Lecture 5

Mitchum et al., 1977b

AAPG1977 reprinted with permission of the AAPG

whose permission is required for further use.

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04
Basic Exploration Workflow
Identify
Opportunities
Capture
Prime Areas
Acquire
Seismic Data
Drill
Process
Wildcats
Seismic Data
Interpret
Seismic Data Failure Success
Assess
Prospects Confirmation
Well

Economic Uneconomic
Success
Analysis
To D/P
Drop
Prospect
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The Seismic Method

Energy An Explosion!
Source .4 s Listening Devices
.8 s .2
.1
0
.3
.4
.5
.6
.7
.8
0 sss

Some Energy is Reflected

Most Energy is Transmitted

Some Energy is Reflected

Most Energy is Transmitted

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Raw Seismic Data

Device Device
#1 #2 For the explosion we just considered
Time

0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4 Listening device #1 records a
0.5 reflection starting at 0.4 seconds
0.6
0.7
0.8 Listening device #2 records a
reflection starting at 0.8 seconds

To Image the Subsurface, We Use Many Shots (explosions)

and Many Receivers (listening devices)
Arranged in Lines either on Land or Offshore

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04
Seismic Acquisition

A 3D survey is designed based on:

Imaging Objectives: image area, target depth, dips,
velocity, size/thickness of bodies to be imaged, etc.
Survey Parameters: survey area, fold, offsets,
sampling, shooting direction, etc.
Balance between Data Quality & $$$$$

Land Operations Marine Operations

Vibrators Generate a DisturbanceAir Guns Generate a Disturbance
Geophones Detect Motion Hydrophones Detect Pressure
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Raw Data - Marine

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04
Seismic Processing

Data Processing
Stream

Field Record
(marine)
Subsurface
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L 5 Seismic Method
04
Shot Gather
For Shot 1
Source Receivers
Direct Arrival Offset (Distance)
S1
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5

1
Direct Arrival

2 Way Travel Time

2
Reflections
3

For each shot, reflections

are recorded in 5 Reflection

receivers
There are 5 bounce
points along interface 3
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Common Midpoint Gather
For Point A
Sources Receivers
CMP Gather
S5 S4 S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5

We sort the shot-receiver pairs

so that data from the same
bounce point (e.g., at A) is
captured
CMP = common mid point Offset Distance

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04
CMP Gather

CMP Gather

The travel times differ

since the path for a near
offset trace
is less than the path for a
far offset trace

With the correct velocity,

we can correct for the
difference in travel time
for each trace.

The curvature of this hyperbola is a

function of the average velocity
down to the depth of the reflection
Offset Distance

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With Correct Velocity, Gather is Flat

CMP Gather

Velocity
Curves
Too Slow Down

Velocity Flat
Correct

Velocity Curves
Up
Too Fast
Offset Distance

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04
A Stacked Trace
CMP Gather Moveout Corrected Stacked
Midpoint Gather Trace We stack
several offset
traces
(# traces =
fold)

The geologic
signal will be
additive

The random
noise will tend
to cancel
Offset Distance
10 Fold Stacking
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L 5 Seismic Method
04
Positioning Problems
Energy
Source

0.2
s
up
0.2
sd
ow
n

0.4 s -

Bounce
Point

The reflection is
The seismic ray hits an displayed beneath the
inclined surface at 90 and source-receiver
reflects back midpoint
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04
Time for an Exercise

1 2 3 4 5 6

90

Where would the reflection lie?

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04
Time for an Exercise

1 2 3 4 5 6

Compass

Where would the reflection lie?

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04
Time for an Exercise

1 2 3 4 5 6

Where would the reflection lie?

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04
Exercise Answer

1 2 3 4 5 6

The reflection is downdip and its

dip is less than the interface

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Migration Correcting for Location
Unmigrated energy on single trace... S R

Sweep Ellipse

S R

...spread to all possible locations of origin

Sweep Ellipse

S R

Sweep Ellipse

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Migration Power of Correlation
Two reflections on unmigrated data After spreading to all possible locations

Reflections are not positioned Constructive interference occurs

in the subsurface correctly where the reflections are properly
since they have dip positioned
Destructive interference dominates
where the reflections are NOT
properly positioned

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Seismic Migration
Unmigrated
Unmigrated Image
Image

Positioning
Problems Blur the
Image

Migrated
Migrated Image
Image

Migration Reduces
Positioning
Problems, which
Improves the
Image

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04
Seismic Interpretation
Mitchum et al., 1977

AAPG1977 reprinted with permission of the AAPG

whose permission is required for further use.

Determine the local geology from the subsurface images

Map faults and other structural features
Map unconformities and other major stratal surfaces
Interpret depositional environments
Infer lithofacies from reflection patterns & velocities
Predict ages of stratal units
Examine elements of the HC systems
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04