Exploration Geophysics

Fundamental of Seismic Reflection Method

Oleh:
Dr. Ir. Eko Widianto, MT
Jurusan Teknik Perminyakan
Fakultas Teknologi Kebumian dan Energi
Universitas TRISAKTI
2013

LECTURE MATERIALS
1. INTRODUCTION (1X)
a. Definition
b. Geophysical Methods and their main applications
c. Level of Petroleum Investigation

2. REFLECTION SEISMIC (8X)

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

Fundamental of Seismic Reflection Method

Acquisition
Processing
Structural Interpretation
Stratigraphic Interpretation
Exercise
Field Trip (if possible)

1. GRAVITY (3X)
a.
b.
c.
d.

Introduction and general application of gravity data

Gravity data analysis for Oil and Gas Exploration
Paradigm Shift in Gravity data utilization
Gravity data analysis for Oil and Gas Reservoir Monitoring (Time lapse)

2. MAGNETIC (1X)
a. General Application of Magnetic Data

SEISMIC METHODS

Seismic Methods:
Refraction and Reflection
Seismic methods, as typically applied in
exploration seismology, are considered active
geophysical methods. In seismic surveying,
ground movement caused by some source* is
measured at a variety of distances from the
source. The type of seismic experiment differs
depending on what aspect of the recorded
ground motion is used in the subsequent
analysis.

History
One of the first active seismic experiments was conducted in 1845 by
Robert Mallet, considered by many to be the father of instrumental
seismology. Mallet measured the time of transmission of seismic waves,
probably surface waves, generated by an explosion. To make this
measurement, Mallet placed small containers of mercury at various
distances from the source of the explosion and noted the time it took for
the surface of the mercury to ripple after the explosion. In 1909, Andrija
Mohorovicic used travel-times from earthquake sources to perform a
seismic refraction experiment and discovered the existence of the crustmantle boundary now called the Moho.
The earliest uses of seismic observations for the exploration of oil and
mineral resources date back to the 1920s. The seismic refraction
technique, was used extensively in Iran to delineate structures that
contained oil. The seismic reflection method, now the most commonly
used seismic method in the oil industry, was first demonstrated in
Oklahoma in 1921.

Elastic Waves
When the is Earth rapidly displaced or distorted at some point, the
energy imparted into the Earth by the source of the distortion can be
transmitted in the form of elastic waves. A wave is a disturbance that
propagates through, or on the surface of, a medium. Elastic waves
satisfy this condition and also propagate through the medium without
causing permanent deformation of any point in the medium. Elastic
waves are fairly common. For example, sound propagates through
the air as elastic waves and water waves propagate across the
surface of a pond as elastic waves.

The wave is characterized by :

Amplitude is the peak to trough height of the wave
divided by two.
Wavelength is the distance over which the wave goes
through one complete cycle (e.g., from one peak to the
next, or from one trough to the next).
Period is wavelength measured in time
Frequency is number of cycle in 1 second
Velocity is the speed of wave propagation

SEISMIC WAVES ARE BODY WAVES: Elastic waves that propagate through
the Earth's interior. In reflection and refraction method, body waves are the
source of information used to image the Earth's interior. Like the ripples on
the surface of the pond, body waves propagate away from the source in all
directions. If the speed at which body waves propagate through the Earth's
interior is constant, then at any time, these waves form a sphere around
the source whose radius is dependent on the time elapsed since the
source generated the waves. Shown above is a cross section through the
earth with body waves radiated from a source (red circle) shown at several
different times.

Seismic Body Waves

Wave Type
(and names)

Particle Motion

Other Characteristics

P(Compressional),
Primary, Longitudinal

Alternating
compressions
( pushes ) and dilations
(pulls) which are directed
in the same direction as the
wave is propagating (along
the raypath); and therefore,
perpendicular
to
the
wavefront.

P motion travels fastest in materials,

so the P-wave is the first-arriving
energy on a seismogram. Generally
smaller and higher frequency than the
S and Surface-waves. P waves in a
liquid or gas are pressure waves,
including sound waves.

S (Shear), Secondary, Alternating

transverse
Transverse
motions (perpendicular to the
direction of propagation, and
the raypath); commonly
approximately
polarized
such that particle motion is
in vertical or horizontal
planes.

S-waves do not travel through fluids,

so do not exist in Earths outer core
(inferred to be primarily liquid iron)
or in air or water or molten rock
(magma). S waves travel slower than
P waves in a solid and, therefore,
arrive after the P wave.

Compressional Wave (P-Wave)

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating compression

and dilation. Particle motion is parallel to the direction of propagation
(longitudinal). Material returns to its original shape after wave passes.

Shear Wave (S-Wave)

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating transverse motion. Particle

motion is perpendicular to the direction of propagation (transverse). Transverse particle
motion shown here is vertical but can be in any direction. However, Earths layers tend to
cause mostly vertical (SV; in the vertical plane) or horizontal (SH) shear motions. Material
returns to its original shape after wave passes.

Seismic Surface Waves

Wave Type
(and names)

Particle Motion

Other Characteristics

L,
Love, Surface
waves, Long
waves

Transverse horizontal motion,

perpendicular to the direction of
propagation and generally parallel
to the Earths surface.

Love waves exist because of the Earth s

surface. They are largest at the surface and
decrease in amplitude with depth. Love waves
are dispersive, that is, the wave velocity is
dependent on frequency, generally with low
frequencies
propagating
at
higher
velocity. Depth of penetration of the Love
waves is also dependent on frequency, with
lower frequencies penetrating to greater depth.

R,
Rayleigh, Surface
waves, Long
waves, Ground
roll

Motion is both in the direction of

propagation and perpendicular (in
a vertical plane), and phased so
that the motion is generally
elliptical either prograde or
retrograde.

Rayleigh waves are also dispersive and the

amplitudes generally decrease with depth in the
Earth. Appearance and particle motion are
similar to water waves. Depth of penetration of
the Rayleigh waves is also dependent on
frequency, with lower frequencies penetrating to
greater depth. Generally, Rayleigh waves travel
slightly slower than Love waves.

Rayleigh Wave (R-Wave)

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of elliptical motions

(generally retrograde elliptical) in the vertical plane and parallel to the
direction of propagation. Amplitude decreases with depth. Material returns
to its original shape after wave passes.

Love Wave (L-Wave)

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating transverse motions.

Particle motion is horizontal and perpendicular to the direction of propagation
(transverse). To aid in seeing that the particle motion is purely horizontal, focus on
the Y axis (red line) as the wave propagates through it. Amplitude decreases with
depth. Material returns to its original shape after wave passes.

1. What seismic wave type is shown here?

2. What seismic wave type is shown here?

3. What seismic wave type is shown here?

4. What seismic wave type is shown here?

Wavefronts
and Raypaths

Raypaths - Raypaths are nothing more than lines that show the direction that the seismic
wave is propagating. For any given wave, there are an infinite set of raypaths that could be
used. In the example shown above, for instance, a valid raypath could be any radial line drawn
from the source. We have shown only a few of the possible raypaths.

Wavefront - Wavefronts connect positions of the seismic wave that are doing the same thing
at the same time. In the example shown above, the wavefronts are spherical in shape. One
such wavefront would be the sphere drawn through the middle of the dark blue area. This
surface would connect all portions of the wave that have the largest possible negative
amplitude at some particular time.
In principle and in practice, raypaths are equivalent to the directions of current flow, and
wavefronts are equivalent to the equipotential lines. They are also equivalent to field direction
and strength in magnetism.

Wave Interaction with Boundaries

Snell's Law

These raypaths are simply drawn to be perpendicular to the direction of

propagation of the wavefield at all times. As they interact with the boundary, these
raypaths obey Snell's Law. Snell's Law can be derived in a number of different
ways, but the way it is usually described is that the raypath that follows Snell's
Law is the path by which the wave would take the least amount of time to
propagate between two fixed points.
Consider the refracted raypaths shown above. In our particular case, v2, the
velocity of the halfspace, is less than v1, the velocity of the layer. Snell's Law
states that in this case, i2, the angle between a perpendicular to the boundary and
the direction of the refracted raypath, should be smaller than i1, the angle
between a perpendicular to the boundary and the direction of the direct raypath.
This is exactly the situation predicted by the wavefronts shown in the figure
above.

Seismic Wave Speeds and Rock Properties

It can be shown that in homogeneous, isotropic media
the velocities of P and S waves through the media are
given by the expressions shown to the right. Where Vp
and Vs are the P and S wave velocities of the medium,
r is the density of the medium, and m and k are
referred to as the shear and bulk moduli of the media.
Taken together, m and k are also known as elastic
parameters. The elastic parameters quantitatively
describe the following physical characteristics of the
medium.
Bulk Modulus - Is also known as the incompressibility of the medium. Imagine we
have a small cube of the material making up the medium and that we subject this
cube to pressure by squeezing it on all sides. If the material is not very stiff, we
can image that it would be possible to squeeze the material in this cube into a
smaller cube. The bulk modulus describes the ratio of the pressure applied to the
cube to the amount of volume change that the cube undergoes. If k is very large,
then the material is very stiff, meaning that it doesn't compress very much even
under large pressures. If k is small, then a small pressure can compress the
material by large amounts. For example, gases have very small
incompressibilities. Solids and liquids have large incompressibilities.

Seismic Wave Speeds and Rock Properties

Shear Modulus - The shear modulus describes how difficult it is to deform a cube of the
material under an applied shearing force. For example, imagine you have a cube of material
firmly cemented to a table top. Now, push on one of the top edges of the material parallel to
the table top. If the material has a small shear modulus, you will be able to deform the cube
in the direction you are pushing it so that the cube will take on the shape of a parallelogram.
If the material has a large shear modulus, it will take a large force applied in this direction to
deform the cube. Gases and fluids can not support shear forces. That is, they have shear
moduli of zero. From the equations given above, notice that this implies that fluids and
gases do not allow the propagation of S waves.
Any change in rock or soil property that causes r, m, or k to change will cause seismic
wave speed to change. For example, going from an unsaturated soil to a saturated soil will
cause both the density and the bulk modulus to change. The bulk modulus changes
because air-filled pores become filled with water. Water is much more difficult to compress
than air. In fact, bulk modulus changes dominate this example. Thus, the P wave velocity
changes a lot across water table while S wave velocities change very little.
Many other factors causing changes in velocity (such as changes in lithology, changes in
cementation, changes in fluid content, changes in compaction, etc.). Thus, variations in
seismic velocities offer the potential of being able to map many different subsurface
features.

Seismic Velocities of Earth Materials

The P and S wave velocities of various earth materials are shown below.
Material

P wave Velocity (m/s)

S wave Velocity (m/s)

Air

332

Water

1400-1500

Petroleum

1300-1400

Steel

6100

3500

Concrete

3600

2000

Granite

5500-5900

2800-3000

Basalt

6400

3200

Sandstone

1400-4300

700-2800

Limestone

5900-6100

2800-3000

Sand (Unsaturated)

200-1000

80-400

Sand (Saturated)

800-2200

320-880

Clay

1000-2500

400-1000

Glacial Till (Saturated)

1500-2500

600-1000

Simple Earth Model:

Low-Velocity Layer Over a Half space
Shown below are a few snapshots of the seismic waves as they propagate away
from the source at times of 65, 80, and 110 ms.

Simple Earth Model:

Low-Velocity Layer Over a Half space
As the refracted arrival propagates through
the half space, because it travels faster
than the direct arrival in the layer, it begins
to move across the layer boundary before
the direct arrival. The refracted arrival is
propagating horizontally at the speed of
the half space, and the direct and the
reflected arrivals propagate horizontally at
the speed of the layer.

LESSONS LEARNED
Seismic method uses body waves to carry earth
subsurface information to the surface
As seismic wave hit the elastic boundary it will
get reflected, refracted, and transmitted
The type of seismic methods differs depending
on what aspect of the recorded reflected or
refracted is used in the analysis
Seismic Method: Refraction and Reflection

SEISMIC REFRACTION

SEISMIC REFRACTION

Multiple Coverage Seismic Reflection Survey

Spread Length (RL)

2nd shot

Near Offset

Distance between
shot points

1st Receiver

Source Points
Mid Points

nnt Receiver

Far Offset

Receiver Points

Distance between
Receiver points

1st shot

1st shot

Common Shot Points

2nd shot
3rd shot
4th shot

1 1
Fold Coverage
For four times shots

4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Full Fold Coverage

Common Mid Points

Common Receiver

Hyperbolic Move Out

Reflected waves recognized by its
hyperbolic shape in seismic record

Normal move out correction is a time

shift apply to seismic reflection record
to get zero offset response

2
x
t 2 to2 2
v
2

1
t NMO to 1

VNMOto

SEISMIC REFLECTION RECORDS

Reflection Seismic

Source
Q

geology

Receiver
t

Raw data

seismic Section

ZERO OFFSET SECTION