Transmission and detection of guided seismic waves in attenuating media
We can use guided seismic waves to map properties of reservoirs between wells, with the low‐velocity layers acting as waveguides. When guided waves are detected, they are an indication of the continuity of the bed examined. Guided waveforms are characterized by time‐frequency representations to study important physical properties of the beds acting as waveguides. We used full waveform seismic modeling in viscoelastic media to examine the required velocity contrasts and distances over which guided‐wave signals can be used. In one set of models, sandstones are the central waveguide lithology; in another set, shales. We applied these models, referred to here collectively as shaly sandstone waveguides, to a range of geological circumstances where either the sands or the shales represent the low‐velocity layers within a reservoir. To study the distances over which guided waves can be detected, we compared the amplitudes of the signals computed for the models, using a realistic source strength, to the signal levels determined from published borehole noise studies. In shaly sandstone waveguides, we find it is feasible to use particle velocity measurements to record guided waves above seismic noise levels in the frequency range of 60 to 800 Hz at well separations exceeding a distance of 800 m. However, pressure detectors such as hydrophones may only be useful up to distances of 400 m between wells. In addition to the issues of shaly sandstone waveguides and practical distances between wells, we present an application of guided waves using crosswell seismic data from the Gypsy test site in Oklahoma (a site originally established by British Petroleum). In this field example within a sandstone reservoir, we demonstrate the sensitivity of leaky mode amplitudes to source‐receiver location. Another telltale characteristic of continuity in the type of reservoir studied at the Gypsy test site, where there is a low shear velocity contrast between the host medium and the waveguide, is the head wave followed by the leaky mode.