F W Schroeder ‘04 L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil Lecture 5 Lecture 5 Mitchum et al., 1977b AAPG©1977 reprinted with permission of the AAPG whose permission is required for further use.
Mar 27, 2015
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Lecture 5Lecture 5
Mitchum et al., 1977b
AAPG©1977 reprinted with permission of the AAPG whose permission is required for further use.
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Basic Exploration Workflow
To D/PDrop
Prospect
Drill Wildcats
ConfirmationWell
Identify Opportunities
ProcessSeismic Data
CapturePrime Areas
InterpretSeismic Data
AcquireSeismic Data
Success
Success
Failure
UneconomicEconomicAnalysis
AssessProspects
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
The Seismic Method
Listening Devices 0 s
An Explosion! 0 sEnergySource .1 s.2 s.3 s
Some Energy is Reflected
Most Energy is Transmitted
.4 s.4 s .5 s
Some Energy is Reflected
Most Energy is Transmitted
.6 s.7 s.8 s.8 s
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Raw Seismic Data
Device#1
Device#2
0.0
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.1
0.2
For the explosion we just considered ...
Listening device #1 records a reflection starting at 0.4 seconds
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
Tim
e
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
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 OperationsVibrators Generate a Disturbance
Geophones Detect Motion
Marine OperationsAir Guns Generate a Disturbance
Hydrophones Detect Pressure
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Raw Data - Marine
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Seismic Processing
Field Record(marine)
Data ProcessingStream
Subsurface ‘Image’
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Shot Gather
Source Receivers
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5S1
Direct Arrival
Reflections
2 W
ay
Tra
ve
l T
ime
Offset (Distance)
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
Direct Arrival
ReflectionFor each shot, reflections
are recorded in 5 receivers
There are 5 ‘bounce’ points along interface 3
1
2
3
For Shot 1
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Common Midpoint Gather
Sources Receivers
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5S1S2S3S4S5
We sort the shot-receiver pairs so that data from the same ‘bounce’ point (e.g., at ‘A ’) is
capturedCMP = common mid point
For Point A
A
CMP Gather
Offset Distance
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
CMP Gather
The travel times differ since the path for a near offset traceis 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
CMP Gather
Offset Distance
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
CMP Gather
Offset Distance
With Correct Velocity, Gather is Flat
Velocity Too Slow
Velocity Correct
Velocity Too Fast
Flat
CurvesDown
CurvesUp
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
A Stacked Trace
CMP Gather Moveout CorrectedMidpoint Gather
StackedTrace
Offset Distance
We stack several offset
traces (# traces =
fold)
The geologic ‘signal’ will be
additive
The random ‘noise’ will tend
to cancel
Stacking greatly
improves S/N(signal-to-noise)
10 Fold
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Positioning Problems
EnergySource
The seismic ray hits an inclined surface at 90º and reflects back
0.2 s down
0.2 s up
0.4 s -
The reflection is displayed beneath the
source-receiver midpoint
BouncePoint
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Time for an Exercise
1
2 3 4 65
Where would the reflection lie?
90º
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Time for an Exercise
1
2 3 4 65
Where would the reflection lie?
Compass
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Time for an Exercise
1
2 3 4 65
Where would the reflection lie?
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Exercise Answer
1
2 3 4 65
The reflection is downdip and itsdip is less than the interface
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Migration – Correcting for Location
Sweep Ellipse
S RUnmigrated energy on single trace...
...spread to all possible locations of origin
S R
Sweep Ellipse
S R
Sweep Ellipse
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Migration – Power of Correlation
Two reflections on unmigrated data After spreading to all possible locations
Reflections are not positioned in the subsurface correctly
since they have dip
Constructive interference occurs where the reflections are properly
positioned
Destructive interference dominates where the reflections are NOT
properly positioned
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Seismic Migration
Unmigrated ImageUnmigrated ImageUnmigrated ImageUnmigrated Image
Migrated ImageMigrated ImageMigrated ImageMigrated Image
Positioning Problems ‘Blur’ the
Image
Migration ReducesPositioning
Problems, which Improves the
Image
F W Schroeder ‘04
L 5 – Seismic Method Courtesy of ExxonMobil
Seismic Interpretation
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
Mitchum et al., 1977
AAPG©1977 reprinted with permission of the AAPG whose permission is required for further use.