ltstics' ldjust
fo¡ topog¡aphy a¡d the lov v€lociw w€ltbcrilg bü€!.
15 PROCESSnTG OVERWEW 150

soulce-generatd (or cobele¡t) noise. There ca¡ also be ambient aoise i¡ the e¡vi¡o¡ment
dudDt dats acquisitioD. A cotaúon st¡¿te$¡ to temor€ ooise js showD in Figure 84.

15,2 Processing Flow

Land or ma¡ine !D data p¡ocessing i6 ¿ la¡g€ snd diftcult unde¡tfing. If we think of 3D

CMP colerage as collectioa of many 2D CMP ünes, then clearly &D p¡oce66iDg is dozeos
o¡ hund¡eds of times more iDvoh€d than ZD procersing. Flom Exercise 14.2 we s€e a 3-D
survey with 38 Eilliorl trac€6, while oDe of the ?D üo€s io this survey hss jü6t 76 000 t¡a.es.

Some plocessillg step6 are unique to ]D, but ¡¡o6t a¡e commoÁ to 2-D ¡od ]D. Table 3
shows an example p¡ocessiDt flow that ¡ equally ralid fo¡ 2-D or $D. Those processes
ut¡ique to la.Dd processilrg 8¡e shovn in italics.

Some of these processes o¡e sing¡¿ ¿r¡orln¿¿, me8triüg that one input trsce gene¡atB one
output trace. Tlaae p¡ocees€s are idetrtical for 2-D snd !D except for the llsst üumbe¡ of
traces iD 3D. Exaoples a¡e

. g¡il1, decotrvolution, application ofNMO, frequency filtering, wawlet p¡ocessiBt

Multichannel pmcesses i¡¡volve se!€¡al tr¿aes to generate one o¡ more outpüt trac6.
These tend to be euch mo¡e intolved 6üd erp€nsir€ in &D than 2-D. Exarnples are

. demultiplex, NMO !€locity anal]sis, multiple ¡emoval, CMP stack, DMO, migration

Figure 85 shows the relative cost of difierent seismic processes on a synthetic 2-D data
set coDsisting of 6000 prestaak t¡aaes. Clearl¡ DMO o¡d p¡esta¿k migratioD a¡e the most
expensive p¡ocesses- A la¡ge scale lD survey might contain up to a billio! traa€s and the
cost of DMO aüd prestark riigrstiou will ircre¿se accordingly.

For very simple cáses (ze¡o dip, coústa¡¡t or leyered i€locity), velocity arid depth caD be
calculated ftom reflectio¡ geometry oÁ a CMP gsther

| -2
^*=\ffi)
-21r/2
;r2>r¡;tr)tr
t l,Z t? - "? últ/2
" =
'l'-E=t,rl
r5 PROCE.9SING OWRWEW

(a)

Figu.e 84: A co¡lmon strate5¡ using tra¡sfo¡ms to fflter dat8. (A) Original deta consistilg
of li¡€s srith difiereot slop€s. We want to remo!€ steep sloP€s (aoise) without d ¡ading
low slope (signal) eveBts. Note tbe sittal sDd ¡oise overlap i! this do¡oain lf they did
¡ot overlap then lte could directly mute (replace witb zelos) the unwanted lines. (B) A
t¡snsform ia 6ppüed to the data. I¡ this case it is a Fou¡ier transform, but ma¡y others
exist. I¡ the tralsfo¡m space the sigoal s¡d noise do not overlap. (C) Tbe oois€ area i3
replatcd by zeros (frlte¡ed) to ¡etoove it. (D) Afte¡ i¡verse t¡ansform b¡ck to the oriSinal
spaae the signal eve¡ts rer¡ain atrd tbe ¡ois€ is removed. Removal is not perfect (soE¡e
srtifa.ts reoai!) which is t¡pical.
 ¡5 PROCESStr\IG OVERWEW

¡Dput Process Outputs

FieLrl t¡pee check foru¡t *duop

-
PreProce6aing
deEultiplex
recover gaia
spply p¡eliúitr¡y gsio
W¿velet sbspi!8 -+ plot of eoch fle
übroeei.r eweep * úbt?.seiscofialotiotr sutoco¡¡elstioD Plotg
V.rtiúl s¡Ách r@6p + ñeld tsp€ to übrary

Determining Pa¡ameters
Field geobetry * teometry sp€cifcatio¡
Deco¡ p¡rams - deco¡volution
Field 8tatics - st¿tica det€rei¡stio¡ + statics plotg
seplitude sD¡lysis - aDPlitude plots
Velocity specs. NMO !€locity o¡slysis - velocity Plots
- sort/bi¡ t,o CMPs
opply NMO -* plot ofCMP Ssthers
Mute 6peca. r úute and star.k brute statk
Filt¿¡ specs. - 6lte¡iry - 6lte¡ Panel¡

Main Procesaing
Deco¡ paraDs - deco¡volutio¡
Reüsed 6toti6 - st&ticsdeterEiDatio¡ r ststics plots
aFplitude anslysis - smplitude Plots
Revis€d velocities - NMO velocity ¿¡6lysi6 - velocity plots
epply NMO - plot of fiaal CMP gethers
apply DMO - plot of DMO'd CMP gethers
Müte specs. - Eute sld staak - "t¡ue aEplitude" 6taak
t¿i¡ ldjusti¡g
Filte. specs. - olte¡ing * "6¡al" sta¡k

Final Processing
Eig¡¿tion velocity sDalysis - oit¡stio¡ velocity scsDs
Eig¡stioD - miStst€d dsts cube
wavelet proc€siDt -+ high-¡€solutioD date
stt¡ibut¿ sDalysir stt¡ibuG d¿ts
AVO - gsdie¡t/iDt€rcept dsts
i[veÉio¡ - se¡srdic loc dsts
-
Table 3: A proceesing fow *a,mple. Process€s sp€cific to laúd dats s¡e show¡ iÁ it¿lics'
(Modiñed &on [6])
¡5 PROCES.9tr\IC OW&WEW 153

hlst¡al r¡ig 5104

Poststek Eig l8
CMP St¡ck
DMO N5
NMO z2
Dccon m
Sor COS 9
Ss! Cl,lP 8

Filtc. 30
G.¡r x
Figure 85: Processes aod processi¡g tiDes (i.D 6eco¡da) for a 60ü) trace data set, If pt€5t4.ü
Eig¡stio¡ is üs€d the¡ DMO is s',óided ¡,!d üce v€rss.

Multiplcxcd ficld data

I
Dcñultiplcxing

I
D3trlulliplácd dst¡

chl ch2 ch3

atl he atl Ae, Aln arl Atrl
^t¡

Fi$¡¡e 86: Co¡cept of deoultipleltiog.

F¡
I5 PROCESSING OWRWEW 154

where (c1, !¡) end (22, ¿2) sre (ofiset,time) coo¡dinot€6 of two widely sepslated poi¡t6 ¿loBg
the reflector h¡perbola. For mo¡e ¡ealistic cas€s involving st¡uctu¡e a,Dd velocity vari&
tioD, NMO velocity anal¡nis and applic¿tion 6¡e leqüired. Di¡ect a¡¡iy¿l velocities ca¡ be
determi¡ed by ¿ lite¡al ¿ppücstio¡ of

Lx
o=E
You can apply these equstioDs to a resl shot ¡eco¡d 6hown strd marked up i[ Plste 1. The¡e
a¡e matry thit¡gs to s€e here, includiDg dúect arrirtls, head waves, renections, aüd statics
p¡oblems.

The applicotion of NMO in lD is the same as 2-D. It is the t¡ansformotion hom iúput
time, ¿, to NMO-time, úntu, using

1+ (r/i'tr^)2
where r is the full offs€t ¡¡d Ú is the NMo-velocity. For each desüed output time t¡mo, tbe
equation allows us to c¿lcul¿t€ the ¡eco¡d€d tit¡e, ,,

Tbe determiÁatioa of NMO velocities iB fuodame¡tally difieretrt iD 2-D aDd gD due to

the odstence of 6zi6uth iü the CMP gdthe¡s.

€-
Y

Figure 87; NMO r€locity can !?ry with azimuth iD the same CMP gatber. This may be
due to a dipping reflector or late¡al velocity variatio¡ abor€ the reflector.

Figure 87 sbows ¡aypstbs for tno tra&s (difre¡eDt lioe widths) witb the 6a¡!e rBidpoi¡t
snd ofis€t, but difieredt azimutbs. The laypsths fo¡ the two pass tbrough difieleüt sectioús
.¡5 PROCESS ¡G OWRWEW

of ¡ock. Only in the co¡st¡trt velocity' isotropic, zero dip c¿s€ will the t¡6vel time súd
NMO velocity for tbese traces be equal. I¡ Seneral a,n aziúütb¿l NMO velocity futrction is
requircd because of velocity vr8¡istioDs i.u the e¿rth aDd/or diPPi¡g b€ds.

The equatioD fo¡ this azimuthal NMO r"elocity futrctioo for co¡staDt velocity o\€r 3
dipping bed is
ur o = o/(1- sin2Ó cos20\r/2

where the rock relocity is u, Ó is dip angle of the reflector, and 0 is shot_receirq azi¡¡uth
(rclati!€ to dip üne).

To get the feel of some standa¡d Plocessi¡¡g stePs and r€sults, FiSures 8&91 show various
stsges of processi[g a sintle laDd sbot record. Dip moveout ar¡d migration do Dot hsve much
efiect i¡ this case because thele is Doi much structule

For quality coDtrol it is useful to vie{' the data at s speciñc PoiDt in the ProcessiDt
flow, sp€ciñcally just before CMP stacking. Figure 92 shows a line examPle from the
Midla¡rd basin. Tbe CMP gathers are fully processed a.nd 'D
displayed imroediately before
sta.k. These coDtsiD a wealth of iBformatiotr, sbowing fold ve¡sr¡s deptb, outing, event
flatteoiog by NMO and DMO, noise levels, statics, snd multiples. The ¡es€rloir level is at
about 0.8 s. Note fold is sbout 30 at this level, full fold of 60 is ¡ot achieved tiu 1.1 s.

Exercise 15.1. For the special csse of a source_receiver azimuth l¡ng in the diPlitre
direction, s¡hat is ¿'¡no? What is unno for a horizontal reflecto¡?
r5 PROCESSI¡\¡G OWRWEW rco

E t1
t t

1- Sb R..üd - Rd 2.(1).ÉC(5@É)
(|ffót (¡)
o@

3, (2) . Flltá (18 lts lo) l- (3) . lü) (3@-36@ ¡/l}

Figure 88: Land processi¡g examPle i¡oag6 (1 of 2). The dsta are a single 2-D land 6hot
rárd fto¡o Ahsü (data cou¡tesy O. Yilúaz). Each plot lobel shows processi¡g that has
been applied.
I5 PROCESSING OVERWEW

0.1

0.2

0 0.3

o.l
:t 0.5
t
0.6

0.7 0,2

0.8 0.8

0.9

3- (2) . Ft¡tr ($ rE b) tz6: 3- (2) + F¡lt- í8 rE ¡o) tlo¡

-2.1
1 1

1.4 1-¡t
8
3 r,s
!

1.8

1.9

3. (2) . Flltt (18 tE lo) f'dl 3. (2) . Flltá (tB lc lo) [email protected]

Figure 89: Varioua zoom views of step 3 fo¡ us€ io estiestiag average velocity úd dePth
of reflectioD eveots, 6a $€ll ós direct ardllal and ¡efractioD !€lociti€s.
r5 PROCESSTNC OWRWEW

81 t1
t ¡

5. (l) . Stnt¡rr lt¡!. (5c) 5. (a) . St¡ltdr l|n. (2t)

i¡4olñt (r)
o1@

lr
I ¡

8. (7) . lttg.tto (@ ,.)

Figu¡e 90: La¡d plocessing e<aaple inages (2 of 2).

¡5 PROCESSIT\¡G OVERWEW 159

t1
t I
1

O? o.t¡r (filtt,¡GE,¡n ) ||o v.lerlg ftE¡F¡.

Figure 91: NMO r€locity a¡al]lsis display. By repestedlv applying NMO with difie¡ent
velocities s velocity fuoctioB cs¡ be deterBi¡¡ed whicb rrill l¿tt¿o ¡ll ev€¡ts simulto¡eously'
15 PROCESSn¡G OWRWEW

^)
Cú r¡Oor.r C¡or. (oñ) ú r'o 2.,0 !) lrE.l ¡td *u6 (f¡d¡rú t-¡n)
50 10 t!¡ 2ú

c) gFeirÉ .f o" t r D)9.c!.tlF.t O" i.E (D¡!!Dl.r)

Figure 92: (A) CMP gathers and (B) stack 6ectioü. (C) It is often usefi¡l to collect sevelsl
CMP gatheB into oDe supergather. Note Euted ¿i¡ ¡,¡ave a¡d !úultiple reaectioDs which
have ¡ot bee¡ fl&ttened by proce€sing. (D) Supelgatber multiple &fiectio¡s. (d¿t¿ cou¡tesy
UNOCAL)
16 TTIEBIN CONCEPT 161

16 The Bin Concept

For the 2-D c¡se, d¡t¡ s¡e so¡t¿d iDto CMP Ssth€r8 lssociet€d sith o¡e poi¡lt o¡¡ tüe ea¡th's
Burf¡ce. 3-D dst6 a¡e more irtegular aod require tbe concePt of a EidpoiÁt tit¡' FiSu¡€ 93.
Tbis iEeguL¡rity coE€6 frou cable featberi4 i.o roeri¡e dat¿ 6¡d a.c€ss' topog¡.phy' aúd
d€sigD p¡obleos i¡ la¡d dsts.

The bi¡s 8re de6¡€d to h¿ve a¡ i¡-li¡e a¡d c¡oes-li¡e dime¡¡ion o¡d oll a.tual oidpoints
wbich f¿ll iD the biD ¡¡es s¡e caPtü¡ed to forE 6 CMP gather. The fold of eaah bi¡ is the
numb€¡ of csptu¡€d t¡ac€a.

ID-li¡c diú¡a.aion

. Arü¡¡l úi@irt

X X X Bin c¿nt r

Fold =? Fold = 6

Figure 93: Capturirg DidPoi¡t3 i¡to 8 gD bi!.

Through the CMP sts.kiDg procese cll tisces withi¡ ¡ bi¡ a¡e ¡u¡¡¡ed to c¡e'te a
si[gle staak t¡ace, os 6howB in Figule 94. Ideslly, the a.tual midpoi¡t8 wiü cluster ¡ear
tht bi¡ celter, Figu¡e 95. Tbis t¡ace i¡ ¡ssoci¿t€d with the geoEetric c€ot€¡ of the biÁ fo!
sub€equeüt proc€ssi¡8.

16.1 Biu Size Calculation

For p¡esta.& proc€8si¡g tbe trsces iD s bi¡ a¡e ¡ssociated sith the 8eoñetúc cetrter of the
bin. This l¡troduces er¡ors siDce the tú¿es do Dot hsve the 56oe actual DidPoi¡t, but these
eltors (smplitúde, t¡sveltioe) are small if the bir is properly eized. The geoeral condition
 16 TEEBIN CONCEPT 162

Fi$¡e 94: Aft€¡ gD toidpoint stsckiDg, eaÁ bin coDtails one trace.

ftE
Figu¡e 95: The actual Eidpoiots b¡ a weld€sig¡ed aod vell-executed survey wiü clúster
nea¡ the bi¡ ceDt¡¡s.

-\
16 TfrEBIN CONCEPT 163

for bio sizc (ia-line or cross-üne) is

ü"sT#ú= 4Íwcin9
viciaity of the ta¡get, aúd d is the m&d¡¡¡u¡¡¡ aútici-
¡¡'he¡e oi,¿ is the iuterval velocity io the
pated ph)6icsl dip. To be tecbnically correct, the l€locity üÁ€d shoüld be th.t imEediately
above the reflectitrg inte¡face. Büt c¡Dsidering the seis¡uic waveleDtth i5 200 ft or 8o, it
makes Do¡e ser¡se to üae a¡ sveraged i[terval velocity near the ta¡Set The lariable 0 is
often used to justify a nonsqua¡e bin whe¡e st€ep dips are expected io one directiotr but
lot the other. However, thu is a serious tladeofi 6i¡ce fault diffractioDs cs¡ appea¡ as 90o
eveots.

The ¿lert reader may r¡onder about the plausible situation of zero diP. Io this case'
si¿á = 0 and tbe equatioÁ sal¡s the bin size is in6uite. While not very us€fuI, this resült is
co¡¡ect. FtoE a sp¿tial aliasing poht of üew, if there is ¡o diP then the diata¡ce betw€en
adjacent t¡aces ca¡ be as large as you ül,oe - 10 miles is fine. But i¡ Pra¿tice, el€o fo¡ rcry
low dips we want trsces clo.ge enougb together to image finescale featües of explor¿tion
intelest like chd¡rnels and reefr.

The s¿fest rule is fo¡ bin size is to iSno¡e the dip sltogetber, ¿ud just rüake it less tbdn
one-qua¡ter of tbe minimum wsveleDgth,

ü¡ /(4 !^@)
=\/a=oi
Ttús will erisure that the d¿ta is Dot spatially ali8€d iD tbe bi¡ning Proc€ss alrd that t¡ac€s
gathe¡ed within s bi¡ a¡e simila¡ enouth ¡ot to destructively i¡terfere. If the biDs are takeü
too ls¡g€, p¡oc€ssiDg is sfiected, 6Dd the fual Eig¡sted d¿ta cube s'ill be a degraded image.
This can stroogly inluence subtle i¡terPretations i¡rclving amPütude snd stratiS¡aphy.

Both r,i¡, and .f|,@ are functioDs of depth. Tbe extreme values which determine the
smallest required bin size $uslly occu! at the shallow€st ta¡get of iDterest, Fitüe 96.

The c¿lculstions he¡e a¡e based on cot¡atant velocity, süd therefole stroight !&ys. As
meritioned in [22] ana [S9], a Eore realistic aPP¡oo4h is to sssume a line¿¡ v(2) functioD'
Bin ca.lculations based o¡ constant velocity can always be used, but tend to be overly
cor¡s€rittive (bir¡ siz€ too small) a¡d thus wsste money.

As discussed ea¡lie¡, the issue of money and bitt siz€ can be summarized this way lf the
fold and survey area are held coDstaDt' cuttiog the bi¡ size iD half geoerates four times ás
many pt€stack tlaces. Most would sg¡ee that cost is proPortional to the nuñb€! of Prestack
tr¿ces, so it follows that cost i5 iÁve¡sely proportioDsl to the bin sizé squatd, Pbysics a¡gues
for a small bin, ioance argues for a big one. Guess who usually wins ...
..^
16 TIIE BIN CONCEPT 164

Shallow tárgct
Higb ftquency v = 60m ñ/s,
f=60gz
-> wavelenglh = lm ft

De€p tr¡get
v = 12 m0 ft/s,
H¡gh vclocity f=40Hz
Low ficqucncy -> wav€lcngth = 3m fi
Fiture 96: I¡
many cas€s the bin size calculation for shsllow a¡d deep ta¡gets cao give quite
diffe¡ent answe¡s. The safe pra.tice is to us€ o bi¡ size appropliate to the shallow€st tsrget
of interest.

Exercise 15.2. A high-ftequency land !D survey is assigued a biD size of 25x25 m.

The target interval velocity is 3000 m/s a¡d tbe ftequency ba.od is 2G90 Hz. Does this bin
size satisfy the quarter-wa!€le¡gth ¡ule?

16.2 Effects of Fold and Offset Va¡iation

&D aaquisitioB methods each involve !€¡iations in fold a¡d ofis€t dist¡ibution. If ar¡y
patterD Ieaks into the data which G not ¡elated to geologic l¡a¡iatioris but, instead, the
sulfsce scquisition geoÍ¡etry, theü we 6ay th€ acqtrúitiorr Íootprint is visible in the dats.
This is usually best seen in time slices sDd horizon smpütude maps. These a¡e of concem
for th€ following reásons (land or marine) [42]:

Va¡iable ofrset distributio¡ ClusteriDg of ofis€ts within CMP'8 limits seDsitivity to ve

locity anal]'sis essential for sta.k respoDse, dip mo!€out and roig¡atiot!.

Va¡iable fold I¡troduces sigr¡al-to-Bois€ lariatioDs (fold st¡ipirg) and inhibits lois€ a¡d
úultiple rejection by 6taak.
Both Crestes wa!€forE inco$iste¡ci€s th¿t iDflueÁc€ iÁte¡pret&tioo, particulsrly amPü-
tude ¡ ,ork.

Lack of near ofrsets Deg¡ades statics c¿lculatioDs.

16 THEBIN CONCEP? 165

Lack of fa¡ ofisets Deg¡ades velocity a¡al),sis and thelefole mig¡atioD iúage quality.

is ¡eslly quite simple. Itrside the sweet spot of &D seismic sü¡t€y we wstrt every biÁ
It
to bal€

1. All ofisets
2. All szimütbs
3. Tight cluste! of CMPS at tbe bin c€nter
4. Corsta.dt fold fro¡o biD to biD

It is simple, but Dot easy to attaiD.

As developed here, the bin size a¡is€s ftom a naturol clustering of midPoints due to shot
and receiver inte¡vals. The bitr size is naturally dete¡mined by thes€ intervals. The dats
ca¡ be rebin¡ed to a larger or smaller bin, but the Datural bitr 6i2€ is 6et at acquisition time.
But in p¡actice, tbe !¡idpoints msy uot be cluste¡ed at all because of lotistics, scces, or aúy
Dumbe¡ of other shooting problems. For toPed streame¡ marine data, tides s¡¡d curreDts
gua¡antee midpoints will b€ widely scatte¡ed There are several Etrategies fo¡ dealing with
this situ¿tion [26].

16.3 AEatomy of a BiD

At !€ry simple object Really nothing more than an
one level of unde¡standint, a biü is a
imaginary cell drawn o¡ the earth su¡fa¡e with an in-üne and crcsgline dimension. But
the i¡ternal detsil of a particulo¡ bin is dificult to calcülate for a laqe !D sü¡vey' Ilere
¡,e describe the intern¡l st¡ucture of a single &D bin and identify thos€ features that a¡e
iúportant for quality contlol a¡d i¡flue¡ce otr late! ProcessinS/iDte¡pretation. FiSu¡e 97
sbows o synthetic !D bin.

Figure 97A shows all sources (S) and receivers (R) thst coDtribute to this bin' A litre is
d¡ae,[r coDDecting each source with the aPP¡oPriate leceiver, aDd the actual bio is the small
squ¿re at the ceüte¡. To cotrtribute, a source/receiwr pai¡ must bal€ its true midpoiDt
r¡ithin the boundaries of the bin. This Pa¡ticula! bitr is seeD to have a uoiform distributio¡
of a¿imuth. That is, the sou¡ces aDd ¡eceivers surround the midPoint without ls¡ge SoPs in
aDgula! coverage.
16 TEEBIN CONCEPT 166

A close up of the bia aod ¡.tusl eidpoi¡t locatio¡r is sbon'¡ i¡ Figue 978, As d€siled,
this bin has a very tight opread of oidpoints centered on the bitr center.

Figu¡e 97C shows the aziEuth dist¡ibutioD withiD tbe biD. Tbis is prepared by calculat-
int the a¡gle froú tbe biD ceDte¡ to the 6oü¡ce fo! e¡..h trá¿e in the bitr. North i6 táker¡ to be
0" a¡¡d the 6ngle i8 be¡su¡e clo&wise. Fioally, tbe a¿iauths a¡e so¡ted ir deaceodiug order.
No bin is perfect in rhowing 6l| szimutbs, but this bi¡ bas s gqod dist¡ibutioD cov€riDg B6t
di¡€ctior$.

The oftet distributio¡ withir the bi¡ is show[ il Figure 97D. The ofisets ¡s¡¡ge ftob
the nea¡ o&et of 500 to fs¡ ofset of 5m0. Agsi¡, these hsve b€etr sort€d irto d€dceDdint
order to shor¡' uoiforEity of co\¡erage. This bia has good ofiset distribütio¡.

It is iEport¿st to uDdersta,Dd the detailed i¡teñal structure of $D bi¡s ¡rid thei¡

iúporta¡t p¡operties. The Dext exerc¡e will Sive you sobe p!¿¿tice.
Exercisé 15.3. Whst is yor¡¡ qüAlity control evalustio¡ of the SD bi¡¡ showtr i¡
Figu¡€s 97 - 100? St¿t€ the p¡obleB(s), ü any, with e¿.h bitr ¡nd the ¡easons these p¡obleo.6
should concem us.
16 T'IEBIN CONCEPT 167

Src/Rccs for onc bin Midpoint scat&. in bin

2(m 2m

lm
r000
. D.o
YO
-lm0
YO
-lm
;tr
-2m0 -N
-2000 .lmo 0 1@ -200 -lm 0 100

(A) x (B) x

350 5mo
3m \ ,$m 'rq¡ a
250
2n
ra.qa- 30ü)
150
**. zm
lm
50 lm0
o
0 510 15m 25 0 510 15 20

Sor.! .zimlth dislribution Sorrcd offs.t disúibuúot

(c) (D)

Figule 97: Det¿iled üew of ooe gD biD. This bin has good distributioa of all imPorta¡t
propertie6.
16 THEBIN CONCEPT 168

src/R.cs fú ot|c bin MidDoint lc¡tr r in bin

N
20m
'¡aaa
t
l(m l@
a
ata
YO aa a
oa '
YO
a
.t000 -r00
.i a
-20@ .N aa
-zm -1000 0 l0@ 2(m -2¡0 -lm 0 100 2m
x x

350
300 ¡-r¡. 5000

¡r0@
lq.b-
250
M
lt) t a
3000
a
¡
-c¡
lm M
50 -\ 1000
¡.
0
510 15m 510 15 20

Azimuth diiúibution offsc¡ disEibu¡ion

Figue 98: A¡€ thete Á!y p¡obleEs with this bi¡?

rc Tffi BIN CONCEPT 169

SrctRccs fq onc bin Midpoint 5caücr in bií

2000 2ú
l(m to0

YO YO ,r.r1
-l(m -1(n

-2(m -2@

-2000 -1000 0 1000 2m0 -2()0 -l()0 0 M

x x

350 5ün
300
250
o¡ 40@

2ú .tb.- 3(m
lt)
20@
l@ \
t) r0o0
0
510 15 20

Azimuth distributioo

Figure 99: A¡e there ¡¡¡y p¡obleos $itb th¡s bia?

rc fiIE BN CONCEPT 170

SrgRlcs for onc bin Midpdnr sc¡tlcr i¡ bin

2000 m

YO
l0m

YO
100

g},
-l(m .l0o
tt.
-2000 -20o

-2mo -1000 0 lmo 2000 -2@ -100 0 lm

x x

350 50@
3m
{n0
250
2@ 30@
150
2000
100
50 l@0
0
5r0 15 20 5101520
Aamulh drsEibutiotr Oflsct d¡sErbútion

Figure 100: Are tbere any problemr witb this biD?

 COLORPLATES 171
'7
17 Color Plates
,\

17 COLOR PLTTES 172

0ffset (n)
2000

S R
Y

5 R

v
JH

reflect¡on

sjll- B 5 H
surf Yrave

Plate 1. A la¡d shot record from Alaska. Se!€¡al ki¡ds of events, in ddditioÁ to 'eflectioDs,
s¡e marked on the ¡ight side of the ¡eco¡d. Fo! eaÁh h6¡ked er€trt, the sú¿ll box indic¡tes
the path aüd wave typ€ from sou¡@ to ¡eceive¡. Tbe reflectiotr events show h]?e!boüc
traveltime delay with inc¡easi¡g ofiset - the trorbal mor€out efieci'
17 COLORPLATES

Plate 2. The bo¡izon slice is a tiEe st¡uctuE su¡face te¡elated by borüoa tracking, Shown
he¡e a¡e r¡arioru pelsp€ctive plots of time Btructure associat€d with 6 3-D horizotr slice.
Clock{'is€ ftord top left: 6iúple Eesh, srti6cial illuúiDation, t¡8y scale of time structu¡e,
color scs.le of tiBe stluctrue,
17 COLOR PLATES 174

Horizon slice a$plitude map Horizon slice time sEucture map

Time (s')'0.383
128
t34 0.388

; l4l 0.392
147 0.3s7
154 0.40 |

! I
t6l 0.406
167 0.4 l0
174 0.415
180 0.41 9

Plate 3. Ho zon amplitude and time structure for s real seismic event.

Plate 4- Screen shot of color editor froE the public domain X_Window ProS¡am rv (ver-
sion 3.10a). When you sta¡t working in detail witb color cont¡ol, things caú get
pletty
complicated.
17 COLORPLATES L75

-----l-E¡¡r-
N

ó¡o
+
*":i:íii
+.0
+
++
;"t
¡é ¡t
¡biDs l->l¡¡5

2489 w.0l¡to
2474 D.Fh b€lor¡
2460
2447 -$.ü ¡pr J,pL ?mfr.i trm
2131 I l0l 70 Z]6l...wilco¡
2tt 6
2tfJ2
t02 7a 2342
z3a7 lof a ?354
2373 a n 12 2351
2354 9l ó4 2339
2343
aa ó 93 5t ¡58
2314 7 7t 70 2337
?294 I 93 E2 2339
22AS ll 6 82 2313
@ 1t 2355
l3 @ 6 2356
Gídd€d rvikor dlpths ftom w€ll t4 69 48 2391
dar¿ Dan¡m is 700 fcct lbovc !€¿ l5 36 2t 2444
ló tv2 4ó uls
t7 6 2t z/tE
Plate 5. Base maps with fl€ll ¡urEbe¡s, g¡idded deptbr from \úell coltlol only, a¡d rell
deptb data.
17 COLORPLATES 176

3D Auto-tr&cklng (Cro6s l¡ne 71)

distanc€ (ft)

¡t,,.{
ttj:s
I -.r ---''* ,üÉ

=É:=
Mississippi

,J ;.. *.-¡
'"'.._.:r
|,..'

Height of sea¡cb wiodow: 6

Suling c¡osslinc lt : I
Sranng coordinares (r,y): (4O,l50) for Misshss¡Ppi

A@aúpütude ossocisted with s re

Pl.t" o.
flection eveDt.
17 COLORPLITES LN

l. t(b

t.2tb

Plate 7. A seismic liDe Ersrked up for iDterpletatio¡. Fsults ¿!e ma¡ked i! g¡eeq with üne
width deooti!¡g ¡elative importance. Sense of th¡ow is iDdicsted as up (U) or dowa (D).
Yellow dots indic¿te events üsed to c¿lcüIate depth snd foult tbtow, while J¡ellow lioes are
events us€d for dip calculations. Fault numbe¡s indicate ¡elative age (1 = most recently
actir€, etc.). Red ¿¡rows shon¡ st!¿tigi rhic bed t€Edi¡¿tio¡6. The ¿lrowhead i¡dic8t€s if
terroinatio! b from above o! below.
17 COLORPLtrÍES 178

t2l
t3{
t{t
t{t
tt
¡

t
t6l
t67
111
|l0

l" o.r¡r
0.435
0J39
o.+vl
0.ttt
0J5l
0.rst
0J62
0.t66

Plate 8. resu¡Ls for the Wilco( e€¡t. A ¡ep¡€seDt¿tive i¡-liDe i5 sbo*'D with Éo¡ic
overlay and t¡scki¡g Da¡ks for both MississiPPia'D ald Wilcot. Tlacki!¡g co¡sistetrcy is
aD importa,Dt quality-cotrt¡ol factor. Two maps a.re 6e¿t¿d by the t¡ackiDg p¡ocess - a¡
ed¡pütude m¿p ¿Bd a tiEe dtructu¡e m¿p.
17 COLOR PLATES 179

ar4z2 I ta3i,
ar4á I t367
o.48
O.,l3l
0.¡135
llsa
l la
0.4¡ta ! ro28
o.142 r 0942
$fi8 l8tt8
O¡t52 t06$
o456 t 0804
o45€ t05ta
O.¡162 I fr32
o.464
o.4m
o.472 lffi*
t0130
TlÍr ¡m¡.rürE ftom !.i.nic d¡ú¡m ¡o Altr¡¡É vdociay ftoú s.isEic d¡¡¡¡¡r !o
ropof W|Ld.

fr
&
2177
eaitl
24á
L tBl2 = 2399
4?5
¿3a9
áa

lncg¡¡r.d dcprh ¡m¡.fl¡n ñ¡p ftor¡ i.i¡nic d.¡utrl

to lop of Wikú
Plst¿ 9. Tbe iDtegrsted depü map is created by Dultiplyi¡t the time structu¡e s¡ld ¿wr€e
velocity hap6. The !€sult i.s a map which, by deñ¡itio¡, ties every *€tl depth ¿¡d b€ts€eD
wells is guided by the seisEic dat¿.
17 COLORPLITES 180

Wilcox depth maps

wc¡l conüol orly Walb + ¡cismic

fr
23dt
4á
H 2€49
?373
2¡f0l

I
24á
e4ll
2473
24tt7

Plate 10. Coep¡¡ison of Wilcor. depth rd¿p6 usirg vell couhol only sÁd wells + seismic.

Plate 11. Det¿il of Wilcox depth maps usi!8 well co¡trol only ¡¡d wells + s€i8Dic. Usi¡8
the seisúic dat¿ givé ¡dditionsl structu¡¿l detail, ev€¡ i! this extreme c¡¡e of 17 ¡¡ells i¡
a 1 mile areo.
17 COLOR PLTTES 181

6i7¡O n (lñt b¡n!

wduii¡_/J!!!_¿&@¡!l
POfoJt x
L I A I f;2¡ A
2 t7t tztra
I 6.265
s tr!!l t 6at2¿
7.267 4 trz | d3rrs
o 8.472 a tr@ t rzt,
9.692 6 ,¡oc,¡o
E | 1.277 f ts
'rr9 tt:,6t¿
!3.084
I t4.794 f
r6.96?

L-
I
| 9.332
2t.573
¡nrpln¡¡óe
8tt üft
87.trl'
95.oü¡ &u4-r¿rf!¡ü!l
ta}3.(I)o
I| o.(In
r /rül ,r¡ra
3 /ru,
I t 8.(Irt 3 lrs,Jt22
t26.drt 1 trtltS
33.000
s /16l/25
6
7 ttI'tto
|
| 4t.oo0 vat é
l,fS.(EO
| 56.000

Po.ojt*
5.555
6.265
7.267
4.472
E692
11.277
t 3.064
14.79
t 6.964
r 9.3Ít2
2t.573

Plate 12. Porosity froE seisEic - pr"t 1. (A) Gridded polosity map bas€d on seve¡ wells.
The srea is sbout 1.3 7r¿i2, and is covered by a $D seismic survey, (B) Time slice at reservoir
lercl, with posted wells. Note level ol detail coopared to the wels-oDly g¡idded poro€ity
map. (C) Seisaic-guided porosity eap cre¿ted by iltegstiDg sebmic ompütude aod weü
dsta. See s¡so Fig¡re 166.
17 COLOR PLXTES 1E2

I. Titrlc slicc ¡t t40 ms sbowing 2. P¡lh of üüitúy v€flical ürc pul.d from th.3-D
chanDal ¡Ird alclt¡ f¡ci¿s. Strataon d¡¡ volumc. Note th€ clE¡n¿l is crBrcd twic!.
Ficld d¡r¡ ftom Taxrs Bu¡E¡u
of Economic Ccologl¡.

--.....->

tA)

3. ArbiE¡ry linc dong path shown i¡ figrl 2.

(A) Unzoomcd scrlc. (B)8:l vcnical zoorn.
ormn€l idcntific¡aion is vcry dific1|la on dE
b¡sb of onc (or m!¡y) 2-D s.ismic üncs.

(B)

Plate 13. !D v. 2-D s€ismic view of cba¡¡el systeE, Tbere is a heavy budeo of proof for
mappirg chaaoels on 2-D dat¿, wh.ile &D d¿ta ca¡ Eal(e chau¡els oMous'
17 COLOR PI"{ÍES 183

0.06
Anflud
o. !@
nrg
0.2ú
0.30

I
o.¡(¡
o.5qt
p6
o.aú
o.t(¡
o.ad,

0.9@

t.@

o.(¡0

o. ¡00

0.200

o.too

o.,t o

o.5oo

o.@o

o.?00

0.4t0

0.900

t.¡Fo
/1
Plst€ 14. Poststo.ü iEpeda,nce itrve¡siotr ca¡ yield a differeut view of the s€isDic dsts, but
is ¡ot ¿ sub€titute for it.
 18 COMPr.'TINC NEEDS 184

L8 Computing Needs

Geophysics iÁ titbt¡y lilH to high-po¡/€¡ed coEputiDg, As ioport¿¡t 6s this is, the¡e

are rns¡ly, !!a¡!y geophysicisk who will Deve¡ log o¡ to, or eveD aee, a supe¡coEpute¡.
They üve in o world popul,ated by ro¡kstatio¡8, PC6 and the odd M¡ci¡to¡h. The wo¡l i¡
intsp¡etstioq log s¡6lysi8, sy¡thetic seismog¡a'|D!, a,Dd lepolt p¡epa¡¡tio¡. 'Ihey tet s¡oDg
just 6¡e without supercoroputeÉ, so e¡hat'6 ¿ll tbe fu¡s?

To gi\,e s üo¡t 8!srer, the interpret€r wbo do€s ¡ot üDdersta,nd coEpute¡s is si t¡e
me¡q¡ of thoee who do.

It ¡ot
possible to appleciste the limitation6 o¡ s€iseic processing without u¡dersts!+
is
i¡g somethi¡g ¿bout cot¡put€rs, a¡¡d tbe n'ay deishic data a¡e ¡epaeseúted i¡ the co¡opute¡.
Modem processirg a¡d adva¡¡ced i¡terpretstioB a¡€ coEpletely depeadeEt on coEpute¡
hard*'a¡e ¿¡d soft¡¡a¡e übitstioDs.

Communic¡tions T¡F

Figure l0!: Eleme¡t3 of ¿ contput¡t (CPU = ce¡tr¿l p¡ocessi¡g u¡it; RAM = raDdoh
access memory).

18.1 RAM and Disk Storage

We stsrt st the betiD[iry with the lo$ly ü,t - tbe fuDdaEental unit of i¡forDstioD. FloE
bits we de6¡e ls¡ge¡ iDJore¿tion u¡its:

^
 lE COMPWING NEEDS 185

1 bit
l byr€ ' 8 bj,t.
1 rord - 32 blt. (pc,st) = 4 byteg
1 rord ¡ 64 b1t. (sc) - 8 bytog
1 kilobft. . 1024 byt.8
t D€gablrt. - (1024)-2 byt.. - 1llb [- 10-6 byt.8]
1 ¡¡ogarold - (1024)-2 rolds - 8 Íb (sc)
1 tigabyt€ - (1024)-3 byt€s = 1 0b [- 10-9 byt.s]
1 terablrto - (1024)-4 byt.! - 1 Tb [- 10^12 byt€s]
. 1 p€tabtrte - (1024)'5 byt€8 = 1 Pb t- 10-15 bytesl
1 €:abjrto - (1024)^6 byt.s - 1 Eb t- 10-18 byt€sl.

The taros Ftsb)¡te a¡d exsbyte s¡e lot i¡ coEtDo¡ r¡r¡q becsu€ *e ¿¡e ¡ot JÉt Dski¡t
disk faros thot lo¡tp. A dis¡t r¿tm is huge cluster of d¡k spaae stta.hed to s supercoldpute¡,
¡ot a pl.ce r¡here you t¡or¡ di8k8. A disk fare is so¡ltetime6 called s d¿st rr¿ülú, aDd ofte¡
a d¿r* añy. Note also th¿t the¡e is a tsF d¡ive lda¡ufa.tu¡e¡ ¡¿Eed Exabyte.

A distirctio¡ is Dode betweeÁ three computer dáBs€s: F, wk, ¿¡d sc.

pc Pe¡sorsl computer (DOS, Wi¡dows3.l, ltrindows95, MacOS, Uaix)

wk Wo¡kstatioo (U¡ix, WitrdowsNT)

wk Supercooputer (Unix)

M¿jor op€!¿ti¡t s]'steEs a¡e showtr in pareDth€s€6.

To bri¡g these terms into pelspective, coDsidet 't¡pical" R-A,M a¡d disk stors8e we find
iB coroputÉrs todsyl

DiEt

pc - d4-128 l.lb pc - E-12 cb

ek - 256-1024 rb ¡fk = 30-100 Cb
ac - 1-128 cb sc = 10-100 Tb

It
is wo¡thsrhile to leoeEbe¡ thot 6 6up€rcoEput¿¡ o¡ly exists to solve l¡¡ge, co¡plec<
p¡obler¡s. TheleÍore we see it lo¡d€d with RAM ¿Dd disk.

a^
18 COMPWNG NEEDS 186

Now let's thinL sbout how seisoic dats iB sto¡€d o¡ I coúpute¡. The €r<art form¿t fo¡
ú¿tt¿¡ of Eutusl cons€trt. The forEat descriH hele is csUed
Beismic o¡ aBy othe¡ dst¿ is a
SEGY (Society of Exploration Geoph¡reicists formst Y).

As showa il Figu¡e 102, a SEGY d¡t¿ ffle is üke a snowo¿¡ fr¡.ll of tadpoles. The top
ball is the biuary ü¡e heáder, a¡d the middle b¿ll i¡ the EBCDIC Line hesde¡. Th€se co¡t¿i¡
i¡fotustion comnon to all t¡aces itr the 6le (e.g., sanples p€r t¡ace). EBCDIC (exteoded
binary-coded decim¿l iote¡cho¡8e code) i8 a¡ IBM mei¡frame forEst for text files, thst
is virtually extinct. Whetr tbe EBCDIC he¡de¡ is ¡et¡ieved ftom tape, it is co¡ve¡ted to
industry standard ASCII format so c,e ca¡ ¡e¿d it.

Onc Scismic Tracc

Tre He¡dcr
(2,() bytas)

Sciss¡ic Dat¡ vahE (4 byrcs)

Scismic Tr¿c€,i

ooo
tttttl ooo
ttlttl
||t Il

Figure 102: Hov¡ seismic dats are stored i¡ ¿ SEGY fo¡Bat 6le ... ¿ snos¡ma¡ ñ¡ll of
tadpoles.

An i¡diüdu¿l seisic t¡ace is ¡ePt€seBt¿d ss s structu¡e witb a trae hesder and ¿ dat¿
tail. The t¡ace he¡d€r is de6ned to have exactly 2¿0 byt6. It co¡t¿i¡6 ¿ll the idertifyiÁa
iDforrodtio¡ which mahe6 tbis trace ulique i¡ the seisEic 8u¡vey, iÁcluding sou¡ce/¡eceiver
18 COMPUTINC NEEDS 187

locstioDs (x,y,z), offset, tiroe, date, trace numb€r within line, shot number, CMP lurober
o¡ coo¡diDate, snd so oa.

Here is the duep of üo¡zero heade¡ so¡ds sDd ralue ranges for a small land &D data
set:

tlacl-(1,9280) tracr=(1,9280) f1d!=(1,80)

tracf-(1, 116) ep-(1501,10536) cdp=(1,9280) cdpt=l tlid.l
Evs=(1,80) ¡hs=(0,55) gelev-(840,984) s61ev-(849,972)
gedep'( 1501 , 10536) 3ca1€1=1 acaLco=l
sx-(1895459,1908167) s}'- (647313,656087)
8x-(1895459,1908167) gy-(647313,656087) coulit-1
ss€v€l-(1, 116) sstat-(-44, 18) gstat=(-73,48) tstat=(-85,-6)
El¡¡6=(0,3000) Ds=750 dt-4000 igc=16448 igi-16448 cor¡=16448
sfs-16448 sf€= (-32768,16388) slea- (-32768, 16388)
styp- ( -32768, 16640) sras- (-32768, 163a8)
rtae- (-32768, 16388) tatyp- (-32760, 16388)
afiIf- (-32760,16388) aÍils- (-32768, 16388) Lca-(28,29)
bca=(-5085,7623) year-(9, 10) day-Ga047,?27> Dtr-(0,48)

Don't be suprised if you have Do idea what these mean, even experts hoi€ to legularly
look them up. But a few are wo¡th Eentioning helei

tracl=(1,92E0) 9280 traces ia the data set

fldr:(f,E0) E0 shot ¡ecords

tracf=(1,116) 116 tra.es per shot leco¡d

sx=(1t95459,1908167) min atrd msx x-coo¡dinate of shots, etc.

ns:750 750 time sampl€s per trace

nhs=(G65) the CMP fold varies betweetr 0 s¡rd 55 traces per biD

dt=4000 time sample ¡ate is 4 eilliseconds.

It
is itrterestiBg that despite the p¡e!€leDce of &D s€ismic data todsy, the SECY trace
header is inherently 2-D. The¡e is ¡o sta¡dald beade¡ 6eld lo¡ szimuth, bitr x s¡d y coor-
dinates, etc, The¡e is some move¡oent tosra¡d a new SEG sta¡dsrd fo¡ $D dota, but (as of
this w¡itint) nothing hss been spploved.
¡8 COMPI¡T¡NG NEEDS lEE

The a.tual s€ismic data sre ¿ striog of iooti¡8 poitrt Duebe¡3 ea.ü of which has o size
of 4 h.t€6, or 32 bits. OddM thes€ 32-bit SostiDt poi¡t Dubbets s¡e i! s! a¡choic fo¡Est
(IBM-0oat) q'hic.h is ¿bout as usefirl as Cu¡eiforb. lo processiag centers s¡ou¡d the wo¡ld,
it murt be trsDslst€d to the bode¡D 32-bit turE (IEEE) billioDs of tim€s each dsy.
Ia suomary, the size of s¡ SEGY dst¿ set in byt€s is

Bgtes = nt *tttr *4+ núr * 2,l() + 3600 ,

where ¿¿ is the ¡ru¡be¡ of tiEe sanpl6 p€r t¡ace ¿¡d ttüt is the trrrmber of trac€s. It i8
soEetiDes us€ñ¡l to be sble t,o cslculate t¡, o¡ ¿rr fro¡¡ the bJ¡te coutrt,
l tBv¿€r - 3600 -.^l
t¡, = -l:--2'{rl
4L nt¡ J
- Br¿e, - 3600
n'¡ = -Tñ-luff
These equstio¡s assuDe liDe headeas s¡e iÁcluded. If they b¿ve bee¡ ¡emov€d (coúbo¡ iD
dats processi¡g) the equstio¡6 a¡e

Bgtet = trt *trtr *4+ rrtt. 240

n" = !lBst""
4l rt¡ -'^t1I
,rt, = 4'Bú"! .
,r¿ + 240

Exercise 18.1. A seisEic dats 8et (SEGY format without l¡le he¡de$) b ex¿ctly 479
232 m0 byt€s. If the tra.es ¡¡e ktrow¡ to be 15m s¿DP¡es long, hos, Da¡y trac€s 6¡e iD the
frle?

Exercise 18.2. A true story. A $D SEGY d¿ta fle (with line headera) is exsctly '16
035 600 byt€s. The proceaeiq ¡eport tells us tb¿t the¡e sre 500 samPl€s per t¡rce. It sl6o
soys there s¡e 141 bi¡s N-S s¡d 146 bitr6 EW. The dats is Btacked ¿Dd Eig¡oted' so re
hsve I trace pe¡ biD.
1. Usitr8 rÉ500 aDd the 6le siz€, how ba¡y trac€s sre itr the dats fle?
2. Is this consisteút Íith the proc€ssi¡t rePort?
3. If not, hos' Ea¡y trac€5 app€a¡ t,o be bissiry?
18 COMP¡''TING NEED9 189

18.1.f 2-D Survey Siue

lti¡ c¡lcul¿tim shows how muc.b disk space is ¡eéded to stor€ s mod€rote }D seir@ic lioe
i! SEGY fouoat:

1 supl. value = 4 byt€8 (flo¡ti¡g poirt \*)

6 a€cs d¡ta 0 .004 8ac aa¡p1€ ¡ate - 1500 aa.Bplea/t!¿ca
1500r4+240(h€ad€r) - 6240byte3/t¡ac.
96 cbc!¡€t . 800 sbots - 76 80O tlac€B
76,800 trac€s * 6240 byt../trace - 479 232 OOo bytes
add l1¡. boaders 3600 byt.8 - 479 26 600 byteg
479,232,000 / O02D'2 - 457 lrb

F¡oo tbe typical RAM a¡d disk stora8e ouobera above, i,¡e co¡clude that the 2-D
seismic lineca¡ 6t

f. iD RAM of ¡ ts¡ge wk o! snall sc

2. oo disk of a s,k or pc

Tbe RAM issue is importsnt b€cause some processe3 (e.g., prestack mig¡¿tion) c,aüt to
hold the e¡tire d¡ta set, plu3 work space, i¡ RAM. If it c¿o't sll be stufied into RAM, we
sre left with 6 sig¡ifc¿¡t data oaDagemeot problem.

1t.1.2 9D Survey Size

Do thitrgs get bette¡ fo¡ !D s€isEic dsta? Há¡dly. Lerge }'D suneys today csD contai¡
hundreds of loillioús of presta¿k tra.es. Tbis cslculstion shows the 6ize of a medium-sized
3-D dat¿ s€t compos€d of 500 2-D lio€s like the ooe obove:

500 2-D liDes = 500 li¡.s t 479 235 600 byt€s/IiDe [38,400,000 traces!]
- 2.396t6.10-11 byt€g
- 228 515 üb
- 223 Cb

ThiB aruour¡t of dst6 will Dot frt i¡ RAM of a¡y existirg sc (¡ot eveD close), but we
could probably 6od e¡owb pasture fo¡ it o[ the disk fá¡h.
18 COMPUTING NEEDS r90

18.2 Processi!¡g Speed

RAM and disk sto¡age sle part of the s€ismic computitrg bottleoeck, the other problem is
p¡ocessint sp€ed. It is of little use to squeeze a m¡ss of s€ismic dats into computer RAM
if, once therc, it takes 2 o¡ 3 yeá¡s to proc€ss it,

Tbe fr¡¡damental unit of p¡ocessing is the flop. To coDñ¡s€ the u¡iDitiated, the oop is
both aD operatio¡, ,oating poit t opemtioa. aad a rste, fl,oating poínt opefttiolg per seaon¿L
Here is a table of processing speed uDits:

flop - floatiDgpoiEt operatio¡+ - * /

- floatiDg poi¡t operatioD p€r s€coÁd
sqrto - 10- 15 floati¡g poi¡t ope¡atioDs
t hegafLoP - 10'6 floP - 1 Íflop
1 gigaJlop - 10-9 flop - 1 CJlop
1 telafloP - LA'12 flop = 1 1¡1oO
1 PetatLoP = 10-15 flop = 1 ¡41ot
1 e¡allop - 10-18 flo¡r - 1 g¡1ot
As with petabyt€ a¡ld exablte, the last two teü¡rs a¡e not yet iD common use. We don't
ha!€ nachües that fsst. The cu¡leDt world speed record for computer proc€ssing is a¡ound
1 te¡aflop in perform¿¡¡ce.

The a.lert rcader will se€ iDconsisteDt use of prefixes betwe€n megab).te and megaflop.
A mega¿yúe is 10242 bytes, but a mega,fop is 10002 flops.
There are many difiereat approacbes to aahieviDg high flop ¡at€s. None of them are
cheap. Some tj@ics,l, and not so tl¡pical, processing speeds are:

pc = 10 üt1op (1 cpu)
t'k = 60 l.lflop (1 cpu)
Ctay 2 = 1.6 Cflop (4 cFr)
=
SCI PoF€r Cball€üBe 110 Cflop (288 cpu)
Hitachi SR2201 - 220 0f1op (1024 cpu)
IBV SP2|4O2 = 690 cflop (402 cpu)
Cray T3D üC512-8 - 51o Cflop (512 cpu)
I¡tsl xPls = 700 cflop (3680 cpu)
SCI T3E900 = S00 Cflop (1324 cpu)
18 COMPUTING NEEDS t9l

SGI T3E12OO = 900 Cflop (1084 cPu)

I¡t€l ASCI BEd - 1.3 Tflop (9152 cpu)

We shor¡ld all ¡ealize that a¡y li8t of supercomputer sp€ed is ext¡emely volatile. It c€r-
tai¡ly needs to be updated every 6 moBths or so. The li6t giveE here is ¿ oix. Some ma¡hines
()ike the Cray 2) are no loDger io productio¡. The f6st6t ma4hine lGtd (IDt€l lscl Red)
h¿s b€en o¡li¡e siüce 1997.

For the lstest and grestest information on such things, üsit the TOP500 web site which
aspires to keep an upto-date [st of the Íorld's fastest supercomputer iDstallatioDs. The
IJRI- is http : //eee. rctlib. o¡glbe¡cbla¡k/topsoo/topsoo. list.bt¡l

18.2.1 Speed and 3-D Migration

Prestack mit¡stion is the classic exarDple ofou¡ le€d fo¡ tbis expe¡silc speed. Assume that
mig¡ation iDvolves 10 000 0oatiDg poiDt operstions per data saeple. This is the efiort it
takes to broadcsst eÁch input amplitude alont an image surface that resembles a lumpy
bowl. A mojor psrt of this $,ork is tied up irl calcülating the exact geometry of the lumpy
bowl.

We can estimate ho¡¿ much time is reqüired for &D presta.k depth mig¡ation the
rr¡edium-siz€d!D data s€t:
Data siz€: 1500 sanp/trace . 38 400 000 t¡ac€a
- 5.76 x 10_10 data saDplea
AssriDe[igratiou = 10 000 operatio¡s/aa¡pl€
total floatiDg poiüt operatioas = 5.76 r 10-14
pc 333 days (disL?,R¡.U?, sp66d? , ¡/0? fo¡g€t it!)
,

nk 90 days (disk?,Mfi?,speed?,I/0?,tood lucl!)

Cray 2 100 bou¡s (RAH?,I/0? dedicatéd?)
,

SCI Pose¡ chaLLa¡ge 87 Dirr¡tes (RAt{? , I /0? dedicated? )

,

scr T3E120o I &iDut€s (R¡fi?, ¡/0?,dedicated?)

IDtel ASCI Red ?.4 ninutes (RÁü?,I/0?,d€dicated?)

The quoliner "dedicated" is added to hitblight the fact that it is utrusu¡I to horc ¿ super
computer worldtlg oü o¡üy o¡e problem at a tlroe. Mo- ljkely, job6 are queued up like tra6c
on ¡ Los A¡tel€s freew¿y, thus slowi¡g $ork on 8ny t,veD job. There also are issues of disk
18 COMPVTINC NEEDS 192

storaEe, dat¿ tra¡sfe¡ ¡ates, aod groesly i¡Áu6cieDt RAM, We shou.ld the¡efot€ co¡sid€r
these estiEates er¿r"mery optinistic.

Exe¡cls€ 1E.3. Assu¡¡re that the full proc€si¡g flow b¡ ¿ 2D seisoic line involv€6
1.0 x ld flo6ting point operstioDs per d¿ta s.¡ople. fhlthe! ¡ssuroe t¡at the dsts co¡sists
of,!00 ¡hot ¡roo¡ds of 210 traaes cá.ü a,¡d th¿t th€re sr€ 2000 samples per t¡ace. A¡sume ¿
70 Mlop wor¡ststio¡ *o¡kir¡g 2'l honrs ¿ d¿y, a,!d tüat there are no dela¡rs due to iDsufici€ot
RAM, data I/O, o¡ other complic¡tioDs. How long would it ta&e to p¡ocess thes€ d¿ts?
Give ¡our answer in days.
19 MIGR^{TION I 193

19 Migration I
19.1 Migratio¡¡ Concepts

Mig¡¿tio¡ is a pmcess which @Eperisstes fo¡ d¡tortion introduced by wa\¡e PropagstioD

sBd a4quisitio¡ geoloetry. A very ¡eadable and thorough oÉcount of miglatio¡ co¡cepk caD
be found in Clae¡bout's book [2].

U¡til loiglatioo is spplied, it

can be very roisleading to thbk of the data as s cross
section of the earth. Mig¡atio¡ can be vies,ed i¡ tna¡y w¿ys. Ile¡e we co¡side¡ the basic
ope¡atioD itr terms of pobt/line responses.

A 2-D sta.ked s€ction is a coüection of t¡a.es and e¿¿h t¡a.e is s collectioD of data
ralues. Each individual data l€lue form5 on iopulse or spike as i¡put to the mi$atio¡
process. This spike will be proc€ssed to geDerate a¡ outPut on the ¡nig¡ated section - the
impulse lespoDse. This is th€ mic¡oscopic b€havior of mig¡ation. The la¡ge_scole resült is
just the superpositioD, or constructive interferetrce, of maDy such impub€s.

Although the total response is a superpoeitioa of poitrt Espo¡lses, it G ofte! diffcült t,o
visualize what the mig¡sted result will be for a compliceted iDput dota set.

We note that mig¡ation caB be represented schematically by

seismicd,o,td - fiLi$ation - nigraledimage,
Othe¡ Daees for the mig¡ated iEage ale: renectivity image, earth imate, le0ectivity maP,
mig¡ated data.

The iDvers€ of úig¡ation is tbe process of simulatioD, or Eodeling: creatiDg seismic data
from sD sssumed earth velocity model, u(t,y,z).
earthmodel - mdelinq - sefumic datd.

Knowns Unknowns Process to find upknowns

SeisEic data; v I¡nage Mig¡atiotr
lmage; v Seismic data SimulatioD o! Eodelint

19.2 Constant Velocity Migration/Modeling Pairs

When a seis¡¡rc trace is E¡ig¡ated, the result is the earth model whicb oust have bee¡
p¡es€Dt to gene¡ste tbe observed data. Figu¡e 103 shows the ide¿. A sidgle zero ofis€t tra¿e
19 MIGRATION I 194

shows o¡e refiection e!€trt st one secoüd. ü the velocity is 10 m0 ft/sec, the totsl dista¡rce
traveled by the wa!€ out ¿nd ba.k is (10 m0 ft/s * 1 s) / 2 = 5000 ft. So the re0ector úust
be 5000 ft away ftom the sou¡ce/receiver point. SiDce w€ don't know s'hich direction the
reflection came from, the mig¡atioo ptogram builds ¿ su¡face of all poesible poiots 5000 ft
froln the S/R location. This is ¿ circle in 2-D and a sphere in &D, and is c¡lled the ¿orB¿on¿
ueloc,tg migrotíon impvlse response. When the mig¡atioD program do€s this for all blip6 of
omplitude oD all trac6, keeping traal< ol t¡¡ce loc¿tioD.s, ¡!d adds it ¡ll totether, wE get an
image of the sub6u¡fa¿€. Whe¡e real refiectors live, the i¡diüdual circl€s add up to show
the¡D. Wbere the¡e a¡e Do ¡eflecto¡s, the ci¡cl€ a¡e ra¡rdom in amplitude s¡¡d sigD, aBd
te¡d to c¡ncel. Thus the image is forrned by suEEatio¡ or superposition.
Z€ro offsct

t- I

I 5000 ft

t.0 *. i- R¿diu5=v.t/2
= l0(m.1.0/2
i
Time
= 5000 ft
Earh modcl

Figure 103: MitlatioD of o[e zero ofiset s€isEic tra.r containi¡g one lefi€ctioD e!€Dt.

Fi$¡es 104 and 106 sho$' the efect of Dig¡atiotr o¡ certai¡ geometicsl inputs. This
can be su¡¡¡ma¡ized as:

Seismic data Migration

Poitrt Semicircle
Il¡gerbola Point
Line Li¡e

The efiect of digrstiotr on ¿ slopi¡g lioe segBent i¡ the dsta is to m6ke it steeper s¡d
Bhorte¡, and move it updip. A ho¡izo[tal liDe is unchanged by mig¡atioD. The line r€spoDs€
allows the calculatioo of sooe üseful quantities, including dip arid mig¡ation distance.
 MIGR.ATION I lc5
'9

- l,loddüt¡

Migrrtiorl
------------>
d.r. Brib Dodd
Séi.úic
(poi¡r) i¡
x x

A s.¡¡¡¡c d¡t!
(hyF¡bol¡)
Modcli¡g

Migratior

---------> Búth modcl

(Fin0
z

Figu¡€ 1(N: P<¡i¡t rc¡po¡¡e¡ b¡ couca¡t velocity úigr¡tioü/DodeliEg.

19 MIGRATION I 196

t1
I
1.5

t t
1.5

lligrtló of 30 Tr&é iig..l¡Úl of I tr.clr

Figüre 105: Poststack mit¡ation sp¡eads e¿¿h i¡put smpütude aloDg its app¡opriate circular
iEpuls€ Espo¡se. Via co¡structiye interfereÁce, the 6tral image is the sum of all such circles.
Thes€ ieages illust¡ate this fact otr a lstrd 2-D shot lecord from A.laska.
19 MICR.ENON I 197

x x
xm

<-rrffi¡- I

F
I

T z
to

A¡
A
---Effi->
Scismir d¡¡ E¡¡ü modcl
0inc) (linc)

Figure 1m: Li¡e rcspoDre fo¡ coDrts¡t velocity roig¡otio¡/nodeling.

19.3 Dip from Seismic Slope

The tiEe slope of ¿ li!¡e segDeDt is Ar/Ar, both measursble qua¡tities o¡ the stad( 6€ctio¡
as showu ia Figure 106,

For coEstant velocity, tüere r¡€ tb¡ee u3eñ¡¡ equstioE thst calcttlotc dip from eeisoic
slox. Thev o¡e
, = si"-' L.l
L2
[i+l , s',ch
'.¿,ío¡
0^= - -,L fuA¿-l
Tan-
ttÉl ' Misrdtcd ti't* s'ctio'r

0 =Td44l3] Migdtet defrh sedpn

LA¿nl
whe¡e , is geoloSic dip, ü is velocity, and tbe slope of the r€dectioo i8 dven by oue of the
fo[owi¡t

= ¡electio¡ slop€ oD u¡mig¡st¿d tit¡e data

^t/A,
Aú,o/A¿'n = ¡e6ectio¡ slop€ o¡ EiSrated tiDe dstd
Lz /Aa^ = r€oectio¡ slope o¡ Eigrated depth d¿ta.

ü velocities va¡y sig¡iñc¡¡tly, then int€rv¿l velocity sbould be used i¡ thsse equ¿tio¡8.
19 MICR.{IION I 19E

t.!p ¡.e
¡.100 ¡.¡b0

¡.to¡t ¡.500

1.ó¡Xt t.@0

t.1lxt t.700

¡.8@ l.loo
t.9ito l-9t O

¡,dto t.aotl

¡.¿o0 ¡.400

¡.500 ¡.5@

I
t.ó¡,o t.aaxt
E

l.?oo t.?00

¡.@o ¡.@o

¡ -900 l.to0

FiSu¡e 107: Seisroic slop€s ca! be very t¡tisle¿di¡9. Te/o views of the s¿¡tte big¡ated seisEic
data. The lower plot hss b€eo st¡etched 2:1 it¡ the r€rtic4l directiotr. Whdt i6 t¡e st€epest
geologic dip i¡ this s€ction? Velocity in the i¡tervat showl is about 13 000 ft/s.
19 MIGR-AIION 1 199

19.4 Miglation Dista¡ce

The qustrtity rc i6 the mi.gmtior. dista¡ce of s poi¡t oD the reflector, also called the t¡igm¿iot¡
cperúure. This is the ho¡i?.ontal dista¡ce that Eig¡¿tio! will Eove a segDent of the reflection.
If velocity is co¡statrt, z- is tbe depth of the ¡eflecto¡, a¡d d b the dip, theD
= ¡,s' x, = 2 Ta'r(Q) mi$atiorr dist4,r.z'
c¿

wh€re ro is the roidpoint oo the sta¿ sectiotr a¡d tñ is the ¡aidpoiDt o¡ tbe migated
sectron.

If the sun€y do€s Dot include úidPoi.Dts at ¿o then the e¡e¡Sf hoe the ¡eflector will
flot be r€ceived and the ¡eflector *ill ¡ot be imaged. This can be used to &id in ]D or 2-D
survey deign, as showa in Figure 108 sld Exercis€ 19.1

Encrgy flom
reflector hcrr Midpoint covcraSc

Figure 108: A missed opPortunity. The EidPoitrt co!€¡¿ge do€s ¡ot exteDd f¡¡ enough to
froE the reflector 6eglt¡eDt of iDtelest The¡efore, it cs¡¡ot be i¡laged by
"uptu." "n"rg,
the a4ouired d&ta.

Exercbe 19.1. A $D surwy is scquüed over a reservoü. Flom a weü the reservoir bed
is k¡ow! to hat'e Dorth structu¡al dip of 60' at a dePth of 2000 E. Tbe dsta w€re acquired
such that the midpoi¡ts reacb Dorth frot¡t the w€ll to a d¡t¿¡ce of 3000 m Will this 8¡id
of midpoints see reflectio¡s froE thst sectioD of the ¡es€Íoi¡ di¡€ctly b€rcath the well?

The Eig¡stion distaDce for 1€¡iable velociw can b€ Euch less thdtr tlat estimated by
19 MIGBATION I 200

the coDsta¡t velocity foÍoüla. For li¡ea¡ o(z) the roig¡ation distd¡ce is 8i1en by
Cos(4s) -
__ Cos(0\
_
"" = p____,-

For details, s€e chapte¡ 8.

FiÁally, tbe Ei8¡ated depth, z, of the Poi¡t otr the le0ecto¡ is giveo by
üt
z = -Cos(O\
üt
2 '- ti-¡.--l

19.5 Va¡iable Velocity Migration/Modeling Pairs

Tbe efiect of strong velocity va¡iation on mig¡ation is to comPlicate the Point/Iine respol¡s€s
sho¡¡,n aborc. Iustead of being perfect circles, etc.' the curv€s a¡e ale distorted crrcles,
b¡rperbolas, and lines. These are shov¡¡ schematically in Figures t09 atrd ll0 The detailed
shape depeDds on the actual velocity úodel.

f9.6 3-D Migration

The mi$stion/modeling pairs discussed above are 2D, where atr iÁput data Point maPs to
a 2-D curw. For LD migration aD inPut data Point EaPs to a su¡face' Figure 111 For
consta¡t velocity the $r¡face i8 atr ellipsoid, sort of like balf an egg For reriable velocity'
the shap€ c6n be very coúplicat€d aDd very expensive to calculate' But in geüeral, it wiü
be a lumpy ellipsoid.

thst e¿ch bit of smpütude contained in the iüput

One way to think of 3-D loig¡atioD is
dats is b¡oadcast th¡ough the or¡tPut dsta voluroe along this migretion su¡face As e¡ch
sample is processed, the migrated image io the output data volüme emerges
by superpoei_
tioD.

19.7 Flesnel Zone

But s
Most of tbe tiEe we ca¡r 8et ani'ay with thinking about ¡ays a¡d reflectioD Points
froa
frná*r"oi"f -"""p, in seismolory is that e re8ectioD does Dot a'tually arise a single

oliot oo u r"fl""tot. It a¡i.s€s from sD area called the Flesoel zone'[82]

 ñ
19 MIGRATION I a)1

x x

a
ffi
T z

rtr¡t¡-ñ
ll&Dicrlü E¡úúo&¡
(Fhr)
x x
^-,

ffi
T z

ltr8tüot¡

ScilDi' d¡t¡ Erdr oodd

(poi¡0

Figure 109: Poi¡t ¡€spou!€. for lla¡ieble t¡€lodty nlgratio¡/roodeli¡g.

19 MICB.{NON I m2

<-FGng

T z

Scbmic d¡ta E¡rü modcl

(lrnc)

Figue 110: Lhe response for varisble velocity Eigt¿tio¡/modelirg.

Figue Ul: Poi¡t ¡espoúse of co¡at!¡t v€locity !D ei8¡¿tion.

19 M¡GRjjTION I m3

Tbiak of the high ft€queDcies in ou¡ dsta like a golf ball. Paint it ¡ed atrd boutrce it ofi
a conclete sidew¿lk. How big is the pai¡t ¡o¡¡k? This is üke the Ft€s¡el zorc. T[e ball
bou¡ced from a small a¡ea tbst is Áor¡ red.

Now coosider the low ftequeücies in our dat¿ to be like ¿ beoch b¿ll. Paint it bluq
bounce it and look st the spot it leaves. A big spot, because it interacted witb s large s¡es
du¡iu8 the ¡el€ctioo p¡oce€s. The FlesDel zone for low ftequency data can be very large.

Typically when people talk sbout d¿e F!€6oel zotre it refers to the zooe associated with
the &verage (domi¡r¿nt) frequency.

Figue 112 shows 6 ¡ay t¡aveling down a¡¡d ba.k to a horizoDtal reflector. As ususal,
the symbol S/R is the coincident sou¡ce and receive¡ loc¿tioo. ID addition to the vertical
¡¿lryath, ar€ othe¡ rays not quite verticsl (aonspcctrlor) wbich construciively inte ere with
the normal ray to generate the total respon¡e.

,/v
f-,
I

Figule 112: FYesnel zone geoEetry for ze¡o ofset dats 6Dd zero dip.

The extra distance thst the norispecula¡ lay t¡evels is l¡sually taken as ,\/4 oD the way
down and )/4 on the way back up, for a total extrs travel length of )/2, This is the
familia¡ one-half v¡avelength iDterference condition. From the geometry we frnd the Flesnel
zoDe diaDeter, F, is give¡ by

¿..cfd^ aÍi^
where oo,o is the av€rage velocity, f is the two-way tiBe -+:
on the stsc.k sectioü, / is the
domiD6llt frequency a¡d z is the depth of the reaedor.
19 MIC.RJTION I m4

For t/ !> 1/(aJfu^) this is caü be approximated by the short forEs

2 aatg z

Tl¡e Ftesnel zoDe desc¡ibed bere is slso called the 6rst FlesDel zone.
Exe¡cise 19.2. What is the Ftesnel zone for a 60 Hz evetrt at 13 s if the average
velocity is 3000 m/s ? Use both IoDg a¡d short equations. Is the sbort form l?lid ?

Typicd parafi¡e¿ers

Mi¡imum Maximum A\€rage

Flequency 10 EO 50
Velocity (m/s) 1520 6100 3050
Wavelength (m) 25 610 60
Ta¡get depth (m) 610 6100 22ú
Approx. F (m) 430 960 500

r9.8 2-D and &.D Lateral R6olution

Before rdgration lateral resolutioü is limited by the a¡ea of the FtesDel zone' Sharp lateral
!.a¡iations in reflectivity/stn¡ctu¡e 6re smeared acao€s this a¡ea. Mig¡atioD imProv€s late¡al
resolution from the Flesnel zoDe ¡adius to a theoretic¿l liEit of oDe-half wai€lentth'

2-D migration collapses the Fresnel zone only a¡ong the migratio¡ direction' &D roig¡a-
tion collapses the Ftesnel zone completely to the )/2 theo¡etical litoit in both ditections'
Figure 113. Figures 114 and 115 furthe! illust¡ate tbis impoúant cor¡cePt'

We c¡n us€ two measures of bow imPorta¡t it i5 to do mi8¡atioD in a p¿rticular csse'

(common
Tbe first úeásule, d, is the latio of Ei8¡ation distance to optimüm tlsce sPacing
midpoint intenBl). When this is la¡8e, it úear¡s that miSration wiü move eveDts sideways
resolutio¡
a significant Dumie¡ of t¡aces. The seco¡d rüeasue' É' is the !¿tio of lsteral
befo-re migration (l}esnel zone diamete¡) to that ¿fter t¡ig¡atio¡
(half-wavelerigth)' A large
p mears that latelal resolutioD ia iEProving siSniñcantly The equatiols are

Í 2 SínA TarL| É 2 ao I Sin| Tan0

19 MICB,¡jTION I xÉ

P = \ftiTli = 1fi + a !¿.n z¡qu ,

vhe¡e d is the dip a,¡d , c¿¡ be eithe¡ do!¡titg¡t o¡ Da¡.imüo frequeDcy. Doroi¡a,Dt is
probsbly s good thi¡g to use, but actuslly e¡.h fr€que¡cy h¡s its own (o,P). Note thst d
¿trd B a¡e diúeosio¡l€3s qü.¡titi€s.

Migr6tion will hsve 8igdfic¿,Dt efiects ifa > I o¡ p > l.

Exercise 19.3. Assume the dip is I = 6(F úo! the e'v€ot iD E.e¡cise 19,2, Wh¡t i8 the
wa¡¡eleDgth? Whst is the imp¡oveme¡t i¡ l¿t¿ral ¡eaolütion due to Dig¡stio¡? (i,e., r'hst is
o?Wh¿ti8r?)

The¡e ¿le sel€rsl rea¡oDs why theo¡etical miglsted ¡esolution of ¡/2 may oot be achieved
in p¡a¿tice, includiDg:

l. Poo¡ Eig¡¿tio¡ (¿lgo¡irhn/codiry/E¿th/¿pertu¡e/oF¡ato¡ ¡li'ciñg)

2. Mig¡otiotr velocity e¡ro¡s

3. Midpoi¡t BpaciDt >,\/4 (spatial ¿liasi¡g)
4. Noise or complex st¡uctursl geolos/

Bcforc migrat¡on Aftcr 2-D miSr.rion Aftar 3.D ! gration

in inlioa dircction only

Figue 113: Collapoiry of Flesoel zo¡e6 by mig!8tio¡.

 MIGRTT¡ON I 206
'9

R es olu t¡on 0bserued

(A)

Be solut ion 2-0 Migrated

(B)
Resolut¡on 2-0 M¡grated

(c)
Figure 114: Efiect of 2-D mitrstion oD late¡sl ¡esolution in a ii¡¡e slic€. In each row the
Flesoel zone is show! o¡ the left a¡d the time slice on the right. (A) Utrmig¡ated data with
ampütude anomaly. (B) Migration applied to DW lines only, the anomaly changes. (c)
Migr¿tion spplied to N-S üaes only it chaDg€s agai¡. Even a dense grid of }D lj¡es cad
i¡dicate a co¡fi.¡sing a,mpütude distdbution withi¡ a ti¡oe o¡ horizoD süce.
19 MTCRAIION I 207

Resolut¡on - 52 units 0bserued

Resolulion = 4 un¡ts M¡grated

(B)

Figure 115: 3D Eig¡atio! giv€s optieut¡ Late¡sl ¡esolution. (A) Uomigrated data with
amplitude a,ooúaly. (B) After $D oigration the aoooaly is clearly defDed' 6úd di8titrctly
diffe¡elt tba¡ either 2-D result in previous ñgü¡e.
19 MIGRATION I 208

Va¡iable
ün"
ün, Bin size fo¡ lineat r€locity
A, TiDe delay betw€eD adjaceDt tra.es
f Iligh€st urü&s€d frequeDcy
Velocity gadient
Midpoirt
p R¡y paraEeter
Constatrt v€locity
Su¡¡ece velocity
Linea. !€locity fu Dctio¡¡
to Normsl inciderc€ red€ction time
e Dip of tsrget (holizontal = 0)
eo R¿y t¡ke-ofi sngle (r€rticsl = 0)
Horizo[tal coordilate
Mig¡atiotr distaoce fo¡ constsDt velocity
Mig¡ation distsDce for lin€a¡ iclocity
v Midpoi.trt coordiDste
Depth coord, sod deptb of ¡edection poi.nt
Maximüm ¡sy depth

Table 4: DefiDitio¡¡ of va¡iablcs U¡e¡r rr(z) survey desien

19,9 Ad\¡anced topic: Desiga for linea¡ ?(z) media

Many design parameters impücitly sssume velocity is coDstaot. In a ba.si4 üke the Gulf
of Mexico (GOM), the velocities hare a smooth iDcreas€ with depth, and occaaional ve_
locity jumps associated with s¿lt, gas, o! overPle¡su¡e. A Sood first aPProximation to the
baakg¡ound velocity model É to sssume velocity inc¡esses liDearly with depth [38] [39].

We consider a dipping ta¡get (i.e., r€lector segoent) emMded in a contiDuous, ünea¡

0(z) media. K¡on n a¡e the surface velocity, velocity g¡adie¡t, depth of tar8et, diP of ta¡8et,
and highest desired u¡8li¿sed freque¡cy. Tbe Problem is to c¿Iculate app¡opriate biD size'
ze¡o ofiset ¡eflectiotr time, ¡lig¡¿tioD distaüc¿, a¡ld maximuE depth achieved by the seismic
ray. The defrnition of variables üsed in this problem ¿¡e itemized iB Table 4

For constant velocity, these quantities are simple and well known:

bt'l" s Tí s-si_;;d

2z
-" t Cos9
19 MIGnA*IION I 209

Wlel calculating bin", it is typical to use doEi¡¿ot ñequency, although bigher sigDsl ñe-
queDci6 ¡ae et lisk of aliasing. For variable velocity media, it is also tl?ical to uB€ sl€rsgc
velocity to the ta¡get. Figure 116 shows the similatity betwee¡ the coústant l€locity 8¡d
o(z) geooetry, The standard co¡staDt velocity spstial sliasi¡g diag¡am [10] is show¡ iD
Figure 1164. The travelti¡De for Eidpoint m2 is sr¡alle¡ tha¡ the time obe¿rv€d st mr.
To aroid spatial aliasiDg, this delay should b€ less that one-half of the *.avelet dominá,Át
p€¡iod. Note thst 8ll of the delay appea¡s to occr¡r shallow, trear the acquisition surfaae.
In Figure 1168 the o(z) teoEetry is give¡. At-depth dela]'s are cle¿¡ly the cous€ of tirDe
delays snd spatial ali¿sing ilr this cas€, The r¿ys stay parallel because the ray para¡nete¡ is
constant for ¡sJ¡s i¡t general v(z) media. The delay is associated with interval velocity arid
dip angle, (u(z), d), rather than (¿b,00).

The linea! velocity equatioDs for }'D design are:

¿lz) = l,o+t. z I p=-ñ

Sinld)

-Ír-
= sin-,[ür*rl
1
do

,"" = #h
to = Í2- | Ta¡(012\
Los.lr""O;n) 1

Cos(4¡\ - Cos(0\

-- = {*G-") if0>90degrees
if0!90degrees

Figr¡¡e 117 compa¡es dia" ard üin, for a 4000 m (13 120 ft) ta¡get. The velocity functions
are in m/s, a¡d the lower plot is valid fo¡ the Gulf of Meúco. We see birL is oJuoy.r sraoller
than üiar. This Eeans that honoring u(z) allows the use of a larger bin and thus saves
acquisition cost.

Figure LITA compa.res ¡ecommended bin size bas€d on consts¡t velocity ar.' linear u(z)
uai¡g parameters t]?ical of the Gulf. For tbe coDstant velocity case, ü¿!¿ has ,n used to
calculate bin", Figu¡e 1178 shows the equatio! fo¡ üir¡, is valid for dips ñoo ..,80". This
t9 MIGntnoNI 2ro

€roúple i¡dicste th¡t the rerlhst biu requireoert occuts ¿t 9(P dip. Tberefore, a bia
properly designed for 90e dip ir adequate br all dipe be¡ood 90e'

Bb" e2 ,¡tqui¡irim ¡rfuc út Bht Aq!¡¡dú úec.

R.yr Fr.lcl
. con¡ia¡lt)
(p

(A) (B)
Figu¡e U6: SFtirl slird¡g g@ciry. (A) Cost ¡t r¡elocity care' ad (B) o(z) caee'
19 MIGRATION I 2Ll

¿=,|(m.: f s$. ¿=¿|m0; f .l).

v= IIX). + O.4 t v=llD.+O:z
fl) 80
m 7)
,\
^60
€so bin., ^60
€so \
fio 30
bia^ - É10
30
m = 20
l0 l0
0 0
om10@t0 0 25 50 75 r00 125 ¡$ ¡7s
Dip (dcttl6) Dip(&gEat)
(A) (B)
Figue 117: Recon¡De¡ded bil size os d fuDctio! of dip. (A) The u(z) bia is always larger
tha¡ the coDstant v€locity o¡e. (B) The sEsllest ü(z) bi¡ size occuts ¡t 9f dip.
B MICN.XNON I 212

ttdizootal DiaL¡c.

r0= 1500 ¡d¡ k.0.4 l/s

¿ =4{fú¡¡ dip.55o
Curvad r¡y big dist¡¡cc = 359.4t trl
C\¡n cd r¡y iitrE = 4.61959 !
I l'l¡¡ d.plb of¡¡y.,|()q} tD

$r.igl¡t ¡|y mit di¡l¡rcc = 571259 D

Sn ida .¡y litrE . ó.06¡116 t

(A)
Horizontrl Dirúc!

v(): 1500 ¡n/s t=O¡l l/¡

z .,t{xl)¡r dip= l20P

Mig db!úc. = 12 599.t tn

Tunc = 10.3256 s
lkm t_ .\ M¡¡ d.pth of r¡y . 519t.9 ñ
I l¡n

(B)
Figu¡e llSr (A) Plot s¡d c¿lcr¡t¿t¿d v¿lue¡ fo¡ ¡tr €x¿¡nPle iu the Gulf of Me¡<ico. Note
thst consta¡t velocity .ssuEpti@s ov€restim¿t€ t¡sveltibe 6¡d Ditt¿tio¡ dist¿¡ce, r,¡d
u¡de¡€stiE¡té biD 8ize, (B) I¡r¡iDt w¡w et anple fo! Gu¡f of Mer.ico Pa¡¿úetef,s'
M MIGRATION II 213

20 Migration II
Mig¡atiou is a¡ iúpoltant a¡d €xpeDsirc process that is applied to reflection seismic d6ta
before it is iDterpreted. Becsuse it is the last m¿jor ptocess to hit the deta, it is lik€ly
to be blaúed fo¡ all sorts of things like iDcoDsistent aBplitud€s and la.k of structu¡al
detail - eve¡ thowh these p¡oblees ú¿y ¿ri9€ from acquisition o¡ e¡¡lie¡ ploc€ssiDg step6
(binoiag, DMO, 6lterin8, etc.) The migratioo itself toay be pe¡forü¡ed by a codth¿tor,
sDothe¡ oil company (lease/project ¡r¡rt¡e¡), or l¡our own companf It cs¡ be doDe by s
processitrg g¡oup (typicál for s cont¡actor or úajo¡ oil compaoy) or aú i¡¡-bouse resesrch
group (secondary oil coúp¿¡y or high-proñle project in a Eajor).

Dealing efiectively with the mig¡ato¡(s) saves time, confusion, and money. To do this
you need to know sbout the difiere¡tg kiods of mi8¡stion. It is a waste of time and money
to remig¡¿te dats bec¿us€ sn iDappropriate mit¡stio¡ techDique was ¡ecomme¡ded ot ¡e.
qu€sted.

2O.1 Kinds of Migration

Here we develop a classificrtio! scheee for Eig¡¿tio! [f41. we clossily migr¿tion fo! the
saEe ¡easoD that people classify locks or anj'thing els€, it briDgs order out of appa¡eDt chsG
and gets everyone talking the same language.

Dimensionality is the 6¡st coÁsideration. We either do 2-D or &D migrstioD.

2-D This is ¿ppropriote o¡ly for a püe dip li¡e. Eve¡ the¡, the¡e remains a large crossüne
Flesnel zone that catr blur st¡atiglaphic talg€ts.

3-D The best thing to do, but it lequi¡es data that we¡e shot !D. A close g¡id of 2-
D üoes c¡¡r be me¡ged itrto a !D d¿t¡ volume a¡d mig¡ated, but this is ody sa
utrsstisfactory patch. LD EitTatioD csn be o¡¡epass or two-pass. Two-pass iDvolv€s
doing 2-D migr¡tioD for inline then cross-line dilectioDs. Tbis is a patch for usiDt
existiDg 2-D higrdtioü p¡og¡aros o¡ !D data, and is only valid for mild latelal velocity
lariations. This was ¿ big issue i¡ the eally eighti6, but we should all expect a resl
!D úigrstio¡ (i.e., onepass) these days.

Next we have to tbi¡k about whethe¡ poststack or prestack data is bei¡¡g ioput to the
mig¡ation. Thst is, we a¡e eithe¡ doiDg poststaak o! pr€6tack migration.
M MIGRÍTION II 214

Poststack Migr¿tion of the CMP stack d¿ta volume. DMO G almost always applied before
sta.kiDg so th¿t all dippiog er€nts 6.e p¡es€ricd iD the stack data. This is much less
expe¡si!€ thao p¡estack Dig¡atioB, but also less accu¡ste in compücsted areas. Ca¡
usually be accomplished o! workstatioo class Dschi¡es.

Prestack Mig¡¿tion of the prestack data volum€ - every blip of aoplitude otr every prestack
trace. For a lslge sun€y, this requires rDassir€ computer stotage sod d¿J.s o¡ neeks
of CPU time on a supercomputer. Therefo¡e much more expensive thaD poststaak
migrution.

The last classifyi¡g term involves how ¡nucb physics ¡¡'e put into the algorithm, specif-
ically the handliag of yelocity i€¡istion. FYom Snell's law we k¡ow that where velocities
charge, seisoic rals should bend, but trot all mig¡ations honor this faat. Whea vre can get
away with it, it is Euch cheape¡ to only approxim¿tely hoDor rey beDditrt. But th€ Dole
closely ere hoDor the physics, the bette¡ the iDsge, aDd the highe¡ the cost. To desc¡ibe
this situstiorl, ve use the terms tiEe ¡¡¡i8¡atio¡ and depth roigrstiotr.

Time Time mig¡atioD giv€s the correct treatme¡t of co¡sta¡t velocity sIrd o(z) media.
Special, faste!, aDd less expensive methods 6!e available for o(z). Time migratioÁ c¿n
be patched fo¡ rr(r, v, z), but isi erio¡ t,o depth mitlatioD fo! strotrg lster¿.l velocity
variatioDs. Some people conside! accr¡¡ate o(z) mig¡ation to b€ depth Eig¡ation.

Depth Co¡rect treatmeüt of stroüg 11¡riations in o(¿,y,z). AB far as possible, rays are
accurately bent through the velocity ñeld. Tends to be ¡ouch mo¡e expe¡sive thaD
time loigration.

ln summary, the te¡ms depú¡¿ and ,in¿¿ o¡e used to di6tiDguish tbo6e algo¡ithÍ¡s thst handle
Iaters,l velocity wriations and properly bend ra]s (depth mig¡ation) froú tho6e that do not
(time migratioB).

One addition¿l classifyiúg term is evolvin$ acollstic rrLigmtionv. elastic migrstion. T\e
difierence is one of input data t]?e, earth model parüneters, and phl'sics. For elastic úrigra-
tion we requi¡e úulti-compoDeBt dsta, prefe¡¿bly three receive¡ components (and perhaps
prcssu¡e) from multiple oriented receive¡s. The migstio¡¡ r'elocity model will consist of
both P-wave a¡¡d Se¡ave velociti€6. And the mig¡tion alSorithm wiu Deed to inco¡Po¡ate
P-w¿ve, $vvave atrd mode coDverted eveDts. Since 99% of cur¡ent mi8¡atioD is acoustic,
this qualider is ra¡ely us€d except i¡ research üterature.

We should Dote that time v. depth mi8¡atioD ¡ not related to whether the Eigrsted data
are output n¡ith a time or depth axi6. A¡y DiSratioÁ c¡¡ be output in time o¡ depth. In
20 MIGRATION II 2t5

cu¡re¡t practice, it is coe¡]toD to output the Eit¡ated data i¡ tiEe and the[ depth-conve¡t
p¿rticula! horizons usint all svailable velocity/depth/r,€[ bforEatiotr. This classic eethod
is d€sc¡ibed in chapter 25. Horever, in areas of stiotrg l€locity va¡istion depth úig¡stioD js
ofien us€d aüd the output is gi!€tr as a depth section. How€ver, D¡ig¡stion depth accu¡a4y is
Iimited to sbout one.half ¡¡¿r'eleügth, which me¿¡s that th€ depth section often ¡eeds f¡al
adjustment bas€d on well data. Geologic xample of stroug lateral velocity \,e¡istion would
iDclude salt overha¡gs, subtbrust o¡ subsalt 6reas, extreme topography, or a coDbi¡¿tioD
of sucb festu¡e6.

Bringing all this together, we hsve the following table

Less accü¡ste apd less expensive More accu¡ate and more expensive
2-D &D
poststack p¡est¿cL
time depth

We live in o world of jalgon, and mig¡ation is no exceptioD. A dreÁ migratio¡ method

caD be claésiied by coÁcatenating these te¡ms. For example we can Bay 2-D pos|,saack timc
migttion or S-D prcsl,¿c* d.epth migra¿ion. The te¡ms are ¡ot generalty iDt€¡chaDteable. "2-
D time pGtstack mig!&tioD" Djght seem to the uÁiÁitiated ss equal equal to "2-D po6tst¿a¡(
time mit¡ation". But actually it is like askint at your l¡vo¡ite coFputer superstore fo! a
"PC Pentium". It is important in dealing with ja¡gon to have it right.

It is also importatrt to ¡ealize th¡t q,e should neve¡ mig¡¿te dst¿ just once, ¿lthough
in practice it hspper¡s ell the time. To dete¡mine mig¡dtion velocities we mr¡st iterdte, or
¡epeat, the mit¡ation. There are clever ways of avoidint rep€ated migration of the entire
data volume, but iteratitrg eveD pa¡tial úig¡atioris adds up. The major cost facto¡ is the
number of input t¡aces. More input traces meaDs more cost. For s giveD Dumber of input
t¡aces depth migation Í¡ill be more expensive, a¡d hopefully more accutste, th¡r¡ time
mig¡ation. But, g,¡he¡ should we request depth mig¡ation and wheü s,¡iü time migration
suffice? Whet about poststack a¡d p¡estsck?

The coDtrolliDg factols are structural complexity sld velocity variatioD. Figü¡e 119
gives ¿ qu¿litstive pictu¡e of the situatio¿. You could tet a tood argument goitrg about
ex&ctly where the bounding lines should be drss,n, and how to qua¡tify the coordinate axes.
Velocity coDtrasts greate¡ tha¡ about 4&50% sbould probably be coDside¡ed stro¡8. A.s for
quaotifying structural complexity, we should leave th¿t to the geologists.

The mig¡stion sbould be 2-D or &D depeüdi¡g o¡¡ whether the data is 2-D o! 3.D.
However, to hold dowü costs selected 2-D üues are ofteD extracted from tbe !D da."¿ for
20 MICRATION II 2t6

Complcx

Incr.ssing
nfuctuml
compl.xity

None Strong

IncEasing laic¡¡¡ vclociry va¡iation

Figu¡e 119: Appropriate kind of oig¡atio¡ ¿s s fulctioD of Etrr¡ctu¡e and velocity valiatioD.

detailed presta.k depth miglatioa. These 2-D ünes should be ext¡acted iü the dip direction,
if one exists, to miÁimize out-of-plane efrects.
Note the occu¡¡ence of prestack time Eigratio! oD the ñgu¡e. At fi¡st sight, this kind
of mi8¡stion seems curiously uDwise. Much ext!6 expe¡lse is incu¡red by workint with
p¡esta¿k d¿t6, but no improved image can be expected because ooly time migration ph]sics
is going into the a.lgorithld. Not long ago, it s€emed that the main rol€ of p¡esta.k time
migration was to p¡epare dat¿ fo¡ AVO anolysis. We want to migrate before AVO wo¡k
to improve lateral resolutioD, but ¡ot spend big money on depth mi$atioD aüd rel¡ted
velocity arial].sis. F\rthermore, we have more fsith iri time migration amplitude behavio¡.
Also, prest&ck time Eig¡¿tion of 2-D data is a widely-used velocity ¿nalysis tool. But there
is t¡owing eüdence [52] that for st¡uctu¡ally complex a¡eás, the staDda¡d proc6si¡rg flo$' of
NMO, DMO, CMP stack, poststack depth Eig¡ation iB just Áot app¡opriate. The ¡e¿so¡s
ale siill being debat€d, but it is clea¡ that better iEages can come from pr€stack time
mig¡ation tha¡ the standa¡d processiDg float. Plus, as you load oore velocity vsriatioD into
DMO it approache6 the cost of prest¡ck depth Ei8¡ation. This i5 lot to say that DMO and
the sta¡ds¡d flow should Deve¡ b€ doÁe, it is just e/ortbwhile to coDsider what is approPriate
for 8 pa¡ticular 8rea.

Figu¡e 119 shos,s the Ei¡iDus ¡equireDent fo¡ ki¡d of ldi8¡atioD. You can alwals over-
M MIGR.{IION II
kill a problern by using a kind of mig¡ation mole general (read expensive) than required,
For example, ¡ou could rcquest presta.k depth Eigation in s¡ a¡€6 of subtle structu¡e a,nd
gentle velocity variation. Hor,¡eve¡, the irdprovement ove! poststack time roig¡atio¡ i¡ this
case is minimal a¡d the added co6t *ould be significant. You k¡o¡¡¡ the rest of the story:
costs go up, earli¡gs go down, Wall Street hammels the stock, your boss's boss's boss dro¡s
i¡ lo¡ a little chat ... ouch.
I¡t suEmary, thele axe two things thst msl(e a mig¡¿tion more expe¡¡sive - you put more
data into it, or j'ou put úore physics iüto it, o! both. More dsta comes from 3-D v. 2-D and
presta{& v. poststack. How Euch physics we put in k implied by the teros time roigptioo
(less physics) and depth mig¡ation (more physics).

Exe¡cise 20.1. For each c¡se below, whst kind of mig¡¿tioo would ¡ecomnend?
Locate each case qualitatively on Figure 119, a¡d assume the dsta is 2-D unless
'ou the structu¡e

1. little structure/velocity w,ristioD.

Terti¿¡Jr clastic section E'ith
2. Complicated 3D salt dome/owrh¡úg i¡ the Gulf of Mexico.
3. Layer cake geologr of altemsti¡g soft shale ¿¡d tight dolomite.
4. Very complicated !D st¡uctu¡e iD a clastic s€ction with srdall velocity vs¡iatioDs.

20.2 Adr¡¿nced Topic: Mig¡ation Algorithms

A give¡ kind of mi$stion, like 2-D po6tstack depth mig¡ation, c¡D be acc¡mpüshed i¡ oatry
wa]s. The detail of hocr roig¡ation is done is refea¡ed to as the algoritbE. Here are 6oEe of
the most coloDon slto¡ithÍ¡s a¡d so¡oe of tbei! characteristics.

Folrrier tmnsfom methods (Stolt, Gazdag)

1. these arc time mig¡atioD methods

2. they are ñne for u(z), but hai€ liroited accuracy for o(c,9, z)
3. both can allow tumint waves

Fini,te dífercnce methods (FD, nterse time)

1. depending on implementation details, can be time or depth miglation

2. tenerally have good ampütude co¡tlol
M MIGRAT¡ON II 218

3, ¡€letively expeDsii€, but a¡isotropy csn be haDdled

4. msDy forEs sllow tür¡i¡g wav€á

Kinhhofr methotls

I. most commonly used depth rui$ation techdque, eepecially for $D

2. if coded properl¡ good srdpütüde cont¡ol is po€sible
3, cs¡ easüy mig!¿te ¿ subset of the surv€J¡ *es., tatgetd pt'.lt,¡c* depth n ig'n¡fiaf.
4. allo*'s tu¡¡iog l¡aves
5. good velocity aÁalysis too¡s s¡d !¡ethods ¿vsilsble

Beam lorming methodt atul tcleen pmpga¿o¡s

l. depth tnigration technique

2. still Dew, gene¡ally ¡esea¡ch hode o¡ly

20.3 Progran Complexity and Parameters

One should u¡derst¡úd thot big¡¿tion p¡og¡aD.s sre quite coEplic¿t€d to ¡un aBd iDvolve
many user-defled paraBete¡s. Eve¡ if the phlsica 6¡d p¡ogtammiDg a¡e pe¡fect, qualtiy
of the output is stroqgly depende¡t oÁ the exp€¡tise of the user. Ps¡a¡neter choic6 made
by the mi8¡ator will la¡Eely det€rrdit¡e the data quslity seen by the inte4)¡ete¡. Of course,
acquisition p¡obleros like spatial aliasiug may be pres€nt before processing and this will
furthe! influence data qualtiy.

As an example of a fairly complex program, couside¡ the followi¡g s€lf{ocuFentation

for a 2-D p¡estaak depth oigrotioD code, suldDig2d. I'his program is p¿rt of the SU
seisEic processiDg package made freely available by the C€Dte! lo¡ Wave PhenomeDa at
The Colo¡ado School of Mioes.

St KDMIG2D - Ki¡cbboÍf D.pth lltgration ot 2D post.tack/p!€.t¡ck data

sukdsig2d iÁtile- outflle- lpa¡¡¡eters]

M MIGRXTION II 219

R.qui!€d pa¡anete¡s:
i¡tiIe-stdiD fil€ for i¡put aoiaúic trac€s
outfilo-dtdout tile fo¡ co@oÁ offset Diglatio¡ outpr¡t
ttfi16 fi1€ fo¡ iDDr¡t t¡avoltüs tables
Tbs follovilg 9 pa!¿Doteta deacribe trav€ItiDe tablea:
fzt fir8t depth g¡rdp1e iD trav€Itiñe tabl€
\zl Eulbsr of deptb a¿lpl€a iD traveltiD€ tabl€
dzt depth iEt€rval iÁ trav€ltin€ tabl.
tirat lateral aaúpls i¡ tlaveltiEo t¡bI€
Dr! ¡r¡lb€r of late¡al aa¡¡pl€a id t¡aveltiD€ table
¡.ate!al, i¡terval i¡ t¡avéIti.De tabl€
fa x-coordiaale of fi¡at sou¡ce
n8 Dr¡Db€! Of AOU.rC€A
da x-coordiÁate i¡crooe¡t of 60utce5

optio¡al Pa¡a.Detels:
dt- or froú heade! (dt) ti.úe saúpl,i¡g i¡térval of iDput data
ft- or flon heade! (tt) fj.¡at tioo aa¡pIe of ir¡put date
dE- or t¡oD heade! (d2) sa¡pliDg iDtorvaf of új.dpoiüta
fzo=fzt z-coordi¡ate of firat poi¡t i¡ output t¡ace
dzo-O.2*dzt, vertical apaci¡g of output trac€
¡zo.5i(Ezt-1)+1 ¡r¡¡b€r of poirt6 iD output trace
txo-t¡t ¡-coordÍlato ot ti¡at output t¡ac6
dxo-o.s¡ü(t horizoDtal apaci¡8 of output t:.ac.
¡ro:2¡(Dc-1)+1 ¡¡¡¡ltr€r of output trlc€a
ofto-O tilat offest i¡ output
doff-99999 oftaet i¿c¡€D€¡t i¡ output
¡off-1 Dr¡Dbe¡ of offa€ta iD output
tlax-o.2sldt frequercy-highcut fo¡ i¡put trac€s
offDar=99999 DaxiEr¡! absolut€ offaot allot'ed i! ¡i,glatio¡
ap6!x-!xt*dxt/2 oigr¡tioü1ater¡lap€ratu¡e
a¡gDar=60 Digratj,o! aDtI€ aporature troú vertical
v0-1500(D/6) ¡ef€retrce v€Iocity value at su¡taco
dvz-0.0 refe¡€lce velocity v€rtical Sradi€¡t
1s-1 fLag for IiDe aou¡cs
jpfile-Btde!! job pri¡t Jile ¡a!€
Dt!-100 prilt v€lba1 i¡forD¿tio! at 6véry ltr tlac€s
Dt¡-100000 úa¡iDuE ¡ur0bér of i¡put tlacea to b€ Ditlated
Epv=o tlag of coDputi¡g qu!¡tities fo¡ v€locity a.Ealysis
 20 M¡SRATION II 220

...if ¡pv>o specify tb€ JolloeiDg thler tiI€B:

tvfile=tvtile iüput lile of tlav61tibe vdriatio¡ tablea
tv [¡El [Drt] [D¿t]
csfile-csfil€ input file of cosirs tables cs[üs] [!ft] [¡¡zt]
dataout 1-dataor¡t 1 tile co¡tai!¡i¡8 additiooal Dig¡atioD outPut
eitb ert¡a .¡Plitude
l¡ot€8:
1. Tlav€Itine tabl€B sere geD€rat€d by proS¡s! ¡ayt2d (ot others)
o¡ r€LativeLy coa¡s€ 8rids, ejth di.D€Dslo¡ ¡s*D*ttt¡zt. I¡ the
biSratioD process, tlaveltiDeB dr6 ilterPoLat€d ilto sbot/geophoDe
positioúa a¡d outPut g¡icla.
2. IDput s€isoic tracea Eust b€ SÜ forDat a¡d ca¡ be a¡y tyPe of
gath€rg (coEDo! sbot, coDnoD oJfa€t, co@o! CDP, aDd 3o oD).
3. Hig¡ated t¡acea ar€ outPut ia CDP gath€rs it velocity aúalysiB
is requir€d, ¡'itb di¡üe¡sio! !:ro¡¡otfrEzo
4. If th€ offs€t vaLue of a¡ i¡¡Pl¡t trace is Dot i! the offset a¡¡ay
of output, tb€ Dea¡€st 0¡6 i! thg atray ia choae!.
5. |leñory lequirene¡t for thia Plogtato ia about
[¡s*Dittlzt+üof f *!xorüzo+4r¡t *!2t+5*D(t.!zt+!Pa' (2tns*¡¡t*Dzt
+¡of f *D(o ¡nzo+4*Dct*Dzt ) I *4 byte8
nher€ ¡¡ - l+nin (¡xtrd.xt,0. SroffDax+aPorr) /dxo.
6. ¡.Eplitr¡des are coDPut€d usiÁg the ¡etor€[ce volocity Profil€, v(z)'
sp€citied by tbe Pa¡anetera v0' a¡d dv¿-.
7. IDput t¡aces oüst sPecify soulcg ¡¡d ¡ecoivor Positioüs via thé h€ad€r
fiof¿Is t¡.sx ard t¡.8x. Offset ls co¡rPi¡ted autoDatically.

Autborr AeDyue Liu, 03/01/95, Colotado School ot HiDeg

Trace beadel fields accessed: ¡s, d!, dellt, d2

Trace b€ade! fields Dodifi€d: sx, gx

20.4 Adr¡anced Topic: Velocity Analysis

Wheo there is significant velocity variation iD the subsurfaae' mig¡ation caünot be

peúor'oed
just oDce to produce & 6nal product. This is bec¿use the ¡oiSratioa velociti€s a¡e unl(ltrowü
¡nd ¡oust be determined. Mig¡atio¡ r€locity a,Áallrsi6 is the rePeated migmtion of a data
.\
20 MIGR-TTION II m

set, o¡ pa¡t of it, to frld the best Eigetion velocity model. How $ell the t€lociti€s a¡e
determined will affect the detsiled structu¡e ¿¡d ¿epütude of the fi¡sl migrated ¡esult. Fo¡
presta¡k depth migrstioD, this can be a very time-consuúitrg a¡d expensive procedure -
especially ia $D.

Whenere¡ possible the loigret€d image Éhould be output iD depth a¡d made to tie
existiltg w€ll control. VSP data are a good source of velocity co¡atraiüts fo¡ mig¡ation.

Mig¡atioo velocities a¡e very importaDt because migrstio¡ is one of the fe!¡ seismic pro-
cess€s which can create/¡eEove structural features in the data (others are st¿tics, NMO, a¡d
DMO). ¡\¡¡thermo¡e mig¡ation is fairly s€nsitive to velocity e¡¡o¡s, with depth üigstioD
beiBg much more se¡rsitil.e than tioe úigation. To do a good job with prestack mig¡ation,
the r€locities need to be correct to within tlo%. Velocity errors of 5% gi!'e noticable struc-
tüe chang€s, 10% errors give signigica¡t cb¿nges. yery signifcaüt. If migration }€locities
are incor¡€ct, the 6¡st thhg to go is iEate detail; thetr the poGsibility of fal6€ st¡uctu¡e
aris€s.

Fi$lre 120 shos,s an extreme example c¡e¿ted to ¡n¿t(e the efiect clear. Both sections
a¡e prestack depth mig¡ation of the same itrput dsta - about 60 000 p¡estack tlaces. It took
about 6€vetr hours using the SU p¡og¡sm 8ukdDlg2d oo ¿ P133 laptop runDint uDde¡ the
Linux opelating system.

The only difrerence bet¡vee[ the two úig¡stioDs is that aB i.ncorrect lo¡,-l€locity leDs (at
z = 1000, x = 13 000) exists i¡ the velocity model fo¡ the loc,er result. The upper ¡esult
is basically cor¡ect, the lower one is e fals€ structure due to inco¡¡ect mig¡ation velocities.
Tbe¡e is 6o6ethiog like 300 m of fabe st.uctu¡e c¡eated by the relocity er¡or. In re¿l
plocessing, it only takes small r€locity problems to büld or destroy subtle stluctules.

The Dext chapte¡ deal,5 r.ith DMO, but here is a preview about its relation to migratio[:

= NMO + DMO + CMP stack + migstioD

Presta.k time mig¡atio¡

Prestack depth migration + NMO + DMO + CMP stack + mig¡ation

The last case is made on the ¿ssu¡¡ptio¡ that prest¿ck depth mig¡ation vrás actually
needed due to stlong lateral velocity variations.

a-
20 MIGBATION II

Figure 120: F¿ls€ structu¡e created by iocorrect velocities. The uPPer result is close to
coüect; the lo*t¡ one is infected by a low-velocity ¡e!¡5 ceDtered at x = 13 000 and z =
1000.
21 DIP MOWOUT 223

2L Dip Moveout

21.1 A Brief History of DMO

You caÁ talk ¿bout NMO ¿ll day long *'ithout Dentionint miglstio¡. DMO is ¿Dothe¡
¡r¡¿tter. Itt i¡¿t, an ea¡ly versio¡ of DMO had the cumbe¡some, but desc¡i ri!€, DsEe
prestack pa¡tial migratio[ But 6t leoat s ]€dr es¡lie¡ the¡€ wáa ¿ DMO Processi¡g p¡oduct
on the Esrket. It was named DEVILISH, an acrou¡'m for DiPPiry Eve¡t Velocity Inequality
Lickd.
DMO is a tood exarople of how progress is nede itr 6ei.smic processitrt. The develoPEetrt
fu very rece¡t, aÁd to put tbi¡gs iÁ p€tsp€ctir'e, Tsble 5 tives s ¡ather detailed cbrooolos¡
of oajor advalces in DMO. we could Bake a simils¡ toble fo¡ miglstion or any number of
other processes.

The first columü iD Table 5 is a sborthaüd Dotation for the a.hievement, follow€d by the
suthors ¡trd publication dates. Since DMO progressed so quickly, E¡ost advances sere frrct
giveD &s abst¡scts at national geoph)¡sical meetin$. But these ebst¡acts did üot all show
üp later as p€er-revier,/ed publicstio¡s. Io such a case, I bave also lbted the f¡st pub[sbed
author oÁ the 6übject. For a detailed a4couot of the eá¡ly hiEtory of DMO, the re¡der is
refer¡ed to the excelle¡t suúmary in Hale I4].

At ce¡tain tir¡€s there rv€re seversl autho¡s who simulta.Deously Pres€Dted key ad\'onc€s.
Tbis happ€rcd in 19E4 with rc€pect tó gD, in 1988 to. smPlitude, a¡d i¡ 1990/l for i€rticsl
velocity vs,ri¿tio¡ tr(z). For thes€ cás€sI h8v€ simPly €Dter€d "s€ve¡al" itr the teble.

Although tbis table has the higblights, it G Dot coEp¡ehensive Tbe¡e are easily over
150 references to the subject in some fot¡¡ o¡ another iD the litersture. Ei€ry efiort has
been made to confi¡m tbe claiúed Prio¡iw fo! esch advaDce, and any ¡emainiDg erro¡s a¡e
mine aloDe.

21.2 Dip Moveout Jr¡st Isn't No¡mal

In the 6eld, ¡ source and receiver are, say' 3000 m aPa¡t (the ofiset) and a tra.e is recorded
This is pr€st¿ak data. Ftom the discl¡ssioD above, !¡e ktrow that NMO lives to rcmove ofiset
from prestack data. In tbe comPute! we adjust this t¡aae to simulate o¡re that would hsve
been ¡ecorded at a poitrt half-way betw€eD the source aDd receiver (the EidPoi4t). This Dew
trace is s zercofiset trace a.ud adding stacking) all such tra.es that live at thG Didpoiut
yields a stac¡( tra.e. All the staak tra.es Plotted sioe by side form the sta¡-k seclion which
21 DIP MOWOUT 224

Adl,arce Avthors Meeting Abttt. P¿blicatiorr

DMO JudsoD et sl. 197E
DMO ellip€e geoúetry Derego*sh a¡d Rocca 1981
Widespread use H¿le 83 84
Shot record Biondi and Ronen 19E6 1987
Inverse DMO Ronen 19E7
(aroplitude preserving) Li¡e¡ a¡d Cohen 1988
Ampütude pr€s€rvi¡g seve!al 1988
Sorin and Ronen l9E9
A¡isotropy Uren atrd Ga¡dne¡ 1990
}D several 1984 1991
Wal.e equation amplitude Jo¡den 1987
Liner l99l
Mode coDverted Harriso¡ 1990
Alfaraj and Larner 1991 1992
Linea¡ ¿(z) sele¡al 1990
Dietrich aDd Cohen 1992 1993
General u(z) seve¡sl 1991
Hale and Artley 1993
Arisotropy + ú(z) Larner and H¿le
Larne¡ 1993
ALgorithns Authors Meetng Atutr. Pvblicatron
FiDite difie¡ence Yilmaz a¡d Clae¡bout ¡980
Ofiset continuation Bolondi et al. l9E2
Log st¡etch Bolondi et aI. 1982
/-t domain Hale 1983 1984
,-r doBain Berg 1984
Hale 1991
Dip decomposition Jakubowicz 1984 1990
Befo¡e NMO Forel and Ga¡dner 1988
¿-¡ shot leco¡d Hear¡ 1989
General cooldioetes Liner r990
FiDite difierence shot record Pleshkevitch 1994
Radon do¡oai¡ Wa¡g 1995 1999

Table 5: Summary ofprogress in dip moveout. UDless otherf,tise stated, sd!€¡ces are related
to commoD offset implemeDtatioD of DMO. Note: PaPers referred to iÁ this table are Bot
listed in the bibliog¡aphy, chapter 37.
21 DIP MOWOUT 225

is lsw Eatedal fo¡ poststack mig¡atioü proce3si¡g.

Figu¡e 121 G anothe¡ üew ol the NMO idea. O¡ the left is a field t¡ace with 6ome ofiset
altd one reflectioD eve¡t. NMO a.*sumes the reflection comes ftom I ho¡izo¡tal interface as
showu i¡ the roiddte 6gu¡e. This is aD import¡¡tt aúd restrictive assumption. Tbe NMO
correctioo adjusts observed t¡aveltime (dashed path) to zero-offset tral€ltime as €,een ftom
the midpoint (solid path). So afler NMO, the event is moved up in time but it i6 ¡ot rooi'ed
¡cro€s traaea. Technicallf w€ a¡e cha¡ging time coordi¡ate from rar,/ time, Í, to NMO time,

Original trac€ NMO úacc

wiü finiic offset
-T-
with zero offscl

r
Timc
E¡rh modcl

NMO proccssing -lI Timc

Figure 121: NMO is a process ¡pplied to p¡estaak data. Here the effect is shoqtn on a
siogle trace {¡ith oüe re8ection e!€Bt Qeft). NMO ossumes that the re0ection comes ftom
s borizontal üterface in tbe e¿rth (ceDter). Using a velocity fuDction supplied by the
p¡ocessor, NMO adjusts the origiral time (dashed) to tbst which wot¡ld h¡ve been obsen'ed
st the midpoiDt, marked S/R. The soüd path is two-way time down and back, which must
be Iess than the dashed path time. So the job of NMO is to move the reflectior¡ evert up
the trace (¡ight). Note NMO operates on oDe trace at a time, which makes it iDexpensive.

But what if the interfsce is not horizontal? It i5 tempting to think that the re0ector
could be a¡rJrwhere. But this is trot the case. Lets ssy tbe oúginal traveltime is 1.0 s and
w€ krow the r€locity is 3000 m/s. The total dista¡ce tra!€led has got to be 3000 m. So
all lBlid reflecto¡ positiot¡5 bal€ oae thiDg in common: The total dista¡ce froE source to
re0ection poi¡t to receiver is colstsot, oa¡nely 3000 nc Thbking back to Geometry 101,
tbis is just the defrDition of a¡ ellip6e $¡ith the sou¡ce ar :eceiver at each focus. Figue 122
shows such a¡ ellip.s€.
21 DIP MOWOVT 226

.,--¡\

(A)
*r'
zcro offsat Zcro oflsct

r -' DMO p¡ocesling -->

(B) I (c)
Timc Timc

Figure 122: DMO is a process whicl is applied after NMO. (A) The original shot loc8tion
is S ¿¡d Eceive¡ location is R. Ea(ü s¡'mbol S/R is a poosible zerooftet trace locatio¡'
Since NMO assumes the ¡electiotr coúes from s ho¡izotrtol H, it is picking up only o¡e of
m6¡y po€sibiüti€s. Fo¡ oDe túe with oDe E0ectio¡ eveDt, all po€sible t¡svel p¡tbs hsve t¡e
6¡me leDgth. Thst is, the dist¿,nce fro¡¡ 8ou¡ce to reiectio! Poitrt to ¡eceive¡ is 3 co¡ata¡t.
The geoBetrical Bhspe with thb ProPerty is so el¡iF€ (the Ei8¡¿tioD ellipse). Some of the
o¡igi¡al p¿th po€sibilities ¿re sho*o dashed. NMO ¡educes treveltime based o¡ ¡ ho¡izo¡tel
reflector (r€rtical sol¡d path), while DMO do€8 oll the othe! cas€s (Do¡verticsl solid patbs)'
(B)-(C). So the aation of DMO is t,o tske the NMO'd eveEt ¡¡d bloadc¿st it acro6s Beveral
¡earby t¡a¿es, 6s indicoted by the additio¡al S/R locations. Since DMO operates on eereral
traces, it is et(peDsive'
21 DIP MOWOW 227

Remembe¡ the go¡l is to ¡erúove ofis€t a¡d tht¡s cleate a zero-ofiset section. NMO gives
one of many possibilities; DMO gir€s all the ¡est. ln Figu¡e 122, soee of the possible
o¡igi¡al tra!€l patbs a¡e shor.¡ (dashed), along with the single travel path a.fter NMO
(solid vertical), arid the many tra!€l paths after DMO (solid uotrveltic8l). He¡e the S and
R connected by red lioes ¡ep¡es€nt the origioal source a¡¡d recei!€r, Each locatioB labeled
with S/R is a zero ofiset locatioD (the¡e are many more of these than sho*'¡). The uDique
blue S/R location is the midpoint location where the ellipse has zero dip. NMO calculates
thú time. The trsveltimes in Figure 122 (lower right) are determined ftoo the s€gmeüts
joiniDg the S/R positioDs to the reflection points on the ellipse. Note th6t, i¡ the ¡oiddle,
DMO does not change the NMO time, but away hom the Eiddle it does.

Flom Figure 121 *€ sar¡ that NMO is a process that takes one t¡ace in and gives one
trare out. DMO G difierent. One trace into DMO teDerat€s many traces out - all of which
lil€ behre€¡ the original soü¡ce sr¡d receiver locations. This is illustlated itr Figue 122 a¡d
Figure 123C.

Lets coDside¡ Figure 123. We halc a panel of dats containinS only te,o filter€d spikes
of smplitude oD oDe trace (A). The other tr¿ces a¡e ther€ but have Do smplitude ldues oa
them. NMO moves the spike up o¡1 the s¡me tr6.€ (B). DMO theu throws the spike out
along a curve which lives bet*eeü the source and receiwr (C). This is sometimes called tbe
DMO smile. Since it comes ftoE s spike o¡ impulse oa the input dats. it is also calted the
DMO impdse response.

There is a lot of inportaüt ectioD iD this 6ture, so let's walk througb it slowly. If the raw
spikes in (A) are prestack mi$ated theü w€ get the prestack migatioa impulse r€spo¡se
(D). This result is correct and it is also an ellipse, as discussed above.

If the NMO'd data (B) is th¡owD directly into poststaÁk migration we get the result
(E). Poststack (ze¡o ofis€t) tBig¡stion is supposedly app¡opriate because NMO ¡emoved
the efiect of ofiset. But, actually, NMO h¿s done the ¡ight thing only for zero dip beds.
Therefore, the mig¡ated result (E) or¡ly sgre€s with the correct result (D) et the bottom of
eaah ellipse where the dip is zero.

The combined process of NMO and DMO has ¡emoled offset and done the right thing
for all dips. It is ¡eally ready for poststa.k mig¡atioD. So if the NMO+DMO data (C)
a¡€ migrated poststack, we get the result (F) which is the same as the pr€stack ¡esult (A).
Although no time sc¿Ies a¡e gir€D, the tie€s at which the spike6 occur i! (B) coincide rrith
the bottom of all the ellipses h (C)-(E). This is another way of sayint that DMO aDd
mig¡atiod do lot adjust t¡aveltioes i¡ the crs€ of zelo dip.

In summary, paoels (D) and (F) in Figure 123 a¡e look-alikes because, in some sense,
21 DIP MOWOW 224

IltstrEe Iltstar DistdEr

t
F

l) Betole X¡¡0 8) fft.! XIO C) ¡lter XIO+Dm

Distdlc¿ DistdEc IlistdE¿

a a ,l
F

D) Pleltack [iE o! ¡ E) Postltack Llgf ot I f) Poststack l1g ol C

Figule 123: This nurnerical o<ample illustrates the €ffect of NMO a¡d DMO ou a tra.e with
two spikes, or reflectiotr events. (A) Tbe spilca are tho¡{'¡t suÍou¡ded by a bunch of ze¡o
traces. The source aDd r€ceiler locstio¡ are denoted by S aDd R' ¡€sp€ctively. (B) NMO
shifts the spikes up i¡ tiEe, but oDly oD the ssme trsc€. (C) DMO throets the NMH
spike a.Bplitude out aloog a curve to ha¡dle ¡lI possible dips. This curve is called the
DMO sEile (or ellipee, or impulse respoue). Notice tbe DMO sEile only lives b€tlfl€e¡
the original source ald receiv€r po€itioDs. (D) P¡€ta.rk Dit¡stio¡ of (A) dves the cor¡ect
p¡€stsck EiglstioÁ impulse response. This G a¡ ellipse with sou¡ce sBd receive¡ at the ioci'
iE) Poststack mig¡stion of the NMOed spi&es in (B) i8 ¡ot correct, except for zero diP
(F)
Pootstack mig¡atioD of (C) 8iv€s the sarde correct ¡6ult as (D).
21 DIP MOWOUT

prestack migratiotr is equivalent to NMO followed by DMO followed by poststa.k mig¡atioü.

More o¡¡ that later.

Now he¡e is soEe ñagic. By cleating tbe DMO soile, all possible dips s¡e hs¡dled
simultaneouBly. We do not treed to know whst the dip is iD the e6rth. By plocessing sll
traces with DMO the actü¿l reflectio¡s will eEe¡ge i¡ their correct z€ro off6€t locatio¡s
bec¿üse they ale t6¡geDt, at soúe point, to DMO sEiles.

Also, DMO is nearly bdependent of the velocity, eo lolg as the velocity is coristant.
Sp€cifrcally, velocity only determines the shsllow€st tiEe where the DMO eüps€ stoPs, 8ee
Figure 123C. This is o¡e of the tbiDgs thst 8ot everyole i4itislly excited sbout DMO. And,
its w€ak depeDdeace oD velocity is one ressoD it is still60 widely used. ADyw¿y, it is uDlike
NMO a.üd rnig¡atioD wbich alwa¡rs need velocity iDforDstion, s[d s¡e quite seD.sitive to it.
Another big s€llin8 point is tbat NMO+DMO, rather than NMO alone, passes all dips into
the stack sectioD. Tbis gives more law material for mig¡¿tioo to wo¡k with in creatint a
frnal mig¡ated imste.

Fig!¡e 124 is atrothe! way of showing how DMO works. Imagine a siDgle spike of
amplitude on a 2-D common ofis€t s€ctio¡. The efiect of DMO is to broadcast this spike
along the DMO sEile, sbox,! witb bls4k dots. I! (A) w€ poststack migate oDly four of the
DMO dots (g¡ay) t,o see what happet¡s. Eaah of tbe four dots spoeflls a zelo-ofis€t mig¡atioa
ellipse. lo (B) all the DMO dots a¡e mig¡ated. The postsisck roigrstion cu¡ves are tatrgetrt
to yet aDother curve - the prestaEk mig¡ation elliFe. ID re¡l dsta the iüte¡ior poiDts tould
tend to caDcel, leaüDg ooly the p€rimeter curve. The mig¡atioD curv€s a¡e sa¡d to Gculate
and form tbe oute¡ curve.

21.3 A Problem: Velocity

It turns out that DMO is not, after all, iÁdependeDt of r€locity. To be fair, the ea¡ly
¡esearchers L.new this. But the constant \€locity formulatioD improved data so much com-
pared to just using NMO, thst they did not *orry much about velocity valiation for a
while.

But for o(z), the €fiect oB DMO is st¡a¡rge enough. This is shown in Figure 125. Pariel
(A) is the consta¡t i'€locity DMO smile and (B) is the ¡esult for mild u(z) As the velocity
is a weak function of depth (i.e., small velocity gradient), the 6rst effect is the squeezing of
the DMO ellipse. It becom€s narrowe! than the coostant velocity version.

So far so good, but as the velocity becoñes a sigoifica[t function of depth (like it iB
everywbele) the DMO euipse begiDs to twist a.Ed torque ,nto s saddle-s\aPed &D ope¡ator.
21 DIP MOWOW zXO

Raccivcr

a
a
a
a
\a a
a
a
a
a,

1000 1500
(A) üslflic¿
Sour!¿ Rcccivcr

o.4

0.6

0.8

1.0
0 5@ l(no I5m 20m
(B) Dist rcc

Figue 124: How DMO a¡d po6ista4k mi8¡ation work together itr a co¡st¿nt velocity sit-
uatioD. (A) The DMO ellipse is shown in black dots. Thes€ are showú goiüg ¿ll the way
up to the acquisitio¡ su¡face, but should actually 6top ¿t 6ome poiDt based o¡ the v€locity
value. Poststack mig¡ation has been applied to four of the dots (gray). Ea¡h migrsted dot
spaw¡s a mig¡¿tior ellipse. (B) Afl DMO dots h¡ve been poststa4k mig¡6ted. The resulting
migratioo ellipses are ta¡¡ge¡t to a pa¡ticula¡ cut-!'e, the prestack Dig¡stio¡ elüpBe. I! real
data r¡avelets (ilstead of ünes) are iohoduced, a,nd interfereDce tends to reiÁfolce aloDg the
outer cun€ and ca¡c¿l ¿t inteúo! poi¡ts. In elect we will ooly s€e the outer cu¡ve. This
process is called osculatioo.
21 DIP MOWOUT 231

Ilistarrce list ncr

(r) Dl,l0 (B ) Sq.reaze V(z) !ll0

!istance Distanc¿
0

(c) TIDll0 (eta=+0.15) (D) TIDll0 (eta=-0.15)

Figu¡e 125: The effects of velocity !€¡iation and a¡isotropy. (A) CoDst¿Dt velocity DMO
ellipse. (B) For small ve¡tical velocity rEriatio¡a, the efect oD DMO is to squeeze the elliF€
a bit narroc,€¡. (C) sDd D) the effect of sliÉot¡opy ir detereined by a rcw parametet c¿lled
eto, 4. The efiect of 4 cstr be ¡duch mo¡e d¡aestic than that of vertical velocity chaoges.
21 DIP MOWOUT 232

Figu¡e 126 is an ottempt to show this $D DMO saddle. It is not ha¡d to ims,gine, thst
spreading stufi out aloÁg a 3-D saddle as opposed to a 2-D wi¡e is much roole expensive.

Most people who talk about velocity variation and DMO are referring to vertical velocity
chaoges, u(z). If there are stro¡g later¡¡ chsDg€s, then to do DMO right beco¡les ¿bout.
as expeD.sive as prestaak depth Eigstion. So most people do not mess with DMO itr that
situ¿tioD.

21.4 A Second Problem: Anisot¡oplr

Anisot¡opy is a ge¡eral efiect that causes seismic waves to go at differeDt speeds depe[ding
on the direction of t¡svel. This is difieretrt thaD, say, sound wa!€s iD the ¿ir which at any
gil€n point have one speed tro mstter which way the woves a¡e going.

Anisotropy is o¡e of thGe t¡úags th¿t h6s b€e!¡ lrr¡ovn lor decades a¡¡d, until ¡ecentlf
la¡gely ignored i¡ mainstrean s€ismic dsta plocessi¡g. Although it could be s¿fely ig¡ored
when it s¡¿ó o¡ly thought to efiect she¡r r,ave6 sDd multicompoDeDt seisúic data, over the
lo.st decade o! so, aDisotlopy has beeD shown to influmce P-ware d¿t¿. This mear¡s *'e have
to deal with it.

Flom Figules l2l and 122 it is clea! that NMO and DMO hlolve rals traveling at all
sorts of aügles. If these mo!€ at difiereDt speeds then both p¡ocess€s Deed to account for it.
Recall that NMO moles events up oE the sarÁe trace. The anisotropy effect on NMO is
to E¡o!€ these events up a difierent amount, but they are still coDfiDed to the same trace.
Flom a m¿thematical point of üew, adsotropic NMO involves the ofis€t raised to the second
and fourtb powe¡ while isotropic NMO do€s Dot need the fourth power. An¡'way, NMO is
affected by ¡¡isotropy, but Dot d¡astic¡lly.

DMO is a difie¡ent story. It hss a !¡uch ¡¡o¡e i¡tir¡ate ¡elationship to dip and steep
¡ay angles than do€s NMO. Anisotropic DMO is controlled by a Dew paraúeter c¡lld et¡,
4, whjch ca¡ lange from ¿boüt (-0.2, +0.2). Figure 125 dves a fai! idea of the sitl¡¿tioq.
For 4 = -9.15 the DMO smiles (C) are deeper and r¡ider than the isotlopic result (A).
For q = +0.15 tbe result (D) is nothitrt üke the isotropic c€se. Remember, all pa,nels on
Figure 125 a,¡e ope¡atint oo the sar¡e input data.

It is fair to s¿y thst anisotropy has a st¡onge¡ i¡flueuce o¡ DMO tha! E¡ild u(z) i'elocity
rB¡iation. But this can reverse if the u(z) is üastic enough to warp the DMO elliPs€ iDto
a !D saddle. Of course, in the real world both u(z) a.ud &nisot¡opy a¡e preseDt aDd both
Dust be dealt with to tet the best possible result. But iD the most coroEoD circumsta¡c€s,
21 DIP MOWOW 233

Distr¡cr (h)

Timc (s)
1.74

Disiance (kn) -0 05

Figure 126r WheD significstrt ve¡tical l€locity l¿riation is Present, the DMO oPerator is Do
longer a 2-D wire stretching froB the source to ¡eceir"er. Rather, it spreads out to become
a saddleshaped $D opersto¡. This c¿uses DMO to becoloe more ercpensive. (Origioal
graphic by Craig Artley)
21 DIP MOWOW 234

aaisotropy probably hss a st¡o¡ge¡ effect o¡ DMO thatr !€locity !€iatioD does.

21.5 Relationship to Prestack Mig¡ation

SiDceDMO 6F€¡ds sBpütude out acro€s m¡¡y traaes, it is Euch Eore €rapeDsive tha! NMO
etúch ooly shifu it up o¡ o¡e trace. Eve¡ so' NMO+DMO is still chesP€r th6¡ Pt€sta¡:k
BigatioD.
When sub€urface co¡ditions become too extreme, this decoupled p¡oc€ssing flort (NM)
+ DMO) fails to give a reli¡ble mig¡&ted i!¡age. ID tbos€ c¡ses, the single 8¡á¡d P¡ocess of
prestaÁ mig¡ation iÁ used. The bad new6 is th¿t this one plocess is mo¡e expellaive tha¡r
all the procecees we uaed before, including DMO

So here is the bottord lioe. If structure a,Dd velocity r'driatio¡ o¡e trot too nasty in str
a¡ea, l¡,e qa¡ tet away with a t¡aditionsl P¡ocessiDt 3€queDce:

llll0 + Dt{O + C}lPstack + poetstaclttig¡atio¡

Hoc,€ver, if tbitrts get ¡eslly t¿wh dow¡

there (e.9. sub€alt, subthrust' or €*tteDe
topogaphy) tbis s€quence bresks dow¡ a¡d fails to girc I good image. In this case we are
coapelled t,o do prest.ck mig¡atio¡.

In fact, DMO w6s orid¡ally i¡r'e¡ted to cor¡plete this equality under mild subsurface
conditions:

P¡€Stacklligratlo! - ll¡10 +?+ C}|PST¿Ck + Poatstack¡li8ratioD,

The ? tu¡¡ed out to b€ DMO and i6 used c,olldwide every day.

22 XD SEISMIC SURWY PREDESICN EXERCISE 235

22 3-D Seismic Survey Predesign Exercise

22.1 lntroduction
h tbis chopter you wiü h¿ve s cha¡ce to üse Euch of !¡h¿t has been dis¿ussed i¡ earlier
chapters. The ide¿ is to pred€sign s 9D seisúic survey. Recdl thst detailed desig¡ is
quite complic¿ted, deals with lodstics and other cballanges, and is ususlly left to a cotrtract
compatry. But the p¡edesign is a quick "back-of-the-envelop€" tool that can show if a project
is technicolly and/or financially feasible.

In Figü¡e 127 is a ¡ough bas€ map showiag the image ales to be acqürcd' ¡eservoir
depth, dip iúlormatioD st two well loc4tioDs, a¡d d generaliz€d iotert'¿l wlocity Eodel

A list of 20 fa.ts is also suPPlied. Tbis is the kind of data you Eust dig up before a
predesign can be done.

Finally, there a¡e 16 questio¡s that walk ]ou through tbe predesign process- Tbere is
a page number foUowing e¿ch question that Points, to where in the book you caD frtrd the
p€rti¡ent formula.

The excercise should take about l-2 houls to comPl€te. If poesible it i5 b€st to ¡/ork ia a
team. It is a very good idea to check your a,trs*€¡ to questioD 4 (bin size) before uroving on.
This is because the va¡ious cost fa¿tors ia later questior¡lt sssurne l¡ou s¡e usiDg the corlect
biD size. Of cours€, it would defest the purpo6e to look up ¿l¡ the e¡$ ers Good luck.

22.2 T}J.e Excercise

Paranreters:

1. Average target depth = 2000 F

2. Source bands'idth = 20 - 80 Hz

3. Assume unifo¡m fold = 20

4. oil = $2olbbl
5. AcquisitioD cost: $10 000/trn2 ($25 800/mi'z)

6. P¡ocessiüg cost = $3500/kzn2 ($9100 mi')

22 &D SEI9MIC SVBWY PREDES¡GJV EXERCISE 236

l0 km
I
t
---+--->F lnt rval vcleity
ul*. t-
| 35" dip
O ¡r l90om
l0 tür

45'óp
at 2000 m
B .
"----
Irnaga arca

Figure 127: Figu¡€s fo¡ design €ce¡cise.

7. I¡terpret¿tion co6t : S5m0/fm2 (Sf3 m0/mi2)

8. Structüre i6 gD, Doderately coúpl€sq s'itb fsulting

9. Acquisitio¡ tat¿ = 100 000 traces/day

10, Each trace is 6 8€c of dat¿

11. R€serves without $D seismic = 2.3 million bbls

12. Resen€s with &D s€i6mic = 3.1 Eillio¡ bbls

13. Dry hole coet = $135 000

14. P¡oductio¡ e,€ll c6t = $200 000

15. Dry boles svoided = 3

16. Marginal wells avoided = 0

17. Additional produce$ required = 4

18. ExpenÉe f¿.to! = 30%

19. Life of project = 11 Y¡s

22 LD SElsüÍTC SWWY PREDESICN EXERCXSE 237

Qu€tioDs:

l. Whst is the ¡equi¡ed time s¡.Eple !¿te? Yout choic6 a¡e 1, 2, or 4 os. (page 9l)
2. Whst is the requi¡ed CMP coverage (i.e., Dit¡atio! dista¡ce) North of A? (page 199)
3. Wlst is the required CMP corqsge East of B?
4. Wh¡t is tbe ¡ecommeDded bi¡ size? (page 163) Uae a squale bi¡ of 20, 25, or 30 ro
and check your aaswer before proceediag,

5, How eany total bils wiü be i¡ the su¡vey a¡ea?

6, How many of prestock t!¿.es will be i¡ this survey? (pege 161)

7. Whst is the dsta ¡.quisitioÁ tiDe? Giv€ ],ou¡ sDs¡,€¡ i¡ Dortbe and da1s.
8. Whst dsta sto¡age ¡equiteúeDt fo! tbe pr€st6.k d¿ta froe tbis su¡l'€y? (page 188)
i6 the
Assüme dst¿ a¡e in SECY forh¿t sod git€ ¿¡tg$er in bytes súd GigsbJ¡t€s.

9. Wh¿t is the F!€6oel disnete¡ ¡t ts¡get depth? (page Z)3)

10. Usi¡g tbe p me¡su¡e, what b the lal¿rsl r€solutio¡ iDptovebe¡t by eig¡¿tioD? (page m3)

Ll. Wh¿t kiad of migrstio¡ sould you ¡ecoDue¡d? Why? (pagB 2f5)

12. Whst is the data storage reqü¡eEeBt for the postst¡ck dsts? A¡sr¡me SEGY fo¡m¿t
s¡d giv€ ¡¡¡6r,€r i¡r h¡tes and gitabyté)
13. Whet is the tot¡l survey coet? (p88e 66)

14. Wh¡t a¡e the 6¿vings, gains, net \¡8lue,6Dd plofit fo! this project? (page 66)

15. What is the lifetime aod ¡¡¡ualiz¿d lete of leturn o¡ this $D s€ismic investme¡t?
(page 68)

16. Sbould ¡our mmpaDy move ahead with full deigD sDd leasing fo! thi6 sun€y? Will
this !¡¿ke ecoooroic se¡s€ in J¡our orga.lizstioD?
 238

Part fV

Interpretation
23 Introduction to Interpretation

23.1 What Does It Mean to lnterpret Seismic Data?

The basic purpose of seismic iDterpretatioo is to extract all available geologic information
ftom the dota. This includes st¡ucture, stlatig¡aPhf rock Propelties, and pelhoPs reservoir
fluid cha¡¡ge€ in sp¿ce and time.

It to be tbst s€is!¡ic iDterpreters looked at indiüdual shot reco¡ds, s'hich they

used
narked up aod calcuLated oü. As the aúouat of dsta iúcless€d, it was not feasible to work
{,ith prestack d¿ta by h¿nd. Stáck sectio¡¡s ¡Dd lster mig¡ated s€ctions and d¿ta cub€s all
changed the way we interp¡et. Mig¡ation! in particular, ¡eúdered obsolete a whole ¡epertoire
of t¡icks fo¡ dealing with the pitfal¡s of unmi8¡sted data. In a similar way, &D data meke
specialized knowledge of ho*' to work with 2-D strike lin€s a dying art'

DrireD by compute¡ atrd €lectronics technolory, oil industry economics, and soflwale
life cycles, the interpretstioD of seismic data i8 both $owing in importance and comp¡exity'
The¡e is no indic¡tion that this fast pace of chsnge will decelerate'

23.2 Background Information

A the data ere loaded into ]our workst¿tion

succ€ssfr¡l interp¡etatioD begins loag before
Here we list sof¡Ie of the itrfod¡stion th¿t should be tsthered as necessa¡l¡ background
knowledge fo¡ a thorough interprebtion Project.

You will seldom bave tbe luxury of time or access to 8¿ther all of the items
listed here'
Often a.D itrterpretatioD p¡oject is inherited a¡td you may be expected to "hit the
gou¡d
ruüning" with little time for baakg¡ound.

Honcver, you iSnore this part of the interp¡etation Process at J¡ou¡ own ¡isk It could
be embarrassing' or worse, to recomlDeod a structural prospect in a¡ ¿rea know!
o! y for
knowledge
stratig¡aphic p;duction. Remember, knowledge is power' Tbe more backgrouud
good p¡osPects'
l"ou have, the more Pot¡€r you bave to make
23 INTRODVCTION TO ü1'TEEPRETATION

Structu¡e

1. Understs¡d the regional tectotric setting. w}tat a¡e s¡slogous structural settiDgs iD
othe¡ parts of tbe world?

2. The structu¡al 6tyle is importaDt. Are you erpectiog th¡ust faultiDg o! salt st¡uctures?
Is the expected structure complex? If so, is the kind of Eigtatioú you ha\¡e chosetr
approp¡iste fo! such structures?

3. Wh¿t ale the maximum dips expected? Did the survey plaD.Ding take this properly
into 6¿count? Remet¡ber that fault difiractions behave like a 90" dip.
4. A¡e the st¡uctur€s fuüy 3-D? Are you expecting locally us€fuIdip liúes?

5. Ho!¡ complex is the fsulting? Healy faulting Fakes stratig¡aphic it¡telptetatio¡ more
diftcult. Io a g¡osth fault sre¿, start thioking attout horimn slices along fault plaoes.
6. In a marine su¡vey, is there any rough s€afloo¡ topog¡aphy? Low r€locity pockets in
the shallow sedimeÁts could produce buried static p¡oble¡¡.s.

Litholos.

1. Is the s€ction generally clsstic or carbonate? What thick üthologic units a¡e sure to
show up as reflectors?

2. Is there any thick salt knovrn in the a¡ea? Susp€cted?

3. Are there strong cootrasts in üthology, Iike thick shale over thick limestone? If severe
¡ay bending expected then start pla¡¡ring for depth mit¡atioD..

4. ls the¡e any salt/anhydrite/LS/dolomite in the shallow sectioD? The€€ could teDelate

strong multiples. Has this problem been addre*sed in processing?

5. For ma¡ine date: ls this an area of soft or hard seafloor? Hard seafloor is a rcry
emcient reflecto¡ of enelgy ba4k iüto the !r'ate¡ column. Bewale of dipping multiples
from a hard seafloo¡. In shallow weter this sets up a waveguide thst sqtamPs renection
data. In deep w&ter it generates lotrg period multipl€s that are very diftcult to r€t¡¡ove
itr processitrg.

6. Fo¡ lar¡d date: What is tbe suface/weatheri¡g ütholo&¡? Do€s it change a.ross the
suri€y ares? Should refrsctio¡ st¿tics b€ used?
23 INTRODUCTION TO INTERPBETIIION 240

Stratigraphy

1. U¡de¡sts¡d age ¡elatioDships and depcitional erüronneDt of key forE¡stioüs of ex-

ploratio! iDterest.
2. Wbat is the tiee/space/p¡oductio¡ relatiottship betwee¡ structu¡e sBd 8t¡ati8¡sPhy
in the a¡ea? For o<ample, aand bodies miSbt be known to accuúüLt€ r¡ext to uPto-
the-basi0 f¿ulh.

3. Are th€re 6ubtle st!¿tig¡¡phic fe¿tü¡€s of i¡te¡6t, e.8., smsll ¡ee6, meander channels,
etc?

Well co!¡trol

l. Ho*' oo¡y r€lls i¡ the 6rea? Wh¿t companies drilled theú? Wlst is (wss) the
exploratio! cotrcept? What is the cüronologr of the d¡illiÁg a.tiüty, a¡d bow has the
exploratiou co¡cept evolved?

2. Become l¡oilia¡ witb ovailable logs, VSP (importa¡t!), sho*'s/t€6t6, d.illiDt/Productio¡

probl€Es, etc.

Seis¡nic velocity

1. Sonic logF and VSP are th€ best sou¡c€ ofs€is¡n¡c velocity info!!úatioD' s¡¡d correlation
of geologic toF with seismic re0ectioos (see Figure 128).

2. What 6ae the soü¡ces of v€locity cootrol iD the area? Wells, VSP, or Previous seisDic
det¿.

3. Clos€ly linH to k¡o,t¡'ledte of litholog¡.

4. Is the kind of ú¡i8¡atio¡ used for you¡ deta aPPropliate for the kind ofvelocity vaxiatiotr
in the area?

5. Dipole soaic logs cao dve P- sDd S-wsve velocity ¿5 ¿ functio¡ of depth.

6. Cross-dipole sonic ca¡ give i¡dicatioDs of ¡Disotropy ¡ssociated wit¡ l€¡tical ñectu¡_
int.

Production
23 INTRODU CTION TO INTERPRE?ITION 241

Sotric log and cross lire sectioD

0.100

0.¡50
Grtso (773)
Vc¡digris (945) 0.200

Pinr lim. (122a) 0.250

Inola (1456)
Clctrn (1472) o,300
B. slcn¡ (1566)

DurclEr(t9t0)
g 0.r5o t\
Mia.i$h'oi¡F (1995)
.. 0,.t00
Ktudcrtrook sh¡¡c (22ó9)
Woodford (230ó)
Wilcox (2334)
r o..tso

0,500

0,530

0.óo0

0.ó50

o.?00

Figue 128: A sonic log converted to time, shoü¡g geoloAical tops aDd co¡¡elstion to
s€isEic .eoections. This data is from neá¡ tbe Gle¡¡pool ñeld iD Oklahoma. The podüciDg
fo¡e¿tion in this a¡e¿ is the Wilcox.
 % INTNODUCTION TO I]{TERPEETATION 242

1. Know everything. Formation, ütholos¡, st¡uctu¡e, st¡stig¡¿phf odgiDal oil iD plsce,

chroaolog¡.

2. Uüdersta¡d how the economic evaluatio¡ of p¡o6pects worlG in yoür coEpany. This
could ssve you a lot of wasted efiort.

Literature aÍd legeuds

l. Read as many reputeble articles otr the area sst ]'c¡u can. If ]ou read, and unde$toüd,
oDe article pe¡ week, iB oDe yea¡ you will be a!¡ expert.

2. Listen for ideas that 'sre in the air". You miSht hear that some old-time geGcientist
had a¡ idea that you ale trow able to folloq'-up witb modem seismic data. Be open
minded!

Other data

' l. Graüty data is ofteD usefi¡l to deliDeate major bEsemeÁt featur€s-

2. Msgnetics caD play a ¡ole sieila¡ to g¡aüty, plus h6s u-Dique ¡espoDse to la¡ge-scsle
sslt bodies.
3. Otber seismic - usually older 2-D. Look carefully at every line you caD before in-
terpretiDg the Der' lD dat&. Note üntage of data. A @¡¡EoD probleD with older
s€ismic data is large trace spaciBt, ¡¡bich ¡esults i¡ spatial aliasiDg. If possible, look
at the data with and without inrerpretatioD.
4. Be ewa¡e of surfo¿e g€ology that may be an indicator of subsu¡face structu¡e ar¡d
stratigraphy.

The 3-D data, before interpretation

. Note üly acquisition probleros: skip6, loc¡tioD errors, gutr failures, etc.

. Note aüy processiDg problems, Know the freque¡cy content atrd estiúated wavelet.

. Note migrstioo. What kind wa.s used? why? What Eethod? wly? If poesible, tet
plots from Eigratioü velocity analysis. Wolk with ¡esea¡ch tw€s until l¡ol¡ utrde¡statrd
these plots a¡d can judge fo¡ you¡self that the velocities were coúpete¡tly determined.
23 INTRODUCIION TO INTERPRETATION 243

23.3 Inte¡active Interpretation Systems

Worki¡g with !D seisúic dats ¡equi¡€6 tbe use of coEputer iote¡p¡et¿tioo s,€t€ros. There
a¡e m6ny of th6e otr the ma¡ket, strd the list chsnges rapidly. The s¡sterns can be grouped
in larious ways: ba¡dwale plstform, operati¡g system, cost, or pa¡e¡t comp6ny.

A list of aleilable seismic interpretatioo systems h giv€ú i¡ Table 6, i¡cludi¡g p¡oduct,

company, aúd approxi¡!¡ate cost.r This data was tathe¡ed verbally from rep!€seDtatives of
each company in Fall 1997. Every effort $¡as úade to geoe!¿te a complete list of slastens
aldlable at tbat tiDe. By defrnitioD, atry such list is immediately out of dste but s€rt€s ss
o u6€fu1 tuide to the div€lsity of s€ismic interp¡etstion systems. Thjs list do€s Dot rep¡esent
an endoHemeDt of sDy pa¡ticuls¡ sj€tero by the ¿uthor, a¡d a.üy oroi8sio¡s are unintetrded.

In addition to cost, ]ou car! expect to psy bet\,€etr &18% of the originol purchase price
in aDnu¿l goftware mainteDance f€€s. The cost of ha¡dwa¡e configurations range from $6000
(widtel) up to $70 0m (higb-end *'orkstotio!).

23.4 ¡lteractive It¡terpretation P¡oject Compot¡e¡¡ts

The following is a descriptioD of tasks aDd efiort for a h]?othetical 2-D/gD iDtelpretation
project iDvolving a l5O km2, block and 200 wells [92]. Major headings and approcimate
¡¡at¡-days (MD) of effort o¡e shown in bold, follo\ red by ge¡eral task descriptions. This
assumes the interpretstion i6 entirely interactive (i.e., pelformed on an i¡t€lpretation work-
station). The efiort fo¡ esch major task is shown graphically in Figure 129.

It is impoltaDt to understand that technolos¡, such as iDteractive interp¡etatiotr soft-

ws¡e, gives valid ¡esülts o¡ly througb expert huloan guid8¡ce - both softwa¡e €xpertise aDd
seismic interpretat¡on expertise a¡e treeded-

1' Loas (230 MD) load LAS and ASCII; multiple log cuf!€ display; log editing s¡d scal-
ing; interpretation dat¿ (tops, frll optio¡6, etc.); Iog attributes and anallsis; log cor-

All quol6 se spp@im¿te srd reñcci co6t of 6 si¡gL commercia¡ ücer¡se fo. 2-D ¡nd 3D *isDic i¡t¿rpre
tst¡o¡, bá.sic Eeologic ud log s¡r¡lyris, ¡üd r[appug ñmctioo¡Iiir
l. CMA = G6physic¡l Miao Comput€r AppliétioB (I¡t€matio¡al) Ltd.
2. Seisworks 2Dl3D sd Eúlhoube p¡ie includB SyDt¡ol, Slratsotk, ZAP, TDQ, Opcnwo¡ks, Ora.le
3. PGS = PetroleM C@ S€ri€
4. SMT = Sébmi. Micrc+ nnoloE/
5. 2dl3d PAK prie irclu ;yn PAK
6. Cubic i6 an ¡.addic sysrcm
23 INTRODUCTTON TO INTEEPEETTIION 244

Paretrt Softwa¡e
P¡oduct Compa¡y Conpa¡y OS Platform P¡ice $1000
Iuteg¡al Plüs CCG CGG Unü HP'Su! 180
Cubic D'Marquis D'Marquis MacOS Macintosh 0.9
Ea¡tbs,orks Genetek Genetek Utrix Dec 20
GMA+3D GMA GMA w95/NT Wi¡tel 4,5
SeisX 2Dl3D GMA GMA wNT/Unix Wintel/sgi/sun 25150
SeisvisioD Geographics H¿llibü¡ton wNI {itrtel I
Seisworks 2D/3D Landma¡k Hallibu¡totr Unix lBM,Sgi,Sun 128
Ea¡thCube La¡d¡ark Hallibu¡ton U¡ix IBM,Sgi,Sua 180
Win PICS Kernel Tech Ke¡¡el Tech r'3.1/95/NT Wi¡tel 11.5
VorcelGeo CogDiseis Paradigo Unix Sgi,Suu 65
Tig¡eas PGS PGS U¡ü IBM,Sun 90
Cha¡isma Ceoquest Schlumberger Uuix Sgi,Sun 120
IESX Geoquest Schlumberger Unü . Sgi,Sun 120
2dl3d PAK SMT SMT wgs/NT Wirtel 14.5
3Dseis Vest Vest Do6/w3.1/95/l'¡T Wi¡tel 6

Table 6: Seismic interp¡etstioD 6oftr 'a!e systems. L¡Ddmark atrd Geoquest esah ha\¡e over
40% of the market in dollar te¡Es. Items a¡e sorted alphsbetically by pa¡ent coúPaDy'

relation c¡oss sectioDs; ¡/€ll g¡idditrg a¡d contou¡iDg.

Synthetics (205 MD) sonic only; deDsity o¡ly; sonic and density; check 6hot; syD-
thetic displ¿y; wavelet d€sign; phase rootch synthetic to 6eismic.

Seismic/Wetl Volu¡ne LoadiDg (f5 MD) 2-D s€ismic data; 3D seismic dstq qual-
ity coot¡ol (histog¡am, editinS, sc¿liDg); interá.tive line tie atralysis; phase ¡ot¡te and
bulk shift; grid balancing (2D, &D, xreüs); w€I data (ASCII, UKOOA' SEGY); log
curvesl ho¡izo¡si fault6; cultu¡e.

2-D Iuterpretation (f2O MD) sintle li¡ei srbit¡ary liúe; autot!¿ckiD8; flatteDing;
horizons, faults, flags (pick across tie-s)
and hori-
5. 3-D Interpretation (130 MD) siügle line; albitrary liDe; sutotracking; tiúe
zon slice; flattening. horizols, faults, flags (pick across ties)'

2D/3-D Combined Interpretatior¡ (160 MD) single-lioe; arbitrary ünei sutot¡ack-

inl; ti¡oe a¡d horizon slicei fl¿tteoiag, horizoDs, faults, flags (pick ac¡oss ties)

2-Dl3-D MaPPing (20 MD) g¡iddiry; contou¡i¡8'

 INT RO DV CTION T O INTEEP RETATTO N u6

8. 3-D Vlsuslüatioa (5 MD) data displ6y.

9. Interactlve 2'D/&'D Interpretation (40 MD) d¡tet¡ctive !D cube.

f0. 2-D/&D Analysis (70 MD) g€oststistics; impedance iÁve¡sio¡; AVO;

^ttribute
¡t¡ulticompoDe¡t 6o¿lysis.

lL. 2-D /{D St¡uctural Anafysis (70 MD) ray t.ace depth i.Dv€¡sion; velocity araly-
8is; tiEe to depth corvelsio¡.

¡.t 13

2. Slnr¡ái6
l. S€¡ric/W.¡l Vdle Lod¡¡g
a. 2-D lcÉDir¡riñ
t. 3-D br6Fü¡¡o
ó. 2-D¡l-D Cooü¡.d ¡íÉFí¡¡¡ú 5
?. 2.D¡l.DM¡¡fi¡t
l. 3-D Viludit¡¡d
9. lrtdrc¡E 2-D6-D L¡.rF!¡¡¡@

lO 2-Dll.D tur¡ibua A¡dy¡¡¡

¡ l.2-D/!D S¡!.r|¡¡d A¡¡ly.i¡

0 50 t00 t50 200 2s

Figure 129: TiE¡e and efiolt allocated to e¿ah of the ¡¡sjo! interactilre iDte¡pretst¡ot¡ tssks.

-\
% DATA VOLVME 246

24 Data Volume

I¡¡terpletstion of $D seismic dat¿2 is the ploc€ss of gsiniq g€ologic a¡d/o¡ rese¡voir eqgi-
Dee¡i¡g iofoaústion about the section of the esrth reprcseoted by the Ei8¡sted dsta volume.
This requires s¡ unde¡statrdilg of wh¿t the dsta volume' or data cübe, is and hoe,¡ E€ céü
diss€ct a¡d i¡terrogate it.

The situatioD with conventioDal 2-D data G a tood place to sta¡t. }D plestack data
is, in f¡ct, a lolume of dsta. The axes of this data cube are úidpoint, ¡eflection tir¡e
a¡d ofiset, p(cDp,tiúe,offset). As indicated in Figu¡e 130, CMP staaki¡g o¡ Prestack
EigratioD collop€es the ofiset axes to c&ate a 2_D panel of data, p(anp,time).

CMP
CMP

p(cmp,tim..offscr) -]c"'.**;--l--D-
I misrado¡ |
pe.srack trl
El p(cmp,ún.)

krí¡ck data Po$stack data

Figure 130: Building a 2-D data section from the 2-D Prestack data volume. You ca¡ thinl
of tbe pr6tac.k data ss composed of multiple 2-D sections each having a difie¡ent ofis€t

&D prestack data form a ¡l-dimensional volume, or h¡pervolume, p ( xcEP, ycDP, t i¡|e , ottsot) '
Technically, it is also a function of azitúuth, but fout dimensions a¡e enough for us to wo¡ry
about. CMP stscking o¡ Pr€stack migatioü again collap€es the offset axis The result is a
data cübe, p (xctlP, ycDP, t iDe ) .

At point io the data cube there is a \slue, or aEpütude, representiDg the mig¡dted
each
sei$nic dats.

Poststaak Eig¡atioD of the stack dat& cube dves the loig¡sted d¿ta cube, o! this can be
gene!¿ted dilectly by Presta¿k mitTdtiol. F¡om now oo r¡'e uDde¡stand da¿¿ c¿ü¿ to mea¡
rniotuted data cube, u¡üess otherc'ise specifred.
,Thé éxceU€nt pork by B¡oMlll is hisNy.ecom¡neded for anvone inwlved i¡ !D *ismic i¡ietPrctatton'
24 DATA VOLUME 247

3-D pEstack data

p{ xcmp,ycmp,timc,offsct\ r-
-/_

3-D postslack dat¡

p(xcmp,ycmp,tirne)

Figu¡e 131: Buildiüg the 3-D deta volume.

24.1 Sectioning the Volume

t
As it
a¡rives on tape from tbe processo¡, a &D seismic data s€t is orgaDized into ü¡¡es
composed of traces, Figü¡e 132. II1 the computer thes€ are all merged into a dense cube of
data. The data cube ca¡ be sectioned, o¡ süced, in seve¡¡,I ways, A coDsistent tromenclature
is important for emcient communicatio¡ betw€en individuals dtrd interpret¿tion g¡oups. The
na¡nes given a¡e cor¡siste¡t with Bror¡! [1].

Vertical cuts through the date cube ale colled lines or s€ctions. Sooe common names,
Figu¡e 132, ale in-line (short dash), cross-line (solid), and arbitrary line (long dash).

For r¡a¡ine wo¡k tbere is some ag¡eemeDt that inliDe is tal(eD to be the dilection of bost
movement (parallel to receive¡s) ar¡d crossJiDe is perpe¡dicular to this. Fo¡ land surveys,
there is no uniform deñnition of i¡-ü¡e snd cross-line. A vertical s€ctioD thst is r¡either
inline or crossline is an arbitrary line, a¡d may be very irregular in map üew as needed to
inters€ct locations of inter€st,

Horizootal or subho¡izoatal cuts throuEh the dat¿ cube a¡e called slices. The¡e are a
few standard slices:

l. A time slice js a horizoDtal cut of a time cube, Figure 132.

A depth slice is a ho¡izontal cut of a depth cube. lepth slices a,re only arailable if
the dota is delivered from th€ processor coN€rted to depth.
 DATA VOLUME 244

I¡ additioD to the¡e sitople plale süces, it is po€sible to tra.k a pa¡ticüla¡ horizon o¡

faült pl8¡e th¡ough tbe d¿ta cube and tbereby generate a surfoce. These t¡acki¡g surfaces
are ho¡izon slices a¡d. Ja¿L slices, respectively. Fault slices require very hith qu6lity dat¿
with clea¡, happable fault surfaces, Both sre m¡e.

Crossline I
cooadinalc

line 5
linc 4 d -_1--
ti
¡inc
line I
"tl I lr
Timc 2

lm
T¡ac? nümltca --> ¡nliñc

Figure 132: Mig¡ated SD Data ar€ deüvered from the processor ot8¿nized iDto ünes eacb
cotrsistint of tracé. These are merged ioto 6 de¡¡se cube of dats on the interpretatiotr
systero. So¡oe sta,odald slices of the d¿ta cube a¡e showD o¡ the ¡ight.

Plate 2 shows lome ways to disPlay the sulfa¿e tenelated by horizon trsckins The
surface rep¡€seots time st¡ucture of tbe tra4ked ho¡izon. Ftoú the tracki¡tg process we also
have the seismic súplitude at ea{h Poi¡t on this sulace. This i5 often called the aEPlitüde
m&p of the hoúzon. It ca¡ b€ plotted as e 2_D grayscale/color/co¡tou¡ maP. An efiective
way of combiniüg time structu¡e with the amPlitude map is to make s shaded pe!€Pective
plot. Exaúple holizoD 8¡nPlitude and time st¡uctu¡e maps are 6howu i¡ Plate 3'

Io summsry, the ¡ooe¡clatu¡e for Eectiotriag the cube is

vertical sectiorrs l¡-line (or line), cross-line, aad arbitrary li¡e (o! diagonal, ge¡eral)'

horizontat sections Tiroe slice ald depth slice

trackilg sectiotts Horizo¡ slice (o¡ sei6c¡oP, aBplitude m¿P) a¡d fsult slice'
24 DATA VOLUME I
24.2 Display of Seismic Data

The¡e ¿re th¡ee common ways of displaying s€ismic dats:

Wiggle Seismic amplitude is show¡ as a horizontal de8ection ftom b¿selioe. This black-
6¡d-white wiggle plot co¡oes with o¡ withoüt area fill (variable area) on peaks/trougbs.
it
This kind of display is useful for close-up vierrs whe¡e is importa!¡t to s€e the
waveform.

Gray sca.le Seismic ampütude is assigned s 8lay vslue between black (max) ¡nd whitc
(roitr). Usüslly 256 sbades of g¡ay (&bit a!¡plitude) a¡e us€d, but l$bit ¡Dd 32bit
are becoFiDg coEmoD. Oftetr the best way to p¡eview la¡ge qu6¡titi6 of dsta.

Color Seismic amplitude iÉ ¿ssigDed aD rgb (red-green-blue) color code, or o¡le of ma.¡y
othe¡ coloring methods. S€e [1] for i¡forrü¿tion on commo¡ color scheúres. Be ac¡¿¡e
thet t¡rstry pola¡ity a¡d colo¡ cotrveotioDs a¡e in use, 6€e Figu¡€ 133. These are results
ol an i¡formal survey which ask€d several compaBies hov, seismic eveút6 a¡e color-
coded. It is importsr¡t to re¿lize "hst with the use of colo¡, tbere a¡e ¡trs¡¡y choic€s
to b€ made. A¡ eno¡mous amount of time can be spent tx,eskiDt color scüemes
and styles. To give some idea of the complexity iüwlved if you really dig into colo¡
techBolos/, Pl¿te 4 shows the color €ditor ftom cu, John Bradley's popular X-l¡¡itrdow
g¡aphics progr¿m.

24.3 I¡terpretation Products

For a project of sny size the¡e a¡e a bewilderi¡g 6r¡ay of possible plois snd displays that cstr
be r¡sed to desc¡ibe inte¡pretatio¡ results. A proj€ct ¡eview pr€seDtatioD will 6lmo6t alwaJ¡s
be required. This is Dot s cho¡e to be dreaded, but should be embraced as an opportunity
fo¡ direct access to decisio¡ Eakers,

It should be kept i¡ miEd that the listeDer (usually a manager) has limited time. Points
must be ma.ke quickly and supported by clear unarubiguous graphic¿.I displa]s, It is all
too easy to load every.thing 1ou know into ¿ p¡esent&tion a.nd leave the audience l,oowiog
Dothitrg. Be selective, concis€ a¡d b¡ief. There are people who know a lot about conveying
complex visual info¡matio¡ iD eÍEcieDt wats - they a¡e called arti6ts.

He¡e is a short list of probable elements ths.t $ould show üp in mo6t ñroje6 pres€trúa-
tio¡ls.
24 DATA VOLUME o

1. Vertical s€ctioDg
with o¡ without tracki!8 a¡d interP¡etstion
2. Tioe slices
shaded
contour plot
3, Ho¡izoD a¡d t¿ult slic€6
tine 6¡d depth
coDtour plot
surface pqÉpective Plot for sttuctu¡e
shaded perspective plot fo! structu!€ + ampütude
4. Progpect map
combi¡ed 6tructü¡e, st¡atigtaphy, smplitude, x,ell co¡trol, Proposed loc¡tio¡s
attribut¿s of r¡¡¡ious ki¡ds
multiple overL¡ys

lnpcbtcc PoLritt C.lot úr.n¡i@

6v4riú

T@óaO6 \\\_,.\
R.d 9096

Figure 133: Color co¡lentio¡s fo¡ sei¡mic d8ta ca¡ vary bom company to coDpany
(Flon [t]).)
 ,-
sTNVG:TI]RE 7

S.i.úic ¡b
fbny bplúry
gidmc rcvl¡

S.¡ Lvd

Fúüdim top AY!a8! r,lkrdy ñoo xirDic

d&E ro ¡aof úiboÉ Vlb.rly
¡¡ c¡h¡h.d früD lnvrl tirrc
arú d.Drh .r ucl locations.

Figu¡e 136: Average velocity mop fo¡ t¡e Wilco( cvrBt. The rcll rletch shova lcy depth
b.tu¡€s. AD at¡er.gc telocity iE c¡lcul¡td ¿! c¡.h re[ loc¡tio¡ (eveo wetls witbout eoic
co¡trol). Note the strc|¡g l¡tersl tt¡i¡tio! i¡ t€locity.

fi
 DATA VOLUME zfi

1. V€rtical Bectioss
with or without trac.ki¡¡g a¡¡d i¡terP¡etstioD
2. Time slic€6
¡baded
co¡toür plot
3. Horizo¡ ¿¡d far¡lt süc€s
tiloe a¡d d€pth
ooDtou¡ plot
surf¡ce perspective Plot b¡ atrucü¡re
shsded persPective plot fo! sttucture + a,EPütude
4. ProsFct r¡ap
combined Etructü¡€, stlatigspby, ¡mPlitude, ¡¡ell control, ProPosed loc¿üo¡s
attdbut6 of r¡arious ki¡ds
E¡ultiple overl6y6

L¡p..bú¿ Poloirr Colú ¿mñiú

c6r.ntiú
Bt'.9e
/,/-
r* -,,'** ---.-.-
l -..lo*
R.d
Hd | ._=_._ BrÉ r'*

'**---.-.-
¡t d 90*

Figure 133: Color conventio¡s for seismic data can vary ftom company to comPany
(F¡oro [1]).)
25 S'ÍRUCTURE 261

25 Structure

M¿ppint the structu¡e of a 3.D reoectioD surface requires the us€ of both horizotrtol a¡d
verticál s€ctioDs in tbe dat¿ cube.3

Vertical sections These afio¡d the best view of gene¡al st¡uctu¡al style and collelatioD of
events a.¡6s faults. Beware of appa¡ent dip. Ete¡ iü s &.D data cube, obeerved di¡rs
(or seismic slopes) are appa¡eüt utrless the ve¡tical sectio[ is ext¡a.ed in the locsl diD
di¡ection.

Hotüontal sectio¡s Automatic tiEe stluctu¡e is seen by the intersectoü of each reflec-
tio¡ surfaae withitr s time slice. This üew also gives a dire{t €stimate of horizotrtal
resolution, is the plima¡y tool for map view fault loc¿tiotr/connectiot¡s, and show6
true strike (leadiDg to true dip).

Compared to a traditionsl grid of 2-D seismic data, the !D sür!€y git€s a ¡¡tuch better
map of fault patterns. It is usually the case that atr area preüously m¿pped with 2-D
data and remapped with &D data üll show e¡¡ i[c¡eas€ in tbe üuEber of faults, and
¡eo¡ientation of previously mapped faults. This caD sigDi6caritly alte! reservoi¡ e¡¡giDee¡ing
decisions conceming placement of eclls ¿nd eDhanced reco!,ery systenrs.

Seismic idterpretatio¡ has evolved siguificaDtly over the last 201ears. Some changes are
related to computer technologr while others are geophysical o¡ geologic advances. Ho*ever,
the basic goal of s€ismic interpretatiolr has Dot b€eD alteted: Ideatify ükely hyd¡oca¡boD
accumulatioDs to reduce risk sssociated with d¡iUint. Thjs begir¡s .with structurol Espping
based on seismic plus well control. The product rs z(t,y) - a, depth value at each point
ir¡side the suri€y area.

There ¿¡e fou¡ b6sic techniques for gettiag structu¡e: froo seismic (the naEes a¡e Dot
standa¡d)

Classic Method desc¡ibed belo¡¡ for mapping from acquisition surfate (or datum) using
average velocities.

Modiñed Cla.ssic Mappiog from deusely drilled shallow horimn which avoids the v¡eath-
ering lal¡er at the earth su¡face.

'Fo¡ B déts¡¡ed a.cout of strucru¡al i¡¡erp¡et¿tio¡ proc€dúe6, lee chspt€¡ 3 of frl

 25 STRUCTURE 252

Migated Depth Dsta cúbe deüve¡ed to the i.Dtelpreter with vertical sxis of depth rathe¡
tha¡ time (common itr co!¡plex a¡e¿s, but not likely to match well coDtrol rrithout
ma¡¡ual tweaki¡g).

Volut¡re Depth Conversion Di8¡ated data (with time axis) is coüverted to a depth cube
using a u(g7,2) velocity model (¡¡re).

Whether doing 2-D or lD seisBic itrtelp¡etatiou, the tasks are frrnda¡neDtally the sa.úe
The wo¡k ca¡ soúetimes be done by hand for 2-D data (paP€r s€ctions and manual con-
touring of maps) but requi¡es computer use fo¡ 3-D dats. The Procedule below i.s w tten
vaguely eDough to apply to haad or comPuter work

25.1 Classic Method

Here is the 6tep-by-steP process fo! malong a classic iüteg¡ated structu¡e map fiom seismic
data aDd well control. It is bosed on mapping one ho¡izon at a time and must be ¡epeated
,a for each horizo¡ of i¡terest. It may not wolk in a¡e¡s üth sel€¡e static problems (i e ' sel€re
topog¡aphy or a rapidly changing \rcatheled laler such as gla.ial till) It also fails when
there sxe extleme lateral lelocity l€¡iatiols in the subsurfsce (subsalt, subthrust, etc )'

When it works, this method Produces a maP which, by deñnition, matches every well
exa¿tly. It uses s€¡smic tiDe structure to ilterpolate betY'/€en wells, a¡rd extraPolate beyond
them. The examPle gil€n in the fi8ur€s is s smatl 3-D data set from the Clenn Pool field
i¡ N.E. Oklaboma. The target is Ordovician Wilcox. The it¡terPretation was done usíDg an
acadeúic iDterp¡etotion system called Cubic

The stePs a.re:

1. Pleview data fo! quality slrd consistency with acquisition aDd Processing reports'
Note ¡ny geologic conditioos which might caus€ the classic method to fsil ln map
üew, each survey has a unique oütliBe of live traces o¡ image area A t¡ace is 'üve'
if it has some Don-zero ampütude values lrregular surveys are usually padded out
to a nice ¡ectaÍgula¡ shape with dea'd traces (all amplitudes a¡e zero) Use the live
image area with the processing rePort a¡d w€ll 6pots, Figure 134' to confi¡m correct
o¡ientation of the su¡vey. This sounds sill¡ but it is very eásy to get it wrong siDce
there are úany o¡ietrtation Possibilities for a cube

2. Post well dePths to key horizoris and contour (or Srid) structure m¡P for key horizons
using well cootrol ooly, Plate S This !'¡ell map should serve to
guide the integrsted
25 STRUCTURE 253

strüctü¡e map. Also, tbe comparüon of this map with the 6nal time structu¡e map
gives ¿ good feel fo¡ the additio¡sl information supplied by the &D seismic.

3. Identify on-üne wells with velocity coDtrol. These are ütsl poiDts for the úappiDg
proce€s. Fo¡ 6 !D survey every well in the Lnage area is on-line. The velocity co¡trol
can be (in order of prefe¡ence) a vertical seismic ploñle (VSP), sonic log, or a check
snot sun€y.

4. Fo¡ eaah oD-line wellwith a soaic and density log compute a simulsted seismic trsce
(synthetic seismog¡am). Anothe¡ optioD is to coN€rt the so¡¡ic log (or velocitf de¡sity,
velocity * den6ity) to time ard directly ove¡ly. Figule 128, also ftom the Glenn Pool
survey, shows this approach. For VSP wells the correl&tion inlormatio¡ is svailable
dilectly aDd a sjmthetic need Dot be simulated.
5. Associate seismic re8ectors at each on-line *ell with geologic horizons usiug VSP or
sjdthetic seismograú. A check-shot survey can be used as a method of l¿st resolt.
Ideally this ¡ssociation, or eve¡t correlatioD, should be done fo¡ every onJine weü.

6. Interpret seismic data usint colo¡ identifiels by extending renection eveDts across
entiresurveya¡ea,Plste6.Thisistheconceptoft¡aakin8_fol1owin8a¡ewnt>
throughout the data volume.

7. Ma¡k faults aDd othe¡ structüal details. If necessary, jümpcollelate pickeq evenrs
across faults. When a con-flict exists, p¡efer s,ell-tie co¡¡elation to s€Gmic juEp corre.
laiion oc¡oss faülts. A jump correlation (not from the Cleütr pool survey) is shown in
Figure 135. Beyoad jump correlation, it is a¡ important palt of st¡uctural inte¡pre-
t¡tion to ma¡k up s few key lines i¡ detail. Plste 7 shows part of such a marked-up
séction. For depth, fault throw, aDd djp estimates a simple, linear r€locity model was
used - v(z) = 5000 + 0.4'z whe¡e u is in ft/s and z is depth in feet. This velocity
model i.s ofteD useful in soft clastic basias such as the Gulf of Meúco. The data for
Figures 135 atrd Plate 7 comes from a mfi-rock clsstic basiD iD Southeast Asla.

8. For each seismic event to be mapped

(a) Pick seismic horizoDs. Fo! 2-D data, only the trev€l time to eaah event of interest
is ¡eco¡ded with its coordinate aloDg the line, t1¡). For 3D data both t¡svel time
a¡d amplitude at each 12,y,/ are available bom the seismic dats cube, ú(r,y) and
a(x,g). The trevel times form a ti!¡e structu¡e map and the amplitudes are a
hoúzo¡ slice. Plate 8 a shows & rcpres€trtative üDe from the data volume with
sonic overlay atrd tracked events. HorizoD amplitude arid tiúe structu¡e Eaps
fo¡ the Wilcox a¡e shown iÁ Plate 8) and C.
25 STRUCTVRE 254

(b) Calculste deptb con!€rsion l€locity at locations where both well and seisnic tiúe
picks exist. The wels used i¡ this item do ¡ot ¡¡eed velocity or density lots, but
mr¡st penetrate tbe er€Át of iDterest. The er€Bt depth, z (meosured from seismic
datum), is k¡o*'u from the w€ll and the vertical ¡eflectioD time, t, is kaown ftom
the previous item. The depth conversion r,elocity is given by r, = 2z/r. Post depth
coDve¡sioD l€locities a¡d contour (or grid) to c¡eate v(x,y). Figure 136 shor¡'s a
hr?othetical well üth important refereDce points, a¡ld the average velocity map
for the Wilmx formatioD in the GleDn Pool suney. Note thi6 map has ¿ fai¡ly
st¡ong lateral !€locity g¡adient thst i6, the velocity is chaDging from obout 1l
a00 ft/s (NE) to l0 200 ft/s (SW) in the space of just o1c¡ a mile. When this
occur6, time structu¡e atrd depth structure can b€ si8lificantly difie¡ent.
(c, Con!€rt time to depth by multiplying tbe time st¡uctu¡e map aod the depth
conversion velocity map, z(o,g) = u(z'y\ * t(a'y)/2 The faator of onehalf is
Dec€ss¿ry becaN€ the tiBes ¡¡e two-lray verticsl ti¡¡¡es a¡rd we only want the
o¡6w¿y depth. Plste I show6 the p¡oc€6s 6nd result fo! the Glenn Pool Wilcoc
horizoÁ.
(d) The 6nal product z(x,y) is cslled aa integlated depth maP, It rDstches all well
cotrtrol depth points (by de6nitio¡1) and us€s tbe seismic eveÁts to hterpolate
betw€en these points. Plate l0 is a co¡nParison of the o¡igi¡al depth map hom
well control only, a¡d the seismic + r'ell integ¡ated depth maP. Plate 1l is a
zoom of the ceüt¡al area in each map. Clea¡ly the sei-srüic maP is Fole detailed.
Figu¡e 137 is a brief cáse hGtory from north Texas showitrg many of the same
elements of the Glen! Pool study.
 gTnvc:mRE w ^-

¡mrtc a¡ca
(CMP covcragr)

7755 (ñ)

N
el
tlÉl A
I l+E
In-ün.

145 bi¡3
(A)
Figure 134: Base map for Gleun Pool !D example suney. Sbown a.re aection nuubers (a
section is 1 miz), image s¡ea, and well locatioDs. Note the irr€t¡.la¡ imate are¡ shap€. This
is ¿ üs€fuI diaFostic clue th¿t t¡e sürvey is prop€rly orieDted.
% STRUCTURE 256

Figure 135: Jump correl¿tioD acroos a f¿ult. A 8m¡ll Panel of dats' labeled A' is
outli&d
oni¡" ¡gh, side of the Iault. Two key horimns a¡e ma¡ked Tbeq¡osdat¿ Panel wssNote coPied'
the
il"n ruoá oo*" th" tault ¿Dd adjusted until s satisfactory fit mode at B-
st B' This is
appalently coútinuoua event coD.nec-tiDg the small dot et A with tbe large dot
a false collelation.
25 STRUCTURE

Scisdic d¡tüm

f,clly b.'+N'r¡

S.¡ bvcl

Fodr¡tion top Avcrgc v.locity from scirmic

d¡¡¡G| ao ¡A ofsilco¡. Vclociry
fu calcl¡l¡rrd from llld rhc
a¡d d.Dih at wcll locsrions.

Figure 136: Averate velocity E6p for the Wilco( ev€trt. The e/ell ¡ketch sho*€ key depth
features. A¡ sverage velocity is c6lculated st each well loc¿tioü (eveD $ells without soDic
cortrol). Note the stroDt la¿er¿l rr¡iation in velocity.
25 STRUCIUPJ' 258

C¡3c Stüdy: 3D Scirmic

Dapth St¡üctur€
(Nolb T.x¡s)

|.Md¡!. of 3.D cisic ¡t u 3n@¡¡t |ts

inliB {nn dk.d hdid. Ev.¡t
t¡ inli* i! .lw¡, .¡d cút¡¡N
.úb.n e uúE¿ 3-D d.¡ .i¿ ú
(¡t¡sy)< tr,¡ ¡lt9} !¿
(dl.d¡dyx/gü,r rü.r rof}

L
N

t
úd of !-D in¡8. ú

trl
M¡p
¡¡ori¡t ¡e ól |ru¡g. l¡c

¡?

IIH
l:i3l
i:l5t
haiu ¡hoú ¡t lM¡la

6123

L Av.n3. wlúiry frú

fi 5
612i

ffitffi 5- S¡ns p¡<!t ol ñ¡n d.P¡n

depth ú¿ppi¡g techniqu€s

.tM@
cf tl U96

Fiqure 13?: Case history hom north Texos sbowing standard

a¡á ¡ su¡face plot of the ñlsl iqtegsted dePth msp'
25 STRVCÍT]RE 259

25.2 Strike and Dip

Conside! s dippiq plane i¡ s !D volü¡e, Figute 138. Of 8U possible ¡¡elticat ó€ciioDs
th¡ough the cube oDly oDe Sives t¡e t¡ue dip, but ev€ry ho¡izontal sectio! gives the true
st¡ike. Not¿ the dip ¿¡d Bt¡ike a¡e, by de6litiou, pe¡pe¡dicul¡¡.

Trua

Y
ZúT

D.plh o. timc slicc

Figure 138: Strike snd dip .elationshiF fo! I siDgle dippilg }'D plane and tbe appea¡a¡roe
of true strike i¡ ¿ horizo¡tol sl.ice.

25.3 Time Structu¡e

By msppi¡g the ht¿.BectioD of a sel€cted refecto¡ with s s€quence of tir¡e slices, Figure 139,
¿ ti¡ne structure tt¡dp is gele¡ated.

Alte¡¡stirrely, dutoDstic tracki¡g of tbe horizo¡ cao ge¡eBte the time Btaüctu¡e r¡ap.
Howeve!, ¿utoEstic t¡a.king cs,tr be expectd to fsil whe¡ significa¡t faulti¡g o¡ noise is
presetrt. It is the i¡terp¡ete¡'s tespolsibiüty to correlate r€0ectols of iDterest aa¡os8 faults,
theD automatic tracking can extract reli¿ble ho¡izo¡ glices within each co¡tiüuous fsult
block.
STRVS TT'RE N

timc = 3ü)ms
o ri¡|c = 304 os

¡imc = 3(ts ns ti¡ra=3l2D3

Figure 139: Tiue aliceo dirccdy shw tiDe skuctü¡e coutol¡¡8'

 25 STRUCTr',RE 261

Figure 140: Time slic€s from ari oúshore U.S. gD data set. Esch time süce is aboüt 1.2
mil6 acro&s, ¿Dd the time i¡rerval b€tweetr slices is 4 Es. The labels are slice nuabers, not
ti¡tre !:alues.
25 STRUCTURE 262

Figure 141: Montage of tiúe slices ftom a structurally comPlex data 5€t in the PermiaD
B¿sin of Texas l7?]. Each individual time süce is about 22 t¡¿i' in a¡e¿'
 25 STRUCTURE 3

Exercise 25.1. FYom the four tiroe süces in Figure 139 make a simple time structu¡e
map. Label contours, faults, fault thrcw (u/d), aod structual highs/lo*s.

25.4 Evidence of Faulting

Since isults c¿! act as petroleum t¡aps a¡d flow barriers, their identific¿tio¡ and mappitrg is
an iúport¿¡t asp¿rt of seismic interp¡etation. Fault th¡o{' (displa¿€ment) ca¡ be t€rtical,
lateral, or mme of each. Subvertical faültiDg is see¡ best od vertic¡l seisttric s€ctioDs, while
l¿telal (strike-süp) faults a¡e b€tter 6€en ia ho¡izoDtal 6€ctioDs.

I. In verticsl s€ctions faults are idedified frolo

(a) Aligtred H termi¡ation (best eüdence), Figu¡e 142A.
(b) AligDed, abrupt dip cb¡Dge, Figu¡e 1428.
(c) Aügned dia amplitude (f&ult 6hado{,), Figu¡e t,gQ.
i. Ca¡ iEply pu¡e st¡ike-slip fuult, small ofiset faülting, o! fracturhg
ii. Gaa Eig¡atio¡ aloDg Iau.lt/fraatu¡e ca¡t cause shadowing
iii. Commo¡ in stúke li¡es, whe¡e faults are uea.rly parallel to lioe
iv. Can be diñcult to s€e on gmy scale plots, use absolute arnplituoe
(d) Fault plaúe leflectioD
i. B€st s€en oD p¡eatack data
ii. Relatively ¡a¡e vo¡ld-wide (commo¡¡ in Gulf of Mexico)
üi. CoiocideDt with b€d termibatioDs i¡¡ frDal roi$ated sectioD

2. In horizontal sectior¡s faults a¡e iDdicsted by

(a) Time süce: later¡l dispb¿ement of arÁplitude baDds, Figure l,$.

(b) Horizon slice ünea¡ o¡ de¡d¡itic aroplitude aDomaly
i. Ho¡izoD De€ds to be track¿ble a¿ross fault
ii. Aoplitude effect c¿n be very subtle (image eDha¡ce&ent often required),
Fiture 144.
iii. Bewa¡e faults tb¿t s.r€ pa¡allel to acquisition g¡id

The qus¡itative part of fault i¡terpretatioD is to deBonst¡ate ihat ¿ fault ts pres€nt.

,
QuaDtitative ¡esulk üclude fsult orientatioo (aziEuth), precise loc¿tioD, ¡¡d amou¡t/direction
25 STRUCT/''P.E 264

If a fault is !€rtical snd viewed in a vertical sei8mic sectio!, then the thrcw can be
of throvr'.
estimated from Az = A¿ ?/2. where A G the time tbrow oB the fault 6¡d o is the inten€I
velocity.

25.5 Fault a¡d Dip Ca¡culations

It is not ha¡d to calculate tsult thlow oD Eigloted seisrdic data, but it does lequi¡e that
inte¡val velocity at the t6¡get be k¡o¡,n. If a sonic log is available, then sonic bterval
r€locity can be used. Without sonic info¡t¡¡ation, us€fuI estiEates ca¡ still be made if so
app¡o¡mate velocity ñrnctioD is k¡toctD.

For example, if we are wolkiug with migeted dato and the velocity ia taken to inc¡ease
linea¡ly s'ith depth w€ can wlite

o(z) = 1¡o 1¡ lV el@itgf utudiotr (ifltetue.l Delocity)¡l' (1)

"
aotc = vo*kz/2 lAúge¡oge lelocitg to giaen depthl' (2)
z : o.as t/2 lDepth lron timc and oogerage oelocitg] (3)
,.,
zlt'' t =
2wt
IDepth fot giúen reÍlec¿iot timel' (4)
4-kL
f t,.r1
ü(¿)= !b
- [t + ffil lVelocitg lor siuen reÍIe.tiotL ti'rl.e]' (5)

Z = ü(z\ T/2 lFaút throu giüen time throu) ' (6)

The equations marked with aD aste¡isk (*) are valid for linear u(z) ool¡ tbe others a¡e Sood
for general r(z). One way to c¿lculste fault throw is:

1. Use Equation 4 to 6nd depth of the ta¡get z

2. Find the interval velocity rr(¿) at the tsrget with Equation 1.

3. Calculate the vertical throw Z f¡om EquatioD 6.

These calculations are demonstrated in Figure 145.

Exercise 25.2. Estimate vertical throw on the bed ma¡ked B in Figure 145
 STRUCTURE 265

7.625 ñil.¡

(A)
7.625 n ¡le¡

o
o

(B)

3.8 ñ¡l.s

o|

Figure 142: Eüdence of faultiry in a vertical s€ismic section. (A) Aligned bed terminatior¡s,
(B) sbrupt dip chantes, and (C) aligDed null a¡nplitudes (fault shado¡'). The dato i¡ (C)
is ¡bsolute v¿lue of ampütude.
25 STRUC"TURE 266

2 milcs

Figure 143: Faulting evidenced by lateral displaaement of ampütud€s i¡ a time slice' Inter-
p¡eted fautt is i¡dicoted on the rigbt image.

2.42 ¡r¡iles

(o

Figure 144: Faulting evidenced by linear aúplitude anomaly in a horizo¡ amPlitude

úap'
i"? i-"gu ¡.topü;rde, a¡d light imege is enha¡ced amPlitüde (shedow processiog)' The
suspectá faults run disto¡8lly th¡ougb the small outline boxes in the right üoate'
25 STRUCTURE 267

t.too t.t00

r.óo0 t.ó@

1.700 t.m0

¡.100 ¡.too

¡.900 1.900

2.000 2.q)o

2.lm 2.100

2.2ú 2.200

2.300 2.300

2.{00 2.100

2.500 2.S00

2.ó00 2.ó00

eivcn: Ctlcu:'.t.d:
vO! 5000 ftlseo 2,. &tB &
Y - .4 lttls.clltt t = ?5 lt/seo ... itrterval yelooitt
t . 2.050 5ec Z = Zl ft . . . t.!¡lt tlror (rertio.l)
I = .060 5ec

Figure 145: Eetirdsting depth a¡d fault tb¡ow usiog a lines¡ velocity bodel.
25 STRUCTURE 268

25.6 Time Structure v. Depth Structure

Time structure maps can be misleading. Appsre¡t st¡uctural features can be due to late¡al
v€locity va¡ietions above the mapped hoúzon. See Figure 146

All alailable }€locity iDIor¡üation should be i¡corPorated to Sene¡ate a depth stluctu¡e

m¿p. The r€locity iÁfo¡matio¡ is cootou¡ed and c¡o€s_multiplied with the tilBe stluctrüe
map to make a dePth tnaP.

Itr regioDs of stroDg velocity variatio$, üke ¿ clsstic/selt basiÁ, depth migration should
be u6ed to directly Senerste 6 miglsted data volume iD dePth. IlorizoD traakint within this
volume vill then yield s depth map. Ilor,€ver, since mi8¡stioa c¿n ody be exPect€d to
give depth accuracy o¡ the orde¡ of a wsvele¡gih, the Eig¡ated depth msP may n€€d to be
frne.tuned with well coDt¡ol.

2loo

!700

(a) (a) (c)

(rie n¡p)'(vclo.itier)

Figure 146: Makirt a dePth údP from ¿ time structure map (A) Time map generated from
thi data cube. (Bi Velocity contou¡ ú6p fiom well coDtrol o! other dat¿ Hallvelocities
ale üsed bec¡use the time maP lepresents t{'o_way renectio¡r time' (C) Depth map created
thaD the
by multipling AtB. This map G a better estimate of true suburface stlucture
time st¡ucture map beceüse lateral velocity va¡iations b¡ve b€eD takeo into account'
25 STRUCTURE 269

ll I
lt
t

.rrdro rlt¡ rbr¡ dt.

Figure 147: Exaraple of depth structu¡e (left) v. tiloe structure (righQ from the GulJ of
Mexico. The backgrou¡d velocity hodel (io ft/s) is o(z) = 50m + .42, wbich i6 tJ,pical of
the redon. Salt velocity is 15 000 ft/s. Upper plots show velocities in kft/s. Looe¡ plots
ale ideal migrstion ¡esülts, Note the e)<treDe distortion tiroe sections give in au area of
stro¡g lateral velocity w¡iatio¡. Unde¡ such circumstaüces, it is necesssn¡ to display lesülk
dircctly in the depth doeaitr,
26 STRATIERAPTIY

26 Stratigraphy

!D d¿ta l¡¡¡s a 8¡eat ¿dvaüce for sttotig¡sPhic studi€s of seisEic dat& Structu¡al festures
are easily seen i¡ verticsl zD sectioDs. But dt¡¿tigtsphic fe¿tu¡es ¿¡e €sse¡tially sub-
horizontsl 6¡d very subtle, usually i¡¡dic5t€d oDly by va¡iatioDs i¡ ¡úPlitude, pb¡ae, aDd
terúi¡ation. I¡ going froú 2D to &D seisoic data, stratig¡aphic aualysis is shiftiog fron
reflector geometry etudies i! v€rtic¡l sec'tioDs (seisroic seqüe¡ce stratigtaPhy) to horizontal
amplitude studi€s (tiBe and horizoa slices).

In this s€ctioo we c¡¡sider some st¡atigraphic ¿6Pect8 of !D seisEic i¡terPretatiotr

A fev, Btratiglaphic fe¿tu¡es ¡!e úo6t evide¡t i! l€rtic¿,l sectiols (e g , reefr) but mo€t
can only be appreciated i¡ platr view.

Tbe visibility of a subtle sk¿tiSrsPhic festure üke a s6¡d chsD¡el is very difie¡e¡t ia
ve¡tical aüd horizo¡tal sections:

Vertical section Subtle a[oDsly witb soall amplitude lsriation or cla¡acter c¡strge iD
coFposite w¿vefo¡E.

Horizontal section Spatial extmt of amPlitude atromaly caD be a¡aly¿ed for its shape'
tlúckness a[d Seologic Bea¡i[t.

Horizotrtal shaP€s a¡d pstterDs ca¡ be iDterpleted ¡s hdic¿tors of deposition, erosion'

lithologr, pore fluid, etc. Ilorizootal sectio¡s give a map view of paleosttatiglaphy Exam-
pl"s irrárráe buildups, reefs, paleoks¡st, char¡¡els and deltaic faDs' -It is €ss¿ntial
ii.i u p-pu,".rbonate
lir,
"ir"
be useá in tbe hunt for stratigaPhic tslgets Figure 148 shows the
bluning eÉect that is caused b!¡ usi¡¡8 too l6¡8e s bi¡ size The¡e would be ¡o
a'dditional
resoluti-on beneft to shooti¡8 a bitr 6üe smalle¡ tha¡ the 55 ft theoreticslly
needed'

II stlucture is ¡egügible, the p¡imary tool is the tiroe slice' Amplitude vslistioD withiD
the tiloe süce must b€ ü¡derstood i¡ terms of

1. ReflectioD coefrcieüts
2. T\rning
3. Thickness s¡d velocity of stratigr¿Phic fe¿ture

Non-geologic lsriations (acquisition/processilg footPriDt)'

26 STRTIICRAPHY 271

Figu¡e 148: A buried channel s¡steE a.s s€€¡ iD tiEe 6lice. The l¿bel i¡ ea¿h slice is the bin
size. Not€ the blu¡riÁg effect of using a¡ iDapprop¡iate (i.e., too la¡ge) bio size. Shoot¡¡g
la¡tea biDs 6¿ws money, but c¡¡ Berioüsly d€¡ade iate¡pletability of the dsts"

If the st¡¿tig¡aphic fe¿ture has a e,€ak anplitude signstu¡e it is ofte¡ useñ¡l to add two
o¡ tno¡e coDsecutive time slices totether. This tends to enhs¡ce ibe 6t¡atig¡aphic featu¡e,
but oDly if tbe structural compone[t a¿!o6s the featu¡e is l€6s th¿D one-half of o period.

RemeEb€a th¿t chsDnel systeEs evoli€ throwh tiEe. For exsrnple, one branch may lie
at a depth of 800 Es aDd anotber at 825 Es.

A single tiae slice rep.es€Dts 6 slab of s€dime¡t with fuit¿ thick¡€ss. For this reason
chs¡¡els slightly diffelent io ag€ may bc cot¡taioed in a eingle tioe slice (Fi$re l5O). lt
is teEptint to thi¡k that the slsb thick¡¡€ss of & time slice is dz = ui¡r dt/2, wherc At
is the time s¡¡¡ple rete. But, the veÉical zone i¡¡uetrcitrt s time slice is detelhined by
wavelet iDte¡ference, Dot time saeple rste. Sp€ciñcslly, if w€ ¡ccept that ultim¿te vertic¿l
tesolutiotr is rheD,
^dóñ/4
¿z=@=]!!-
4 2fa,"
26 STRAIIGRAPIIY

¡cmP xcmp

Thick main Thick ma¡n

ch¡nnel channcl
at both at both
lcvrls levels

t I
BT
Timc slicc: t=800 ms Tim€ slicc: t=825 ms

Figure 149: Mea¡¡der cban¡el s!€tem as seen iD t¡vo tiEe slices. which b¡a[ch is older, A
or B?

Exercise 26,1. A tiúe slice is Dade st 600 ¡ns iD s su¡vey witb u¡¡t = 3500 m/q
f¿-n = 4O Ilz süd time saúple ¡ate of At = .004 s. Cslcul¿te the thickness of rock
i¡fueDcitrg this ti¡oe slice assuúing
1. thickness as determined by ti¡¡e samPle ¡¿te
2. thickDess ss determined by the )/4 rule

26.1 Stacked Channel SYstems

Stacked channel sJ¡steros cs,B be interpreted on &D seismic data to simultatreously show
cbdtrnels of all viDt&ge. This is illustlated iÁ Figure 151.

This data set is from the St¡atton 6eld of the Texas gulf coast' It G al€ilsble through
the Texas Bureau of Eco¡omic C€ology. Tbe data used here are a ve¡sion reprocessed by
Mercury Iüternational Techlolory. Here is some iDforroatiotr about this su¡vey:

BiD size: 55 tt t 55 ft (16.8 ú x 16.8 B)

IDage a¡ea: 2 sqü.¡€ Di. (5.2 aqüa¡. lú)
TiD€ salpl€ ¡at6: 4 r¡a (tgsaDPled froB 2 Ea)
Fr€queÁcy co¡lteDt: 10_90 Hz
26 STRATIGRAPEY

2 milcs

xcmp

A B

Tid|c slicc ¡t 8fl) ms

Figure f50: Time slice of ¡ ch¿Doel 6y6teE. Chs.DDel B is sligbtly olde¡, but stü withi¡ the
rock inte¡v¿l ¡epreseBt€d b¡ s siryle time süce. O¡ the riSht is ¿ cha¡¡el system iEsged
by !D seis¡nic dats froE oDBho¡e Te)<as. ShowD is ¿ time slice (uppe¡ rEht) and shadow
proc€ssi¡g of tbe time 6lice (lo$r¡ rtht).

IDterval veloci.ty: 77OO ftlacc (2350 D/s)

Cba¡¡el. Da¡ ¡ridth: 450 tt (137 D)
Cba¡¡€I úa:( a¡ea: 52 ¡c¡e! (21 h€cts¡€a).

The d6ign bio size ¡¡as calculated for a deeper t8¡get thstr ou¡ chs¡¡trels. The recom-
¡¡¡euded bin size at the channel lerel l¡¡ould be sbout 45 ft. The 55 ft bi¡ size a.tually üs€d
is coDsistent with Dinor a¡¡plitude stripint obs€rved at the cha¡¡el level.

It is clear that s€ve¡al viotages of dra.nnel exist in this i¡terld of data. The complete
intenrl over whicb one can map thir staaM üanoel system is 80O932 ms co¡respooditrg
approximately to depths 273G3270 ft (832-997 n). Geologic¿lly, this iotelval is in Eocene
age sediments. Eve¡ thoügh this shallow cb6!¡e¡ systelo is ¡ot a producint zone in this
speci6c freld, it is usefi.rl to develop a technique for mapping such syste¡¡s.

Once the chan¡el system is rccog¡ized by animatiDt through tbe tibe slic€6, it É easy
to imagi¡e wh¿t ki¡d of Erap we wa¡t to produce. We ¡eed 6otue kind of a "bit !ü¿p"
indic¿ti¡g ho!, roaüy cha¡nels ¡¡ould be e¡counte¡ed by a w€ü at auy given (x,y) positiot
Floo s p¡oduction poiat of view, tbe loore pote¡tial resenoirs we bit the better.
26 STRAIIGRAPTIY 274

2 milcs

Sir timc slicai fiom chr¡ncl in¡c.prdarion stacl

channel hit map Chánncl hit msp (inveled)

Figure 151: (A) Selected tiBe süces ftoE I dsta voluse shofint 'hanDels
The chaD-
hit map6 By averapDg
,r"L ¡.* ¡*n ma¡ked i¡ ¿ total of 34 tine sliccs' (B) Channel
amplitudes ir tbe entüe sts.k of süces, the chau¡els a¡e all seen
sioultaleously
26 STRATIGRAPHY

Chan¡el hits Numbe¡ of bins Chancc of success (%)

0 12 704
I 4638 23
2 1564 8
3 594
1.4
599 0.5
671 0.35
0.r8
815 0.075
97 0.035
l0 1 0.005

Table 7: Cha¡rce of e¡coutrtering multiple EoceDe chaDrcls in the Stlstton dota B€t.

Imagine that we inte¡d to d¡ill a $€ll somewhere in the imsge a¡e¿ of this $D survey.
There a¡e 20 000 bio¡. What a¡e th€ .hances tbat *r wiü e¡cou¡te¡ thick a¡d/or multiple
channels over this i¡terval? Tsble 7 gives some stat¡stics.

There is roughly a 2% cba¡ce of hitthg more tb¿¡ tbree chaD¡els in ¿ t¿trdom d¡illi¡t
IocatioÁ. But s.ith the hit nap i¡ hand, w€ c¿n greatly impror.e these odds.

26.2 Channels on 2-D Data

It is notoriously dimcult to document chanr¡els on 2-D seismic dats. The basic problem
is that a chatrnel te¡ds to be seall in closs s€ctiotral a¡e8 - ofteB well below the ve¡tical
resolution liEit. So i.D.stead of seeing ¡ top eve¡t aDd base e\€nt formi¡g a nice ¿l¡no¡d_
shaped cha¡¡el cro€s section, we are more likely to see s disconti4uous blob of &dplitude.
Unfortunately, as shown iD Plate 13, s€isaic sectio¡s are ft¡ll of disconti¡uous blob€ of
amplitud€. Without the roap üew afio¡ded by $D seisDic, how caD $e co¡üq€€ soúeoEe
a particula¡ blob is a cha¡¡el? Short ¡¡¡*rr, l¡ou cs¡r E.

26.3 Separating Structure and Stratigraphy

Here are two methods of accomplishiDt stratig¡¿phic interp¡etatio¡ iD the preseüce of struc_
!ure.

CoDside¡ a channel which l¡'¿s depoBited horizo¡tally aüd has trof' b€€¡ disturbed so
26 STRATIGRAPüY 276

that it ¡o lo¡ge¡ ües i¡ s borizontsl plsDe. Each time elice will s€e p¿tt of the cha¡¡rel ás
it moves up and dowa tbrough tbe d¿ta cube.

Oae method of roappiag this c.ha,Dnel is to loc¡te it otr successive tiDe slices sJrd coÁr¡ect
the dots to follow the chs¡t¡el i¡ $D space, Figu¡e 152.

xcmp

Figure 152: Foüowing an abplitude anoEaly t,o ¡oap s chsnnel i¡ tbe Pr6eDce of ge¡tle
structure. The coDtou¡s ldbeled t1, t2, etc, a¡e co¡5taDt tiEe levels ho¡¡ time slices.

sbould be emphasized that this method only works in areas without comPle.st¡l¡cture.
It
Also, the ¿ppea¡ance of structue on the tiEe d6ta c¿,D be due to rtlocity sags a¡d pull-ups.
This method requir6 the interpreter io recotDize the fe¡tu¡e of i¡te¡est and b€ &ble to maP
it th¡ough time-slice i¡te¡s€ctious. It is e¡sy to miss a subtle featu¡e.
The secoDd method fo¡ EsPPing ¿ (üs¡nel iD tbe prese¡ce of st¡uctu¡e is to make a
full st¡uctural i¡terpretstio¡ of the &D data, iocludiDg cor¡etatiotr a¿ross faults. Flom this
itrterpretstion t¡ack the hori?¡¡ of iÁtercst aDd create a ho¡izo¡ süce' The t¡aced horizon
roust be alo¡g Hding pl8ne5 to have st¡atiglaphic sitDificánce. Wa¡!¡io8: Correlatiotr
e¡¡ors across feults ltill leld an errooeous horizo¡ 8üce.

If the f8ü1t ofis€t is ¡etligible (i.e., less than o¡e pe¡iod), aod data quslity i3 tood' then
sutoústic t¡a¿king msy be sble t,o extract ¡ ho¡izoB slice over the e¡tire sü¡vey' Whetr &
ho¡izon is tlscked, the ampütudes s¡d tiEes s¡e sto¡ed i¡¡ a data base' PlottiDg the tiE€s
creates time structure EaP, ald Plotting the s¡tlPütud€6 8eüe¡ates a bo¡izo¡ süce' Oftea
only the trocked time6 are stored. The ¿ssociated ¿mpütudes ca¡ tbe! be €xtracted oD
demá¡d froE the dsta cube. This ssves on disk spac€.
26 STR{NCB.APTIY

It is possib¡e to ec<t¡act a,opl¡tud€s ¿loDg s su¡f¡ce whi.ü is itself too E€¿k o¡ di¡co¡ti¡u-
ous to t¡a.k. The idea of ofref úmc*iag is t¡ follow tbe Dea¡€8t pa¡allel relector tbeo 4t¡..t
a'bpütud€s s certai¡ ¡umber of samples above or below the trad.ed bo¡izo¡. As shor'¡ i¡
Figurc 153, tbis i8 ü8efu1 for slici¡g th¡ough iltervds thst sre ¡ot otherwise t¡¿d.¡ble due
to Doise or otbe¡ a,mplitüde !¿ristioDs. To r,ork Ptope¡ly, the t¡¿cked ho¡izoD ¡e€d8 to b€
co¡brDable t,o tbe z,o¡e of int€rest.

¡cmP xcmP

-
Linc A: vcrtical 3cction Horizon 3licc through zonc of i¡tcFst

Fi$re 153: Tl¡.ki¡g th¡owb zo¡€s witb ampütude va¡i¿tioDs or poor sittrsl-to-Áoise. ID
the vertic¿l s€ctioD (left) a good reflector ¿bov€, snd conforaable to, the zone of i¡ter€st
is t!a.ked. By sp€cifyiDg s static shift, s horizon slic€ is constructed th¡ough the ?óDe of
interest (ritht).

26.4 Seismic Sequence Stratigrapby

Since the 1970s the field of sebDic stratiSraphy, and ¡ow ¡eismic sequetrce st¡stig¡sphy
(SST), has developed methods fo¡ ext¡¿ati¡g strstig¡¿phic i¡forD¿tion froE 2-D s€ismic
li¡!€s. The key featü¡e6 a¡e ü¡co¡fo'l¡iti€s 6¡d a¡gular H termi¡stions terbed o¡¡op,
ofiap, etc. Figu¡e 154 shows u¡rco¡formity ¿ud b€d teroiDstioD images ftom a lo¡g lD
li¡e from SE Asia. Figure 155 sbowB part of a classic prog¡adiDg delt¿ seque¡ce iom ¡
rcgio¡al litre ofishore West Afric¿. A¡ interpreted erosiotral uDconformity su¡face ftom the
gaoe li¡e is showa iu Figu¡e 156. I¡ pri¡ciple, SST shou¡d be¡e6t ñoD &D seisDic d6t¿
siDc€ ¿lbitrary ve¡tical l¡Des ca¡¡ b€ er.tra.t¿d frot¡ the dota volü¡¡e. This wor¡ld ¿llow
oDlap G¿tu¡es to be vie¡ad i¡ I dip dir€c{io¡, a'túch is ¡ot 6h,sys the c¡¡e for 2-D ünes.
26 STBATIGRAPIIY 278

UnconJormitie a¡d bed termin¿tions occu¡ at oll sc6les, but most &D seisEic survel's ale
too sú¿ll to Eep the regional featu¡es vital to SST i¡terpretation8.

1032 ms

1452 ra

1956 ms

Figu¡e 1g: Seisroic 6eqüetrce st¡stig¡aPhy is ao int€rPletetion method lrhich extracts st¡8ti_
g¡aphic iDtorDstioD froú regioml 2-D seisaic ünes. Key features of i¡te¡est sre unconfor_
Eity $¡¡fsces (tob) snd H teteilstions (bottom). Note the ireguls¡ u¡coDfo¡mity ¡eflec-
tion U 6¡d terFi¡¿tio¡ of the ev€trt A iDto it. Evetrts B a.trd C demoDstrste stratig¡aphic
terminstion without an obvious ü¡co¡formity.
26 STRTTIGRAPEY 279

152 ms

Figue 155: Classic p¡ogading delt¡ sequeooe froh ofisho¡e West Afic&

864 rhs

1488 ms

Figure 156: IDterpreted e¡osioDal u¡conformity surface from ofishore West Aftics.
27 SEISMIC A'fiRIBUTES 280

27 Seismic attributes

27.1 Attribute Classiffcation a¡d Use

What is a,D attribute 6¡d how do€s it ¡elate to conventio¡al seismic data processing? Maly
ott¡ibutes ¿re imoge proc€ssing products extracted from seismic data to aid inte¡pretstion
They cs¡ slso be extracted quantities like AVO. Sebúic p¡ocessing is coDcer¡ed with co¡-
¡ectiDt fo! vr6\¡e p¡opagation efiects snd c¡e¿tint a 6Dal im¿ge of the subeu¡face. When
seismic processng is doue, irnage processing begins. The goal is to use all availsble tools'
aad develop oew onee, for extra.ting qualitative and qua¡tit¿tii'e informstion hom the
seismic image lolume.

Seismic processing was applied (by hand) to the ealliest ¡eflectio¡ seismic data itr the
192h, but irüage processi¡g atrd attlibutes a¡¡ived oDly iD tbe ea¡ly 1970s. The ñ¡st g
D attribute, Coherenc¡ ca,úe from Amoco i! 1995 and was impoÉant eDough to wa¡¡ar¡t
patent applicatio¡s ¿nd formstioo of a sepa¡ate company for its mark€titrg aDd development
We can €xpect thst cohereDcy is only the 6¡st of ma¡ly 3-D attributes whicb will be del€loPed
iD the future.

The¡e is a growing 6rea of specislizstion within geophysics ¡elated to attributes aDd

statistics. This idea i6 to extract msny (cu¡rentty uP to 50 or mo!e) attributes ftom a
3-D dato set, tben do multiple ¡eg¡ession on these atailst important parameters from rtell
cont¡ol hoping that a me¡ningfi¡I reldtio¡¡ship will eFerge. Figule 157 shows the kind of
¡oont€e of tlFs¿atter plots that com€s froú this ki¡d of ¡¡ork. Cles¡ly, some &tt¡ibut€s
arc highly cor¡elated with well pa¡¡metels, or pelhops other stt¡ibutes, while some ere Dot'
Automati¡g this scaoning Process is called cluster analysis.

A good analogr comes from Wall Street. There a¡e frua¡cial aDall¡sts s'ho study a
company in t¡eat detail - items like casb lov,¡, ea¡niDgs gro*tb, ¡lsnagemeDt style, úarket
forces, etc. This is fu¡dame¡tal snal]sis s¡¡d is akiD to standard forms of seismic inter-
pretation bas€d on Physicsl Principles Another group of fnancial aDalysts study stock
charts, treods, pattems, Periodicity, r€sistarit Price levels, etc. This is the world of technical
analysis and is similar to seisúic toultistt¡ibute aDd cluste¡ a¡¡¿lysis'

To orgsDize the subject, we coDsider atttibutes to be 1-D, 2_D o¡ &D'

1-D attribute Imag€ Process that ope¡at€s oB a single seismic tra'e'

2-D att¡ibute Imsge Proc€6s that operates otr ¡ 2_D collectioD, or Panel, of seismic traces'

3-D attaibute Image process thst oP€rates o! a !D collectioD, or volume, of seismic

 I
27 SE¡ÉMIC A?:IRIBUTES 81

l.
| ',.,.,,.*:'
|
l.J
'".tt
v,*
| ,' .,
|
|
.. i;,.5-
:."1' t..'
"'t"'
t"..t
"
I'
I
1.. I
1.,,:.'..'
I :, .',, .
..
-
| .;:1:. '
t
| . ' ':.'¡n I ir,t''tt ""
Lr:";':' l-*'' t"--
Fi&¡e 157: Multisttribute.DslFis involv€6 r€gt€ssiotr oft¡suy att¡ibut€s agai¡Bt iErport¿.trt
*eü p¿rameters, o¡ other att¡ibutes. So¡¡e persiste¡t r€latioDshiF m¿y b€ tt|€aDi¡gñ¡1.

tü¿es.

Table 8, ftom [96j, indicates bow t-D attributeg a¡e relEted to geologicsl subBu¡faae
f€atures. 2-D snd 3.D ¿ttribut€s a¡e listed iB T¿ble 9. Neither of these is s clEplete list of
ottribütes, büt o¡ly 6obe of the tt¡oE comDo¡ o¡e6.

27.2 Examples

SoEe l-D stt¡ibutes a¡e illustrsted i! Figu¡6 158 a¡d 159, and 2-D stt¡ibüté iD Figu¡e 160.

Although AVO is sometim€ coüsideled sB áttribut€, it is Dot, st¡ictly speakiq, a¡

i¡o¿geprocrssiüg p¡oduct. I¡r¡etsioE p¡oducts, üke AVO, stteopt to €sti!¡ate 8übsurface
rock pa,¡aroeters. However, there is siglifc€.ot clodsor€r iD that stt¡ibute 6¡¡d roultiatt¡ibut¿
displa¡n are sometimes used io tbe process of e6ti¡üstitg tocL ptoperties.
27 SETSMIC ATTRIBI-,TES

Name RGlated to

l-D Instantaneoue a,mpütude Litholory cho¡8ps, u¡¡co¡forEitie, gas á.cuEulstioD '

l-D De¡ilotive of envelope Ab€orptio¡' evetrt shaxp¡esat event correl¿tio¡
l-D llst8Dtaneour pbase Ev€Dt cot¡ti¡uity, stnrct ¿¡d 8t¡¿t coDft
l-D IBt¿¡tsneour fr€qüe¡cy Si8[¡tu¡e of ev€¡t¡, thicünés'
Ab€orptio¡ ¡úd frsctü¡i¡8
l-D l¡sta¡ta¡eou8 ¿4celer¿tio¡ Thi¡ bed effects, po$ibly po¡osity
l-D DoEitra¡t freque¡cy SiBila¡ to in8t ft€q, correlatio¡ tool
l-D Insta¡taneous baDdwidtb Abdorptio¡ €6€cts, c¡r¡eli¡tio[ tool
l-D I¡stantaneous Q Dircct estimste of sbsorPtio¡, É¡ctu¡e,
Gas zorc, Po6sible permeabiüty i¡dicstor
l-D Appsrent pola¡ity Disc¡iDi¡8te bright spots, dsto pol¿¡iw iDdicsto!
l-D Normalized ar¡plitude Evet¡t co¡relatioD and e1€¡t t¡a.Ii¡g'
Eve¡t terroi¡ation indicator

Table 8i l-D Attlibut€s atrd thei! uses. Th€se are often collectir'€ly Efer¡€d to as Hilbe¡t
att¡ibut€s.

Name R.lated to

2-D Edge detectio¡ Cha¡¡el detection

2-D Di¡€ctio¡al g¡adie¡t Fsult roappiry, cüs¡¡els
2-D Shaded relief (shsdor') Sinil¡¡ to g¡adieDt
2-D Dip structure maPplng
2-D Azimutb Structu¡e maPPi¡g
2-D Cohereory l¡dicst¿ p¡r¡llel, div€rgitrg o¡ co¡ve!8iry Hdint'
Chaotic zoDe itrdicstor
LD Coherency Fault mapping, chaonel ¿!d t€'du¡e detection

T6ble 9: 2-D 6¡d &D sttribut6 ¿nd tbei¡ u¡€3.

27 SEISMIC ATTNTB/.'TES 3

¡ ri¡.

Figure ¡58: S€isEic stack section and a l-D stt¡ibute. Data is from the Midland B¡sio of
Texas.
27 SEISMIC ATIEIBWES 284

previous frgu¡e'
Figu¡€ 159r Two mo¡e l-D attlibutes of data shown itr
27 SEISMIC AT:TEIBUTES 5

2 miles

Orieiral ¡ime slicc dal¡ Sh¡d€d rÉücf (¡hedov) proclssiñg.

nhmindion ftom NE.

Gradicnt proccssing. Edgc d.r.ction processing

Cradicnt dircction is NE/SW.

Figu¡e 160: Some 2-D attributes spplied to a se¡Eic time süce.

27 SEISMIC ATTRIBUTES 286

Traditional

Coherence
Fiture 16L The ñ¡st $D seismic attúbúté, cohere¡ce, was develop€d by Aboco in 1995'
Tñs G a stratigraphic exsnple shor'ilt chan¡el fo¡ms whicb ¡¡e cle¿¡ in the cohe¡€nce
¡e6ult, but ob6cl; iD th€ traditioD¡l 8úpütude display. Imsge cou¡t€sy Coherence Tech-
nologr Corp. Dsts cou¡t€sy Geco.
27 SEBMIC ATTRIBUTES 287

Traditional
'l l;

,.j
¡.{
.{-' i

. .:!

I .¿
I
.ii
.[=,
1: r' Coherence
Figu¡e 162: Cohe¡eDce brints ¡adial fsults clea¡ly into üew. Thes€ faults a¡e slso there in
the tlatio[al amplitude displ¿y, but diffcult to s€e.
 AMPUTUDE I 288

28 Amplitude I
28.1 lt¡troduction
ll¡he¡ seismic dats is scquired, a sou¡ce emits waves which travel i¡ all directions dow! into
the earth, The wa!€s relect aüd t¡avel baak up to the receir€rs where they are recorded To
uDdersta¡d the Eea¡ing of reflectio¡ ¡mplitud€s Í¡e need to consider 6ome wave propagatiotr
efiects.

Figure 163 sho¡ñ's an idealized seismic ray o¡ its wsy hom sou¡ce, to leflectioD, to
¡eceiver. The retu¡ned aú¡plitr¡de b a complicated fu¡ction of raJPath geometry a¡d other
facto!€. It is SiveD &pp¡oxiloately by

. S Ds Da Rrr--o,¡.
)
where

A = received ampütude
S = source ¡mplitude
Ds, Da = sou¡ce a¡rd ¡eceiver directiütie€ (radiatioD Patterns)
C = geom€t cal sPreoding fuDctiotr
R.Tt = reflectiotr and tra¡¡smissioo coefficieats (angular) This equatioD says
il' : product s¡'mtrol
attenuatioE lacto¡
l¡ = ¡4,?ath leDgth
j = counter for ea.h laler traversed by the ray'
that as the ray passes th¡ough the eartb, many things bappe!:

1. Depending on detoils of source t]?e, arraf a¡d coupling there is a c€¡tain amplitude
facto¡ D" associated with this tol€-ofi angle

2. As ¡ay t¡avels thele is coütinuor¡s aEplitude lo€s due to geo¡Detric sp¡eading C of the
wavehoot.

3. There is further contiouous loss due to couversioo of wave energr irto heat
This is
described by tbe attenu&tion fa¿tors aj
or fluid contact) the arnplitude
-' Each tiúe the ray passes through aD hterface (rock
4.
¡ áá ¡y . ttul-i"tion coeñcient Q whicb is typicdly much less tha¡ one This
is tra¡smission loss.
28 AMPI.,TTWE I 289

At the r€aectio¡ poiDt, the ¿¡oplitude is scsled by the s¡gul8¡ rc0ectio! co€6cieot
¿(0) lr'here ,l¡€¿o is the ilcidert aryle.
As the ¡¿y pass€s beck up to*ra¡d tbe !eceiv€!, ürore geoEetric Spresding, otte¡uatio¡,
¡¡d tr¡¡sdissio¡ loss€s occr¡¡.
7. The s,úpütude Dessu!€d by tüe receiver a,rray is s ñ¡nctio¡ of tüe ¡etu¡Ded s,úplitude
snd the a¡lay di¡€ctiüty Dn.

Rcccivcr So¡¡rcc

olhcr€ inlerfacet

R.flecting intcrf.cc

Figure 163: A seismic ray p&sses th¡owh ¡!¡a¡y lsj€¡s iÁ the e{tb. E¿aü layer i¡lue¡ces
tbe ¡¿y a¡nplitude.
 AMPI,TTUDE I 290

This forEula itDores B€veral hctors includiog:

1. Source/receiver coupüng (la,Dd dats)

2, b¡strumeÁt perfo¡Eorceo (+2s% [a8])
3, Interfermce from multiple reflectioDs
4. Ilte¡fe¡ence ftoD ground roll, rcfractio¡s a¡d oth€r Sou¡cege¡e¡at€d Dois€

5. R¡ndom noi¡e
6. D¿ta p¡oce6si¡t
7. Rénector curr?tu¡e'

Tbe ultiúste gosl of d6ta processing is to lemor¡e sll efi€cts from the dat¿ eracePt the
correctly-plaaed ¡electio¡ co€6cieú st eác¡ Poiut i! tbe ea¡th

28.2 ?f'ra.ofrs€t R¡flection Coefficiente

ReflectioD co€frcietrts ca¡ be

. Acoustic or elastic

. Nomal o¡ a¡guls¡

The s¡gle in¡olved is measu¡ed fro¡t¡ the trormal to the hterface. Acoustic i3 s special csse
of el¿stic; ¡orm&l (zero-offset) is a speci¡l case of ¿ngülar.

The elástic P-w¿le reflection c-oeficielt ¿t nor¡nal iDcideDce i5

R"= t2J
;' .;'tl i I=Pup.
where p is the mass deDsity. Tbe quaDtity t is the P'wave iEP€d¿nce (or acoustic iEpeda¡ce,
or siúply impedaDce). The saoe formulo applies for scoustic wsve reflectio¡ at normal
i¡cidence. Ro is the ¡e8ectio¡ coeficielrt aPPro,tiD¿tely rep¡€s€nted ir¡ stacked aod migrated
dats.
d¡* of > ¡ c¡n bc h¡nrttcd bv rdir¡¡tio¡. R diu! of cr¡rvatu¡! < ) it co¡uidcr'd ¡ rewh
"*tur.
.uft.!whichcanscgtt.¡¡nddimth.¡DPlitud€nsPo.¡!¿.Unconfo.nitysu'fá.éclnb.'cf¡d.¡€dn€árly
invilible by thb €fect.

-'R
28 AMPLITUDE I 291

28.3 Hierarchy of Reflectio¡ Amplitude Effects

There s¡€ va¡ior¡s shortcuts tows¡d estiDatiDg the eFect ¡ock aod fluid prop€rty ch6¡8es
will have o¡ the ¡eflection coefrcieft. A fai¡ly si¡nple treatEeut is dven here, the sppe¡l of
which wiü become cle¿r whetr the Eore lito¡ous approach is discossed in chapte¡s 32 6¡¡d

The ¡o!ú¡al-incide¡ce ¡electio¡ coemcie¡t de6¡€d sbove is a futrction of all geologic

facto¡s that chatrge the seismic velocity or deDsity of the reaervoi¡. Soloe geologic factors
have larSer e0ects th6n others. In dec¡e¿siDg order of importance, they are: litholory, gas
codtent, polo6ity,6dd cl¡y mtrtent. Tbis is shonr¡ conceptually in Figure 164.

It is Dot gene¡ally poGsibl€ to s¿y lrhether a pa¡ticul¿r efiect will b€ to i¡lc¡eas€ or

decrease the ¡e0ectioü coeficieút. It is nec€sssry to model the ¡esponsie for each c¡¡e of
iDterest. Tb€ getre¡al procedu¡e is:
1. calculate composite velocity and delsity ftom pore fuid a¡d ¡ock ftane properiies or
statistics;
2. calcül¡te i¡¡pedaBc€s fo¡ the overl¡Dg folmation and ¡eservoi¡;
3. cslculste ¡e8ectioD coefñcietrts.

28.4 Litholos¡ Effect

SeGmic velocity in rock is prirúarily a function of ütholory, po¡osity o¡d pore ffuid. Thes€
fsctors combiDe to give ¿ coEposite up, ?.,! a¡d density for th€ rock. The geDe¡al \r¡istion
of up with litholos, cao be iDfelred fro¡!¡ dsta tiven es¡lier, Table l Although therc is
no tight cotrnectioo between litholos' sDd P-wave velocity, we do gene¡ally observe that
ca¡bonate rocks s¡e higher velocity ths¡ s€.ndston6.

28.5 Gas Effect

Gss-ñl€d ssndstone is aD import¿Dt reservoir model. Gas has a rcry low density and low
velocity co¡opa¡ed to wate¡, while oil sDd wate¡ a¡e very similar ir¡ th€s€ properti6. The
actudl Blues are quite rBriable, as show¡ i¡ Table 16 of cb¿pter 32. For the sieplified
discussion here, we will sssume so¡¡e sp€cific l'aluee fo! n¡ster or oil (u = 1520 m/s, p
= 1.0
g/cc) sttd for &s (? = 335 6/s, p = .úl e/cc).

The ¡et, o! c¡mposite, deDsity is 6ive! by the simple oixiog law

p=Ópt+Q-üpn
 AMPIT¡T]DE I N2

A. Lid|ology .ff.¿t B. F¡¡.d lidblogy

G¿3.ffccl

C. Fix€d lilhology D, Fix.d ¡ithology

Fix.d gas conlcnt F¡xrd 8&t coñtcnt
Porosity cff.ct Fixcd por6ity
Oay aff..t

BCD
Dr¡rt¿sirg amplindc cff.at

Figure 164: Geologic facto¡s thst efiect the seisúic rc0ectioD coemcieDt frotD a ¡€ervoir.
28 AMPI,ITUDE I 293

rrhe¡e

ó = fractioüel porosity
p = deDsity ofthe porous, fluid-frlled rock
pt = dersiry ofthe pore Auid
pm = matrix density (pure, zero-porosity solid).
The situatiotr is not so simple for compo€ite velocity, but the ger¡eral efrect is the sa.Ere.
For clean (clay-ftee) saDdstoDes, w€ll-log studi€s itrdicste an spproximste lelationship of the
form
t=4,vr+$_ó)'ú^
Í¡he!e
¿ = p"wave velocity of the porous, fluid-filled rock
l,t = velocity of the pore fluid
r¡¡ = matrix l€locity (pure, zero!,oro6ity soüd).
ID a real situation, velocities in porous fluid-ñlled ¡ock are inferred from so¡ic logs, core
measu¡emeDts, and/or computed froro the Gassman theory discussed itr chapter 33.

Exercise 2E.1. A ssndsto¡e with oegligible porosity hos o = 3000 m/s If the same
ssüdstone is water wet a¡rd L6s polo6ity Q = 2O%, wbú is the app¡oxiEate composite
velocity? What if po¡osity is 20% atrd the rock is gas-6lled?

To tet an idea of the gas efiect on .¡%, consider the renectio¡ boE¡ a shale-ore¡-sandstone
cotrta.t. Assume that tbe shale hss t, = 3000 m/s, the saDd has 20%, porosity and ignore
any der¡sib¡ cotrtlasts.

Here a¡e the two cases:

Rock Pole fluid Velocity m/s

Shale - 3000
Sandstone water 2224
Sardstone tas 1987

For s/€t sa¡d case the reflectioo coe6cient is given by Ru.¿., = -.148 while fo¡ the gas
sa¡dwe6¡dR*=-.203.
of the tss is to inc¡ease the reflectio¡t co,'Scient in aD absolute s€¡6e by
ODe effect
about 30%. This is the ph¡sical basis of bright spot delection, but be warned that Eot
28 AMPIJTWE I 294

5800 -8600 -2400

5600 -9200 -5700
5590 -6930 -2180
3520 -4910 -1890
5870 -6990 -3330

Tablel0:sandstone¡eg¡essioncoe6cie¡ts.Itiscle¿Ithsipo¡osity(á2)hsssst¡otrge¡
efiect on u, by a factor of about 2, thaD clay co¡te¡t
('/q)'

every b¡ight spot is s g¡s efiect' Atrothe! efiect of low

l€locity iB the 85s satrd would be
gas-be¿¡iog formstiotr'
distártion" (vÁcity sag) of re0ectio¡rs below the
usiDg data gi1'€n in the text'
o*"".i". zsl. Voify fi-".e' = - 148 6nd &o' = -'203'

ItisDow!¡ellundergtoodthatseisBicamPlitudeissSoodiDdicatorofthepfts¿¿ceof
iDfor.ation to deterúi'e if comnercial
a*. ;;;;"t: ;;;;be supplemmted rnth ;ther (subecouomic) gas s¿tu¡ation is lil(ely to
or¡antities of gas are P¡esent. lor exa'mple, s 10%
óve the tull gas effect oa a¡nPlitüde'

28.6 ClaY Effect

is often their clay content' rathe¡ thao

When dealing with sandstone oil r€senoirs the issue
afiects the permeabüty of the rock Several
sas content. Cley is importsl¡t D€cause it
relstiot¡shiP of the form
ii"¿t"á'." itt"i'-r.it¿ tlt s'atu¡ated sandstones have sbown a general
a=At+AzQ+AsC

whe¡e the composite Pwove sp€ed u is iD

m/s' 'Ai are leg¡€ssioD constants' d is fractional
porosity, aIrd C is ftactioDo] cley conte¡t'
zero-clay sandstone relocity The va¡iability
in
Note that Ar is the zero-Porosity (tigbt)'
ái tle rock and raries with dePth at¡d seog¡sphic
¡, il"i"Ja'"ite"*" -¿'""-"*uit]o must b€ deterúiDed statisticslly
resio!. To be used in a p"rt'curt' p'o¡ect' the coemcients
foi each 6eld and target horizoo'
Some values of ,4¡ in publisbed studies
are gi!€¡ in Table 10'
28 AMPLITVDE I 295

The usefuhess of o({, C) for seisroic a,mplitude interPret&tior is the possibility of usi¡8
Ro as a¡ indicato¡ of porosity and/or clay conteÁt Remember tbat, at best, seismic dmPü-
tüde respoDds to the sverage Properties over a! interval of sbout oBe-balf wavelengtb This
úesú6 & thiD po¡ous or clay-bearing zoae may oot hsi€ on aapütude effect on the dat¡'

28.7 Therrral Effect

Stea,m flooding is a common enhar¡ced oil recovery technique. Flofo a s€isEic pe¡sP€ctive
the steam has the efiect of heating the rock ond thus chaü8in8 the seismic velocity' The
efiect on ]€locity is d¡aúatic, as shown in Figüre 164. The P_¡'ave !€locity d€creáse is
about 25% aa temper¿ture ¡ises from 20oC to 125"C. On the same tempe¡atu¡e interval,
dry sandstone sarnples show only a 2% decrease

The idea is to repest the !D suney several times as the stea.m flood p¡og¡esses. Am_
pütude chatrg€s 6om one survey to the Dext allow monitoriüg of the flood ftont, sweep
eñciency, aad fiagering [66].

$D surve).s for moDitoriDg stea¡D floods te¡d to be small. For example, oue group [66]
reports s survey ares of ,|25 F x 550 m with abi¡sizeof 8m x EEfor a taryet deptb of
450 m. The fu¡damental efiect whicb changes ¡e8ectioD amplitude iD this kiad of Ploject,
is the decline of res€noir wave speed with iücre¿sing temP€ratü¡e, Fitule 165.

28.8 Estimating Porosity Flom Seismic Amplitude

The Gassman theorl drapter 33, is ¿ functional relationship bets¡een Po¡osity, pore fluids,
density, and velocity in ideal ¡ocks. In ¡eal d¡ta, however, there s¡e many competing
amplitude f&ctors which may qot be s.counted for by the Gs.ssmaD theory In p€troleum
reservoirs, porosity cannot usually be s€pa¡ated from thicktre6s, r¡¿ter saturation, litholory'
etc., and it is comr¡on to relate seismic amplitude to some coúpo6ite reservoir quality factor
(net sand, pore-feet, Det pay, etc).

Here we present a step-by-step 4n¿¿e¿ic example of empirically relating amplitud€ a¡¡d

porosity. CoDside! a small &D seisEic su¡vey ia an area coüt¡rniDg seleu wells. Five wells
a¡e dry aüd two are tas p¡oducers. All s€lls eücounter sa¡d at the reservoi! let€l aod all
show ñr.ll gas sstu¡otion. This allows us to sssu¡¡e that ütholo$, aDd gas saturation a¡e
oot changiDg ac¡oss tbe survey area. The¡efore we e(Pect tbe amPütude \tliatio! to be
doEinated by the porosity efiect.
28 AMPUTWE I 296

Pressu¡c: O 435 Psi O 870 psi O 1305 p6i A l45O psi

a- --a--
23ú
"----o-
22ú
2100
-=I
o___Í
-¡-- -o

2000
o
1900 .A
1800
20 4A óo to
Tempcrarurr
lm 120 140
CC)

Fisule 165: SeGmic velocity as sfu¡ction of temP€rature fo¡ an oil sand^at vüious confning
forms the basis for seismic monitoliig of steam floods'
".L".*. f¡* "n*t
shown Also shown is a
In Plate l2A the survey a¡ea, rvell spots, and Porosity table are
shows a general trend for high
p.JW -.o S.i¿¿"d from the well coutrol, only The map point at well
p"ri.itv t. il" S¡ lower Porosiiy to tbe N\i There is e I'ery anomaloüs
-d
5.
bins in the y-dilectio¡' a¡d a 17
The seismic dats have 183 bi¡s in the x-direction' 150
this &rea' a time slice is extracted
fi * iSs x 55 ft) bin, Since structure is minima'l in12B A channel systeo is clear froo
" ii" ,"i.-.lt 1"""í. The time slice is show'D in Plste
"i
;;;;;ñ; ;;"J conelatio¡ with the Producins w€lls' D€spite seven w€Ils in an area
borehole inform¿tion alone To
of I.3 mi2, this level of detail ca¡not be ext¡acted from porosity at
*-rifl ti"'".t*.t variatiou, a table is coDstructed shoYring anplitude and
each v,¡ell location.
amPlitude to PttTily: .l s€cond-orde¡
Figu¡e 166 shows a ¡egreision curve relating
R2 (.oodn€ss^of 6t),thao first, tbird'
f.r"ái*i.l 6t ¡¡as chosen becar¡se it showed a hilberrauge from 0'255 indicatins a! &bit
:;;;;;';;' ;** Note tbat the amplituáes
both
2SS). Sirce the oriernal-aEpfitudes r.,ere
;#;;;;."", ";;b Uaog u".d 1Zs _ I =original negatil€ values' 128 is an orisi¡al zero
;;;-ilil;;;;, u-üt'id"' < i28 are
*,"lue. and > I28 are oriSiDsl Positive valu€s'
 AMPUTWE1

Tbe b€st-6t second-orde¡ €qu6tio¡ i5 give¡ by

Porotitg% = 8.45A - 0.16:i .A + 0.m158 á2 ,

where r{ ü the seismic aúpütude. By ¿pplying tbb ¡€lstio$hip to every a@plitude in the
time süce, a guided po¡osity loap c!¡ be cre¿td, Pl¿te 12C. A histoS¡a,m of the estisated
porcgity di6t¡ibutio! is sbown iD Figu¡e 166.

Acres a laqer ares we c{¡t¡ot €tapect thst a si¡tle ¡eg€dsio¡ c,r¡t've will csptu¡e the
va¡isbility iD ¡eal a¡úplitude s¡d polosity data. RÉg¡€sio¡ witb sP¿tial-vs¡isbility leads to
the 6eld of geoltatistic6, whic.h is belo¡d tbe 8cope of this book' Inc¡eosiogly, it is b€iÁg
applied to Es¡y problems in geophysics, geolory' snd pet¡oleuE eDSi¡ee¡in8.
 I 29t
28 AMPLMTDE

69.88 . = 8-45803732
b = -0.1629t829
c= 0.m15t369

S.D. = 2.2?53
R 2 = 0.8295

o
o
4.26 '(A)
scismic ámplitüdc 255

Amplitud.r'porosttY
hrstogf¡r¡r

^-.
scistnic amplhude 255

FiEure 166: Porosity hom se¡smrc

_ p8¡t 2
(A) Second-order ¡egression curve relatiog
i"'it" t po'*ity Th" 82 coe6cieot úeasu¡es Sood.ess of frt' Itr this
ij case'
reletive
"ui"i" &orain 82% of the úeasu¡ed d¿ta. (B) HistogaE showitrg
,il"Tr't€;J"-" "." p;rosity intervals in the t¡al ¡€sult'
rioo¿-"" of *t¡o*
29 AMPIXTUDE II 299

29 Amplitude II
Cür¡e¡tly most aeplitude i¡terpr€t¿tio¡ is doÁe o¡ the Eigrat€d dsta rolume. This me¡¡s
that o&ets o¡igiD8[y itr the data ba!'e b€en lo6t through stacking. Howeve! this ofiset dsta
co¡tsi¡ed i¡IorD¿tion i¡ the form of ¿mPlitude va¡iotions with oftet. For subtle amplitude
eoects ¡elated to rcck p¡operties, it is oft€n D€cessary to exPlore the pr€sta.k d¿t¿ fo¡ AVO
bebavior.

AVO is a common tecbaique for }D lines, and h¿5 bee! exploited i.D &D data interpre
tstion si.nce dbout 1990 194. It should b€ Dot€d thst si¡ce AVO work is dole otr presta.k
data, it is a,n €xpensile process iu $D.

29.1 Adr¡a¡ced Topic: AnguLat R€6ection Coe6cients

AÍgulsr &fectio¡ coeñcierts are at the hes¡t of AVO analysis. For atrgula¡ ircidence, the
acoustic reflectiolr coemcietrt, ft(r), is

htrlse-nrfr-(Ygga)'
n(0) =
hcose + I4r- (e@.)2
whe¡€ the i¡cide¡rce strtle á is showa in Figure 1674,
f is the a¿oustic iEp€dsnce gi!'e¡ by p,t,
Fo! tbe case of s tpic¡l GulJ of Mexico gas sard model, R.ow¿¡¿ is sho$'n iD Fit-
ü¡e 168 (uppe¡). This ossuD€ a shale orerlyiry the gas sand.

(A) (B)

Figue 167: Scátte¡ilt of an ac¡ustic wave (left) and eod elastic Fwave (¡ight).
29 AMPLITWE II 300

Exercise 29.1. Cslculate .Rn = 8(, = 0) from the a¡gular leflection coemcieDt fo¡Bul8'

Exe.cbe 29.2. Calculate R(0) wheo p¡ = p2 and u1 = v2.

Even ifooly P-waves are measured, the earth i5 a.ctually elastic. When a P_wove strikes
an elastic interface (rock contact) ¿t an angle there are ge[e¡ally four wal€s crcated, Fit-
ure 1678. Each of tbe scatteld P_ ¿¡d s_e¡av€s bás an associated re8ection/t¡aDsmission
coefrciet¡t: R"r,, Rp",799, Tp". Thes€ are r€ry compüc¿ted exp¡dsions of the six elsstic
pa¡arnetels, (;o,"",p) i6-" s¡d below the interface, and the incideot angle The mo6t
important coeifcieat from an interpretive poit¡t of view is the P-P ¡eflection co€6cient,

Tbe elastic P-e¡41€ reflectioü b€haüo¡ fo¡ the gas sand model is shox4r itr FiSure 168E¡'
The elastic and aaoustic ¡eflectioos co€ffici€dts for this cos€ sre r€ry siEilÚ This is ususlly
t¡ue of velocity ir¡v€rsion (o¡1 ) upz) cases, but fo¡ hard interfaces (orl < o?2) the elsstic
&p(r) exhibits much more comPlicated behaüo! than the ocoustic E(')'
This situatio¡l can
ocáur in an exploratioD settiDg such as shale over dolomite, or shale over salt Figure 169
compales acoustic and elastic ¡eflection coeficients fo¡ a situation of low-velocity shale over
salt.

29.2 Reconnaissance A\/O

gos sa'nds'
The basic otservation leading to AVO i5 that some resenoir reflectors, chiefly
show an inclease in amPlitude with ofiset while no!-gos leflectors show little inclease or
even a shd¡p decresse i¡ amPltude with ofiset.

when l¿¡ge aress need to be scanned for AVO anoEalies, a simPle method is oft€n üsed'
This is ca[Jthe intercept-$adiet¡t, o! AB, method lt is baséd oD the mathematica]
fact
tbat the €l¿stic P-wave reflection coeEcient can be aPProximated by
R4PQ\ = A+ B sin2(01

$¡he!e,4istheamPütudel,¡]ueatzeroofis€t(irteraept),4ldBisthe.slope(orgmdieaú).
To use ttus relationshiP, it is Decessary to tlansfo¡m the ofiset ox¡s
in CMP gathe¡s to si¡e_
be €stimated
squarJ of the incideü alrgle. This reqüres velocity informstion which cao
from the data itself.
pa¡aúeter cont¡asts
This epproximstion is valid fo¡ sm¿ll incidelce angles and s!¡all
29 AMPLÍTUDE TI 301

{).0
+180"
-0.1
+140'
+100'
ró0'
€ -0'4
+20'
E -os - 20'
< -0.ó
-60"
-o.7
- 100'
-0.8
- 140.
-09 v2=8ffi 92 = 2.11
- r80.
-lo
30' 40' 50" ó0' ?0' t0' 90'
(A)

rOO
+1t0"
-0.1
+ 140'
-0.2
+ 100'
+óO'
-oo
{ +20" o
- 20. É
a.o.ó
-o.7
- 100"
-03 |=¡omo vsl = ¡1082 ol =2.4 - t¡to.
-09 = 80m vs2 =5333 02=2.14
- lt0"
-lo
0. ¡0" 20" 30' 40' 50' ó0' ?0' 80' 90'
(B) Ansl. of incidct¡ct

Fi8ure 16Er Tbeoretic¡l angular refection coe6cie¡ts fo¡ 8 Guü of Mexico 8¿s s¿nd (A)
Acoustic ¡eflection coeficient. (B) Elastic P-P ¡eflection coe6cieDt. The teologic ú¡odel is
o shale o!€r a gas-satu¡ated, low-t€locity 6¿¡dstoDe.
29 AMPL|IWE II 302

+ 1.0
+ 180"
+0.9
+140'
+0.8
+r00'
+60"
+0.ó
+20'
+0-5
-20.
+0.4
v2= l55m p2
= 2.1
- 60'
+0.3
- 100"
+o-2
- 140"
+0.1
- lto'
+0.0
0' I0' 20" J0" 50' ó0" 70ó t0' 90"
(A)

Elritic rpdcl
I= ó000 v3l =/t062 Dl = z4
= l55m v32=7500 p2:2.1
+ 1.0
+160"
+0.9

+0.8
+ 100"
+ó0'
+0.ó
+0.5
E
+0.4 Ph¡l€
-60"
+0.3 - - 100'
+o.2
- 140'
+o.l - 180"
+0.0
0. 10" 20' 30' 40" 50' 60' ?0' 80' 90'
(B) Anslc or incid€rEc

Fiqure169:Theoreticala'ogrrlarrelectioncoefrcie¡tsforaha¡ditrterfa.e.(A)Acousticre-
i"li-" . (B) El;tic P-P leflection coefrcient The geologic model is a sbale/solt
coDtact.
"*m"*t
29 AMPLTTUDE II 303

sc¡oss the reflecti.Dt bterfsce. Both á a.od B s¡e ñ¡¡ctio6 of the elastic parameters
either side of the itrterfs¿e.

Figü¡e 170 6hows the geometrical bssis fo¡ this AVO method.

; \
True
E

lntcrccpt = A ---> =B

sin2 o

FiFre 170: For ¡eco¡naissance AVO analysis tbe true Iwave reflectiotr coeficient, -R r, is
app¡oximated by an iDte¡cept, á, and a slope or gradieat, B.

To isolate the angula¡ reflection coefrcient, p¡estack dsta rBust be specially processed
for AVO [50]. Tbe msjor steps are:

Amplitude corlections Geometrical spreadiDt, sttenuation, surface coDsistent scaling.

'\ry'aveform corrections source/receiver
directivity compeNation, su¡face cor¡siste¡¡t de-
convotu on,
IYaveltime cor¡ections NMO a¡d residual NMO, multiple suppression, DMO, (prefer-
ably) mig¡ation, and sort to cmp gatbe¡s.

At thG point the CMP gathers are ready for the AVO process whicb is summ&¡ized itr
Figule l7l. The AVO intercept and g¡¿dient sections can b€ interpreted for anom¿lies of
lf¡te¡est.

There has evolved s cl&ssification scheúe for AVO behaüor [69] [75]- The AVO model is
a saadstooe overlain by shale. Figure 172 is ¿n overvie¡¡ of AVO behsüor atrd the classes.
The r8liatioD of reflection coe6cieüt with iDcidceBce angle is showD in Figure 172A. Since
the re0ectioü co€ficient is liDea¡ iD 3i¿20 (to iesdiDg order), it is nonüDear iD ,.
29 AMPI,ITT]DE TI 304

E
i: CMP Fther o¡ biñ

Ar¡gle Esnsfoín¡lioo: Otrs.t -> Sin ¿ o

Lincs! frt ofamp¡itude a! each timÉ lcvel

l¡tcrccp¡trec cr¡dicnt lr¡.c

AC) B(t)

I)
( ?

Ficure 1?l: Itrtercept-g¡adient AVO processing. FYoñ top: l Ea'h CMP Sather or bio i5
t¡Ásfo¡med from offset ¡a sin2ei 2. fo¡ ea{ü time level of i¡ter€st the sEPlitude ddts Poitrts
are 6t with s line ch6¡¿.te¡iz€d by the int€¡cept, .4, ¿¡d 8¡adie[t, B; 3' rep€¡tiDg
fo¡ all
time levels ¡elds i¡ iDte¡cePt t¡a.e a,Dd e 8¡adie¡t tlace fo¡ es¿h CMP or biD; 4 lePeating
for all CMPs yields eo iBtercePt 6nd gsdieDt sectio¡ or data voluroe'
29 AMPLITWE II 305

There are four classes l¿beued I-ry. CIass III is the cla.ssic 8¿s €fiect AVO onomaly; e
relatively strong ir¡te¡cept a,Dd iDcleasillg a¡oplitude with ofiset (io 8Á absolute seuse). In
Figu¡e 172A tbj.s i¡formatiolt is given i¡ terms of aú intercept-g¡adieDt crossplot. The class€s
map to ditierent sle€s itr this plot. Whed r,orking with l¿¡ge data 6ets, tbese c¡csPlots sr€
useful for screening AVO aaomalie.

Table 11 giv'es information about classes. For mo¡e ilform¿tion the interested rc¿de¡ is
refe¡¡ed to f691.

P-MÉ E lé,riú @ff¡cE¡l

o.2

0.t J

9 0.t

É -'{r.--.
-"-"{r--._-.-"--.*. :
E -0 05

--rvl>-...-<-
-0.15

¡0rt20u3035 -0.t 0 ol
AvO i .ÉF (A)
(A) (B)

Figure 172: AVO clsssifrcation scheme based on A-B crossplotting. (Ftom [69]) (A) Reflec-
tion coefficients as a function of incidence angle. Sand class€s l-IV a¡e shown. (B) AVO
c¡ossplot of intercept against g¡adient. The four sand classes plot to ce¡tain arcas oD this
diagram as shona. Quad¡ants of tbe plot are l8belled QL-Q4.

29.3 Adranced Topic: Detailed AVO analysis

When the goal is extraction of subtle ¡esenoi¡ propeÉies, like porosity, reconnaissaüce AVO
may not b€ sumcient. In this case ray-trace modeling r:sing the acquisition geometry and
full el¿stic reflection coemcieDt may be appropriate. Sample oütput ftom such a study is
X AMPIXTUDE TI m6

iEov€rlyingü¡itQ4+'De$e¡s€s
II About the so,roe as Q2, Q3, or Q4 + or - - lacrease or decreaee;
the overM¡g u¡it nay chante 6ig¡
III Lower tha¡ ovetlyi¡g unit Q3 l¡creases
W Los,€! th¿r¡ ol€¡lyiÁg ü¡it Q2 - + D€cress€s

Table 11: Summary of AVO bohovio¡ i¡ r¡a¡ious gas 8a¡d cl¿sses' (FloE [69]) The quad¡ants
rcfrr to Figure fzrB.

show¡ iD Figure€ 173 6Dd 174.

29 AMPI,TTUDE II 307

Rayplot not |o saalc

Modcl = gulf.gas.avo
Shooting s ct- up........
Ncar offsct = 0.00 Far offsct = 12.00
Reccivcr spacing = 0.50 Numbcr ofrcccivcrs = 25
Inicrmcdiatcláy.ringmodel ....... (Nuncr of activc laycrs = 7,
byc¡ Vclocity D¿prh
| 4.20 0.25
2 8.20 0.85
3 9.20 1.98
4 | 5.20 2.50
5 8.20 3.10
6 15.20 3.46
7 10.00 5.00
(Dcpth = 5.00)
r"l = lo.m vsl =3.m dcr¡l =2.40
lpl = 8.00 vsl = 5.00 dc¡l = 2.14
U¡rils..,,..,
l¡ngrh unirs = tn v€lociry unirs = K/s

Fi$¡e 173: Detailed AVO tr¡odeling for a subsalt case. A lsyt¡ace plot iDvolüDt B€lro
i¡terfaaes ¿¡d 25 ofisets is showtr abol,e. The pa¡¿mete¡s describint the roodel ¿¡d shooti¡g
geooetry a¡e listed below the plot. Tbe bottod iDte¡fsce, labeled elastic rtfecaor, is top of
the gas saDd. Layers 4 and 6 ¡epleseDt salt lsyers,
29 AMPI,ÍTUDE II 308

-0.064

{.r2t
{.rt
4.256

-o.32

0 | 23 4 5 6 7 A 910 ll 12
OIhc( (kfr)
Rec.iv€f
¡r¡8b!t Olfls &ItArcS&8) Amplitude Phaqe ldegr IiEclr]
t 0.0 0.00 -o.161t2 +0.00 t.0tl66
0.5 2.46 -0.16783 +0.oo t.0t29l
1.0 5.70 -0.1ó935 +0.00 1.086ó3
4 1.5 8.51 .0.1? 186 +().00 l 09285
2.O 11 .21 -o.t7529 +0.00 I .10148
6 2.5 13.92 -0,t7949 +0.00 l.l l23 t
7 3.0 ló.51 .0.18444 +0.00 t.t2544
8 3.5 18.99 .0.18999 +0.00 1. t 40ó8
9 4.0 2r.35 -0.19601 +0,00 l.l5?93
t0 4-5 23 -58 -o.20236 +0.o0 1.17704
ll 5.0 25.61 -0.20890 +0.00 l.l97Er
27.61 -0.21549 +0.00 1.22031
6.O 29.39 -0.22199 +0.00 t,24418
l4 ó.5 3l.00 -0.22427 +0.00 L26933
l5 1.O 32.45 .o.23421 +0.00 t.29564
l6 7.5 33.72 -o.23912 +0.00 t.32294
t7 8.0 34-E4 -o.24471 +0.00 t.t5r 12
l8 8.5 35,19 -o-24914 +0.00 1.3t003
l9 9.0 3 6.61 -0.25302 +0.00 1.40958
20 9.5 31 .29 -0.25636 +0.00 t,43964
2l 10.0 37.86 -0.25921 +0.00 1.47013
22 10.5 3 8.33 - 0.26161 +0.00 1.50098
23 I 1.0 38.7 4 -o.26310 +0.00 1.53345
24 I1.5 39.O5 -0-26534 +().00 1.56404
25 t2.o -o.2667 4 +0.00

FiEu¡e174:DetailedAVoli¡ePlotsuddststabl€.Theteultsshowclassicgas-sand
be-heüon an i¡crease in obdolute ¡úPlitude $¡ith oFset'
30 RASERVOIB ¿TVD DEILLTNG 309

3O Reservoir and Drilling

The púmary s€is¡nic qua¡tity displs,'€d for detailed interp¡etation b the amplitude. The
data voluEe ü then aamplitude fnctior of th¡ee space dimeúsioDs, A(r,v, z) ot A(r,y,t),
WleD iDteg¡ated with well inforrdation and se¡mic modeling, detailed studies of ¿mpütude
varistion ac¡o€s the $D survey area can yield ¿ g¡€et desl of infocoatioB aboui a leserioi¡.

A simple description of ¡eservoi¡ benefrts from !D seismic [86] is given in Table 12.

Attributes Geologic beüefits Enginee¡i¡g beneits

&D migstion Accur¿te geoloet¡y Fewer dry holes
&D density Rrservoi! deüDestioD More p¡oduction per well
Data rclume Interpretabiüty Few€r develop!úent wells
Spstiol cotrtinuiry heterogeneity Ea¡lier p¡oductioD, enhanced lrlue

Toble 12: Benefits of &D seismic method fo¡ reservoir engineering.

Here is s b¡ief itrveDtory of known aDd reported resenoir descriptio¡ applicotions of

inteS¡ated 3 D seismic amp[tude va,riation. The orgs¡izatioD süd i.nforrDation iD this s€ction
is mostly from {741, aod eocompa.sses ma¡y structu¡al aDd stlati$sphic items discussed
earlier.

The major cat¿golies of benefit f¡om !D seismic form a long listl

R.eservoi¡ Properties
Poror¡s i¡¡terrals Map gross pore feet (porosity times thick¡ess) for gas-flled reser-
voirs; Signature is bright 6pot and/or increasitrg AVO efiect.
Fluid contacts Primarily gas/liquid (oil or water); Signatule is 0at spot and/or
w&velet phase t¡ansitioo.
Distributio¡r a¡d coDtinuity of reservoit Map $.D Detwork of large a.od small
faults, also strikeslip ¿Dd coBplex &D fsults.
Abnormal ¡ese¡voir pressure
Nature of reservoir bounda¡ies Idenlify unconformities, faults, a¡d st¡¡tig¡¿phic
bar¡ie!6.
Su¡veilla¡ce of stea¡n, water a-nd COz flood. Monitor directio¡ offiüd oovemeDt,
6haFe of flood ñoot, a¡d idetrtify spstisl heterogeBeity of ¡Bervoi¡. Ttack ther-
mal ftonts to delineste permesble 6t€als, ¿.csess res€rvoir coDDectiüt]; detect
iDtra¡es€rvoi¡ ba¡¡iers, aod follow gas cap displacement.
30 RESERVOIR AND DRILLING 310

Tecto¡ics a¡d Structu¡e

Subtle faults (th¡o*' less t¡¡a.n 10 ft) Linea¡ festu¡es oú horizo¡ a¡opütude Eap6
Areal tracing of faults Ob6erve fEult terminstio!8 ioto u¡conformity o¡ lexu¡e,
determine ¿ge of faulting froro l'erticel sectioDs, a,Dd idertify reserroi! comPart-
ments.
Distribution a¡d continuity of reservoi¡ Map 3-D network of large and small
faults, also st¡ikeslip aod c¡mplex $D feults. F¿ult PlaD€s csü oftetr be imaged
and mapped. B€d termitratio¡s i¡dicste fsulti.Dg wheu Do fault pla,ne i8 plesent.
3-D fault mapping Avoids fault aliasing (erroneous i¡terPret&tioD), gives better-
defined prospect f¿ult blocks, co¡st¡ains tectoDic sceo8rio aDd fluid flow siEule-
tioDs.
Natu¡e of reservoir bou¡da¡ies Identify uDcoüformities, fsults, aDd stratigaPbic
bsrriers,
Surveillance of stearnt utater and CO2 flood Monitor direction offluid moveme¡t,
shape of flood front, and ideotify spstisl heterogeneity of reservoir. lta¿k ther-
mal fro¡ts to delineate perroeable stesks, ass€ss reservoir cotroectivity, detect
intrar€s€lvoi! bar!ie$, and follow gas c¿p dÉplacemeut.

Litholos¡
Gene.al Estimate sand/shale rstios' indicote coal a!¡d mineralized zones, map 3-D
sand wedges and piuchouts, aDd ideDtify uPdiP truDcdtion of alteúating litholo-
gr€s into unconfo¡mity.
Identify sa¡rd ñlled channels M¿p sand v. shale chaunel 6ll, delircste indiüdual
sand bodies including subroarine fa¡s and tu¡bidites.
Identify carbonate porosity zones Eüdence is due to combined effects of poros_
itf rugose surfa.€s o¡td kar6ti6c¿tion.
Diagenetic bounda¡ies Some have clear ¿mPlitude expr€ssion, e'8', oPaline siüca
to quartz.
Sedimentolo5¡
General MaP utrconformity surf¡.es, Paleo¡elief features, delineation of submarine
fa¡s and individual fan lobes, a¡d geometry of tu¡bidites'
Ancient depositional environments Map channel s¡stems (meatrders, o(bort lak€s'
difiereni generatiou of channels), paleoüaimge i¡cludiDg sédiroeDt trsnsPort di
rections, and lake dePosits.
30 RESERYOIR AND DRNUNG 311

30.1 Horizontal Drilling

Both horizoDtsl d¡illing and lD seismic hale bee¡ arou¡d for maÁy yeaas. Hoc'ever' they
are a tretu¡sl combinatioo which has only rece¡tly been atteúpted. Otre of tbe feYr discus_
sioDs of this topic is fouod in [81]. Tbe future will see g¡o*th in horizotrtal d¡illing aDd its
connectioD to !D €€ismic.

Horizontal wells have bee¡ found very ueeful i¡ ¡€servoi¡s r'ith p¡oductive iltersels
th¿t are vertically orie¡ted (peüoeability anisot¡opy) or n¿rrow in map üert. The cl¿ssic
exs¡Dple is vertically frsctu¡ed calbonste (Austin Chalk). But it is trow clea¡ tbst ma¡y
rcservoirs cari benefit ftom horizo¡tal drilling of productioo and/o¡ iniectio¡ wells.

Some general interest cur¡eDt il¡formatioD about ho¡izoütal d¡iüin8:

. Vertical drilling lst€s a¡e usually sloE€r than horizoütal drilling ¡&tes.
o Measureoent while drilling (MWD) provides preirrosioo logging data, while r¡ireline
loggi¡g gives s po6tiúv6sioÁ look at the forEatioD-
¡ Onshore U.S. horizotrtal drilling co6t ruDs about 1.t2-0 tiE€s that of standard l€¡tical
drilling.
. A tpical Austin Chalk horizontal ¡'ell costs $700 000 - $1 500 000.
. A tpic¿l Norw€dan ofishore horizontal weI costs $25 000 000.
. It is estimated that 2000 horizontal s,ells ¡¡ere drilled worldwide in 1997. U.S. rig
counts for March 1999 show 31 horizoDtal sells out of 500 sctive ¡igs.

. Wltch Farm (onshore UK) ñeld wells hare a l0 Km horiz,o¡tal leg to avoid building
¿¡¡ ofisho¡e g¡avel island.

. Conr€Dtional horimntal drilling equipmetrt does not work v,¡ell beyotrd 12 000 ft depth
a,nd/or 300' C.

30.1.1 Well Ste€rina

A horizontal w€ll is t)?ically designed to harc a georaetlic sectio¡ ¿!d ¡ geo€te€ling section,
as shoe¡D io Figure 175. In the ea¡lier geometric section the sell i6 d¡illed a.co¡ding to a
preset plan. ID the teosteelhg s€ction ¡eal-time logs (MWD) ale used to steer the ¡¡'ell
rrithin the ta¡get fomstioE. Tbis is !€rtical, Dot mapview, steeriDg.
30 RESERVOIR .AND DKILLNG 3r2

Figule 175: Geonetric s¡d teosteei¡g 8€ctio¡a of s ho¡izo¡ta¡ w€ll.

Some of the t$ic¿l sceDsriG fo! ho¡izotrtal driüiog are üowo il Figure 176.

g0.l.2 >D v. 3-D Dip Eatin¡ates

A key to succ€ssful pleüüi¡g of s horimntal well is detailed k¡o$'ledte of the diP rste
a¡d orientatioD of the t¿¡get. Co¡ventional 2-D s€ismic gives spPs¡ent dip in the pl¿¡e
of the seismic lioe or, worse, eideswipe dip. &D ¡eismic gives tbe true dip ss well as
detsiled structu¡¿l elemeDts li&e f¡ults ¿¡d u¡coDforEities. Fi$¡e l77 shows hos inco¡rect
sss€ssmetrt of diP c¿¡ affect the bolizoDtsl well.

30.1.3 Flacture Density and Azimuthal Well Steering

R€lsti\¡e fto.tu¡€ deDsity has b€e¡ ¡ePort¿d t.o tiv€ s good sEplitude 8ig¡sture by dimDi¡g
over a¡eas of incre¿sed ftactü¡i4 M. But i.d¿rp¡etstioD of this effect o¡ }D s€ismic i8 very
diñcult. Witb &D d¡ta it Bay be p6sible to mEp this amplitude behavior 8¡d id€Dtify
f¡actu¡e t¡ends, Fi$¡e 178.

To this poi¡t, tbe case fo¡ $D seisúic in advaDc€ of horizo¡tal driüing has inolwd
gD d8t¿
io-plane (vertical) p¡op€rties (diP, r¡ults, fractu¡e de¡sity)' But the re¡l n€€d for
fol tl" t""i tLt t¡e bo¡iro¡tal s€ll a¿inuth is v€ry itoportá¡t' &D dsts csÁ EupPly
"i-o
the b€st i¡forú¿tion for ¡ziDl¡thsl 6tee¡iry of the horüontal well'
30 RESERVOIR AJVD DRIII;ING 313

) roso n

Figure 176: Some horizottal well examples,

(B)

Figure l7:(A) Horizontal driüiag based on appareat dip6 fro!¡¡ 2-D seismic Dsy Eiss the
ts¡get (track 1) a¡d ¡equi¡e dnstic dow¡hole co¡rectioDs duriog d.iliog (ba.ü 2). (B)
Using !D seisoic gives tn¡e st¡i¡c s¡d dip for optinun we[ pl¿¡ni¡g (tra.k 3).
N FJSSFyON AND DRI¿¿¡NG

The bottor¡ ü¡e oD ho¡izostal drilli¡g is eco¡oEic success, &D séisEic ca¡ utdoubt€dly
i¡c¡€¿se the plobabüty of a Bucc¿ssfr¡l ho¡izortd r,€ll.

fr
cü of2.D..¡Bi.
Cü tic
of 2.D ..¡!ti. [G 3-Dráúú.d..

Figüre 178: &D data asy p¡ovide iDforEstio¡ fo¡ azimuthal (nepüew) steeriog of a
horizo¡tal ¡¡ell, including iDte¡cePt ¿¡gle with frác,tu¡e3'
31 SEISI\tIC RESERVOIR I¡\¡IIERSION 3r5

31 Seismic Reservoir Inversion

Over the la.st decade, the connectioD b€tr¡'ee! E6ervoi¡ mgineering and geoph¡'aics has
moved idto iew arcas. It used t,o be that the rcle of geopbl¡sics [87] was roainly to Provide
i¡formotio¡ that dehied the phrsic¿l liúits of leservoirs. Toda¡ the inteDt is to úap
compositional snd physicsl chaDge6 within the reservoi¡ aúd potential fluid co¡te¡t voluDes.

Beyond deteroiniog simply r€6ervoi¡ ümits, tbe detsil€d ciaracte¡ of the reservoi¡ a¡d
its seismic expr€ssiotr are oftel of iDterest.

31.1 Geophysical Data and Goals

It importdnt to u¡derstand the w¡ioüs kiüds of inlormation available s¡¡d bow they relste
is
to the seismic dsta:

'Well information Very high lesolutioü i¡lormatiotr iD t€rtical di¡ectiotr frotD logs and
co¡es. Inform&tioü has ¡o lateral extent. Sonic log gives (vertical) velocity aDd pore
fluid itrdications, but beera¡e adsotropf Density lot dves msss density. Dip meter
giv€s st¡uctu¡al/strotig¡aphic dip components at the well.

\/SP Vertical s€ismic profiles have medium resolution info¡mstion at ¿¡d Dea¡ the well l95l;
p¡ima¡ily vertical information. Best source of 6eismic velocity cotrtlol, leflector co¡¡e-
latior r¡'ith geologic boutrdaries, time/depth relationshiFs ar¡d wavefoltn tuning phe-
nomena. Bewa¡e of q'avelet a¡¡d bar¡dwidth difier€Dces between VSP aDd gD s€ismic.
aDd also difielent aDisotlopy efiects (VSP is subvertical)-

Cross-¡¡ell seismic High resolution data betweeD t$o o¡ more *ells. Still i¡¡ de!€lopúent
61age, but becoming a common tool. Information from c¡6s-well includes tomog¡ams
(velocity, density, porosit)¡, oil satu¡ation), ¿Dd high-resolution reflectior¡s in the ücin-
ity of wells. In the future, Bay have poteDtisl to indicste irterv/eU permesbility.
3-D seismic Medium-to-low ¡esolutiotr information at aDd betweeD wells. Seve¡al factors
combine to create 6nal ¿mpütude behavior. Provides info¡mation about reservoir
st¡ucture and stratigaphf as well as fault patterDs aDd ofiset. Exhibits bigh seDsi-
tiüty to gss efiect and some dependence on porosity.

The ultim¿te gosl i.s to i¡corporste all of the geoph)'rsic¿l d¿ta, as w€ll ss etrgiDeeri¡g
data, to de\€lop a utrifed reservoi¡ model. This model v¡or¡ld include, st lesst:
31 SEISMIC R;EgENVO'¡ T¡TVERSION 316

1. Structu¡e
2. Stratigrophy
3. Roc.k ftame properties (i.e', üthology)

4. Po¡osity
5. Pore flüd (kird and sstut¿tio!)
6. PerEe¿bility (fo¡ reservoir flow si8ulstio¡s).

Without !D seis¡oic coverage th6e proP€rti€3 cao oDly be i¡terpolsted or ststistic¿lly

iDflled betweeD r€ll loc¿tioDs.

31.2 Seismic Inversion

Figurel?gshowsecooceptu¿lmodel-basedi¡ve¡9io¡ÉcheBeforleserr'oi¡charactelizatioD.

The process b€giDs witb the buildi[t of ¿ &servoir úodel froD:

1. Well data (logs, eores)

2. E¡gi¡e€ritrg dsts
3. VSP iDte¡Pret¿tion
4. I¡iti¿l &D seismic interpretation ¿t !€servoi¡ lei€l'

The &D ¡eservoi¡ model is the¡ i¡put to a seismic simulstioD roodule which
ge¡erat¿s
the theo¡etical seisEic sEpütude D¡P at the reservoü level'5 The s¿ismic simulstio! c8D

be siople or comPlex:

Simple Acoustici straigbt !¿ys; zero offs€t; 6lte¡ed 6pike traa€s'

prcc€ss
Complex Elastic; cr¡rvd ray o¡ wov€ €qustioi úethod; geoerste p¡€stsck data;
;iEulsted data th¡ough migt¿tio¡ to forú d¿ta cub€; extract dmPlitude ú3p
at ¡€se¡-

loir level; etc.

--b t¡,t" ,t6;G l.*"i", t .uch too simpti'tic. A¡y F¡listic m.thod sould n..d to coBider
".1,"-. rÉ'rvoú' But üit d€'ciption i! 8uñci'¡t to a!! thc conc¿pts
-.- t¡." .¡*i * .-p¡!u¡ie msP of th€
31 SEI,S.MIC RESERVOIR ¡¡f1¿ERS¡( .V 317

WcI d¿¡a (logs, co¡!,s)

cnginc¿riog dro
VSP iÍlcrFct¡tion
initiál :!D scismic

Rcscrvoir modcl
(sEuco¡rE, str¡dgraphy, vclocity,
dcnsú, liihology, porosity,

Update rcs€woir
model subjcct lo
hard dat¡ €onstr¡irtt

PrEdict€d seismic
amplitudc map
¡t rcscrvoir level

ampli¡rdc map to
rcal amplitudc m¡p
íiom 3-D s¿ism¡c
Good ag¡€cmcnt

Figur€ 179: Co¡ceptu¿l Aow di¿g¡ae of a ¡oodel-based itrr'ersio¡ p¡ocedü¡e fo¡ ¡e¡e¡roi¡
chs¡a¿t€¡izatio¡.
31 SEISMIC EESERVOIR ffi¿ERSION 318

The seismic sioul¡to¡ ge¡e¡ates a Predicted ¿mplitude EsP at the r€€€ñoi¡ level. This is
the¡ co!¡pa¡ed to the reol &D seisroic a,mplitude map. At this Poiut s judgoent i5 msde (by
human or computer) wbether the predicted ¿üd real arlPlitude roaPs are in ag¡ee¡oeBt. This
!48¡ee'. The¡e a¡e mstry ¡¡eásures of
brings into questio¡ what it mea¡s for two imagé to
ag¡eement ftom simple subtraatiotr to somethint very comPlicated.

At any rate, the arnpütude maPs a¡e co¡lpared;if they are judged to be in at¡eeúent,
thetr the p¡oc€ss is te¡EiDsted with the result being a reservoir model coDsistent with all
svsilable d¿ta. The reservoi¡ model cstr tben be us€d ¿s a tool in ¡e6ervoi! ¡oa¡rage¡nent
(e.g., flüd flow simul¿tioD, EOR p¡oject dry ¡r¡¡' ecotronic evaluatioo of EOR technologr'
etc.)

If the predicted and real amPlitude maPs a¡e not in Sood eg¡eement (by some Eeasu¡e)
then the reservoi¡ model is uPdated This update of the model wiü be done in such a way
th&t hard data, like formatiotr depth and thick¡¡ess at w€ll locations' are not violated'

The updated model is then ioput to the seis¡lic siEulstor. The si¡nülato¡ outPut G
another predicted omplitude map wbich is compared $'itb the real oDe aDd, if Decessary,
anotber update to the ¡eservoi¡ .oodel is ¡nade, a¡¡d so on. This co¡tinues uotil t€rminated
by stopping c¡iteria of a.ceptable agrce6ent or s ms¡imum Bumber of iterotioDs'

After iuversion, the res€rvoir model is comPlete a¡d ready for r¡se in ¡eservoir úanate-
me¡t os desclibed above.
It should be st¡€ssed that current Pr&ctice in ¡eselvoir chslacterizatiotr using !D seismic
data is fa¡ ftom this Srand inversion schene. But this i5 the way of the future For a good
overview of curreDt practice s€e IU.

31.3 Impedance Inversio¡

Whst mea¡s to i¡te¡Plet seismic data is changing rapidly Ttaditio¡al interPretation

it
generated
úethods á¡d products Point toward the geologist Synthetic seismoS¡aús,are
events'
from sonic a¡á density logs to correlate geologic units to mi$ated seismic ¡eflection
Tlsveltiroe inte¡pretation gives p¡es€Dt ald Past st¡uctursl i[formation Geometry
s¡d
gt¡atig¡aPhy a¡d depo€itional enüroaEeDt'
amplitude of seismic lenections catr itrdicate
For a fe*, key ho¡izons, depth !¡aF¡6 are made by calibratiDg tra!€ltiroes to
well dePths'
Finally, horizotr aroplitude maF are made süd tied to weU coDtrol, l€sdiDt
to po¡osity or
res€rvoir qualitY m3P6.

ID some qua!te6, seismic interp¡etatio¡ hss tumed toE the geologist and is aimed
31 SEISMIC RESERVOIR IM/ERSION 319

squs¡ely at the pet¡oleum engi¡eer. Mig¡ated s€ismic traa€s are o¡e-dioe¡sio¡8lly i¡v€rted
lor impedance. kopeds¡ce t¡ac€s are depth-coDve¡ted salopl€ by saÉple to make a volu-
met¡ic res€rvoi¡ model. Impedatce is stati.sticslly fitted to poro€itf 8r¡d po¡osity i¡ escü
cell is €stioated. FYom the¡e it is on to flow simulstion atrd estiDating pressure decliae
cr¡n€s. Wells a¡e spotted aDd frelds are developed on impedance voluees - üot o¡ seisEic
data volumes.

The issue of interpretation veBus iDversion i.s s¡ importa¡t o¡e. Itrterpretation ia fu¡d&
mentally a human endeavo¡ with coúputer süpport, while in!€lsio¡ is ¡ coeputer plocess
vith some hur¡tan guidance. As geophysicists we have been working on sehmic invergion
for over 30 )rs¡s. Part of the problem ¡ ou¡ overuse of the word inversion. To 6o¡!¡e it
mea¡¡s true aEplitude migratio¡, wlúl€ others would ssy inve¡sio¡ is prestack, full-waleform
estimation of 'R., rclocity, o¡ other parameters.

One-dimens¡o¡ral iúpedaDce iDversioD is s ploduct of the early 19706, aBd the¡e hes
b€en precioua little published on this technique since the lat€ 1970s, The concerDs lrith
impeda[ce i¡velsioD are well know¡. The method requires Deally DC signal frequency
content, precis€ knowledge of the (cbaoging) wavelet, very hiSh dsta quality (signal-tG
noise ratio), ¿tls€Dce of multiples, atrd flawless s¡¡¡plitude pr€servatio¡ throughout data
acquGitiotr 6¡d processing.

Mig¡ated dota is the input to impedance inve¡sion, and a básic plemise is that reflection
peak amplitudes are p¡oportional to the nortr¡al incidence leflection coeficient, 8o,
I^-
n =!;;'
t2+tl
T,

where p is msss density aad t, is P-ware velocity. Real seismic d¿ta is shot with a r¿¡ge of
offs€ts and collaps€d back to zero ofiset througb CMP stacking. If we consider an isolated,
isotropic, ela.6tjc inte¡face in the ea¡th, its reflection a¡¡plitude ¿s s fu¡ctioD of incidence
angle is given approximately by

R(0) * R. Cos20 + .É Sin20 ,

^d
where d is the incidence angle and Ao is the PoissoD ratio coDt¡¿st acro€s tbe interface.

l\fodern ma¡ine shooting will give an iDcidence angle range of about G30". The sta.king
process acts like a summation of all ampljtudes in tbis lange,

a"r"* =
lo"'/u
a1e¡ w= 0.47$06 n +0.022646s ad
Using parameters tSrpical of shale and gas sand in the Gulf of Mexico f98l *e h¿ve

R" : -.04
31 SEISMIC RESERVOIR I¡úI¿ERS'ON 3n

Ao = _.3i ,

¡¡d s topof-saDd sto.k soplitude of

n roc¡ = -0.0191322 - 0'0083792r = -0'0275114

To 8ut¡ up this lesult, i! this c¡se fot a Gu¡f of M@dco g.s 8o¡d the stack a¡úPlitude
is coDposed of 69% Do¡úsl i&ide¡ce ¡electiot¡ coeñcient and 3l% Poi¡sotr rstio coDt¡ast.
AVO ¡¡iza¡ds ha\/e k¡os'¡ about thiE siDce the es¡ly 198{h. So herc the i¡itisl ¡ssümptiotl
fo¡ impedance iDversioD, that sto{k ¿mplitude is proportional to Re, has a¡ e!ro! ttsr of
so!¡ethi¡g tike 30%, Now bring oo the ¡e6l r¡o¡ld comPlicatio¡s aod lJe should all be a bit
Dervou6.

Plate 14 shows a higb-quality seisEic line which brs been iDv€rt¿d br imp€d¡úce. The
i¡upedaDce sectio¡ is sort of ¿ tock view" of the sei6nic i!¡age. It may be o useñrl image
for geologist o¡ engi¡eer to help ut¡derstaDd the 8ub8u¡face, but it is Dot a 6übstitute for
the seisbic dsts its€lf.
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: RESERVOIR FLVID PROPEETIES 321

32 Adwanced Topic: Reservoir Fluid Properties

Up to this poi¡t we have see¡ a fec, ¡el&tioDshiF bets,€en seisroic velocity s¡d imports¡t
rock prope¡ties, palticülsrly porogity. But the situotioÁ is ¡sthe¡ more coEplicsted thatr
aDy siEple equatioD ca¡¡ captr¡¡e.

luids and ¡ocks.

To do thi.6 rigbt, w€ oeed to consider the detailed p¡opertie6 of ¡e¡ervoi!
These a¡e importa¡t fo¡ AVO, 4D s€istoic, dod fluid substitütion work. This chspter is
drawn prioarily from [11].

32.1 Pressu¡e and Temperature Range

Ou¡ method he¡e will be to give the ¡elevs¡t equstioDs withoüt much explso¿tioü or deriva-
tion. Eact! importaDt r€sult üll also be p¡e-sented g¡aphically.
All lesu.lts in this sectioB a¡e functions of pressure aDd temperstu¡e, so it is importa¡t
to how the ¡a¡rge of coDditions likely to b€ e¡countered in petroleu¡r¡ reservoiÉ.

I¡ the earth the geothermal gadient is, in gederal, about 25"C/k¡¡r. AU ¡esults will be
plotted here on th€ ls¡ge G350oC (32-662'F). lvith the st¿¡dard teúperature g¡adient,
the maximum ter¡peratures co¡¡espond to a depth of ¡oughly 14 km (over 40 000 ft). But
thes€ temp€ratures csD be encou¡tered clo6e¡ to the surface dep€ndilg oD loc¡l cotrditions.

For pressure, there are two g¡adients. Lithostatic prBsure due to rock mass increáses
at the r6te of about 1.0 psi/ft. This i6 called the anfning pressute. The pore fluids,
bowever, are sssuÍ¡ed to be iD pr€ssu¡e communic¿tioD aDd subject to the hyd¡ostatic
pressure gradieot of 0.47 psi/ft. Pore pressure is of interest he¡e, and will be plotted from
0.1-100 MPa (14.7-14 700 psi). This corcrs reservoirs down to depths of 9470 m (31 280 ft)
depth. However high pressu¡es can be encountered at ¡e¿soüable depths due to overpre;sure
cotrditions in the Eservoi¡.

The pressure unit lelatioDship6 a¡e shocm io Table 23. Tbese same uDits a¡e t¡sed for
bulk modulus and el¿6tic constants.

r-:
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: RÉERVOIR FLIIID PROPEEIIES 322

32.2 Gas

Nstu¡8l grs is cl¡s8iñed hy its specific grsüty' G. this is defi¡ed ¡s the ¡stio of t¡e tas
deosity t,o 8ir deÉity 6t st¿nda¡d teEPersture ood preasure (15'6oC; 0.f MPa)'

^ Po¿¿
'=;;'
Tl¡e ¡a¡ge of G is obout 0.56 (pu¡e EethsDe) to 1.8 (besvier compoDeots).

Fo¡ the gas calcul¿tiotrs iD this sectiotr, we hove the gircr 6nd cslculoted qua¡titi€s
shown i¡ Table 13. Tbere are lots of i¡tereediste quantities to 6nd' but the6e a¡e the fi¡al
ooes we re¿lly wa¡¡t.

Give¡: P pressure MPa

? teEpe¡stü¡€
G 8as specific graüty
Calculate: pe@ gas density E/@
rrr@ g¡6 velocity m/s
/ca* &s b¡¡lk eodulus MPa
Table 13: Qusntities Siven aDd to be fouDd iD the 8as calculatio¡s.

The bulk modulus (or simply modulus) will be used in the G¿asmsn equ6tions fo!
c¿lcu¡ation of 6¡sl ro* prope¡tiE. Therefo¡e Dodulus plots sre give¡, evetr thougb this is
¡ot 6r¡ i¡tuitive qúaDtity for t¡6t p€oPle.

Gas Dé¡¡sity Th€ equatioDs sre

28.8e P
ZEr"
T +273.L5

[o.or
+ o.oosrzla.s - ry)"f c. + lo.aazt -o.oon;--0.52\+ E

0.10e(3.85 - 4.)2 s'p [- (0.45 + 8(0.56 - L/rp,f) P]i /r,,1

Td
94.72 + lm.75c
P
4.892 + 0.4048G

whe¡e R is the mola¡ tas corxtaút' R: 8.31'f4 Joule/(Ketvin*Mole)'

3:2 N)UANCED TOPTC; NESEfrI/'OIR FLUN PNOPEENE 3¿3

Thc b€hrvior of grs ¿€olity as s fu¡ctioo ofT' P' 6¡d G is süor¡ i¡ Fitut€ 180.

G* Modulur eod Veloclff The equ¡tio¡ r¡c

o., = lftw rr-lp*

, = P,to
Ep pF T= o1-Z
5A
r = 0"85 + Fft + 2?.r(pF' + 3.5)2 - 8.? E¡pl-0.65(Pr + 1)l
s = [om+o.mcaz(3.s-&f]+# .

The bst t€rn i¡ g is t¡€sey, but ca¡ be c¡lcul¿tcd ñom th€ .a¡ücr dcd¡itio¡ of E. 8e
Fi$¡e. 180 !,!d 181-

(^
32 ADYANCED TOPIC: RESERVOIR FLÍID PROPERIIES 324

o.. D.¡r!!y io.0,55)

c.r .oud a..d (oro s6) c.. round re..c lc.r.2,

g¡avitJ¡
Figure 180: Gas deasity as a fi¡¡ctioD of temPeratuae, P!€ssure, a¡ld gas specifrc
tG).
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: EESERVOIB FLUID PROPEffiIES 32t

c.. rGdulú lc.o.3a¡

Figure 181: Gas modu.lus as a ñ¡¡ctioD of temperatule, pre€sue, a¡d gas specific &svity
(G).
32 ADUANCED TOPE: RWiERVOIR FLUID PROPEETIES 326

32.3 oil
Oils a,re classi.6ed by Ame¡ica¡ Pet¡oleuh llstitute gravity 'API , f,'b.ich is i¡ tu¡¡ iol'€rs€ly
¡eLBt¿d to the oil deDsity ¿t sta¡ds¡d temperstu¡e ¡¡d p¡€ssu¡e. 'API gsüty for oil ¡aD8es
froa about !100. An oil with "API 8tsüty of 5 is bosicsly tar, while 'API 100 roüld be
indistinguishsble ñom a very heovy gas (say G=f.8). Iypic¿l c¡ude oils !6¡ge 30'45'API.

The o<pressions giren here a¡e fo! lirre oi¡ (co¡tailiDt satutotio¡ levels of dissolved gas)
The equstioDÁ include co¡rectioDs for the dissolved gas which can go i¡ or out of Bolution sa
coDditio¡s vsry. For oil calculations' there s¡e four give! a¡d th¡€e cslculoted qua¡tities'
T¿ble 14.

Given: P pressu¡e MPa

? teePe¡stu¡e
oAPI oil gloüty cc/8
C gas speciic t¡süty
Calculate: po¡¡ oil de¡sity A/.c
úo,t oil velocity m/6
k ¡¡ oil modulus MPa

Table 14: Quatrtitied give¡ srd to be fou¡d i¡ the oil calculstions.

Oil Dedsity The equations are

pe +(O.úTn P-L71 x 10-7 FXpc - 1.115)2 + 3.49 x l0-4 P

bo +O-(0L2G Pg)/Bo
141-5
,4P¡ + 131.5
Rc= 3.03 G (P Ealo.o2}¡8APt - o.oo3?7Tl)t .r75

8o = 0.e?2 + 0.0003 ap.tAJe /^*r*rz.l""

See Figure 182 wbich sbows oil de¡sity !€¡iations with T, P, 'API and G'

Oil Modulus a¡¡d Velocity The equations s¡e

h"it = p'it a?.itllffi
/ r \ú5 | 1---1
=-! .l
"-, = ----\2.6-dl
2op6( - ¡.zr+ ¿.0¿¡ + o orrs l4.t2l1'08/y'
t ' -rl'r
)
P
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: EESERVOIR FLIIID PROPEEIIES

¡9o
' Bo (l + 0.001Rc)
Oil Bodu.h¡s a¡d velocity are sho¡/¡ io Figü¡es 183 ¿¡d 184 os futrctioDs of T, P, 'API and
32 ADYANCED TOPIC: EESERVOIR FLVID PROPERTIES 328

g'8
Figüre 182: Oil deDsity ss a ñ¡Áctio¡ of temPe¡8tu¡e, pressure' oil t¡avity ('API)' atrd
specific g¡¿vity (G).
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: RESERVOIR FLVID PROPER"IES 329

Figu¡e 183: Oil souad speed as a fu¡ctio¡ of terdp€ratu¡e, pressu¡e, oil g¡svity ("API), a,Ád
gas specific gravity (G).
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: RESERVOIR FLUID PROPEHIIES 330

Figure 184: Oil modulus as ¿ ñ¡.nctioo of te!¡!'ersture, P¡€ssu¡e, oil g¡avity ('API), aDd
gas

speciñc gravity (G).

32 ADVANCED TOPIC: RESEBVOIR FLUID PROPEHIIES

32.4 Brine
B¡ine propertie are fu.Dction of the sati¡ity (S) wbich is deñned as weight &actioo of sodium
chloride (ppm/l 000 000). This can range from S=0.0 (pure water) to about 5=0.35 (350
0m pp¡a). For bline c¡lculatioDs, there a¡e thlee giveo and tbree calculsted quatrtities,
T¿ble 15.
Given: P p¡essu¡e MPa
? teúpe!¿tu¡e
S s¡liDity ppm/l 000 000
Calculste: p6,¡e brioe deDsity A/c.
rrü,i¿€ briDe velocity m/s
i¿,¡,. brine modulus MPe
Tsble 15r Qua.utiti€s giveo a¡¡d to be fouDd i¡ the oil calculations.

Brine Densib. The equatiols are

p¡,¡*= pa + s(0.668 + 0.,r4s + 10-6(300P - 2400Ps + + 3? - 33oOS - 13P + 47PS)))
p. = "(80
1 + 10-6(-80T - 3.3?'2+ 0.0r75C + 489P - 2TP +0.0|6T2P -
1.3 x 10-57¡P - o.3BBP2 - o.oo2?P2)

*'be!e p. is the deDsity of pule water. Figu¡e 185 shows brine density as a functioD of T,

Brine Modulus and Velocity The equatioDs a¡e

kó,i"" = tól(l + 0.0494¡e)
r¡0,¡¿e = v- * 5(1170 - 9.6? + 0.055?2 - 8.5 x 1o-5f + 2.6P
kb = pb ú?/tooo
R, = (0.712 ¡üs[? - 76.71]¡ 5 + 3676 Pod) (1¡-r-zzao s (r+r7?8)-oü)
-0.0029rP - 0.0476P2) + st s(780 - 10P + 0.16P2) - 182052
o. = lc¡ TPi (i = 0,4;j = 0,3)

It is so¡t¡ewhat su¡p¡iging tbat tbe most coFplicsted erelession i¡ all this fluid v.'ork
is the 6ound speed i¡¡ pu¡e w&ter as s fuDction of teEpersture and pressure. The (20!)
coeficieDts, cij, oe€ded to calculate u- sre Dot tive¡ here, but can be found in [11].
A
3:¿ ADUANCED TOPIC: RE8EIN/OIR FLTJID PRAPEEI!ÉJ

The¡e ecq'[c¡doo¡ sr¡t@¡tic¡¡ly rccq¡¡t ñr Dodr¡Ius aúd vr¡odty e6ect¡ dr¡s to di¡-
aoñed gs (nahae). Dioaohnd gar hae o r¡e¡ürt e&ct o
b¡i¡c Dtopict¡€s thlo oil Düop
crtier r¡d nqy usu¡Uy be in¡ig¡ifca¡t, but tbe €$¡¡ti@s .ccou¡t fr( it

For briD€ velocity asd modr¡lu¡ beü¿vio¡ Eee Ftgu¡€s f85 r¡td 186.

-\
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: RESERVOIR FLIJID PROPERTTES 333

Figure 185: B¡ioe deDsity aDd velocity os a fi¡Itctiou of temperature, pressure, and salinity
(S). See text for defioitio¡ of ssliD.ity.
32 ADVANCED TOPIC: RESERVOIE FLVID PROPERTIES 334

Figure 186: B¡ine modulu¡ as ¿ fu¡ctioD of temPe¡sture' P¡€ssu¡e' e¡d saliÁity (S)'
32 ADUANCED TOPIC: HESERVOIR FLWD PROPERTIES

32.5 Fluid Mixture

Gsthe ¡¡g all tbis togetber, we want to calculate the ¡et Properties of a mix contai¡iru gas'
oil a¡d b¡ine. We need two additional Pa!¿meters to d€scnbe ho¡¡ Euch of escb compo¡ent
the volume
is presetrt. One qtsy to de6c¡ibe the situation is usiDg oil satulation, So, r'hich is
ftactio¡ of oil, aná gas s¿tu¡ation, Se, e,¡hich is the volume fraction of gas' The f,ate!
satu¡atioo G tbe¡ internally calculated ftoo (1 - S. - Sr) Of course the gos, oil and wate¡
satu¡ation will cha!8e aa a furctioD of teroPe¡ature o¡d Pr€ssu¡e' But at aDy gi!'en T and
P, w€ wiU b€ able to compute the desi¡ed quantities

Fluid De¡sity The equation is

p¡ = (t - Sn - S¡\ pvtn. + So Pot + Ss Ps* '

sübj€ct to the coDstraint that So + Se S 1.

Fluid Modulus a.nd velocity The equatioÁ fo! rdodulus i5

k,=(1-,so-s.
, ¡*,".
\
+g*g)-'
Kat / xsat

again subject to So + 5e < 1. ODcc the moduh¡s and density ¡¡e knowD, the velocity is
gircn by
IW k¡/p¡
Table 16 itemiz€s pa¡aEretel langes aDd depende¡ci€s With the fluid mü proP€rties
dependiog on seven variables, it is Bot possible to caPture all sceDarios I'ith a &D Plot, or
even a series of &D plots-

Ho¡¡€ver, specific Probleús can be doúe which isolate o¡e or two la¡iables fo¡ PlottinS'
AD example cdlculation miSht ¿sk ¡¡hat s¡e the density, velocity aad moduh¡s for a fluid
mixture of 20% gos and 80% brine? Assume the gss sPecinc 8raüty is 0 65, saünity is 0 22'
tempe¡ature is 100 oC, and ptessure is 30 MPa (4410 Psi)'

Fl.ui.d Parao€ters I API=45 G=0.65 5=0.22 So-0.0 58=0.2 T=100 P-30

FLr¡id D€DBity - 0.941a92 8/cc
F1üid V€locitY - 622 913 D/6
Flui.d üodüLus - 365.473 üPa
32 ADUANCED TOPIC: RESE'RVOIR FLUID PROPERTIES 336

Quaptity R-snte U¡its Depe¡ds o¡

T 5G350
P 0.1-1m MP¿
G .5&1.2
"API 5.100 c¡/8
G0.35 ppm/l 000 000
G1
G1
0.00É0.5 8lcc G,T,P
2m.1860 G,T,P
0.2-1500+ MPa c,T,P
0.3&0.95 E/cc APT,G,T,P
?-2tw API,G,T, P
k.¡r ?-24ü MP¿ APr,C,r,P
0.Gr.25
gT P
El@
20G1980 m/s 1T P
58G4700 MPa
0.m1r1.25 tl@ API,G,5, S.,Ss,T,P
?-21ú D/s API,C,S,5., Ss,T,P
kt ?-4700 MPa API,G, S, So, Ss,T, P
Tsbk thei! ¡¿nges and dependencies The Áet fluid ProPe¡ty
16r R€serioir fluid parameters,
ñnAes (pJ,nt,kt\ are the erd¡eEe l'alues of the hdividual coúpoDent 8uid5'

Ilow would this change if the pote fluid r,€re 20% oil rather theo gos?

Fluid P.t¡D€ters: A.PI-45 C-0.65 5-0'22 So'0.2 S8=O.O T'100 P'30

Fluid D.¡3tty - L.O26A Elcc
Fluid Volocity - LL2l.82 a/3
Fluid Hodul,uÉ = 1292.21 üPa

Wl¿t if thete a¡e ¡o hydroc¿rbo$ present?

Fluid Pa¡a!€te¡B: API'45 c=0.65 S'0.22 So'0.0 Sg=0.0 T.100 P=30

Fluid D€laity = 1.13073 g/cc
Ftuid vol'ocitY = 16E1.95 n/s
Fluid [odufus = 319E.79 ¡lPa
33 EESERVOIR ROCK PROPERTIES 337

33 Reservoir Rock Properties

Once the pore fluid properti6 sre c¡lculatedo, getting to the rock properties is rel6tively
easy, Actually, deusiw is €asy; velocity is a bit more compücsted.

33.1 Rock Density

Density of the porous, fluid saturated rock obeys a simple mixing law. The equation is

p,o' = p^in{1- ó) + Q pt
where the qua¡tites are def¡ed iD Table 17. Fo¡ sa¡dstoDe examples we wiü use quartz
delsity, pniñ = 2,65 g/cc.

Given: pni, Eineral density E/cc

p7 fluid mix density E/cc
d ftactioDal po¡o€ity
Calculate: pld satulated rock de¡6iry g/cc

Table 17: Quantiti€s gi!€r¡ and to be fouüd in rock derisity calculatioris.

33.2 Rock Modulus and Velocitv

When dealing witb rock the¡e is mo¡e thaD otre kind of modulus. So we will distinguish
b€tw€en bulk modulus (t), plale *ave modulus (m), and shea.r modulus (p).

The relationship bets/€e¡ bulk moduü of the mineral componeut, dry rock frame, and
saturated rock f¡a&e is called the Cr.*sf7"a'l theory- ID the usu¡l formulation, you ¡e€d to
Li¡ow the shea¡ modulus or, equivaleütly, the shea¡ c¡¿!€ speed o!. This is required e!€D
in the stá¡da¡d csse whe¡e l¡ou only waDt to calculat€ the P-wave speed. But finding ¿!
of the rock requires a full-waveform sonic log or lsboratory meosulement. Often, Deither is
available.

The¡e has recently beel work [16] on horv to use Csssman B'ithout howint ur. That
formulation will be r¡sed he¡e.

Table 18 summariz¿s tbe quatrtities giveü sDd to be fouod.

'Se chaptér 32
33 RESERYOIR ROCK PROPEETIES 338

Given: b-io mineral bulk modulus MPa

p-in raineral shear modulus MPs
pñi¿ miDe¡al de¡sity E/cc
d frsctio¡al PorositY
cr frarne stifioees coDstant (empirical)
Calculate: me. sstu¡&ted rock plsBe wave Eodulus MPa
o" rock pwave sPeed m/s

Tdble 18: Qua¡tities given and to b€ found in rock derisity calcul¿tions'

The pure minenl propertiB of qu¿rtz (s¿n&tone) and calcite (carbooates) are:

qua¡tz *ñin = 37900 MPa /'¡" = 44300 MPa p^i^ =265 t/cc
Calcite &-in = ?6800 MPs Pn¡. = 32000 MPa p^¡" =2.71E/cc.
The mineral pla¡e wave modull¡s is giveD by

||.ñ.n = k^,, +l p-i^

To use G¿ssman tbeory it is Decessary to know the EoduluB of the dry' poror¡s lock
frame, m¿a. This characterizes the stifiBess of the ¡ock. Some pu¡e sa¡dstones are soft
and some ;e v€ry ha¡d, yet sll are composed of qua¡tz. This property i6 captured [5] h a¡I
empirical ftame stifiaess constat¡t, ¿r, which relstes m¿r, and tnair' The relationship is

^4_#;
A small value of o¡ implies tbe aock is Poorly co¡solidated, and a l$ger l€lue úea¡s it is e
ba¡d, well-cemeDted sa¡dstone The t]ryical ra¡ge is ¿l = 0'001- 0 5, but larger values are
posgible. Wlile there is some theo¡etical fouDdatioD for this equation, if lots of labo¡atory
measurements are availeble it msy be b€tter to simply do o regression FiSure 187 shows
the efiect of or oD the ratio t¡¡drr/mmin.

In p¡aatice, it is likely that úeosurements oD the dry ¡ock will be given in the form of
p{¡ave spd, dd'y. The ar tacto! cs¡ be estiEated froE this usiDg
o'a,, cary ó
"'= "};i;=E;ñ, (7)

ft/s)
wbere for qu&¡tz ?rmio = 6049 t¿/e (19846 frsee The factor ot is ir fact a tunctioD of
teúpe¡atu¡e and pressure. However, for a given les€¡voir at a givetr depth it is aPproximately
consla¡[.
33 RESERVOIR ROCK PROPERTIES 339

Efl.ct .l .¡ on !q/4ú! Eff€r ot .¡ d ¡rr/4r¡

Fi$¡e 187: Effect of the etDpirical coDstaDt ¿¡. This colstant is estimated from labo¡etory
meas¡.rements a¡¡d usd to calculate the dry rock modulus, rn¿-, ftom the ¡!ü¡eral Eodulus,

To illústrate use of this equatio¡, coDsider a hypotheticsl saDdstone sample with 22%
po¡osity. Tbe sample is dryed, placed at reservoir tempersture aDd pressure, s¡d the P-
w¿ve speed is measu¡ed to be 32,!0 m/s (10 630 ft/s). Using the previous equatioD gi!€s
or = 0.0634241.

Now we are ready fo! the GassEatr ¡el¿tioDship b€tweeD the satu¡ated rocl( modulus,
ñro., aod tbe othe¡ things. The formula rs
ñ'dt _ m¿.y k!
nlan¡ - rrlst
-
tr¿mú - m¿¡y ó(ma," - kt\

where k¡ is the fluid mix modulus desc¡ibed in Chapter 32. Flom thi.s equatior¡ you catr
fitrd mr¿¿, the! calculate the rock P-vlave speed

Iú0 m.ú/psat

Figu¡e 188 gil€s sD ex¿¡ople c€.lcu.latioD usi¡g everything up to this poiut.

33 EESERVOIR ROCK PNOPEKTIES 3¿0

Rock por¿nctcrs :
km¡ri = 37900 tunin = 44300 pfninr2.65 ¿l =0,005 o=0,24
API=45 G=0.56 S = 0.25 So=0. Sg=0. T:120 P= 10
Rock d.nsity = 218574 g/cc

Rock velocity = 2410.53 rD/s

Rock bolk nodulus = 10688. MP¡

50q)

E 4000

3(m

2000
0.3
Fr&t¡ona¡ PoNoc¡aY

Figure 1E8: Ao example rock ProP€rty c¡lcut¿tio¡ (abore) aod Plot of PoroBity efiect oD
velocity.

33.3 Lit¡itatio¡s
Figute 189 shows a velocity.porosity c¡ossPlot for a s6,Ádsto¡e interv¡l in a well The geoeral
tre¡d is simil¿r to the e¡ar¡Ple in Figüre 188, but cles¡ly a loore complicsted relstionship
erists. As you Dtht o<pect, fornulas givetr heÉ ig¡ore some eftects [11] which coufd be
imDorta¡t i¡ so¡oe ci¡cuost¿nces. Tbese i¡cludel

1. Rock/fluid inte¡¿ctioDr
Complex pore geometry (fta¿tu¡i¡g)

Adisbstic *'sve behavio! (isothelEal is assuÁed)

Surfar€ t¿¡siotr
33 RESERYOIR ROCK PROPEKTIES 341

5. Complex fluid beh¿vio¡ (phase cha¡ges, hyd¡otes, etc.).

Vclocity v. Por6ity

l4mo
'fi*
13000
-rI¿
l2m0 -{I1t'o.
g llmo
.tj-
J roooo

¿{ .?
9000

0.1 o.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Fracrional Porosiry

Figure 189: A velocity-polosity crossplot bom well logs through a sa¡dstot¡e ir¡ter!?'l.

33.4 Reflection Coefñcient

The purpose for doing all this is to predict how cha¡g€s iD reservoir p¿rameters will influence
seismic data. To 6nish the job, we ¡reed to calculate the re8ection co€mcieüt st the top of
the reservoi¡. This is the quatrtity that c¡e caD hope to observe.

In general, the reflection coemcient fo¡ s¡ interface is s function of P-wave and ,S-wave
speeds, de¡sities, and inciderce angle. But r¡e a¡e iüter6ted i!
p¡edictiog what úitht be
6e€¡ oD stacked, mit¡ated s€ismic dst8. So we limit the discussion to the normal incidence
33 RESERVOIR ROCK PROPERTIES 342

Qua¡tity Units Depends on

glcc pni¡,ó, API,C, S,5", Ss,T, P
o/s k^i", pñin,a\ pnír,ó, API,C, S,5., Ss,T' P
R4 pL,!1, Enin, It¡ir,a\ pñ¡", ó, API,G, S, S.,Sg,T, P

T¡ble 19: Resenoi¡ ¡ock pa¡ametels, their units e¡td dependencies.

reflectioD coeficie[t, &. T1¡e allow5 r¡s to igDole shea¡ w¿i€ i¡fo¡loation, which G n¡ely
available anyway.

We need two aew par¡meters, the P-wave !€locity aDd density of the tock im¡r¡ediately
overlying the reservoir. Here \r'e call these or and pr. TheD the reflection coemcient can be
calculated ftom

pzlt2 + hat '

whe¡e lD = p'at an.d u2 = u3o! a¡e net density and prwave velocity of the reservoir rock
Table 19 shows that Ro depeuds on no less than 14lEriables.

Figure 190 is aD exa¡sple calculation aDd plot sbowing the effect of porosity chantes on
-Ra for a particular set of pa¡a.úeters.

33.5 FluidSubstitutio¡
As a second exa.s¡pl€ of R{ p¡€diction, coDsider the saúre ¡ock Paratneters ss SiveD in
Figure 190. Notice that this is a wet sandstone (no gas, no oil). What is the effect of
introduci¡g oil into the fluid e.ix? Whst about tas? See Figure 191 for the result. In the
case showD, the impedance (velocity*de¡sity) of the orcrlying shale is almost equal to the
wet sand impede[ce at 24% porosity. Thüs iÁtroducing gas sigdñc¡Dtly decreas€s the rock
velocity and density ge¡eratiDg a strong ¡€atil€ reflection coemcie[t.

However, if the rese¡voit were capped by a low imPedence lock (üke co¿l) , $s $'ould have
the opposite efiect. The reflectio! coeñcieDt would decreás€ witb iBcreasing 8as saturatio!
as the ¡€en'oir lock prop€rties app¡oached those of the caprock. Thus gas con appear as a
bright or dim amplitude anomaly depeudiog on the local conditioDs.
33 RESERYOIR ROCK PROPEKTIES 343

Rock p¿r¡maefs :
vl=2N pl=2.5
3?9d) [m¡n =,14300 pnin = 2.65 al =0.005 9= 0.2,1
la¡in =
API=45 c=0.56 S=0.25 So=O Sg=0. T=120 P=10
R6k dositt = 2.28574 t/cc
Rock velociry = 2410.53 nvs

R€s.rvoi¡ Ro = {.(X25868

Ro vcrsus Porosily

o.4

0.3

o.2
*o 0.,

-0.1

0 0. l 0.2 0.3 0.4

Fr¡qion¡! Pq!6ity

FiSqre 190: Exarnple calculation of ¡esewoi¡ ¡efectio! coemce¡t (po¡oBity = 0.24) a¡d Plot
of Po ss 6 fuDction of po¡osity. Ln this c¡se, s 5% po¡osity cbsrye gii€s 6 6ig¡ifcsDt (ü¿¡8e
ir¡ ¡eflectioD coemcie¡t. For e*aople, increasilg po¡o6ity fiom 1070 t¡ 1570 reducee Po ftom
0.15 to 0,075, o 5070 drop i¡ a,mplitüde.
33 RESERVOIR ROCK PROPE&TIES u4

R...ro1r lock v.loclty w. otl a¡t R.!.tu!! rock w.r6ctry v. G¡r slr

0.r 0-6 1
(A) orr s't rso' (D)
¡...tui: roÉ¡ rt.úity w, otl s:i R€r.ryolr roc¡( ddlty w. e! s.t

0.6 0. e
(B) (E)

0.2 0. { 0.2 0.. 0.6

(C) olr s¡r (so) (F) c6 s¡L (sr)

Figure 191i Effect of oil 6nd gas s&turation on R¡ for the rock parameters showD in Fit-
ure 190 Ftactiolal porosity is frxed st 0.24 (24%). (A) Increasing oil s¡turation ¡educes rock
velocity and (B) some¡¡,h¿t ¡educes deDsity, c¿usiog (C) a g¡adusl iDcrease iD the sbolute
msFitude of fio. (D) Increosing gas sstu¡atioD causes d¡¿stic ¡eductioÁ iD ¡ock velocity
and (E) a sig¡ticant decrease itr density, th€se combiDe to c&ure (F) a very large iDclease iD
R{. This is the classic 8as bright spot efi€ct, and it only lequire6 tss satu¡&tio¡ to
Bet the full efiect. ''10%
34 4D SEISMIC 345

34 +D Seismic
Time-l6F€ !D seisEic, Eore coemo¡ly referled to ás,t-D seismic, is the p¡ocess of shoot_
ing, p¡ocessing, and idterp¡eting multiple LD sun¡el¡s over a 6eld. Each &D survey has
a difierent vintsge (age), and by comparing the data voh¡mes as the rese¡voir k Prodüced
over time it loay be possible to maP cha¡g€s due to fluid Eolement. A tFical titt¡e interld
b€tw€€¡ iDdividual !D surveys úigbt b€ 47 ¡cars. No special acquisition methods a¡e
required for 4D seismic, but it is v'ery imPortant th¿t the survey must be lepeatable - this
includes sou¡ce tlpe, d¡rection of shootiDg, etc

The concept is thst as hyd¡ocarboDs are d¡plsced f¡om the reervoir, tbe rock prop€rties
change which io tura i¡flue¡ces the seisr¡rc ampütudes (a¡d, to a lesser degree, tra!€ltimes)
By interpretiDg alilerence uohtmes flvid flow in the reservoi! can be estimated at¡d worked
into ¡es€rvoi! matrsgement plsDs.

FundarDeDtal to 4D seismic is the interpletstioD of these differeDce volumes. What do

the difierences me&n? Can we predict for a given leservoir what the observed difiere¡ces
lriü be?
We c¡n think of th¡ee kinds of difierences:

Amptitude AEplitude dife¡ences a¡e the usual ts¡get of 4D seismic interP¡etatioo. We

attempt to say how the lenection coefficient, Ro, at the toP of the resenoir will change
as hydroca¡bons are ren¡oved.

Ttaveltime If P-w¿ve speed in the ¡eservoi¡ change o\€¡ time thetr traveltiBe difiereDce
mappir¡g m¿y be possible. Wl¡en p¡esent, a t¡avel time efiect is much more ¡obl¡st and
essily detected than amplitude effects. For some thick hea\T oil reservoirs, traveltitr¡e
efiects may be obseñable and used as the prinary i¡dicato¡. T¡svel time difiereDces
wiü probably not occu¡ fo! gas 4-D p¡ojects because the rock velocity is Bearly co¡staDt
for any satulstion above 10%. See Figure 191D.
'Waveform Waveform efiects are the most di6cult. They in}oh€ t¡¿vei time chat¡8€s,
rcgectio[ coefficielt changes, and thiD H iDterfereüce efiects. lt might be e¡sy to
demonstlste in ¡eal dats that oi€¡ tiroe rr'avelet phase is cbanged in certaiD parts of
a reservoir. But uodersta[diBg why could be a roajor p¡oject.
 U LD SEISMIC 3,to

34.1 AmplitudeP¡ediction
To bdeiy illüst¡st€ the ¡Eplitude differe[ce ¡PProach, co¡side! the hyPotheic8l eronple i!
Fi$üe 192. The listed ¡ock Pa¡anete¡s giv€ det¿ils of the ss¡dsto¡e ¡eselvoir and overlyi¡g
sbale (characterized by tt,A). The Plot shoq's ¡€Sectioo coeñcieút as I fu¡ctio[ of tas
s¿tu¡atioD and iuid p!€aeu¡e. For this e¡<amPle, it is sssuEed thst t€EP€rstu¡e o¡d otbe!
¡ock/iuid properti6 s¡€ coDstsDt as the feld i5 produced. hitiel cooditioDs (PoiDt A) ¿re
gas slturstioD of 1m70, 5c = 1.0, snd pressu¡e of 30 MPa (4410 Psi)' U¡der the3e cotrditio¡s
the predicted ¡e8ectio¡ coeficieú is no = -0.408545, We 63suDe st sobe lste¡ dste (PoiDt
B) the t6s ssturation has d¡oPped to 40%, 9¡ = 0'4, ¡¡d Pressu¡e has dropped to 20 MPa
(2940 psi). The p¡edicted ¡eoectioD coeficieDt i5 ¡ow Ro = -0.389059'

As give¡ here, the p¡edicted aEPütude cha¡te is -4.870. That is, *e predict the r€serloir
relectio¡ will be sbout 5% weske¡ iD the lster (B) survey thao in the origiml (A) suney'
Fo! pland¡g a¡d interp¡eti¡t s '!D seismic su¡l,€y it is €sse¡ti8l th¡t w€ be eble to male
such predic'iioDs. But this lea& t,o 8 larger qu€6tio¡: I8 tb.i8 s¡ obÉ€rv¿ble difie¡ence?

The short aDswer ¡8 that' u!¡der tood condito¡r, amPütude chang6 as small as &5%
a\ can be det cted, So this P¡¡ticula¡ c¿se would s€eD s valid cs¡didste fo|l-D analysis'
But ,!D work is v€ry expe¡sive, both iD terms of time a¡d mon€y. Even if we pr€dict sn
obsen'able anplitude efiect, ba¡y othet factors Eust be t¿keD i¡to accouBt This is the
subj€ct of tach¡ic¿l risk 6$€sr¡eDt.

34.2 Tiechnical Risk Ass$ment

There are oany factorc which determile wh€ther ¿ 'l-D P¡oject ¡ likely to succ€ed, ss 6ho$a
i¡ the J-D ¡oc¿ Sr¡¿¿¿ Tsble 20. ReP¡e6€¡tatire I'aluee are giveo for the ideal case' snd th¡ee
iúportaot P€troleuE ¡egio¡s. This is ¿ slightly modiñed r€rsio¡ of the q|stem pres€nted in
Ir5].
A sco ng gysteú involviog key parameters of the problem The s€isDic ¡elsted
i9 set up
parameters are image qu¿lity, Esolutio¡, duid coDta't visibility, 6¡¿ rePeatsbility' For each
;¡ue stateúent in the follovi4list, one poi¡t is 6r's¡ded Tbe totdl score fo¡ each c¿tagory
g0€6 into tbe J-D ?ecJr 8ir& sheet, Table 21'

. Ieste quslitY
l. Good S/N ratio of migrated etack
2. Cle¡¡ inate of leservoi¡ rcflectio¡
A ¿LD SEISMIC u7

3. Reliable and meaoiqñrl smPütüd€s

4. No oultiples o¡ cohe¡ent noire p¡obleDs
5. No shsllow gas, 6tstics, o! velocity probleu¡s
r R¡solutio¡
1. R.s€rvoi¡ > 0.5x resolutio¡ limit
2. R€ser@i¡ > lx ¡esolution üúit
3. R¡eervoir > 2x resolutioD üroit
4. Reservoü > 3x resolutioD limit
5. Rcservoi¡ > 4x r€olutio¡ lisit
. Flüd cootaat (FC) visibüty
1. At least otre FC visible iD c¡6s-8€ctio!
2. Several FCs visible itr cro€s-sectio¡
3. ODe FC mappsble s¡e¿lly
4. Se\¡enl Fqs ¿re mappable areally
5. All flr¡id co¡tacts a¡e mappable areally
. Rrpe¿tabüty
l. Same oaquisitioo method u8ed for e¿ch 6ün'ey
2. Pe¡loa¡e¡t sou¡ce a¡d ¡eceive¡ i¡stallatio¡ used
3. Source a¡d ¡ececeil€¡ repositioni¡g veliied for eacb survey
4. S6ee shooti¡g di¡ection us€d fo¡ e6¿h suri€y
5. Sa¡ne biD size and ofiset/azirouth distributio¡ fo! €a.h survey

The scoring slstem fo¡ othe¡ pa¡am€ters ia sho$'!¡ iD the SegeDoir Scoftcard Table 22.
The scores ¡uo ftoD 5 (b€st) to 0 (worst).

The sco¡es are collected up i¡ Table 21, whele the results for ea-ch region c¿¡ be conpared
*'ith tbe ideal cas€. A rcasonable passing sco¡e fo. the res€lvoi¡ total is 18 of30 (60%), aad
12 of 20 (60%) for the seisloic total. They each hsve veto por,€!, so they ¿oust itrdepeodently
Eeet the 60% c¡iteria.

It is import¿ot to ¡ote th¿t this all ¡elat€s to techtricd lisk assessme¡¡t - add¡€ssi¡g
bow likely is,l-D to succeed in I pa¡ticular area. Tbis is a rccessary, but not a süfrcieDt,
coDditioD for ¿ successful 4D project. Ecoúobic feasibiüty is also required.
A LD SEISMTC

,l-D fact sh€et I¡don6ia Gulf of Mexico No.tb Sea

R¿aervoir
Depth (ft) sh¡llow 650 7(nL8m0 92ü110 400
Ov€rbu¡den Fessu¡e (p6i) low 530 700G8m0 750G?5{n
Pore pressure (poi) lúsh 10G350 310G33@ 6500-5250
Net p¡essu¡e (Dsi) high 43trr80 390G4700 O-22íO
Bubble poiDt (psi) lort 110 3lm L2fi
TeEperstu¡e (oF) roo4g0 l7e1E0 215
U¡it tbickDess (ft) hisb 100 10G150 rt,!0

R.ocl<s
Dry bulk nodulus (GPa) low 2-3 3.O5.r r030
Dry density (g/cc) loi, 1.54r.67 L.7-2.1 2.07-2.23
Poroeity (%) h€h 3G38 21-34 r&23

oil
Solution GOR (scflstb) hich 0 25S350 >300
Gravity ('API) hiCh 22 36
Density (t/cc) lor, 0.9 0.85 0.75
Butk modulus (GPa) 0.92

l¡y'ater
Sali¡lity (ppm) hieb 40 000 r90 m0 200 000
Density (g/cc) hiCh 1.0 t.l 1.08
Bulk modulus (GPa) bish 3.35 3.0

Gas
Derxity (g/cc) low 0.1 0.t 0.12
Bulk modulus (GPa) low 0.1 0.1 0.23

4-D fluids
Fluid sotu¡stion chsnge (70) hiCb 5 90-10 90-10 75-40
Fluid coúp¡€ssibility contrast (%) hith >1000 15G200 2W

Seismic
Doúitra¡¡t ftequeDcy (I{z) tú8h t23
100
Average resolutioo (ft) loc¡ 50
Im6ge quslity (1-5)
2
Itep€atability (1-5)
Fluid contsct vbibüty (1-5)
P¡edicted tlsv€lti¡¡e chonge (34ñpl€6) >{ 20 0
Predicted iopeda¡ce cl¿¡ge (%) >4 &10

Table 20r Fa.ts ¡equited to ¡ss€ss the techÁic¡t risk of I 'f-D Project'
(Modified ftoo [15)
U LD SDISMIC 349

¿.D technic¡l risk Ide¡l I¡don€sia Gulf of Mexico Nortb Sea

R¡serl¡olr
Dry ¡ock br¡lk uodulus 5 o
Fluid cobpr€6s. coutrast 5
Fluid ssturstio! chonte 5
Polosity 5
Predic'ted imp€ds¡ce char¡ge 5
Pr€dicted trovel time chante 5 0 0
Rlserloir totol 30 30 21

Sei¡mlc
¡Dsge qu¿lity
Re3olution I
Flúid coutacts 5
Rcp€¡tability
SeisDic total m 18 E

Tota.l Score 50 48 38 23

T¿ble 2l: 4.D seismic techoic¿l risk ass€$oent. (Modi6ed from [15])

Regervol¡ scoreca¡d

Dry roc& bulk modulus (GPa) <3 &5 5-ro rG20 2G3O 30+
Fluid compress. cont¡ast(% .h"¡8e) 2$+ 1fL250 10G150 5G100 25-$ $25
Fluid sstu¡stio! chü8e (% ch¿¡gB) 50+ ,tG50 3G,l{} 2G30 rGm Gro
Poreity (%) 35+ 2t35 lt25 lG15 Sl0 G5
Impedance cbange (% change) 12+ 8-r2 48 L4 t-2 0
llaveltime chaage (sa,mples) l0+ &10 L6 24 t-2 0

Table 22: Scoriog of key par¡¡t¡eter¡¡, 5 (best) to 0 (worst). (Modi6ed fron [15])
U +D SEISMIC 350

t¡i,ñ.3t900 r¡1n-aaloo Fl¡.2.65 ..0.005

9!0.24 Al¡.45 c-0.56 s.0.25 SÉ0. &120
5tÉ1.0 P.!O ¡...eI! i0 r - o,¡0354s
St-o.a !r20 ¡.r.tu¡! Ro . -0.3t905t

Figure 192: As ¿ a,ater drive gas reservoir is produced, the P¡€gsu¡e and gas s¡tüation d¡op.
This plot prcdicts the efiect this i'ill have o¡ sn oboervable quantity, seismic ¡¡¡pütude.

Vint8tc

Figu¡e 193: ,t-D seismic' o! tiúelsFs€ &D 3ei8úic, i¡i'oli€s repe¡ted a¿quisitiotr aod Pro-
c;iog of !D dat¿ ol€r the salt¡e s€ctioÁ of earth. U¡der certai! co¡ditio¡s, subcü¡face
ch8nges due t,o fluid úol€Beot can be imaged S€€ slÁo Figu¡e 81'
Part V

Support Material
35 Glossary of Terms

3-D seisn¡ic The process of shooti¡g and p¡ocessint seisúic data io such ¿ wsy that a
cube of data is produced aDd int€rpleted fo! Seologic me¡ni¡g.

4-D seismic The process of 6hooti¡9, processing, ¿nd itrterpreting multiple $D 8ü¡1'eys
ove¡ a field. Ea.h lD survey has a difierent üntage (age). cslled time-l8pse $D.
^lso
Acoustic meduim A material cba¡¡cterized by compressibiüty and mass density. A fluid,
which ca¡ support one EechaDical wave t)rpe - sourd.

Acoustic reflection coemcient Refection coe6cie¡t fo¡ a w¿re st¡ikirg the int€rface
betw€en two acoustic layers.

Acquisition area CoDtsiE all source and receive¡ locstioDs i.tr e &D seisnic survey. See
Figure 62.
Acquisition footp¡int Any regula¡ity or pattern in seismic data which is not of geological
origiD. Ca¡ be due to acquisition or proce6sing problems.

Acquisition fringe Area betw€en image a¡e¿ and s¿quisitioü a¡ea. S€e Fiture 62,

Aliasing The process of sarDpüDg a coBtinuous function usi[g too large s s¿mple interrl¡l.
If a time functioD is iDlolved, it is terEed temporal alissing o¡ simply aliasitrg. Wheu
a wavefield (a function of space a¡d time) is improperly sampled it G called spatislly
aliasiug.

Amplitude ¡nap A map, generated by t¡a.ki¡8, {,hich displays seisaic d¡nplitude to a

ho¡izon of inte¡est. See Fi$re 17.

Amplitude versr¡s offset Prestock iDterpr€tation tecb¡ique which anal¡'sis variations iu

aÍ¡pliutde ss ¡ function of ofiset. Is often used to discriminate gas from non-gas bright
spots.

Angula¡ reflection coefñcieDt ReflectioB co€6ci€¡t which is a futrction of the ircideDce

aagle of the wale. See Figure ??.

Array A collection of sou¡ces o¡ ¡e@ivers a.tiDg as oDe uDit.

35 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 352

Ar¡ay directivity Se€ R-adistioD patte¡¡.

Attenuation For a sei6mic wsve trsvelli[8 tbrough the eorth, amplitude lo6s due to gradu¿l
@ttversio! of wa!€ e¡¡erg/ i[to he¿t.

AVO See Amplitude r€rsr¡s ofiset.

Azimuth Angle measured to a liDe PoiDti¡g at the receil€r

counterclockq¡is€ bom north
locatioa ss seen from the source (or midpoint). This is a common defi¡itioD, but
othe¡s are iD us€. See Fi$re 59.

Bin Ares oD earth surfa.e whicb crptu¡€s ar¡y t¡ace whose BidpoiDt f¿lls io the bia a¡ea.
AII the tra¡es in s bi¡ form a !D CMP gsther. S€e FiSure 95.
Biot theory Rock physics theory fo¡ calculating l'elocity and density of a porous 0uid-
saturated rock at Eeismic aDd soDic frequeDcies. Gassmatr theory is a special cas€
ldid at lo!¡ ftequeocies eDcountered i¡ seismic data.
Bright spot High a.mplitude s€ismic reflection commonly due to pres€nce of gas. See
Figure 191.

BSR Acronym for bottom sioul¿ting reflector. ln many ofrshore srcas iD the world, a
gas hyd¡ate (clathr&te) lsyer develops in the shallovr subsu¡face. This solid-phase gas
t}?ically generates a refl€ctioü event (BSR) parallel to the sea floo¡ ¡e8ection.
Cabled static Csbling term implying that all receivers *ere ül€ fo¡ all shots. CoBEon
ilr s¡oall latrd su¡ve]s strd mariüe stteamer surveys,

Cabling Which receiver groups are üve for which shots in latrd ¿nd 6xed receive! ms¡ine
seismic acquistion.

Checkshot A dilect tra!€ltime measule¡¡ent betwe€n the ea¡th surface and ¿ geologic
horizon in the earth.

Checkshot survey Several checkshots iD a well. Used to corlect traveltimes ca.lcüated

&om sonic logs. Related to sjmthetic seismogram.

Common 'XYZ' Bather A collection of seisnic traces which harc ooe fixed, or coomon,
cha¡acteristic 'XYZ'. Fo¡ exsmple, ¿ common sbot g¿the¡ G all tro.es which *e¡e
generatd by the sa¡le shot. Other statrdard gathers bclude common ofiset (COS),
coÍlmoD rece¡ver, comrlro¡ midPoiDt (CMP), and common azimuth.

Component OrieotatioD of a sou¡ce o¡ receiver. Standard seisúic data involws s verticsl

(or explosive) sou¡ce shootiBg into verticsl receivers.
35 CLOSSARY OFTERMS

coEruon midpoiÁt The midpoiDt locstio¡ fo! s s€ismic

trace (2)
CMP (1) Literally,
UniYersals€ismicacquisitio[techniquei',hichyieldsmaúypr€sta4kt¡¿4e3ateach
Eidpoi¡t locstio!.
cMPfoldNuebe¡oltraces,inaCMPgather,thataregummedtbroushstackingto
Eake o¡e Poststack trac€'
the ssEe midpoint (2-D) o¡
CMP tather Gather of all t¡sces i¡r s seisrúic sürvey hsvint
bin ($D).

cMPstackAst&ckofallPr€sta{kt¡gc€ssssociatedwithtbessmeloidpoiutolbiD.
Common midPoint See CMP

Common ofiset S€e COS'

due to the ovellyi¡g column of rock'

ConñniDg pressure Plessure at dePth iD the e¿rth
Also cslled lithoststic pre-ssu¡e'
that have the sa¡lte offset'
COS A section or Sathe! of all trac€s

Dead oil Crude oil coutainiDt no dissoh€d gas'

h¡ndles aúy kind of velocitv
Depth migration A miFation algorithm f,'lúch correctly
1'a!iation.

Depth slice Holizontal slice of a 3D s¿ismic depth cube'

Differencevolr¡meseisE¡icddtavolumecreatedbysubtraatinSt!'ocoincindent}Dseis.
mic surv€Ys of difiereBt vintate'
efiects due to ofiset while hon_
DiD moveout A seismic Process whicb removes traveltime
oring all possible dips. See Figu¡e 122'
reflection, t¡avels ftom the
Direct wave A seisÉic of sound lrave which directly, v¡ithout
.o*""toth"."oil€¡.ForcoDstantt€locity,aPpreaNase|inea¡eventoDshot!@oIds.
See Figure ??.
of the earth Usually involves
Ea¡th model A numerical ¡ePresentation of some section or la]€¡ An earth model
grid Point
density and P_wave veloc¡ty sssociated with ea¿h
c¿n b€ 1-D,2-D, o! &D See Figure 10'
stifiness coemcieots A solid'
Elastic meduim A material charactelized by th¡ee o¡ úore
which cs¡ supPort P- ¿¡d S_wal'es'
35 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 354

Acoustic ¡eflection coefficieat Renection coefrcie¡t for a v¿ve striking the interface
bet{e€¡ two acoustic laye¡s
Fa¡ ofrset Dista¡ce from source to fsrthest receive¡.
Fe¡ú¡at's principle Basic law of physics which says th¿t in a va¡isble r"elocity medium '
seismic rays will take that path which involves the lesst possible t¡aveltime.

Flat fold Constant fold throughout the sw€et spot in a &D survey.

Fluid replacement A kind of calculation which Predicts bov¡ rock velocity aDd deDsity
will chs,Dge due to Pore luid cha¡ges.
Fold GeDeric term to describe how ma.ny seismic tla.es suemed through stscking.
Fold/mitration fringe That p¿rt of the image area which is un¡eliable due to build-up
of CMP fold, or ¡efl€ctioDs s¡e lost to migration distaDce. See FiSure 62.

Fold striping Va¡i¿tioa of CMP fold parallel to the acquisitiotr grid in a &D seismic
survey. This csn effect smplitude and siSDal-to-Doise ratio to form atr exaEple of
¿aquisitiotr footprint. Fold stripi¡g c¿D occu¡ from imProper suri€y design (3-D fold
not an integer) or executiotr.

Gassman theory Rock physics tbeory for calculatitrg velocity a¡d deüsity of a poroüs
fluid-ssturated lock at seismic frequelcies. Special c¿se of the Biot theory.

Gather See common 'XYZ' gather.

Geophone A receive¡ for messu¡itrg seismic w¿ve motioDs st the esrth su¡face' oD the
s€afloo¡, etc. Usually measu¡es verticsl componeDt of particle velocity. See Figure 42.

Geometric spreading For a seismic wsi€ travelling through the earth, anpütude loss
due to 3-D spreading of the wavefront.

Ground roll Generic term for s€ismic wales which only exist near the earth's slrrface'

G¡oup A receive¡ araY.

Group interaal Distatrce bet*'eeD receiver g¡ouPs.

Half-offset One-h&lf source_receiver distaDce.

Ilead wave A seismic wave vrhich caD exist wheD a low velocity layer (LVL) overlies a high
velocity la]€! (HVL). lt is Deither a ürect a¡rirlal ao¡ ¿ renectioD See FiSu¡e ??'
35 GLOSSARY OFTERMS

IlomoSe¡eous A mate¡ial with pb'.sic¿l paroúeters which do ¡ot cbalge ftom one lr,y,z,,l
locatioD to another.

Horizon slice See amplitude map.

Hydrophone A receiver fo! measu¡i¡g sor.¡¡rd waves iD wate¡. A p¡€ssure seDsor.

Image a¡ea Contai[6 all midpoint locations in a ]D seismic survey. See Figure 62.

Imaging Processing for the purpose of creating a subsurfaae image from s€ismic data.

Incide¡t wave Du¡ing the lenection p¡oc6s, the wave that coEes i[ to strike the int€rface.
See Figure ??.

inhomogeneous A material witb ph]'sical pals,rneters which change from oae (u,y,z) lo-
cation to a,Botber.

Inte¡face A su¡face i! the ea¡th rrhere velocity, density, or othe! seismic parameters a¡e
discontiDuous, o¡ change sbruptly. Often, but not Decessalily, coincident with chatrge
of ¡ock t],?e.

Interpretation Analysis of seismic data for the purpose of ext¡actiot geologic or resenoir
enginee¡ing iDfo¡mation.

Inversion (l) Processing for the purpos€ of sccurotely estimating subsulface pararneters
(velocity, density, etc.) f¡oIn seismic data. (2) A situation where a low-velocity la'€r
u¡derlies a high-velocity la]€r-

Latersl ¡esolution The ability to see fiDescale features iu map view, such as small reefs
sDd chs¡nel features.

Live oil Crude oil co¡¡tai¡üng saturation levels of dissolved gas-

Love wave A kiod of ground roll made up of 9ll-waves trapped in a low-velocity surface
layer.

Medium Term designating pa¡ticula¡ laye¡ or section ofan earth model. Plu¡al is medi¡.
Midpoint Poitrt on the eartb surface half-way bets,€e¡ souice 6nd ¡ecei!€r. S€e Figure 59.

Migation The seismic process whicb provides e ñnal i¡Dage of the subou¡face in terEs of
rertical reflection time or depth.
Mig¡ation aperture See r¡ig¡ation distaDce.
 35 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Migration di9tance Before a¡d afte¡ mig¡ation, the distatrce a refl€ctioü segEe¡t appea¡s
to have moved horizontally.
Migratio¡ impulse response The subsurface image c¡e¿ted bl¡ hig¡ation whe[ the i¡put
dat¿ coasists of oDe blip of a¡lpütude on o¡e t¡ace. See Figu¡e 104.

Mode Term applied to a Beislr¡ic c¡sve indicsti¡g whethe¡ it is a P-watr, sy-wave or gll-
wa!€,

Mode conversion The process whereby orre ki¡d of seismic wo!'€ generates anothe¡ kiúd
durir¡g the reflection proc6s. See Fitu¡e 13.

Multichaunel process A s€isr¡ic process that op€¡¿tes oD s€ve¡al taaces si¡lultarcously

ar¡d te¡ds to be exp€nsive, psrticularly for !D data.

Multiofrset VSP A VSP th6t has s€veral sou.ce6 at !"s¡ious dist¿nce6 from the Íellhedd.
Multiple ¡ef,ection A seismic et€Dt whicb has undergone ¡eflectio¡ mole thaD o¡ce.
There a¡e sever¿l terms r¡sed to desc¡ibe difiermt ki¡rds of &utiples, itrcludi¡g w&
ter bottoú, interH, pegleg, etc.
/^
Neaf offset DistaDce Íom soutce to Dear€st ¡eceiver.

No¡mal moveout A seismic proc¿xs which removes traveltiEe efiects due to ofis€t by
assuming I horizolal or coDstant dip, See Figu¡e 121.
Offset Distsl¡ce betweeo the sou¡ce aod receiver aasocisted {,ith a trace. For 2-D d¿ta,
ofis€t ca¡ be signed or unsigued. See Figure 59.

Ofrset clustering A¡ common efiect i¡ land data whele t¡¿ces i¡ a &D CMP gather
are strongly g¡ouped at a few ofisets. This efiect arises from orthogonal shootiag
geometries. See Figlre 7I.

Orthogona.l shooting The use of perpendicula¡ shot snd leceiver lines in la¡¡d !D aaqui
sitioo.

P-q¡ave A ki¡d of seismic wave who€e particle motio¡ is psrallel to the dilectioD of war'€
travel. The maiD wave t]Pe used iD seismic exploration. This w¿ve ca¡ exist iD solids
and fluids, and can partially mode convert to Sy-waves.

Pa¡ticle motio¡ The úorement of individual pa.rticles duriag the passage of a war€. For
example, the particl€ ú¡otio¡ is vertical fo! s holizontally t¡syelint sü¡face rrate¡ wa!'e.
Sp€cisl css€s are particle displacemetrt, velocity, a¡d accele¡stio¡.
35 G¿OSSÁiYOF TERMS 357

Pore pressu¡e Plessule at depth in the esrth due to the overlyitrg column of fluid. Also
called hydlostatic pr€ssure.

Poststack A¡ object o¡ plocss ¡elsted to sejs¡oic dsta a.fter CMP stacking.

Poststack migratio! A mig¡atioü algorithm which op€rates after CMP stacking.

Prestack A! object o! p¡oc6s ¡elated to seismic dats befo¡e CMP stackinS.

Prestack mig¡ation A mig¡atioB algoritbm vhich op€rates on Prest¿ck trac€s.

Processing See s€israic p¡ocessitrg.

R.adiation pattern Angula¡ fuDction fo¡ a.D arlay describing r€letive strength of seiBmic
waves eúitted or received in rarious directions. Both sou¡cre aIId leceiver arra]s have
radiatio[ pattems.
R.ayteith wave A kind of ground roll ¡oade uP of P- ¿¡d Sy-wsves.
Receiver A deüce for measuring seismic or sound waves. The outPut of a receii'€r is a
seismic trace.

Receiver a¡ray A collection of receivers laid out in a specific Patteln and electric¡lly
connected to give a single outPut trace. The purpose of the recei!€r array is to
suppress 8¡ou¡d roll iD the outPut.

Reflected wave DuriBg the ¡eflectioD Process, the wale that Soes out bom the interface
on the same side as the incident !r'a\€. See FiSure ??.

Reflection (l) The process whe¡eby a seismic rtav€ strikes snd Partislly bounces off a¡
interfa.e. See Figure ??. (2) Aa event on a seismic sectioD ¿ssociated with ¡eflectio[
from &n interface iD the ea¡th. See Figu¡e ??.

Reflection coefncient I\r¡ction describittg the amouDt of o¡¡Plitude (or enerry) re8ected
when a !¡ave strikes an iDterface,

Reflecto¡ lnterf&ce sssocisted q'ith a Particula¡ ¡eflection e!€nt

Refracted wave Sa!üe as hesd nave

Refraction Ss.me as heed wave.

S-*'ave A kind of seismic walt whG€ Particle rootion is p€rp€¡dicular to the di¡ectioD of
wEve t¡a!€I. This w¡ve cs¡ exist i¡ solids, but lot in fluids.
 35 GLOSSARY OF 'TERMS 358

SIl-wave A kind of S-*'ar€ üth holizoDtal Dsrticle motioD. This weve catrtrot ¡!¡ode co¿-
ve¡t.

Sy-wave A ki¡d of S-wave with vertical particle motion. This wave c¿,n partially mode-
conve¡t to P-walcs.

Scattered wave A le0ected or trsDsmitted wave. See Figu¡e ??.

Section A sideby-side display of maDy seismic trsces.

Seismic eveDt Any contiüuotl,s object oa a seismic display. This can be a curve (2-D) or
surrace t J-iJ t,

Seismic processing The conputer úaüipulstioo of freld dsta to produce a 6[e¡ subsu¡fsc€
iroage.

Seismic trace A trace of s€ismic aúplitude v. time.

Seismic wave A mechaüical q'sve whicl¡ propagat€s in a solid material due to its stifiness,
or el&sticity. Seismic P-wei€s csn also €xist ss soutrd wa\€s in fluids. ,9-waves cannot
/^ exist in fluids.

Shot A seismic energr source.

Shotpoint interva.l DistaDce betwee¡ 8ou¡ce€.

Shot record A comDoü shot gather. See Figure 17.

Signal-to-noise ratio Ratio of peak signal amplitude to average noise amplitude. See
Figure 51.

Single channel process A seismic process that operates oD one trace at a time and is
the¡efoE inexpensive.

Snell's law Basic law of physics describing how s€ismic rays bend whetr passiüg through
an interfaae between materials of difiereút lelocitv. Snell's law can be de¡ived from
Fermat's priociple.

So¡t Tbe p¡ocess of reaü¡.úgilg t¡¡¡es in a seismic survey to for¡o commoD 'XYZ' Sathers.
For example, a 2D seismic liDe E&y be sorted into comeoD ofiset g&thers.

Sound q¡ave A me€hanical wale which prcpagates in a flüd due to the fluid's comPr€ss"
ibility. A sound wa!€ in a soüd is a seismic P-w¿ve
Source A¡ object or process that SeDerates seis!¡ic w¡ves.
35 eLOSSARY OF 'IEPJ\IS 359

Stack P¡ocess of snhming two o¡ mo¡€ t¡acea to c¡eate one outPut trace.
Streamer A receiver cable for ma.rine acquisition See Figure 7E

Sweet spot Reliable part of the im¡ge a¡ea iDside the fold/úig¡stioD friüge. See FiSu¡e 62'

Sweep Sigüal gene¡ated by a vibrmeis source.

Synthetic data Seismic dats c¡eated numerically itt 8 comPuter, usually for the Purpose
of testiog processi¡8 slgo¡ithms o¡ vslidstiDg intelpretation det'ils'

ynthetic seiamogram Simulated seismic t¡ace at & well locatioD bas€d oD sodc aDd
deosity logs (plus checkshots, if aleilable). Used to ¿ssociate seismic reflection €vents
to geologic horizons. See Figue 2l
Time Eigration A úig¡ation algo¡ithm which cor¡ectly ha¡¡dles vertical !€locity leria-
tioD, but not later¡l velocity va¡istioD.

Time slice Horizontal slice of a gD seismic time cube.

Time structure map A m¿p, Senersted by tra.ki¡g, which displa}s vertical ¡eflection
time to a horizo! of inte¡est. See Figure 17.

Ilace A one-dimensional graph of some quantity v time or depth. Plotted üth time or
useismic tr6ce" is intended'
depth increasiog doe¡Dwsrd Without a qualifier, Essume

Ilacking The interp¡etatio¡ p¡ocess of followint a ¡€lectioD su¡face th¡oughout a data

cube s¡d ext¡acting its tiEe st¡ucture a¡d amplitude infolmation. Se€ Fitures 17

lYansmitted wave Du¡int the reflectioD process, the wave that 8o€s out from the inter_
face on the side oPposite the iDcidetrt *'ave. See Figure ??

Tlansmission loss For a seismic wave traveliDg through thc earth, the cumulative ampli-
tude lo6s due to t¡ansmission across maDy interfaaes. See Figure 163'

Velocity Sp€ed at wluch a seismic wave tlavels. Can change from point lo PoiDt i¡ the
ea¡th.

T\rning wave A wave which bends co¡tinuously tcco¡diqg Snell's lsv¡' ultimately tral€l-
in! along a circr-rlar arc asd reiu¡aiDg to the earth's su¡face' Turning waves have only
been observed in 1oun8, clastic basiDs such ss the Gulf of Mexim'

Vertical fold Number of repeated shot ¡ecords tbat a¡e summed th¡ough vertical stackiDs'
35 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 360

Verticsl resolutlolt The ¿biüty t¡ ide¡tify it¡dividual pe¡ks oo 6 s€isDic tra¿e vith the
top ¿¡d base of teolotic unit or bed. See Figure 33,

Vertical s€ismic proffl€ A s€ismic acquisitio¡ technique where a sulfa¡e sou¡@ shoots
into a s€rie3 of rccei!€r6 located dol¡lr a well. A full seismic tr¿.e is reco¡ded bom
ea¿h receiver.

Ve¡ticál stack A ñeld procedue where t¡¡ce6 fro¡¡ repest€d shots a¡e st¡c.H. lLis ig
¿i¡¡€d ¿t r€ducilt roúdom uoise.

Vibroeeis Mecha¡ic¡l soü¡e fo¡ l¡¡d seismic aéqüisitio¡ co¡8istitrg of a t¡u& with s vi-
brsti¡g !¡et6l plste i! contact with the e¡¡th.
\/SP See vertical sei8eic p¡ofile.

Zoepptit eqr¡ations Syst€m of fou¡ equatioDs with desc¡ib€ the amplitude of all reflected
a¡¡d t¡arBmitted wav€s iD elastic rcflectiotr.

Zero oftet VSP A VSP thot has oue 6oúce which is loc¿t€d at or ¡ea¡ the wellhead.
36 MATIIEMATICAL SYJT'BO¿S Á]VD CO¡fVER.9ION FACTORS 361

36 Mathematical Symbols and Conversion Factors

36.1 General S¡rmbols

S¡'mbol Descriptio!
"API Oil g¡aüty
Time slope
Ait, Af, A¿,Az Error/difietence in positior, time, velocity, dePth
,\ : l-¡", )¿"a, Irc Seisnic q,aveleügth: mininum, doúinatrt, Dalairnum
Lamé elastic par¿meter
Rigidity el.stic para,u¡eter
a Porosity
ó¡ Pb&se angle fo¡ freque¡cy coEpoDe¡t ,
p Mass density
p(t\, p(.,g), p(t,9, z) Density vari&tio! along sPecified coo¡diDat€s
Poisson ratio elastic paramete!
e Dip aügle; incideBce a¡gle; wavefroDt 6n8le (anisot¡opy)
0¡p,0t"o Algl€s of incidetrt P-wave aüd t¡ansmitted SV-wave
Csssman theory empirics,l ftarDe stiffness constsnt
b", btt Bin x a¡d y size for template shooting
C¡;¡¡,e¡¡,r¡¡ StifiDesscoeEcietrts,strain,stress(¿nisotropy)
dt Time sample late
Spatial sample rate; tlace spacing; midpoir¡t sPaciDg
Flesnel zone diameter
Fzo 2-D CMP fold
Fv vertical fold
FV futu¡e rdue (ñ¡Énce)
f t J^¡", J¿",", f^* seismic frequency: minimum, domi¡ant, maximu¡n
J¡ fz equiBlent to /ñi¡, /tt¡at
Nyquist fr€queDcy
Far ofiset for template shootiDg
G Gos speciñc $aüty
ñ Half-ofiset; bed thickness
t R¿te-of-retu¡n per time Period (finaüce); SeBe!61coünte¡
I¡ Acoustic impedaDce of i¡^ layer
¡! Compreisibility ¿coustic Para.Eeter; velocity g¡adient
ks*,k^t,k-,ku,in",k¡ Bulk modulus for gas, oil, pu¡e water, b¡ine, and fluid mixture
Mineral bulk modult¡s
Mine¡al shea¡ Dodulu.s
36 MXIHEMATICAL SY BO¿S AIVD COjYI¿ERSION FACTORS 362

Symbol De,scriptioD
M,L,T DimeDsio¡s of oass, length, tioe
mat¡,m¿ry,md Mberal, dry rock, and satu¡ated lock pl6¡e yr¿ve modulus
Nunb€r of ti¡oe peúods (6nalce); number of samples
Nuober of recording c.hannels
Numbe¡ of time sanples per trace
P P¡essu¡e
PV P¡e6e¡t value (frneÁce)
psd', poit, pu, pbinü p¡ Mass de¡sity of 8¿s, oil, pure water, brine, a,nd fluid müture
Ptuin' P&y Mi¡eral and d¡y ¡ock ¡¡ass deúsity
R R€ceile¡ position o¡ Darker; Il€sDel ?,ooe r¡dius
8(r) R€lection coefrcieot series (coÁtitruous)
R¿ Reveiver hterval; ref. coef. se¡i6 (disc¡ete)
f¡,f! Receive¡ interrals in x and y fo¡ template shooting
R4 Dormsl i¡cide¡ce re0ectio¡ coemcietrt
s Source positioD or marke!; salinity
Sr' S, Satu¡atioD of g6s a¡d oil
Shot iDterval
S¡v Sitnal-to-Doise ratio, sometiEes SN
S,v¡ Si&r¡l-to-noise imp¡ovemmt
S'v¡ Final.signal-to-noise ratio
S'v¡ R¡w sig¡ol-tcnois€
s¡, s!/ Shot x and y iltere¡l fo¡ template sbooting
T Wsvelet period; temperature
t Uncorrected, raw, or geoeral refectioD time; geDeric time va¡iable
t¡e Marimum recordiDt time
ü¡, io, ún Reflection time afte¡ NMO, DMO, loigtstiotr
t",ty Template x and y dimeDsioÁ for te¡!¡plste shootint
7t' Or' ti Seismic velocity (P-wave), NMO velocitf velocity of i!¡ layer
aatg Average velocity from surfsce to ta¡get horizon
1)s.t,uoihuu,7)bri¡-u! Sound speed for gas, oil, pure water, b¡ine, and Suid mütu¡e
Interval r.elocity immediately above the ta¡get, or i$ide s thin H
Dry rock P-wave speed
P-wave, S-warc speed
uñt1)to, c,6 Thoúsen anisotropy parardeters
Sound speed in water s¡d si!
a(z\, \z,y), o(¡,g,2) Velocity rBristion alo¡g sPecified coo¡diaates
Source-to-¡eceive! ofiset
Spati6l coordiDates, r'ith z (depth) pooiti\€ downws¡d
(x:,ti, @2,t) Coo¡di¡¿t* of two poi¡ts alory ¡electioa hype¡bols
 M./TnTTEMATICAL SYIVÍBO¡S AND CO¡fI¿ARSION FACTORS 363
96

36.2 Conversion Fbctors

To conle* Iuto MultiPly bY To co¡r¡ert l¡to MultiPlY bY

Fr GPs xl0-¡ | ti
6.895 Eeter 0.304E
p6l MPa 0.006895 eile |
kiloEetet r.6093
pst KP¿ 6.895 l
ft/g ra/6 0.3M8
GPa psi 147,000 mi2 hm2 2.587
MPa p6t 147 rz¿í2 6a¡€3 640
KPa p€i 0.147 miz hec,ta¡€g 2t4.7
MP¿ str¡ 10.14 ¡¡.i2 GOM blocks 0.1111
atm psi 14,7 t¡tu2 mi2 2.687
atE MPs 0.1014 ¡cr€ hm2 0.001042
ac¡e hecta¡e 0.4042
a¿¡e COM block 1.7:t6 x 10-'
GOM blod< sq nile 9
sq kn 23.28
I GOM block
I GOM block hectale 232ffi
I
tcl@ ksl^3 1000

Table 23: (Left) P¡e€sule u¡it lelotionships. The saEe ü¡its a¡e also used for modult¡s'
stress a¡d €laatic co¡stants. (Ri8ht). Com!¡o¡¡ly us€d coDversiotr fa'to¡s'
(KPa)' pouods
¡il*¡utio* -" ¡ot giga-e¿scÁ (bea¡, nega-Pasc.als (MPa), kilo'Pascals
per square incb (p6i), standa¡d stmogpbe¡€s (stE), s¡d Guf of M€xico (GOM)'
37 BIBLIOGRAPT|Y 364

37 Bibliography

Not all ¡efere¡cee a¡e cited i¡ t¡e text. Tho€€ not cited s¡e included as s guide to the
üterature for the itrterested Re¿der. The e¡trie6 a¡e alpbabetical withia bro€d categories.
Thowh ma,¡y items could 6t iDto two o¡ Eore cateto¡i€s, esch item is listed only once.
Bulleted ¡eferences a¡e particula¡ly r€commended.

References

I Books and Course Notes

[J.] o Browr, A. R., 1991, Interprctation of th¡ee"dime¡sional seismic data, 3rd editio¡,
AAPG Memoir 42.

[2] o Claerbout, J. F., 1985, Ioaginiry the Earth's lDterior, Blackwell Scientific Publica-
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[3] Dobrin, M. 8., and S¿vit, C. H., 198E, IntroductioD to geophysical prospectiDg, 4th
edition, Mcc¡e$'-Hill.

[a] o Hale, D., 1991, Cours€ ¡otes: Dip Eov€out proce€sing: Soc. E:<pl. Geophys.

[5] Mavko, G., Packwood, J., aod Mukerji, T., 1998, Short C,ou¡se ¡otes: I¡troduction to
Rock Physics: Geophleical Society of T\¡lsa, Tulsa, OK.

[q . Sheriff, R. E,, 1991, Encyctopedic dictionary of exploratioD geophysics, 3rd editioB,

Society of E¡ploration Geoph¡sicists, T\rlsa, OK.

[7] Stooe, D., 1994, Desiguing seisnric sr¡¡!€)¡s in two sDd three dimeDsions' Soc. Expl.
Geoph¡s., Tblsa, OK.

[8] Telford, W. M., Geldart, L. P., Sherifi, R. E., aod Ke1s, D. A., 19?6, Applied Geo-
physics, Caobridge UDiversity Pr€ss.

[9] Wolfram, S., 1991, MatheFatic¿: A system for doi¡g mathematics by comPuter' Ad-
disor Wesley, N.Y (Second Edition).

[10] o Yilrnaz, O.' 198?, Seismic Processi¡g' Society of Explorstion Geophysicists,

T\¡lsa,
oK.
n General
REFERENCES

vol' 5?'
[11] o Botzle, M. a,od Want, 2., 1992, Seismic p¡oP€lties of pore fluids, Geopbysics,
no. 11, pp. 139&1408.

112] Greentee, S. M., Gaski¡s, G. M., a¡d Job.trso¡, M. G., 1994, !D seisúic b€neñts ftom
exploratioÁ tbrough development: AD E)oon Perspective, Geopb¡'sics: The leadi4
edge of exploration (July), P.73G734.

[f3] Lindseth, R. O,, 1990, The next wave of explo¡ation, GeoPhysics: The leading edge of
exploratioD (December), p.915.

[14] Liner, C. L.,1992-9, Sei6¡no6, Geoph¡sics: The leading edge of exploration.

l¡¡st¡g, 2.,1997, Assessing the te.Inical risk
[15] o Lumley, D. E., Behre¡s, R. A., and
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cha¡t€6
[16] Mavko, G., Cha¡, C., and Muketji, T., 1995, Fluid substitution: Estimatirg
in yp without knowing V¿: Geophysics, vol. 60, no.6, pp. 175G55.

[14 . Nestvold, E. O., 1992, ]Dseismic Is the promise fr.rlfrlled?, Geophysics: The leading
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[18] . Rice, J. A., Kroh¡, C. E., aud Horrston, L. M., 1991, Shallor' ¡ea¡-su¡face eftects on
s€isr¡ic waves, SEG ¡ational meeti¡g sbstrscts, p.747_749.
traDsr¡ie
[19] Robiaso¡, E., and Clsrk, D., 1987, A wsve ¿t a ttoündary: Reflection,
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I Acquisition
[20] Allen, J., and Howell, J., 1987, Using " Poo! Man's ]D" to identify distlibutarv
cha¡nel
sands in the Wilcox formation, Lawca County' Tex6s, Geophysics: The Ieading edge
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[21] Barr, F. J., Wrigbt, R. M., Ab¡iel, W. L., Sanders, J. I., Obkirchner, S.,
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of
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[22] r Bee, M. F., Bearden, J. M., He¡ke¡hofi, E. F., Supivanto, H, and Koestoer, B,
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p.25L259.
REFERENC'S 366

[231 Bertelli, L., Masc¿¡i¡, B., and Salvador, L., 1993, Pla¡ails and field tecbniques for
3D land acquisition in higtrly tilled aüd populsted areas - tod¿y's !6ults a,Ád future
treods, Fi¡st B¡eak, \no1.10, no.1 , P.2L32

f24j B¡iDl, M., A!¡üeossen, P., Ursin-Holrn, E}., Key, S., Luheshi, M. N., aod Buddery D.,
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[25] Brink, M., Kolbjornse¡, K., end Ursin-Holm, B., 1993, Ereluatioo of $D corcrage
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[26] Brune, R, H., O'Sullivan, 8., Lu, L., 1994, ComP¡ehe¡sive anall¡sis of rda¡ine gD bin
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124 ¡C¡ec¡s. G.4., Musse¡, J. A., and Phillips, H. F., 1991' Economical higb'.esolution
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[2E] Dsüdsotr, D. S., aod Ba¡dell, A., 1990, A ¡orcl !D marine scquisition tecbuique, SEG
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[2s] . Dickinson, J. 4., F6giu, S. w., and Weisse¡, G. H., 1990' Cor¡Pa¡ison of !D seisoic
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[30] Ebrom, D., Li, X., McDonald, J, and Lu, L., 1995, Bin sPa.iDg iD land !D s€is-
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t31l Egar, M. S., Dingwall, K., and Kapoor, J., 1991, Shooting di¡ectiotr: A 3-D marin€
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132] Hampsoa, G., Ha¡sen, T., Jakuboücz, Il., a¡d Kingstotr' J' V ' 1991' Case history
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[33] Hargreaves, N. D., 1991, Air-Gun signstures and the minimuÍt
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[34] .Hattotr, L., ond Haddow, K, 1991, The efiects of source array crossline di¡ectivity on
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f35l
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 N'¡ERENCES 367

[36] o Kuight, W. V., 1989, EstimatinS the llslue of ¿ geopbFical survey, Geoph¡rsics: Tte
leadi¡g edge of exploratioD (Octob€r), p.4ü48.

[37] Krail, P. M., and Sbin, Y., 1990, Decorvolution of ¿ dúectional Darioe sou¡ce, Geo-
physics, vol. 55, Áo. 12, pp. 1542-1548.

[38] Liner, C. L., and Gobeli, R., 1996, Bi¡ size s¡d linear r,(z)r 66th A¡¡¡. hternat Mtg.,
Soc, Expl. Geopbys, Expanded Abst¡acts' pp. 47-50.

[39] Liner, C. L., and Gobeli, R., 199?, ]D s€ismic sun€y design and linear u(z): 67th
Ann. Inters¿t. Mtg., Soc. Expl. Geophys, Expanded Abstralts, pp.4146.

[40] Liner, C. L., Gobeü, R., and Underwood, W. D., 1998, ]D Seismic survey design as
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[41] Meunier, J., aDd Garotta, R., 1990, Design of land ]D surveyi for stratig¡¿phic pu¡-
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I42] .Ritchie, W., 1991, Onshore 3D acquisition techniqü6: A ret¡osp€ctive, SEG Bational
neetiDg sbstracts, p-75G753.

[43] o Rosencraus, R. D., 1992, Coot-efiectii€ ]D seisr¡ic su¡:!€y design, Geoph¡sics: The
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[45] Stein, J. P., Ray, C. H., Hunt, V. N., and Pe¡kins, A. F., 1991, Marsh ] D preparation:
The key to success, SEG aational meeting sbstracts, p.774775.

[46] Schneider, W. 4., f998, ]D Seimic: A historica¡ note, Geoph]'sics: The leading edge
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[47] Va¡ious, 1990, Seismic data acqüisitior¡: The state of the art in 1990, Ceophysics: The
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[4E] o Wood, G. W. and Badger, A- S-, 1991, Total leco¡diüg s]stem aacu¡acy, SEG ¡stio¡¡al
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I Processing
[49] Cha¡g, H. H., Bs¡¡on, C. F., Hr¡ssein, H. S., and Bar¡es, B. S., 1991, D&ta manatenent
in 3-D ma¡ine seismic p¡oc€ssing, SEG national meeting abstracts, p.1381-1382.
RE¡ER¡NCES 368

ts0l Doyle, F. F., 1990, Principles of AVO proceasiog, SEG Dstio¡sl meeting sb6tlacts,
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[51] o Rench, W. S,, 1990, P¡sctical seismic im¿giDg, GeoPh]€ics: The leading edge
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explo¡¿tioD (August), p. 1&20.

f52l o Gra¡ S., 1997, Seismic imaging: Use the riSht tool fo¡ the job, Geophlsics: The
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[53] Kianeging, N. A,, Duijndam' A. J. W., and Ongkiehong, L.' 1991, Protection against
sp¿tiol aliasi¡g by üe¿ns of wavefield recolstructiotr, SEG n&tio¡al meetitrg sbstra'ts,
p.137&1376.

[54] Luh, P. C., 1992' ltue-sEplitude sigúal recovery Geoph¡rsics: The leadiDg edte of
exploratior (February), P.1&24.

Is5] o Ratclifi, D. W., Gra¡ S. Il., and Whitmore, N D., 1992, Seismic imagi¡g of salt
structures iD the Gulf of Medco, Geopbysicar The leading edge of explo¡atioD (April),

[56] *"""", ,., 19m, SPatist deeliasing of &D data, SEG trstioasl meetitrg ab6t¡s'ts,
p.1637-1640.

[54 Spitz, S., 1990, $D seismic i¡telPolatioú in

the F-XY domain, SEG natio[sl rDe€tilg
abstraats, p.1641-1643.

T¡rc¡, M. T., Lu, L., sod Ba)€sl, E., 1991, Staiic corrections: Time, amPütude and
l58l
phase, SEG aatioDal meeti!8 sbst¡¡cts, P.139$1401'

[5e] Titchie, W,, snd Diügr¡all, K., 1991, AsPects of imaging onshore $D seismic' SEG
.
Batiotral úeeting dbstracts, P.1377-1380.

t60l Tleadgold, G. E., Ritchie,

K., and Dey-Sa¡kar' S K', f990, -AVO: An example of
processing pitfalls, SEG o.tioDal meetitrS abstlacts, p'1487-146E'
problems'
[61] Wiggins, W., 1991, D¿ta Processi¡g overview: New methods for solving old
SEC national Deetiog abstra.ts, p.1459'

Chambers, R., Nichols, D., s¡d Abma, R', 1987, F\rniamentals

of !D
l62l Yilma¿, O.
;;;; b* 1, Geoph¡sics: Tte leading edge of exploratioo (November)' p 2230'
*' Yilnaz, O. Chaoberq R., Nichols,
f63l D, aud Abma' R ' 198?' Fündarnentsls of !D
;l;-;;., Pa¡t 2, GeoPhysics: The leading edge of e)<Ptorstiotr (Deceúb€r)' p 2G33'
0 Interpretation
REFERENCES 369

[64] Abstzis, I., oDd Kerr, J. D., 1991, Neor spatial visualizatioa techniques iÁ tectonic aod
strstig¡aphic interpretation optiEize res€rvoi! deüoeation of the Roa¡ ñeld, Danish
Nortb Sea, SEG ¡atioDal m€etiDg sbstr¡ats, p.26&265.

[65] o Abriel, W. L., Neale, P. S., Tissue, J. S., ¡nd W¡ight, R. M., 1991, ModerÁ technolog¡
iú atr old a¡e6: Bay Malchard ¡evisited' Geophysics: The leadiDg edge of explolation
(June), p.21-35.

[66] Btakeslee, S. snd Eastwood, J., 1992, Tomographic dnd 3-D suface s€ismic images of
a steam flood st Cold Lake, Alberta, SEG national meetirg abstracts, P.137&1380,

f67] Brown, A. R., 1987, The value of seismic ¿rnplitude, Geophysics: The leading edge of
exploration (October), p.3G33.

[68] o Brown, A. R., 1992, Seismic i¡te¡p¡etation today atrd tomorrow, Geophysics: Tbe
Ieadi¡g edge of explo¡ation (November), p.1Gl5.

[69j o Castagua, J. P. and Swa¡¡, H. W., 1997, Priociples of AVO crossplotting: Tbe Leading
Fdge, 16, Do. 04, 337-342.

[70] De Buyl, M., 1989, OptimuE 6eld development with seismic lefection dsta, Geo-
ph¡sics: The leading edge of exploration (April), p.l4-20.

[?f] Davis, T. L., and Lewis, C., 1990, Reservoir characterization by &D, ]C seismic
imaging, Silo field, Wyomiag, Geophysics: The leading edge of explo¡atiotr (November),
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[72] Edwards, S., 1988, Uses and abr:ses of seismic modeling, Geoph],sics: The leading edge
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[73] Enachescu, M. E., 1991, Amplitude iüterpretstion of three-dimeDsioral ¡eflection d&ta,

SEG natio¡al meeting ab6tracts, p.27t278.

[74] Enachescu, Nt. E., 1993, Amplitude interpletation of ]D reflection data, Geophysics:
The leading edge of exploration (JuDe), p.67&685.

[75] Foster, D. J., Keys, R. G. and Reill¡ J. M., 1997, Another pelspective on AVO cross-
plotti¡g: The Leading Edge, 16, no. 09,p.123I1237.

[76] Hartung, M., Heinke, J., Reichel, 8., 1993, Ev¿luating gas in place from 3D seisriic
data - Rotliegend formatioD, North Germany, First B¡eak, vol.ll, no.6 , p.241-245.

[7f Hardage, B. A., 1998, Anal¡sis of ]D seismic data from the Wa.ha-Iockridge Area:
ir¡ IÁteg¡ated st¡ategies fo¡ ca¡botrate rese¡voir leserve g¡osth: An example ftom the
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Ellenbu¡ger Group, PerEis¡ Basi¡, West T€x¡s: DePt of Eoers¡ Technolos¡ Tlatrsfe¡
course ¡otes. Evaluating 8as i¡ Place fro¡o 3D seisúic d¿t¡ - Rotliegeld 6oüo¿tion'
North Ce¡ús¡y' Fitst Break, vol.l1, rc.6 , p.241'245.

l78l Hurley, S. C., aod Murphy J. R., 1991, Application

oflD seismic to field develoPae¡t
a¡d explo¡etio¡: Ship Shoal 113 Unit freld, SEG üational meeting ab€t¡acts, P'23&242'

Johnstou, D. Il., 1989, R-ece¡t adr¡anc€s i¡ ocPloitstion geoph)sics, Geophysicsr

The
rel
leadi¡g edge of e,.ploratioÁ (Septeúber)' P.22-28'
Soüth-
f80l Kruee¡. J. It., 1998, High-R4.olutio¡ Seismic Sun€y of the Minneola ComPlex
' ' Kansas Geological Sun'ey OPen-File R'eport OFR 9&'t4
"."iKuo"rt'
http : //¡¡r¡r¡ . kts . ukaDs . €du/PRS/F¡bIi cat l osloFR98-44/f2iud'x ' bül\verb
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explo¡atioD (DeceEber), P.9!97

f82l .Lindsey, J. P., 1989, The F¡es¡el zone aúd its i¡t€rpretive sig¡ificance' Geoph)€ics:
The leadiog edge of explorstioD (October), p 3$39'

f8ill ¡ Lumlev. D.. Nu¡, A., Stra¡denes, S., Dvorkin, J ' Packctood, J ' 1994' Seismic motri-
' ' toring of oil production: A feasibility studf SEG Datiotral EeetiDg abstlacts' p'319322'
Geophysics: The
I84l Martin, R. B, 1992, Ilorizontal d¡illinS: Making your well a success'
Iesding edge of exPlor¿tioD (Augüst), P.21-26'

l85l Mulii. I. R.. aDd Fou, J. T., 1989' Iaterpretatio¡ of compler struc'tu¡e by $D
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' ' modeling, Geopb¡sics: The leadiog edge of explotatioo (June)' p'2G26
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p
Geoohvsics: The leading edge of exploration (December)' 89-9?

G M., Cu¡tis' M. P and DoDison, R M" 1990' Am$rlitak ñeld (Besufo¡t

f8? Peasley, '
'- ' Só, í *oo¿ for i¡te8¡ated reservoir cha¡acterization?' SEG üationsl Eeet-
"-didate
iDg abstra.t6, P 29&300.
MT 1991',3-D seisroic
f88l RaBuchle, S. K., Carr, T. R', Tücker, R
D', and SiDgletoÁ' '
*'
l*. i". áa¿ derelopme¡t: Latrdslide 6eld case study, GeopbJsics: The lesding edge
of explolatioú (October)' P'3035'
G. G , Roche, S L and Keller ' C'' 1991' A.!D re8ection
sei6-
t''' Rebli¡, M. T., Chapel,
f89l '
pott .li¿" n"ta, ¡.o&ews County'Texas, Geophysics: The le-ading
-i" ""-"" "t".,¡" (Autust)' p 11-15'
edge of exploration
REFERENCES

te01 fucha¡dsoo, J. G., 1989, Appraisel and develop¡De¡t of ¡es€rvoi¡s' Geophysics: The
leading edge of exploretio¡ (February), p.42-,14.

te11 . Robertson, J. D., 1989, n¡servoir m6n6gement using 3D seisroic data, Geoph¡rsics:
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[e2] Roy, J. P., 1996, Cost efiectil'e iúterpretation c'orkstations: Hart's Pet¡o Systems World
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Ie3] Sonneland, L., Ba¡kved, O., and Hageoes, O., 1990, Construction of reservoir mops
ftom seisoic classifier roaps, SEG nstional Eeetint abstracts, p.241-244.

Ie4] ¡ Stanulonis, S. F., and Tta¡, H. V., 1992, Method to deterBine po¡osity-tbickúess
directly from 3D seismic amplitude within the Lisb¡¡roe carbonate pool, Prudhoe Bay,
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[e5] . Stewart, R. R., and Disiena, J. P., 1989, The values of VSP in interpretation, Ceo-
pbysics: The leading edge of exploratioD (December), p.1&23.

Ie6] Tane¡, M. T., Schuelke, J. S., O'Doherty, R., and Baysal, E., 1994, Seismic attribütes
levisited, SEG aational meeting ab€trs.ts, p.11041106.

Ie7] Van Sickle, K., and Valusek, J. 8., 1990, AVO analysis of !D
seismic data idestifres
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p.1*22.

le8l Verm, R., ¿üd Hilterman, F., 1995, Litholog¡ colo¡-coded seisEic sectionsr The cal-
ibration of AVO cro€splottit¡g to rock ploperties, Geophysics: The leaditg edge of
exploration (August), p.848.
 38 E)rJRCISE ANSWERS 37'¿

38 Exercise Answers

Exe¡ciae 3.1.
Use n=t^=^/T
\=t¡T=?üJOm/sec, .Ü25 sec= fi m

Exerci8€ 3.3.
Fto¡o u = .fl

r=i,t^=ryFP=40Ez
Exercisc 3.4.
U*k=of
t"¡" = l0-3 r (3.55 x 1d)2 = 1.r2 x LÚ gl(c¡tu seé)
t¡¡¿" = 1r (152 x 105)2 = 2.3 x loro g/(an oeé)

Exercbe 6.1.
^
$f 000 co6t ofdry hol€s avoided
500
+ 2 400 000 coat of marginal producers ¿voided
- 4 0000m lo€t ¡ü¿lgiDal productiotr
4 m0 000 cct of !D survey
- --¡-imffi-
- csvi¡ss = ' $4 rm m0

by sioply
No moaey rvas saved by this $D survey. In fact, ve ¡¡ould be $410K ahead
drilliDg the dry holes. This is 6 bsd ecolonic sceDalio'

Exercbe 6.2.

1000000 additioúsl resewe (bbls)

20
x -r¡-dmm assuaed gice ($/bbl)
t€lue of sdditiotral res€rveg
- 2 400 000 additionsl productio¡ well cost6
+ 17 6m m0 Sains

to the $D survey, strd ¡ot' 8ay'

¡t is iEporta¡¡t thot the ¡dditio¡¿l ¡eaervcs be ¿ttribut¿ble
to a trevr coEPletiotr tec.ht¡ique.
38 EXERCISE ÁNST,11ERS 3?il

Exercise 6.3.

4,100,m0 SAr¡r¡85
+ 17,600,000 ga¡D8
13,500,m0 Det vslue

profrt = $13, 500, 000 - $20, 000, 000 r .35 = S6' 5m, 0m

Lifetime r¿t¿ of ¡etur¡ !.Rn(%) : ffiffi * tOO = 162%

Exerciee 6.{.
AD¡uslized ¡¿te of ¡etum:
ARR=lce%#r/fltt" -r
,{P¡= [!!9effi#peeej'*-1
,{Es:lffi] '-1
ARR = 12.6251J -r
,48R : 0.10132 l0.l37o a¡¡ualized ¡etu¡¡
=
Exe¡cise 6.5.

$10 000 m0 dry holes not driüed

+ 20 000 000 ms¡ginal produc€rs ¡ot d¡iued
4 000 000 co6t of 3-D survey
2 000 000 lo6t r¡a¡gitral productioD
$24 m0 000 s¿vi¡!88

Exercie€ 8.1.

h = (10 000)/(4'*45) = 55.5 ft. h = (20 m0)/(4*45) = 110 ft.

Exercise E.2.

LR = Ma¡<18ii.3,24551 = M¿¡c[83.3,1101 = 110 ft Later¿t ¡esolution set by bi.D size, lot

ssv€le¡gth i¡ this case.
 3¡t EXERCmA¡VSWERS 874

Ex€¡cbs 8.8,

CMP bld = (2{0'¡g))/(2*1m) = fl). Sigprl to !d& io!úotrc@G¡¡t i! /E-' G2r'9

Ex€rclso E.¿.

The quéti¡o¡ is: doea the reudiry tiné, r = 3.5 t, €q[¡t or .*occd tb¿ ¡uggrst'd ¿--?

h*-+,8ñ=L7o w
Thercfote, tbc rwdiry tinc is ilru6dc¡t frú thi! t¡€4

Ercrdlc 8.6,

*sfr=ft-.wm"
Ur€ 2 ns (.002 s)'

E.Gdte 8.6.

ut<ffi=ffi=w.sn
B(€rci!. 9.1.
zlnp(3ül ¡d) = r.o * 30ol/! = 6.68 '
Amp($ i¡!) = t.0 * 501/r = 3.62
Tbe t¡oluE€ tstio i3
#=u.0.
ñ
 al
38 EXERCISE ¡NSTIIE¡.s 375

The output aEpütude ratio is

oá¡
_i_ = 1.82 .

Exercise 9.2.
ll
dr 3 T;6 = ñ= .0v277

To be safe, use Al = 2 ms

Exerciee 9.3.
Fo¡ tor,€d st¡esme¡
,r,2s
ht-'t= n#Hh=
Fo¡ bottom cable
t,,,-,=ffi=wa".
Exercise 10.1.

i¡li¡o OIP spaci¡g = .s*(aou¡c€ iDtgrv¡l)

- 25 D€ters
¡I1!€ CP apaci¡g - .5*(r€c6ivor i¡terv¡l)
=.5*100
- 50 Detels
I ot O{P ]i¡es - 6
- f of ¡€cciv.!s/x1iÁ6
Exercise 10.2.
See Figure 194.

Exercise 10.3.
Oüe 6olutio¡: U = 8, ny = 12 Stving (t, rr) = (1540, t2l0)

Exerciee 10.4.
Si" Sr. ## = 68 .ft, so fo¡ sta¡da¡d o¡shore U.S, v¿lües s€ go wirh 55 ft (the lext
size would be too big, 82.5 ft). UsiDg the i¡tarvds ¡¡ FiCu¡e 70, thjs c¡¡ be aaüieved l'it¡
:8
t¡' = 6, t¡r dving (¿', ¿¡) = (trm,990).
 rtü

38 EXEnC¡SE ANgll¿ERS 376

o EI

B
o
o
o
;
o

Figure 194: Fl¡Pfop lbooti¡g with 10 CMP trod¡&

rr
38 EXERC'SE ¡NSTryERS 377

Exe¡c¡le 12.1.
The¡e are ll CMP li¡es acquired per pase (s€e Figu¡e f95).

txercire 12.2.

iDl,i¡€ CIP spacl¡g - .6*(!oü¡c. i¡t.rval)

' .5 t 12.5
- 6.25 !.t.r!
¡IiD. OIP sp.ci¡g ' .5¡(str.!¡.¡ !.p.!¿tfo¡)
- .5 | 25
- 12,5 D.t.r.
; of CMP li¡aa - | of rtr6r!.ra - 6
see Figur.-\¡.t{v3} -

txe¡cise 13.1.
dcpah'. H.= Wr=r.r^
d.úhsfl,=W"=7.6r
a.ptnp r,=Y4 =P'1^
Exerci¡e 13.2.

Ioo* = 1ta9.14'i-4.37
' 20 + r.40. (14 - 35) = 15u.14 m/¡ec
ltte.h = 1449.14 + 4.57 * 20 - 35 * 1.,o = 149L.54 mf sec

Exe¡cise 13.3.

.R=oi=1500r2=3000m
AB = 1500 * 0+ 2.15{n *.01 = 2* l5= 30m

ExerciBe 14.1.
Fot &C &D recordiut

300 eño¿g x 3 x 5ú x3 ¿o94?!E :t sxo ooo traeet

ry "c<¡¡itters
38 EXERCISE ANSI'ERS 378

aa
tl
aaa aaa O'
wdaf ¡utf¡c.
ship I fi¡ing
r!Íl€ctú

ship I fúirg

ship 2 f¡.ing

ship 2 firinS

Figure 195: FüpfloP sbootitrt f ith 10 CMP tncks'

38 EXERCISE ANSIUERS 379

IJ Srcamer scFration
25 mctcrs

LJintlrv¡l
Shot
LJ
Rcccivcr group in¡rwd
12.5m 125 n
Figu¡e 196: Sketch fo¡ Exe¡cise 12.2.

Fo¡ the siDgle cobpoDeDt &D 8ü¡1€y

3OO srroi¡ x 1 conponeñt x 3W rec€ú)ers x I cotnqne¡t = 150 000 úrcces

Exercise 14.2.
For ea¡h 2D p¡ss
4OO shats x 2 streamerc x 96 chanflelsf tt¡eamq = 76 8ú traces
For the eDtire $D survey we hove 5(X) suctr passea

500 pcsse¡ x 400 oñots x 2 trreomets x 96 clannelslstteamer = 38 400 m0 ¿r¿c¿s

Exercise 15.1.

F-oo"- = o/(r - ¡t"t Ólrl2 =u/-a|

lio- r.''-o = o/(1 - o) r/2 =o

Exercire 16.2.

^=!/Í=3ffil9o=33.3mctas
i = 8'z ^"t"..o'
t\
38 EXERC'SE ANSI.TIERS 380

The¡efore, ¿ bi¡ ún of 25x21 does oot sstisry the half-wsr€leryth !ule' The bin size i3
ouch too large, riskilg spatial aliasilg aod les of ¡6olutio¡.

Exe¡cire 18.1.

,b=tm=flffi=zosoooo""'
Exerciso 18.2.
P¡oblem 1 Byúes - 3600 46.035,6m - 3600
-- -7ññ= - = m-550 ttacas
"t'= 4'soo+2,to
Probleo 2. NuDber of tra.€s should b€

¡tt = ¡xün * ¡!ütt = 146 . 141 = 20' 586 útode¡

Problem 3. Mi$ing traaes sppesn to b€

m,586 - 20' 550 = 36 ¿¡ace¡

Exe¡c¡se 1t.3.
Nu¡¡be¡ of data s¿mples

4N sho/,24n ha.4s /shot

' tM tamdcaftra@ = I g2 x 1d somles

Numbe¡ of op€¡atio¡s

1.92 x ld somles * I .O x lú ops / aample = 1'92 x 10¡a opetotíont

Processing tiBe
1 92 x l}t a s 761 g Lr = b! s
-ope¡?tia = 2 7 42 857 c = 47 5l4 min = 31.7
7.0xlO'opslsec

Exerc¡re 19.1.

xs - t^ = 4 Tar';(O) = 2000 r roa(60') = 2000

' = 3464 n
L'732

Flolo the acquisitio¡ geoúetry ve have a maximu¡o to - tñ of 3000 m' Therefore' the
survey iE toogú¿ll to c¿ptu¡e the eD€rE¡ ¡eflect€d ftob tbe r€servoir'
'D
38 EXERCXSE ANSI{ENs 381

Dx€rcbc 19.2.
Loúgbrro:

tfi^lo',' '
ilm*V6+¡;E
= txt
som*@i6m0
flm | .l¿7¿
412.2 m ,

Short¡or0t
T-
F =,*,1*
F¡¡
= r*-1/#
= 3üDr 1fri67
= 3üX) *.l4Zl
,141.6 m.
=
Is tbé lhort ,otm ln¡id?
tl f = .02167 > IQI') =.ooooos
Yes.

ExcrcLe 10,3.

r=|=S=m-
l.úFot¡qncot:

ffi=#="'""'*"
a=8t F = r7.7

Exerclse 20.1. S€e Figute f97

1. 2-D poststa.L tiEe Eig¡¿tio¡
2. &D p¡€!ta.& d€ptb ngt¿tio!
3- ?D pctlt¡c.k d€ptb Eig¡atio¡
4. $D p¡tstrc¡. tiDe Dig¡stioD or !D pGtstrcL tiEe Eig¡stioD
t\
38 EXERCISE ANSWERS 82

Compl.x
Prcst¡cl
d.p6
niSration

IrúE¡sin8
stfuctural
coñplcxity
Poststack
!me
migFtio¡¡

Srong

IaqGasing larcr¡l vclocity v¡¡irtion

indicated by large numbers'
Figure 19?: Recommended kiod of toigotion' Tbe fou¡ cases are

$Dseismic survey pedesign exe¡cise in ChsPt¿! 22

Anaw€rs:

1. Ti¡le 66tnPle ¡ste = t/(¿ Í*) = 3't23¡n¿ = m31253

s€lect 2 E¡s = .002 s.
North of A
Mig¡stio! = z tang = L9ú ta¡(36o) = 1330 rn
distaÁc€
East of B
Mig¡stiou distsnce = z to}í' = nú 1.,]r(45') = 2000 m
Bit ! tt¡^¿/(A !6) = 6fn/(4 * 80) = 20'31 m
select bi$ize = 20 m
t
P¡etack trac€s = 20 tra&s/bin nrrúber of bi¡8
¡ü¡rbe¡ of bi¡s = (10m0/20)2 = 250'000
t
p¡esta¿k traces = 20 t¡a.es/bin 250'm0 b¡Ds
P¡€sta4k trac€6 = 5,000,000

5,O()0,O0O t¡8.€6 / (10O,mO tlsces/dav) = 50 dsyg

*
7. Plesta.k d¿ts sto¡age = 5,000,000 traces ? byt€s/t¡ace
? btnes/.|ra¡,- =2& + (6 s / '002 )'a = 12'2{0 byt6/t¡a4e
 38il
38 EXERCISE ANS1¡IERS

*
dsts 6to!¡ge = 5,000,000 trac¡s 12,240 h/t€s/tra¿e = 6'12 x 1010 byt€s
6.12 x 10¡0/(102)3 = 56.99 gig¿b'tes.

8. F= lE =J@=721^
s.9= L*8 !¿o z/u"ot =

10. Pi¡d of migrstioD?

Moderst€ velocity cootrast with Eoderate $D structu¡e'
Therefo¡e recos¡oe¡d &D poststack dePth Bi8¡stion

11.
*
Posbtack d¿ta sto¡ate = poststack t¡a.e6 12'240 b't{F/t¡úe
Po6tsto.k traces = pr€sts.k traces / 20 = 2$,000 t¡a¿€a
*
Post6tack dsta stor¡ge = 250,000 12,240 = 3.06 x 10e b¡tes
3.06 x 10e/(rm4)3 = 2.849 gigsbyi€s

12. Surv€y c6t = acquisitioD + Processint + i¡terPretatio¡

Acquieition = 100 tm2 | 10000 $ trtt¡2 = $1 000 000
P.o'"esslog = rm ftn2 * 3500 $/ bn!2 = $350 000 -\
IDterp¡etatio¡ = 100 ¡z¡2 * 5000 $/SqKm = $500 000
Survey cct = t 000 000 + 350 000 + 500 000 = $l 850 000

13. See Figure f98

14. See Fi$re 198

Exe¡c¡se 2t.1.

o@td- t tó = .2 * 16m + .064' 3W = 2n4 m/ s

üso'-hu.¿ = -2 .335 +.064 |. 3000 = 1987 m/s

Exercise 28'2'
- 3@O -776
2224
.148
2224+3M 5224
1987 - 3000
19E7 + 3000

Exercise 5.1.
38 EXERCISE i{NSI¡¿ERS 384

20
135,000 ¡
200.000 I
3 Numbo. ol drv hoLs avo¡&d duo lo 3D $rvov
o rmb€r ol merolnal Dro&crr! avoid6d du€ to 39 3uw€v
I OO-000 bbl tvenoo marcin¡ oroOuaron t¡om eac¡ maro well ¡voiC,ed
1.!5o,0oo Co.t ot 3D 3urvav {pann¡l+¡clu¡re+proc€BÉ+lnl€.D€1,
!00.000 bbl ¡¿¿¡ton¡t rr¡em¡ anfibutabl€ to 3D 3l¡w€v
4 ¡ddh¡mrl óddú¡ño wálB reouir€d to 6nrad add r¿s€rv€3
30 Ermm. fedo? lovorh€ed. rovalti$. lar, inc )
1t L¡i. ol Droiect (tlno lo 6íracl tsservo3)

.445.OO0 ¡ SáúnTq-6ñ-ñi¡AFddseEmle-
r5 200.ooo S Gr¡c d.ñ.rat d bv 30 3€Bmic I
13,755,000 \¡.t value ol 3D Beilrñ¡c
8,955,000 ¡ aft.r tü orolll Íom 3E, a€|smlc nv€slhon¡
4E4.05 Lriñ. ñOF ú 3D s.bmic
17.10 aññu¡l¡2.d ROR on 3D a¿¡ ]¡c

Figure 198: Ecouor¡ics fo! $D Pr€desig exercise iD ChaPte! 22

Exerciae 5.2.
3300:009
20-60: rhnitre =.m9 ^" .-
d=+- = 148n (a86l¿)

20-100: ¿¿úi,e =.007 ms * ¿=!!-$@* m =11'6m (3?/¿)

Exercise 26.1.
Using Aú for tiúe slice thickness:

Lz = o\t/2 = 35ñ 4 .@2/2 = 3.5 m (tl5 ft)

U6ing the )/4 rule:
u
Az=:= =::=
Jfio rn (33 tl)
= 10.9

Exercise 25.1.
See Figu¡e 197

Exercise 14.1.

np=o\=I]-,J!=e.'
t2ttl
38 EXERCISE.ANSI,ÍIERS 385

tinE ¡trücNE lllt

con(ou$ i¡r ml

Figue 199: TiEe st¡l¡cture úaP ger¡€rsted froE tiBe 6lices' (Exercise 1?.1)

Exercbe 1¿.2.
h= p2tnd l=lz - R(r) =0 .
With ¡o velocity or deDsity coDt¡ast the¡e i5 ¡o refi€ctio¡.