Shear waves, multiple reflections, and converted waves found by a deep vertical wave test (vertical seismic profiling)

Geophysics ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1373-1411 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Lash
Keyword(s):  
Traveling Waves ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Multiple Reflections ◽  
P Waves ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Seismic Profiling ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
Converted Waves ◽  
Set Up

Evidence that shear (S) waves are much more important in seismic surveys than currently believed was found in each of two deep well tests conducted some time ago. Wave tests were recorded along vertical lines, following procedures which are now designated “vertical seismic profiling.” The results may be divided into (1) evidence that shear (S) waves are produced by in‐hole dynamite charges and by the resulting compressional (P) waves, and (2) evidence that the S‐waves subsequently produce P‐waves. The proof of S‐wave production is quite conclusive. Even if we say that only P‐waves are set up in the immediate vicinity of the shot, some S‐waves are then generated within a radius of 10 to 100 ft to form what we will call a direct or “source S wave.” Other S‐waves are set up by conversion of P‐wave energy to S‐wave energy at interfaces hundreds and thousands of feet from the dynamite charge. In contrast to the P to S conversion, the evidence for S to P conversion is less conclusive. The source S‐wave generated near the shot was found to have a long‐period character, with many cycles which are believed to be controlled by the layering near the shot. The PS converted waves, which appear later, resemble the P‐waves that produce them. The interference to primary reflections by multiple reflections and/or converted waves produces complex signals at points deep in the well which require directional discrimination to separate up‐traveling waves from down‐traveling waves.

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.

Local vertical seismic profiling (VSP) elastic reverse-time migration and migration resolution: Salt-flank imaging with transmitted P-to-S waves

Geophysics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. S35-S49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Xiao ◽  
W. Scott Leaney
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Model ◽  
Staggered Grid ◽  
Image Point ◽  
Reverse Time ◽  
Reverse Time Migration ◽  
S Wave ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Seismic Profiling ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
Time Migration

To avoid the defocusing effects of propagating waves through salt and overburden with an inaccurate overburden velocity model, we introduce a vertical seismic profiling (VSP) local elastic reverse-time-migration (RTM) method for salt-flank imaging by transmitted P-to-S waves. This method back-projects the transmitted PS waves using a local velocity model around the well until they are in phase with the back-projected PP waves at the salt boundaries. The merits of this method are that it does not require the complex overburden and salt-body velocities and it automatically accounts for source-side statics. In addition, the method accounts for kinematic and dynamic effects, including anisotropy, absorption, and all other unknown rock effects outside of this lo-cal subsalt velocity model. Numerical tests on an elastic salt model and offset 2D VSP data in the Gulf of Mexico, using a finite-difference time-domain staggered-grid RTM scheme, partly demonstrate the effectiveness of this method over interferometry PS-PP transmission migration and local acoustic RTM. Our method separates elastic wavefields to vector P- and S-wave velocity components at the trial image point and achieves better resolution than local acoustic RTM and interferometric transmission migration. The analytical formulas of migration resolution for local acoustic and elastic RTM show that the migration illumination is limited by data frequency and receiver aperture, and the spatial resolution is lower than standard poststack and prestack migration. This new method can image salt flanks as well as subsalt reflectors.

scholarly journals Three-component amplitude versus offset analysis

1989 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
D.R. Miles ◽  
G. Gassaway ◽  
L. Bennett ◽  
R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
P Waves ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Avo Analysis ◽  
Avo Inversion ◽  
Amplitude Versus Offset ◽  
Converted Waves

Three-component (3-C) amplitude versus offset (AVO) inversion is the AVO analysis of the three major energies in the seismic data, P-waves, S-waves and converted waves. For each type of energy the reflection coefficients at the boundary are a function of the contrast across the boundary in velocity, density and Poisson's ratio, and of the angle of incidence of the incoming wave. 3-C AVO analysis exploits these relationships to analyse the AVO changes in the P, S, and converted waves. 3-C AVO analysis is generally done on P, S, and converted wave data collected from a single source on 3-C geophones. Since most seismic sources generate both P and S-waves, it follows that most 3-C seismic data may be used in 3-C AVO inversion. Processing of the P-wave, S-wave and converted wave gathers is nearly the same as for single-component P-wave gathers. In split-spread shooting, the P-wave and S-wave energy on the radial component is one polarity on the forward shot and the opposite polarity on the back shot. Therefore to use both sides of the shot, the back shot must be rotated 180 degrees before it can be stacked with the forward shot. The amplitude of the returning energy is a function of all three components, not just the vertical or radial, so all three components must be stacked for P-waves, then for S-waves, and finally for converted waves. After the gathers are processed, reflectors are picked and the amplitudes are corrected for free-surface effects, spherical divergence and the shot and geophone array geometries. Next the P and S-wave interval velocities are calculated from the P and S-wave moveouts. Then the amplitude response of the P and S-wave reflections are analysed to give Poisson's ratio. The two solutions are then compared and adjusted until they match each other and the data. Three-component AVO inversion not only yields information about the lithologies and pore-fluids at a specific location; it also provides the interpreter with good correlations between the P-waves and the S-waves, and between the P and converted waves, thus greatly expanding the value of 3-C seismic data.

Application of mode‐converted shear waves to rock‐property estimation from vertical seismic profiling data

Geophysics ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Elastic Parameters ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Seismic Profiling ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
Property Estimation ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Interval Velocities

Three‐component vertical seismic profiling (3-CVSP) data were acquired and processed to yield separate estimates of the compressional (P)-wave and shear (S)-wave fields. Interval velocities, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] (of the P and S waves), are computed from the identified onset times at many seismometer positions along the borehole. The ratio [Formula: see text] is calculated and used to compute the Poisson’s ratio and the ratio of incompressibility to rigidity. In a North Sea well, the variation in these elastic parameters was highly correlated with the variation in stratigraphy. Of particular interest was the ability to indicate pore fluids such as gas or water within a reservoir. Abrupt changes of the calculated parameters can be an indicator of the gas‐water to water transition zone.

Fracture detection using P-wave and S-wave vertical seismic profiling at The Geysers

Geophysics ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Majer ◽  
T. V. McEvilly ◽  
F. S. Eastwood ◽  
L. R. Myer
Keyword(s):  
Fractured Rock ◽  
Geothermal Field ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Velocity Variation ◽  
Fracture Detection ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Fracture Geometry ◽  
Seismic Profiling ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
The Geysers

In a pilot vertical seismic profiling study, P-wave and cross‐polarized S-wave vibrators were used to investigate the potential utility of shear‐wave anisotropy measurements in characterizing a fractured rock mass. The caprock at The Geysers geothermal field was found to exhibit about an 11 percent velocity variation between SH-waves and SV-waves generated by rotating the S-wave vibrator orientation to two orthogonal polarizations for each survey level in the well. The effect is generally consistent with the equivalent anisotropy expected from the known fracture geometry.

Numerical simulation of azimuthal acoustic logging in a borehole penetrating a rock formation boundary

Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. D283-D291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Liu ◽  
Wenxiao Qiao ◽  
Xiaohua Che ◽  
Xiaodong Ju ◽  
Junqiang Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Domain Model ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Angle Variation ◽  
P Waves ◽  
Acoustic Logging ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Rock Formation ◽  
Logging Tool ◽  
Difference Time

We have developed a new 3D acoustic logging tool (3DAC). To examine the azimuthal resolution of 3DAC, we have evaluated a 3D finite-difference time-domain model to simulate a case in which the borehole penetrated a rock formation boundary when the tool worked at the azimuthal-transmitting-azimuthal-receiving mode. The results indicated that there were two types of P-waves with different slowness in waveforms: the P-wave of the harder rock (P1) and the P-wave of the softer rock (P2). The P1-wave can be observed in each azimuthal receiver, but the P2-wave appears only in the azimuthal receivers toward the softer rock. When these two types of rock are both fast formations, two types of S-waves also exist, and they have better azimuthal sensitivity compared with P-waves. The S-wave of the harder rock (S1) appears only in receivers toward the harder rock, and the S-wave of the softer rock (S2) appears only in receivers toward the softer rock. A model was simulated in which the boundary between shale and sand penetrated the borehole but not the borehole axis. The P-wave of shale and the S-wave of sand are azimuthally sensitive to the azimuth angle variation of two formations. In addition, waveforms obtained from 3DAC working at the monopole-transmitting-azimuthal-receiving mode indicate that the corresponding P-waves and S-waves are azimuthally sensitive, too. Finally, we have developed a field example of 3DAC to support our simulation results: The azimuthal variation of the P-wave slowness was observed and can thus be used to reflect the azimuthal heterogeneity of formations.

Application of instantaneous rotations to S‐wave vertical seismic profiling

Geophysics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1365-1368
Author(s):  
M. Boulfoul ◽  
Doyle R. Watts
Keyword(s):  
High Amplitude ◽  
Seismic Profile ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Amplitude Variation With Offset ◽  
Seismic Profiling ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
Seismic Models ◽  
Low Amplitude

The petroleum exploration industry uses S‐wave vertical seismic profiling (VSP) to determine S‐wave velocities from downgoing direct arrivals, and S‐wave reflectivities from upgoing waves. Seismic models for quantitative calibration of amplitude variation with offset (AVO) data require S‐wave velocity profiles (Castagna et al., 1993). Vertical summations (Hardage, 1983) of the upgoing waves produce S‐wave composite traces and enable interpretation of S‐wave seismic profile sections. In the simplest application of amplitude anomalies, the coincidence of high amplitude P‐wave reflectivity and low amplitude S‐wave reflectivity is potentially a direct indicator of the presence of natural gas.

scholarly journals Estimation of radiated energy using the KiK-net downhole records—old method for modern data

2020 ◽  
Vol 221 (2) ◽  
pp. 1029-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroo Kanamori ◽  
Zachary E Ross ◽  
Luis Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Site Response ◽  
Source Model ◽  
Synthetic Seismograms ◽  
S Wave ◽  
P Waves ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Radiated Energy ◽  
Time Integral ◽  
Magnitude Range ◽  
Significant Difference

SUMMARY We use KiK-net (NIED) downhole records to estimate the radiated energy, ER, of 29 Japanese inland earthquakes with a magnitude range from Mw = 5.6 to 7.0. The method is based on the work of Gutenberg and Richter in which the time integral of S-wave ground-motion velocity-squared is measured as a basic metric of the radiated energy. Only stations within a distance of 100 km are used to minimize complex path and attenuation effects. Unlike the teleseismic method that uses mainly P waves, the use of S waves which carry more than 95 per cent of the radiated energy allows us to obtain robust results. We calibrate the method using synthetic seismograms to modernize and improve the Gutenberg–Richter method. We compute synthetic seismograms for a source model of each event with a given source function (i.e. known ER), the actual mechanism and the source-station geometry. Then, we compare the given ER with the computed energy metric to correct for the unknown effect of wave propagation and the mechanism. The use of downhole records minimizes the uncertainty resulting from the site response. Our results suggest that the currently available estimates of ER from teleseismic data are probably within a factor of 3, on average, of the absolute value. The scaled energy eR ( = ER/M0) is nearly constant at about 3 × 10−5 over a magnitude range from Mw = 5.6 to 7.0 with a slight increasing trend with Mw. We found no significant difference in eR between dip-slip and strike-slip events.

Transformation to zero offset for mode‐converted waves

Geophysics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 474-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Alfaraj ◽  
Ken Larner
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Constant Velocity ◽  
Reflection Point ◽  
P Waves ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Nmo Correction ◽  
Converted Waves ◽  
Zero Offset ◽  
Correct Data

The transformation to zero offset (TZO) of prestack seismic data for a constant‐velocity medium is well understood and is readily implemented when dealing with either P‐waves or S‐waves. TZO is achieved by inserting a dip moveout (DMO) process to correct data for the influence of dip, either before or after normal moveout (NMO) correction (Hale, 1984; Forel and Gardner, 1988). The TZO process transforms prestack seismic data in such a way that common‐midpoint (CMP) gathers are closer to being common reflection point gathers after the transformation.

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