Land full-wavefield inversion for addressing complex near-surface challenges in the Delaware Basin

Author(s):  
Yaxun Tang ◽  
David Gaines ◽  
John Hefti ◽  
Sean Every ◽  
Erik Neumann ◽  
...  
1982 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Lambert

ABSTRACTEvaluation of the threat of natural dissolution of host evaporites to the integrity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southeastern New Mexico has taken into consideration (1) the volume of “missing” rock salt, (2) the occurrence (or not) of characteristic dissolution brines, (3) geomorphic features, some of which are unrelated to dissolution, and (4) the time intervals over which dissolution may have been active. Even under the assumption that all “missing” halite was originally present and has been removed by dissolution, there is no evidence of active preferential removal of the lower Salado Formation halite by any geologically reasonable process. The geologic record contains evidence of dissolution in the Triassic and Jurassic; to constrain all removal of basinal halite to the late Cenozoic yields an unrealistically high rate of removal. Application to the lower Salado of a stratabound mechanism known to be active in Nash Draw, a near-surface feature within the Basin, allows a minimum survival time of 2,500,000 years to be predicted for the subsurface facility for storage of radioactive waste at WIPP. This calculation is based on an analysis of all known dissolution features in the Delaware Basin, and takes into account the wetter (pluvial) climate during the past 600,000 years.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 324-331
Author(s):  
Gary Murphy ◽  
Vanessa Brown ◽  
Denes Vigh

As part of a wide-reaching full-waveform inversion (FWI) research program, FWI is applied to an onshore seismic data set collected in the Delaware Basin, west Texas. FWI is routinely applied on typical marine data sets with high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), relatively good low-frequency content, and reasonably long offsets. Land seismic data sets, in comparison, present significant challenges for FWI due to low S/N, a dearth of low frequencies, and limited offsets. Recent advancements in FWI overcome limitations due to poor S/N and low frequencies making land FWI feasible to use to update the shallow velocities. The chosen area has contrasting and variable near-surface conditions providing an excellent test data set on which to demonstrate the workflow and its challenges. An acoustic FWI workflow is used to update the near-surface velocity model in order to improve the deeper image and simultaneously help highlight potential shallow drilling hazards.


Geophysics ◽  
1954 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milton B. Dobrin ◽  
Philip L. Lawrence ◽  
Raymond L. Sengbush

Seismic propagation studies made in the Delaware Basin of West Texas by the Field Research Laboratories of the Magnolia Petroleum Company have disclosed several unusual kinds of traveling waves. The near‐surface zone in this area is characterized by alternating high‐ and low‐velocity layers, with a thin high‐velocity cap. Physical characteristics of the recorded waves have been correlated with this layering. Five types of waves have been identified: 1) Waves refracted along the tops of high‐speed near‐surface markers which have been multiply reflected, at the critical angle, between the marker beds and interfaces nearer the surface. 2) Shear waves refracted at shear velocity along a competent bed several hundred feet deep. 3) Compressional waves propagated by normal‐mode transmission in the wave guide formed by a low‐speed layer situated between two high‐speed layers. 4) A single‐cycle, apparently non‐dispersive Rayleigh wave propagated in a thin limestone surface layer and in an underlying low‐speed layer of sand and gravel. 5) An inversely dispersive Rayleigh wave train in which the group velocity appears to decrease with increasing wave length; this type of dispersion, just the opposite of the kind ordinarily recorded, is attributed to the fact that the low‐speed surface layer is unusually thick compared with the wave length corresponding to the cut‐off frequency of the instrumental system.


1988 ◽  
Vol 62 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald E. Martin

The utility of benthic foraminifera in bathymetric interpretation of clastic depositional environments is well established. In contrast, bathymetric distribution of benthic foraminifera in deep-water carbonate environments has been largely neglected. Approximately 260 species and morphotypes of benthic foraminifera were identified from 12 piston core tops and grab samples collected along two traverses 25 km apart across the northern windward margin of Little Bahama Bank at depths of 275-1,135 m. Certain species and operational taxonomic groups of benthic foraminifera correspond to major near-surface sedimentary facies of the windward margin of Little Bahama Bank and serve as reliable depth indicators. Globocassidulina subglobosa, Cibicides rugosus, and Cibicides wuellerstorfi are all reliable depth indicators, being most abundant at depths >1,000 m, and are found in lower slope periplatform aprons, which are primarily comprised of sediment gravity flows. Reef-dwelling peneroplids and soritids (suborder Miliolina) and rotaliines (suborder Rotaliina) are most abundant at depths <300 m, reflecting downslope bottom transport in proximity to bank-margin reefs. Small miliolines, rosalinids, and discorbids are abundant in periplatform ooze at depths <300 m and are winnowed from the carbonate platform. Increased variation in assemblage diversity below 900 m reflects mixing of shallow- and deep-water species by sediment gravity flows.


Author(s):  
P.M. Rice ◽  
MJ. Kim ◽  
R.W. Carpenter

Extrinsic gettering of Cu on near-surface dislocations in Si has been the topic of recent investigation. It was shown that the Cu precipitated hetergeneously on dislocations as Cu silicide along with voids, and also with a secondary planar precipitate of unknown composition. Here we report the results of investigations of the sense of the strain fields about the large (~100 nm) silicide precipitates, and further analysis of the small (~10-20 nm) planar precipitates.Numerous dark field images were analyzed in accordance with Ashby and Brown's criteria for determining the sense of the strain fields about precipitates. While the situation is complicated by the presence of dislocations and secondary precipitates, micrographs like those shown in Fig. 1(a) and 1(b) tend to show anomalously wide strain fields with the dark side on the side of negative g, indicating the strain fields about the silicide precipitates are vacancy in nature. This is in conflict with information reported on the η'' phase (the Cu silicide phase presumed to precipitate within the bulk) whose interstitial strain field is considered responsible for the interstitial Si atoms which cause the bounding dislocation to expand during star colony growth.


Author(s):  
Naresh N. Thadhani ◽  
Thad Vreeland ◽  
Thomas J. Ahrens

A spherically-shaped, microcrystalline Ni-Ti alloy powder having fairly nonhomogeneous particle size distribution and chemical composition was consolidated with shock input energy of 316 kJ/kg. In the process of consolidation, shock energy is preferentially input at particle surfaces, resulting in melting of near-surface material and interparticle welding. The Ni-Ti powder particles were 2-60 μm in diameter (Fig. 1). About 30-40% of the powder particles were Ni-65wt% and balance were Ni-45wt%Ti (estimated by EMPA).Upon shock compaction, the two phase Ni-Ti powder particles were bonded together by the interparticle melt which rapidly solidified, usually to amorphous material. Fig. 2 is an optical micrograph (in plane of shock) of the consolidated Ni-Ti alloy powder, showing the particles with different etching contrast.


Author(s):  
R.C. Dickenson ◽  
K.R. Lawless

In thermal oxidation studies, the structure of the oxide-metal interface and the near-surface region is of great importance. A technique has been developed for constructing cross-sectional samples of oxidized aluminum alloys, which reveal these regions. The specimen preparation procedure is as follows: An ultra-sonic drill is used to cut a 3mm diameter disc from a 1.0mm thick sheet of the material. The disc is mounted on a brass block with low-melting wax, and a 1.0mm hole is drilled in the disc using a #60 drill bit. The drill is positioned so that the edge of the hole is tangent to the center of the disc (Fig. 1) . The disc is removed from the mount and cleaned with acetone to remove any traces of wax. To remove the cold-worked layer from the surface of the hole, the disc is placed in a standard sample holder for a Tenupol electropolisher so that the hole is in the center of the area to be polished.


Author(s):  
S. H. Chen

Sn has been used extensively as an n-type dopant in GaAs grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). The surface accumulation of Sn during the growth of Sn-doped GaAs has been observed by several investigators. It is still not clear whether the accumulation of Sn is a kinetically hindered process, as proposed first by Wood and Joyce, or surface segregation due to thermodynamic factors. The proposed donor-incorporation mechanisms were based on experimental results from such techniques as secondary ion mass spectrometry, Auger electron spectroscopy, and C-V measurements. In the present study, electron microscopy was used in combination with cross-section specimen preparation. The information on the morphology and microstructure of the surface accumulation can be obtained in a fine scale and may confirm several suggestions from indirect experimental evidence in the previous studies.


Author(s):  
K. F. Russell ◽  
L. L. Horton

Beams of heavy ions from particle accelerators are used to produce radiation damage in metal alloys. The damaged layer extends several microns below the surface of the specimen with the maximum damage and depth dependent upon the energy of the ions, type of ions, and target material. Using 4 MeV heavy ions from a Van de Graaff accelerator causes peak damage approximately 1 μm below the specimen surface. To study this area, it is necessary to remove a thickness of approximately 1 μm of damaged metal from the surface (referred to as “sectioning“) and to electropolish this region to electron transparency from the unirradiated surface (referred to as “backthinning“). We have developed electropolishing techniques to obtain electron transparent regions at any depth below the surface of a standard TEM disk. These techniques may be applied wherever TEM information is needed at a specific subsurface position.


Author(s):  
Julia T. Luck ◽  
C. W. Boggs ◽  
S. J. Pennycook

The use of cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) has become invaluable for the characterization of the near-surface regions of semiconductors following ion-implantation and/or transient thermal processing. A fast and reliable technique is required which produces a large thin region while preserving the original sample surface. New analytical techniques, particularly the direct imaging of dopant distributions, also require good thickness uniformity. Two methods of ion milling are commonly used, and are compared below. The older method involves milling with a single gun from each side in turn, whereas a newer method uses two guns to mill from both sides simultaneously.


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