SHEAR‐WAVE RECORDING USING CONTINUOUS SIGNAL METHODS PART II—LATER EXPERIMENTATION

Geophysics ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Erickson ◽  
D. E. Miller ◽  
K. H. Waters
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Depth Of Penetration ◽  
Borehole Data ◽  
P Waves ◽  
Wave Data ◽  
Wave Research ◽  
Absolute Correlation

The emphasis in this shear‐wave research was placed on determining the general quality of data which could be obtained in different areas and whether such quality was consistent with the main objective of getting information from the shear‐wave data which could not be obtained from the corresponding P‐wave data. Borehole data are presented to show that the SH source of vibrations generates a downward‐propagating, horizontally polarized shear wave. Shear velocities were determined for depth intervals of two to three hundred feet, but no absolute correlation between [Formula: see text] and lithology could be established. In the deeper sedimentary section, [Formula: see text] averages about one‐half; but in the low velocity, or weathering layer, the ratio may be as small as one sixth. All the reflection record problems which arise from wave propagation phenomena in the LVL are generally much worse for SH waves than for P waves because of the very small SH velocities in the LVL. Nevertheless, by using large source and receiver patterns and various processing techniques, interpretable SH reflection records were obtained in almost every test area. It has been possible to obtain a depth of penetration about equal to that of the corresponding P‐wave records, with some reservations. The relative quality to be obtained has proved unpredictable. Several examples of SH reflection sections are presented with the corresponding P reflection sections. Some of these field examples show definite differences between the corresponding P and SH reflection sections. Such differences represent new information which potentially can be useful to the exploration geophysicist.

scholarly journals Advantages of Shear Wave Seismic in Morrow Sandstone Detection

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paritosh Singh ◽  
Thomas Davis
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Pure Shear ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Compressional Wave ◽  
Side Lobe ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
P Waves ◽  
Wave Data

The Upper Morrow sandstones in the western Anadarko Basin have been prolific oil producers for more than five decades. Detection of Morrow sandstones is a major problem in the exploration of new fields and the characterization of existing fields because they are often very thin and laterally discontinuous. Until recently compressional wave data have been the primary resource for mapping the lateral extent of Morrow sandstones. The success with compressional wave datasets is limited because the acoustic impedance contrast between the reservoir sandstones and the encasing shales is small. Here, we have performed full waveform modeling study to understand the Morrow sandstone signatures on compressional wave (P-wave), converted-wave (PS-wave) and pure shear wave (S-wave) gathers. The contrast in rigidity between the Morrow sandstone and surrounding shale causes a strong seismic expression on the S-wave data. Morrow sandstone shows a distinct high amplitude event in pure S-wave modeled gathers as compared to the weaker P- and PS-wave events. Modeling also helps in understanding the adverse effect of interbed multiples (due to shallow high velocity anhydrite layers) and side lobe interference effects at the Morrow level. Modeling tied with the field data demonstrates that S-waves are more robust than P-waves in detecting the Morrow sandstone reservoirs.

scholarly journals Propriedades Sísmicas Anisotrópicas Derivadas da Orientação Cristalográfica Preferencial de Muscovita-Quartzo Milonitos

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 03
Author(s):  
LUIZ MORALES ◽  
LUÍS FERNANDES
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Shear Waves ◽  
Seismic Wave Propagation ◽  
Preferred Orientation ◽  
Velocity Shear ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
P Waves ◽  
Seismic Properties ◽  
Wave Velocities

Seismic wave propagation in organized matter usually results in azimuthal variations of longitudinal waves (Pwaves), as well as the effect of birefringence in transversal waves (S-waves), which results in two orthogonal shear waves with contrasting velocities. In this paper we present the results of the anisotropic seismic properties of five samples of muscovitequartz mylonites collected in different parts of a fold in the Saas Fee region, Western Internal Alps. The P-wave velocities in these rocks varies from 5.73 to 6.32 km/s, whereas the high-velocity shear wave (S1) varies from 3.82 to 4.22 km/s and the low velocity (S2) from 3.73 to 4.09 km/s. The anisotropy in these rocks is relatively high and reaches values from 9.5% for P-waves, and almost 11% for shear wave splitting. Both anisotropy and propagation directions seem to be related to from the strong preferred orientation of quartz and muscovite but also depend of muscovite modal content within the different specimens. Development of preferred orientation of minerals destroys and disperses the single crystal seismic properties, which causes a decrease of wave velocities and a dispersion of propagation directions, of both compressional and shear waves. Since the preferred orientation of quartz and muscovite can be directly related to the main macroscopic structures in these rocks (foliation, lineation, and pole of foliation) and the anisotropic seismic properties are related to the preferred orientation, it is possible to determine the propagation directions in terms of these structures. Due to the relatively high muscovite content, many of the maximum propagation velocities are parallel/subparallel to the foliation and some parallel to the lineation of the reference frame. On the other hand, directions of minimum propagation cannot be directly related to the foliation pole. The presence of folds in the mid-to lower crust can exert changes in the propagation directions due to the foliation variation around such structures, mainly in the P-waves.

Direct shear-wave seismic survey in Sanhu area, Qaidam Basin, west China

2022 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
Zhiwen Deng ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Liang Gou ◽  
Shaohua Zhang ◽  
Yuanyuan Yue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Reservoir Characterization ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Direct Shear ◽  
Subsurface Structure ◽  
S Wave ◽  
West China ◽  
Wave Data

The formation containing shallow gas clouds poses a major challenge for conventional P-wave seismic surveys in the Sanhu area, Qaidam Basin, west China, as it dramatically attenuates seismic P-waves, resulting in high uncertainty in the subsurface structure and complexity in reservoir characterization. To address this issue, we proposed a workflow of direct shear-wave seismic (S-S) surveys. This is because the shear wave is not significantly affected by the pore fluid. Our workflow includes acquisition, processing, and interpretation in calibration with conventional P-wave seismic data to obtain improved subsurface structure images and reservoir characterization. To procure a good S-wave seismic image, several key techniques were applied: (1) a newly developed S-wave vibrator, one of the most powerful such vibrators in the world, was used to send a strong S-wave into the subsurface; (2) the acquired 9C S-S data sets initially were rotated into SH-SH and SV-SV components and subsequently were rotated into fast and slow S-wave components; and (3) a surface-wave inversion technique was applied to obtain the near-surface shear-wave velocity, used for static correction. As expected, the S-wave data were not affected by the gas clouds. This allowed us to map the subsurface structures with stronger confidence than with the P-wave data. Such S-wave data materialize into similar frequency spectra as P-wave data with a better signal-to-noise ratio. Seismic attributes were also applied to the S-wave data sets. This resulted in clearly visible geologic features that were invisible in the P-wave data.

Rapid map and inversion of P-SV waves

Geophysics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 859-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
P Waves ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Seismic Profiling ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
And Inversion

Multicomponent seismic recordings are currently being analyzed in an attempt to improve conventional P‐wave sections and to find and use rock properties associated with shear waves (e.g. Dohr, 1985; Danbom and Dominico, 1986). Mode‐converted (P-SV) waves hold a special interest for several reasons: They are generated by conventional P‐wave sources and have only a one‐way travel path as a shear wave through the typically low velocity and attenuative near surface. For a given frequency, they will have a shorter wavelength than the original P wave, and thus offer higher spatial resolution; this has been observed in several vertical seismic profiling (VSP) cases (e.g., Geis et al., 1990). However, for surface seismic data, converted waves are often found to be of lower frequency than P-P waves (e.g., Eaton et al., 1991).

Image gathers of SV-waves in homogeneous and factorized VTI media

Geophysics ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. D55-D64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramzy M. Al-Zayer ◽  
Ilya Tsvankin
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Migration Velocity ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Velocity Analysis ◽  
Wave Data ◽  
Migration Velocity Analysis ◽  
Wave Migration ◽  
Vti Media

Reflection moveout of SV-waves in transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI media) can provide valuable information about the model parameters and help to overcome the ambiguities in the inversion of P-wave data. Here, to develop a foundation for shear-wave migration velocity analysis, we study SV-wave image gathers obtained after prestack depth migration. The key issue, addressed using both approximate analytic results and Kirchhoff migration of synthetic data, is whether long-spread SV data can constrain the shear-wave vertical velocity [Formula: see text] and the depth scale of VTI models. For homogeneous media, the residual moveout of horizontal SV events on image gathers is close to hyperbolic and depends just on the NMO velocity [Formula: see text] out to offset-to-depth ratios of about 1.7. Because [Formula: see text] differs from [Formula: see text], flattening moderate-spread gathers of SV-waves does not ensure the correct depth of the migrated events. The residual moveout rapidly becomes nonhyperbolic as the offset-to-depth ratio approaches two, with the migrated depths at long offsets strongly influenced by the SV-wave anisotropy parameter σ. Although the combination of [Formula: see text] and σ is sufficient to constrain the vertical velocity [Formula: see text] and reflector depth, the tradeoff between σ and the Thomsen parameter ε on long-spread gathers causes errors in time-to-depth conversion. The residual moveout of dipping SV events is also controlled by the parameters [Formula: see text], σ, and ε, but in the presence of dip, the contributions of both σ and ε are significant even at small offsets. For factorized v(z) VTI media with a constant SV-wave vertical-velocity gradient [Formula: see text], flattening of horizontal events for a range of depths requires the correct NMO velocity at the surface, the gradient [Formula: see text], and, for long offsets, the parameters σ and ε. On the whole, the nonnegligible uncertainty in the estimation of reflector depth from SV-wave moveout highlights the need to combine P- and SV-wave data in migration velocity analysis for VTI media.

Circularly polarized shear waves used for VSP measurements

Geophysics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-646
Author(s):  
Hans A. K. Edelmann
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Velocity Ratio ◽  
Shear Waves ◽  
Signal Amplitude ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Polarization Analysis ◽  
S Wave ◽  
P Waves ◽  
Additional Processing ◽  
Wave Recording

If shear waves are to be recorded, all other types of waves (including P waves) have to be regarded as noise. All data processing applied later is limited in its success, not so much by the character of the signal, but by the character of the noise superimposed on the signal. Therefore an optimum method for simultaneous P‐ and S‐wave recording does not exist per se. All efforts made in the field that help to enhance the relatively weak S‐wave signal enhance the possibility of a more detailed interpretation such as polarization analysis. In the course of shear‐wave investigations over a period of more than ten years, simultaneous P‐ and SV‐wave recording has yielded fairly good results for velocity ratio determination, but has never produced satisfying results for polarization analysis because of the interfering P‐wave events. When generating pure SH‐waves, however, P‐wave arrival amplitudes in a shot record can, under favorable conditions, be kept well below the SH‐wave amplitude (−40 dB). Through additional processing, a ratio of P‐ to SH‐signal amplitude of −60 dB can be reached. The improvement achieved by making separate shear‐wave recordings, obviously, must be weighed against the additional costs caused by these recordings.

Investigation of multiple reflections and wave conversion by means of a vertical wave test (vertical seismic profiling) in southern Mississippi

Geophysics ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 977-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Lash
Keyword(s):  
Wave Train ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Multiple Reflections ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
P Waves ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Seismic Profiling ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
Sonic Log

A vertical wave test employing the vertical seismic profiling (VSP) technique in southern Mississippi confirmed suspicions that apparent multiple reflections might include converted waves as well as multiply reflected compressional waves. Both compressional (P) and shear (S) waves generated near the source were observed to travel to great depths, and P‐to‐S conversions were apparent in deep zones as well as shallow. P‐wave reflections were observed in agreement with predictions from synthetic records based on the sonic log. Up‐traveling P‐waves were reflected a short distance below the surface, at the base of the low‐velocity layer, and were followed as down‐traveling P‐waves to 200 ft depth by means of a vertical spread. Below 2000 ft and following the first P wave train, the predominate energy appeared to be down‐traveling P‐waves which could not be traced back to the reflection of up‐traveling P‐waves. The continuity of wavelets indicated instead that the strong down‐traveling S‐waves generated near the source produced P‐waves by S‐to‐P conversion somewhere in the zone between 800 and 1400 ft. The interference on the recordings made with an individual seismometer, or a small group of seismometers, using dynamite shots as the source was generally of a low‐frequency nature, so that the signal‐to‐noise (S/N) ratio was improved by the use of a high passband filter. The interference was greatly reduced without the need for a filter on recordings in which the source was a distributed charge of 100 ft length. The distributed charge produced much less shear‐wave energy in the P reflection band, demonstrating that the interference encountered when using a concentrated charge source was the consequence of the generation of S‐waves near the source. The distributed charges were previously chosen as a means for effectively eliminating secondary (ghost) reflections, an unwanted form of multiple reflections.

Seismic velocity models for heat zones in Athabasca tar sands

Geophysics ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 1108-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry R. Lines ◽  
Ronald Jackson ◽  
James D. Covey
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Velocity ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Steam Injection ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Injection Velocity ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Borehole Data ◽  
Tar Sands ◽  
Velocity Models

Recent laboratory and field studies indicate that the P-wave velocity in Athabasca tar sands decreases when temperature increases during steam injection. In this paper we derive time variant velocity models from seismic traveltime inversions of both reflection and borehole data. Prior to steam injection, three‐dimensional (3-D) reflector velocity‐depth models are established using image‐ray conversions of traveltimes to depth. The changes in velocity due to steam injection are modeled by inverting traveltime data from seismic monitor surveys after steam injection and comparing these results to velocities computed prior to steam injection. Velocity models are essentially determined by traveltimes from the 3-D seismic reflection survey. The surface‐to‐wellbore data traveltimes show the expected delay caused by steam injection but do not significantly alter the velocity model produced by reflection traveltimes. For seismic monitor surveys, low‐velocity zones show a very good correlation with zones of temperature increase at injector well positions. The results indicate that velocity models obtained from seismic traveltimes may prove useful in detecting steam fronts in tar sands.

Evaluation of 3C microelectromechanical system data on a 2D line: Direct comparison with conventional vertical-component geophone arrays and PS-wave analysis

Geophysics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. B79-B87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Stotter ◽  
Erika Angerer
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Random Noise ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Azimuthal Anisotropy ◽  
P Wave ◽  
High Porosity ◽  
Vienna Basin ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Microelectromechanical System ◽  
Wave Data

A 2D vibroseis line was acquired in the Vienna Basin (Austria) for the purpose of comparing the data of digital multicomponent single sensors based on microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensors alongside conventional vertical-component geophone arrays. For efficient removal of coherent noise during processing, all source points were recorded in single-sweep mode, i.e., no vertical stacking was performed in the field. On this densely sampled data set, several noise-reduction techniques, such as digital array forming, frequency-wavenumber (f-k) filtering in shot and receiver domains, and polarization filters, proved to be valuable in reducing source-generated noise. The results showed that, with the use of single-sweep recording and polarization filter techniques, it is possible to produce seismic sections for a single-receiver three-component (3C) MEMS line that are comparable to a conventional geophone array line in signal-to-noise ratio. However, the higher number of single geophones and hence the stronger attenuation of random noise in the conventional array resulted in an advantage for the analog geophone data set. The second goal for this survey was to evaluate additional information contained in the horizontal components of the MEMS data. The multicomponent data allowed for the processing of mode-converted shear-wave data, performed for the first time in the Vienna Basin. Azimuthal anisotropy related to horizontal stresses was observed in the Neogene section of the shear-wave data set. A PP-PS event correlation allowed the identification of major shallow horizons. Interpretation of the final sections confirmed that the PS data are useful to distinguish between gas reservoirs and high-porosity water sands, which can cause similar P-wave amplitude variation with offset (AVO) effects.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document