Broadband seismic data — The importance of low frequencies

Geophysics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. WA3-WA14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fons ten Kroode ◽  
Steffen Bergler ◽  
Cees Corsten ◽  
Jan Willem de Maag ◽  
Floris Strijbos ◽  
...  

We considered the importance of low frequencies in seismic reflection data for enhanced resolution, better penetration, and waveform and impedance inversion. We reviewed various theoretical arguments underlining why adding low frequencies may be beneficial and provided experimental evidence for the improvements by several case studies with recently acquired broadband data. We discussed where research and development efforts in the industry with respect to low frequencies should be focusing.

Geophysics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. B113-B125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Sargent ◽  
Richard W. Hobbs ◽  
Darren R. Gröcke

To identify drilling targets for an Integrated Ocean Drilling Program project to investigate high-latitude black shales required reinterpretation of legacy seismic data. The original processing had identified the major structures but was of insufficient resolution to map the more-subtle markers at the top of the shale sequence. By reprocessing these 2004 vintage 2D air-gun marine seismic reflection data we show that the application of filters determined from deepwater data yields subbottom geological imaging superior to statistical methods and arguably better than modeled source deconvolution methods, particularly for recovery of low frequencies. The data were acquired to the southwest of Australia in an area with swells that are typically 2–4 m and cause distortions to the predicted source and receiver response functions. These distortions cannot be incorporated in an idealized modeled source function; hence, we have opted to design the deterministic filters from the seismic data. We applied the deconvolution in two steps: a prestack filter to suppress the air-gun bubble pulse signal and a poststack filter to suppress the notches in the amplitude spectrum caused by the free-surface reflections at the source and the receiver. Through this strategy, we expanded the seismic data bandwidth at the low and high frequencies and improved resolution. The tie with the single borehole in the area was significantly improved and has enabled a more-confident interpretation of the shale horizons.


2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (12) ◽  
pp. 10,810-10,830
Author(s):  
Michael Dentith ◽  
Huaiyu Yuan ◽  
Ruth Elaine Murdie ◽  
Perla Pina-Varas ◽  
Simon P. Johnson ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Krzywiec ◽  
Łukasz Słonka ◽  
Quang Nguyen ◽  
Michał Malinowski ◽  
Mateusz Kufrasa ◽  
...  

<p>In 2016, approximately 850 km of high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection data of the BALTEC survey have been acquired offshore Poland within the transition zone between the East European Craton and the Paleozoic Platform. Data processing, focused on removal of multiples, strongly overprinting geological information at shallower intervals, included SRME, TAU-P domain deconvolution, high resolution parabolic Radon demultiple and SWDM (Shallow Water De-Multiple). Entire dataset was Kirchhoff pre-stack time migrated. Additionally, legacy shallow high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection data acquired in this zone in 1997 was also used. All this data provided new information on various aspects of the Phanerozoic evolution of this area, including Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic tectonics and sedimentation. This phase of geological evolution could be until now hardly resolved by analysis of industry seismic data as, due to limited shallow seismic imaging and very strong overprint of multiples, essentially no information could have been retrieved from this data for first 200-300 m. Western part of the BALTEC dataset is located above the offshore segment of the Mid-Polish Swell (MPS) – large anticlinorium formed due to inversion of the axial part of the Polish Basin. BALTEC seismic data proved that Late Cretaceous inversion of the Koszalin – Chojnice fault zone located along the NE border of the MPS was thick-skinned in nature and was associated with substantial syn-inversion sedimentation. Subtle thickness variations and progressive unconformities imaged by BALTEC seismic data within the Upper Cretaceous succession in vicinity of the Kamień-Adler and the Trzebiatów fault zones located within the MPS documented complex interplay of Late Cretaceous basin inversion, erosion and re-deposition. Precambrian basement of the Eastern, cratonic part of the study area is overlain by Cambro-Silurian sedimentary cover. It is dissected by a system of steep, mostly reverse faults rooted in most cases in the deep basement. This fault system has been regarded so far as having been formed mostly in Paleozoic times, due to the Caledonian orogeny. As a consequence, Upper Cretaceous succession, locally present in this area, has been vaguely defined as a post-tectonic cover, locally onlapping uplifted Paleozoic blocks. New seismic data, because of its reliable imaging of the shallowest substratum, confirmed that at least some of these deeply-rooted faults were active as a reverse faults in latest Cretaceous – earliest Paleogene. Consequently, it can be unequivocally proved that large offshore blocks of Silurian and older rocks presently located directly beneath the Cenozoic veneer must have been at least partly covered by the Upper Cretaceous succession; then, they were uplifted during the widespread inversion that affected most of Europe. Ensuing regional erosion might have at least partly provided sediments that formed Upper Cretaceous progradational wedges recently imaged within the onshore Baltic Basin by high-end PolandSPAN regional seismic data. New seismic data imaged also Paleogene and younger post-inversion cover. All these results prove that Late Cretaceous tectonics substantially affected large areas located much farther towards the East than previously assumed.</p><p>This study was funded by the Polish National Science Centre (NCN) grant no UMO-2017/27/B/ST10/02316.</p>


Geophysics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. R31-R41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Zunino ◽  
Klaus Mosegaard ◽  
Katrine Lange ◽  
Yulia Melnikova ◽  
Thomas Mejer Hansen

Determination of a petroleum reservoir structure and rock bulk properties relies extensively on inference from reflection seismology. However, classic deterministic methods to invert seismic data for reservoir properties suffer from some limitations, among which are the difficulty of handling complex, possibly nonlinear forward models, and the lack of robust uncertainty estimations. To overcome these limitations, we studied a methodology to invert seismic reflection data in the framework of the probabilistic approach to inverse problems, using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) algorithm with the goal to directly infer the rock facies and porosity of a target reservoir zone. We thus combined a rock-physics model with seismic data in a single inversion algorithm. For large data sets, the McMC method may become computationally impractical, so we relied on multiple-point-based a priori information to quantify geologically plausible models. We tested this methodology on a synthetic reservoir model. The solution of the inverse problem was then represented by a collection of facies and porosity reservoir models, which were samples of the posterior distribution. The final product included probability maps of the reservoir properties in obtained by performing statistical analysis on the collection of solutions.


Geophysics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur E. Barnes

Fourier power spectra are often usefully characterized by average measures. In reflection seismology, the important average measures are center frequency, spectral bandwidth, and dominant frequency. These quantities have definitions familiar from probability theory: center frequency is the spectral mean, spectral bandwidth is the standard deviation about that mean, and dominant frequency is the square root of the second moment, which serves as an estimate of the zero‐crossing frequency. These measures suggest counterparts defined with instantaneous power spectra in place of Fourier power spectra, so that they are instantaneous in time though they represent averages in frequency. Intuitively reasonable requirements yield specific forms for these instantaneous quantities that can be computed with familiar complex seismic trace attributes. Instantaneous center frequency is just instantaneous frequency. Instantaneous bandwidth is the absolute value of the derivative of the instantaneous amplitude divided by the instantaneous amplitude. Instantaneous dominant frequency is the square root of the sum of the squares of the instantaneous frequency and instantaneous bandwidth. Instantaneous bandwidth and dominant frequency find employment as additional complex seismic trace attributes in the detailed study of seismic data. Instantaneous bandwidth is observed to be nearly always less than instantaneous frequency; the points where it is larger may mark the onset of distinct wavelets. These attributes, together with instantaneous frequency, are perhaps, of greater use in revealing the time‐varying spectral properties of seismic data. They can help in the search for low frequency shadows or in the analysis of frequency change due to effects of data processing. Instantaneous bandwidth and dominant frequency complement instantaneous frequency and should find wide application in the analysis of seismic reflection data.


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. V235-V247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duan Li ◽  
John Castagna ◽  
Gennady Goloshubin

The frequency-dependent width of the Gaussian window function used in the S-transform may not be ideal for all applications. In particular, in seismic reflection prospecting, the temporal resolution of the resulting S-transform time-frequency spectrum at low frequencies may not be sufficient for certain seismic interpretation purposes. A simple parameterization of the generalized S-transform overcomes the drawback of poor temporal resolution at low frequencies inherent in the S-transform, at the necessary expense of reduced frequency resolution. This is accomplished by replacing the frequency variable in the Gaussian window with a linear function containing two coefficients that control resolution variation with frequency. The linear coefficients can be directly calculated by selecting desired temporal resolution at two frequencies. The resulting transform conserves energy and is readily invertible by an inverse Fourier transform. This modification of the S-transform, when applied to synthetic and real seismic data, exhibits improved temporal resolution relative to the S-transform and improved resolution control as compared with other generalized S-transform window functions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2B) ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Belal M. Odeh

This research includes structure interpretation of the Yamama Formation (Lower Cretaceous) and the Naokelekan Formation (Jurassic) using 2D seismic reflection data of the Tuba oil field region, Basrah, southern Iraq. The two reflectors (Yamama and Naokelekan) were defined and picked as peak and tough depending on the 2D seismic reflection interpretation process, based on the synthetic seismogram and well log data. In order to obtain structural settings, these horizons were followed over all the regions. Two-way travel-time maps, depth maps, and velocity maps have been produced for top Yamama and top Naokelekan formations. The study concluded that certain longitudinal enclosures reflect anticlines in the east and west of the study area representing Zubair and Rumaila fold confined between them a fold consist of two domes represents Tuba fold with the same trending of Zubair and Rumaila structures. The study confirmed the importance of this field as a reservoir of the accumulation of hydrocarbons.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Carbonell ◽  
Yesenia Martinez ◽  
Irene de Felipe ◽  
Juan Alcalde ◽  
Imma Palomeras ◽  
...  

<p><span>Hardware and software innovations taking place since the commercial development of seismic reflection imaging in the 60’s and early 70’s have resulted in various improved powerful seismic imaging solutions. Overall, these have been very successful in contrasting geological environments pursuing a wide variety of different targets. The innovative advances in seismic processing may constitute critical tools when analyzing seismic data acquired in highly heterogeneous geologic environments as they can efficiently increase the resolution power. In addition, they can become relevant when using modern acquisition instrumentation and strategies. Furthermore, these new developments significantly increase the value of legacy seismic reflection data. Currently, reassessing controlled source seismic data is becoming a critical issue mostly due to the increasing difficulties for acquiring new profiles posed by environmental regulations and high prices. However, the knowledge of the subsurface is an asset for our society, for example: </span><span><span>land-use planning and management; natural risk assessments; or exploration and exploitation for geo-resources. Here we present examples of analysis schemes such as seismic attribute analysis and Common Reflection Surface stacking applied on a number of old seismic reflection profiles (Deep lithospheric transects as well as high resolution profiles) in an effort to bring up their validity. Results indicate how these leading edge methods contribute to significantly improve the quality of vintage seismic data, significantly reducing reflector uncertainties and easing their interpretation. </span></span></p><p><span><span>This research is supported by: Generalitat de Catalunya (AGAUR) grant 2017SGR1022 (GREG); EU (H2020) 871121 (EPOS-SP); EIT-RaewMaterias 17024 (SIT4ME). </span></span></p><p> </p>


Geophysics ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Marr ◽  
Edward F. Zagst

The more recent developments in common‐depth‐point techniques to attenuate multiple reflections have resulted in an exploration capability comparable to the development of the seismic reflection method. The combination of new concepts in digital seismic data processing with CDP techniques is creating unforeseen exploration horizons with vastly improved seismic data. Major improvements in multiple reflection and reverberation attenuation are now attainable with appropriate CDP geometry and special CDP stacking procedures. Further major improvements are clearly evident in the very near future with the use of multichannel digital filtering‐stacking techniques and the application of deconvolution as the first step in seismic data processing. CDP techniques are briefly reviewed and evaluated with real and experimental data. Synthetic data are used to illustrate that all seismic reflection data should be deconvolved as the first processing step.


Geophysics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. B227-B236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Masoomzadeh ◽  
Satish C. Singh ◽  
Penny J. Barton

We developed a method of moveout correction in the [Formula: see text] domain to tackle some of the problems associated with processing wide-angle seismic reflection data, including residual moveout and normal-moveout stretching. We evaluated the concept of the shifted ellipse in the [Formula: see text] domain as an alternative to the well-known concept of the shifted hyperbola in the [Formula: see text] domain. We used this shifted-ellipse concept to address the problem of residual moveout caused by vertical heterogeneity in the subsurface. We also addressed the stretching problem associated with dynamic corrections by combining selected strips from a set of constant-moveout stacks generated using a shifted-ellipse equation. Application of this method to a wide-angle data set from the Faeroe-Shetland Basin provided an enhanced image of the subbasalt structure.


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