Field tests of electroseismic hydrocarbon detection

Geophysics ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. N1-N9 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Thompson ◽  
Scott Hornbostel ◽  
Jim Burns ◽  
Tom Murray ◽  
Robert Raschke ◽  
...  

Geophysicists, looking for new exploration tools, have studied the coupling between seismic and electromagnetic waves in the near-surface since the 1930s. Our research explores the possibility that electromagnetic-to-seismic (ES) conversion is useful at greater depths. Field tests of ES conversion over gas sands and carbonate oil reservoirs succeeded in delineating known hydrocarbon accumulations from depths up to [Formula: see text]. This is the first observation of electromagnetic-to-seismic coupling from surface electrodes and geophones. Electrodes at the earth’s surface generate electric fields at the target and digital accelerometers detect the returning seismic wave. Conversion at depth is confirmed with hydrophones placed in wells. The gas sands yielded a linear ES response, as expected for electrokinetic energy conversion, and in qualitative agreement with numerical simulations. The carbonate oil reservoirs generate nonlinear conversions; a qualitatively new observation and a new probe of rock properties. The hard-rock results suggest applications in lithologies where seismic hydrocarbon indicators are weak. With greater effort, deeper penetration should be possible.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Hanjie Song ◽  
Chao Li ◽  
Jinhai Zhang ◽  
Xing Wu ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
...  

The Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) onboard the Yutu-2 rover from China’s Chang’E-4 (CE-4) mission is used to probe the subsurface structure and the near-surface stratigraphic structure of the lunar regolith on the farside of the Moon. Structural analysis of regolith could provide abundant information on the formation and evolution of the Moon, in which the rock location and property analysis are the key procedures during the interpretation of LPR data. The subsurface velocity of electromagnetic waves is a vital parameter for stratigraphic division, rock location estimates, and calculating the rock properties in the interpretation of LPR data. In this paper, we propose a procedure that combines the regolith rock extraction technique based on local correlation between the two sets of LPR high-frequency channel data and the common offset semblance analysis to determine the velocity from LPR diffraction hyperbola. We consider the heterogeneity of the regolith and derive the relative permittivity distribution based on the rock extraction and semblance analysis. The numerical simulation results show that the procedure is able to obtain the high-precision position and properties of the rock. Furthermore, we apply this procedure to CE-4 LPR data and obtain preferable estimations of the rock locations and the properties of the lunar subsurface regolith.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherif M. Hanafy ◽  
Hussein Hoteit ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Gerard T. Schuster

AbstractResults are presented for real-time seismic imaging of subsurface fluid flow by parsimonious refraction and surface-wave interferometry. Each subsurface velocity image inverted from time-lapse seismic data only requires several minutes of recording time, which is less than the time-scale of the fluid-induced changes in the rock properties. In this sense this is real-time imaging. The images are P-velocity tomograms inverted from the first-arrival times and the S-velocity tomograms inverted from dispersion curves. Compared to conventional seismic imaging, parsimonious interferometry reduces the recording time and increases the temporal resolution of time-lapse seismic images by more than an order-of-magnitude. In our seismic experiment, we recorded 90 sparse data sets over 4.5 h while injecting 12-tons of water into a sand dune. Results show that the percolation of water is mostly along layered boundaries down to a depth of a few meters, which is consistent with our 3D computational fluid flow simulations and laboratory experiments. The significance of parsimonious interferometry is that it provides more than an order-of-magnitude increase of temporal resolution in time-lapse seismic imaging. We believe that real-time seismic imaging will have important applications for non-destructive characterization in environmental, biomedical, and subsurface imaging.


1963 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 1702-1711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra Singh Sodha ◽  
Carl J. Palumbo

In this communication the authors have obtained an expression for current density in a slightly ionized uniform plasma in the presence of a number of electric fields of different frequencies by solving the appropriate Boltzmann's equation. This expression along with the wave equation has been used to investigate the nonlinear mutual interaction of a number of electromagnetic waves, propagating in a plasma. Limitations of the present analysis have also been indicated and the physical significance of the results has been discussed. The technique has also been applied to investigate the mutual interaction of amplitude-modulated waves, and the results express a generalization of Luxembourg effect to a number of strong modulated waves.


1984 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. Langton

AbstractA cement-based waste form, “saltstone,” has been designed for disposal of Savannah River Plant low-level radioactive salt waste. Laboratory and field tests indicate that this stabilization process greatly reduces the mobility of all of the waste constituents in the surface and near-surface environment. Bulk properties of this material have been tailored with respect to salt leach rate, permeability, and compressive strength. Microstructure and mineralogy were characterized by SEM and x-ray diffraction analyses.Compressive strength was found to increase as the water to cement ratio decreased. Porosity and mean pore size increased with increasing water to cement ratios. Bulk diffusivities of the various ions dissolved in the pore solutions were also found to increase as water to cement ratios increased.


A good knowledge about a site including its subsurface conditions is very important in its safe and economical development. It is therefore an essential preliminary to the construction of any civil engineering work. This chapter outlines the objectives of site characterization and the general objectives of geotechnical investigation. It discusses the phases of field investigation and the stages of a full exploratory program including methods of sample recovery and field tests and sampling methods. Geophysical techniques can contribute very greatly to the process of ground investigation by allowing an assessment, in qualitative terms, of the lateral variability and vertical profiling of the near-surface materials beneath a site. Some of these geophysical techniques are discussed in the chapter. Laboratory examination/verification and testing should be made of representative portions of the samples to establish appropriate soil parameters. Some soil parameters may be estimated by correlations. The results of the subsurface investigation and related testing, together with interpretations, discussions, and foundation recommendations, are usually presented in the form of a detailed soil report.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham J. Hill

Abstract The polar regions are host to fundamental unresolved challenges in Earth studies. The nature of these regions necessitates the use of geophysics to address these issues, with electromagnetic and, in particular, magnetotelluric studies finding favour and being applied over a number of different scales. The unique geography and climatic conditions of the polar regions means collecting magnetotelluric data at high latitudes, which presents challenges not typically encountered and may result in significant measurement errors. (1) The very high contact resistance between electrodes and the surficial snow and ice cover (commonly MΩ) can interfere with the electric field measurement. This is overcome by using custom-designed amplifiers placed at the active electrodes to buffer their high impedance contacts. (2) The proximity to the geomagnetic poles requires verification of the fundamental assumption in magnetotellurics that the magnetic source field is a vertically propagating, horizontally polarised plane wave. Behaviour of the polar electro-jet must be assessed to identify increased activity (high energy periods) that create strong current systems and may generate non-planar contributions. (3) The generation of ‘blizstatic’, localised random electric fields caused by the spin drift of moving charged snow and ice particles that produce significant noise in the electric fields during periods of strong winds. At wind speeds above ~ 10 m s−1, the effect of the distortion created by the moving snow is broad-band. Station occupation times need to be of sufficient length to ensure data are collected when wind speed is low. (4) Working on glaciated terrain introduces additional safety challenges, e.g., weather, crevasse hazards, etc. Inclusion of a mountaineer in the team, both during the site location planning and onsite operations, allows these hazards to be properly managed. Examples spanning studies covering development and application of novel electromagnetic approaches for the polar regions as well as results from studies addressing a variety of differing geologic questions are presented. Electromagnetic studies focusing on near-surface hydrologic systems, glacial and ice sheet dynamics, as well as large-scale volcanic and tectonic problems are discussed providing an overview of the use of electromagnetic methods to investigate fundamental questions in solid earth studies that have both been completed and are currently ongoing in polar regions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 920-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. P. Korsunova ◽  
Yu. M. Mikhailov ◽  
V. V. Khegai ◽  
L. N. Leshchenko ◽  
S. E. Smirnov ◽  
...  

Geophysics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 2102-2106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine deGroot‐Hedlin

A common problem in magnetotelluric (MT) sounding is the presence of static shifts in the data, i.e., a vertical shifting of the log‐apparent‐resistivity versus period curves relative to regional values (Jones, 1988; Jiracek, 1990; Berdichevsky et al., 1989). These static shifts are due to the presence of small‐scale, shallow conductivity anomalies near the measurement site. Electric charge builds up on near‐surface anomalies that are small in comparison to the skin depth of the electromagnetic (EM) fields. The charge buildup produces a perturbation of the measured electric fields from their regional values that persists to arbitrarily low frequencies. Incorrect removal of these local distortions leads to incorrect interpretation of the deeper targets of investigation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Walker ◽  
P. A. Thomas ◽  
P. Pernot-Rejmánková ◽  
J. Baruchel

Recent work on the non-linear optical single-crystal rubidium titanyl arsenate (RbTiOAsO4, RTA) has shown that it exhibits behaviour consistent with a ferroelectric semiconductor under large applied electric fields, with the development of a non-uniform field in the near-surface region. To confirm aspects of the proposed model, the behaviour of 001 slices of initially single-domain RTA, patterned with periodic Ag electrodes of spacing 38 µm, as for periodic poling in non-linear optics, were investigated using synchrotron X-ray section topography with the electric field appliedin situwhile under X-ray illumination at the ID19 topography beamline of the ESRF, Grenoble. The results of white-beam section topography as both a function of crystal to film distance, and under DC voltage are reported, confirming that there is a bending of the planes in the near-surface region. The strain in the near-surface region was examined directly using high-resolution monochromatic X-ray section topography. This revealed an extensive strain of 3 (±1) × 10−4at 1 kV, indicating that the electrostrictive coefficient, γ3333, in RTA is positive in sign.


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