scholarly journals Elucidating the Effects of Hydrothermal Alteration on Seismic Reflectivity in the Footwall of the Lalor Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposit, Snow Lake, Manitoba, Canada

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schetselaar ◽  
Bellefleur ◽  
Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal Alteration ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Acoustic Impedance ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Massive Sulfide ◽  
Amphibolite Facies ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide ◽  
Sulfide Ore ◽  
Seismic Reflectivity

The integrated analysis of seismic rock properties, lithogeochemical data, and mineral compositional data, estimated via scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), provides insight into the effects of hydrothermal alteration on seismic reflectivity in the footwall of the Lalor volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit, Manitoba, Canada. The effects of hydrothermal alteration on variations in acoustic impedance are secondary in magnitude and superimposed on the dominant acoustic impedance contrast between felsic and mafic volcanic protoliths. This secondary effect is due to an increase in P-wave velocity with increasing intensity of hydrothermal alteration, as measured by the Ishikawa and Carbonate-Chlorite-Pyrite alteration indices. Mixture modeling of the seismic rock properties and mineral percentages suggests that the increase in seismic velocity is due to an increase in abundance of cordierite, which is one of the diagnostic aluminum silicates for hydrothermally-altered volcanic rocks metamorphosed in the upper almandine amphibolite facies. The synthetic seismic data of a simple VMS model consisting of mafic-felsic host rock contacts, a sulfide ore lens, and a discordant hydrothermal conduit, consisting of the amphibolite-facies mineral assemblage (600 °C, 6 kbar) encountered at Lalor, show enhanced seismic reflections at conduit-host rock contacts, in comparison to its greenschist facies equivalent (350 °C, 2.5 Kbar). This zone of enhanced seismic reflectivity in the footwall of the massive sulfide ore zone is also recognized on the Lalor seismic data suggesting that high-grade terrains hosting VMS deposits possess enhanced potential for the seismic detection of their footwall hydrothermal alteration zones.

Delineating ophiolite-derived host rocks of massive sulfide Cu-Co-Zn deposits with 2D high-resolution seismic reflection data in Outokumpu, Finland

Geophysics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. WC213-WC222 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. T. Kukkonen ◽  
S. Heinonen ◽  
P. Heikkinen ◽  
P. Sorjonen-Ward
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Massive Sulfide ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
Reflection Data

Seismic reflection data was applied to a study of the upper crustal structures in the Outokumpu mining and exploration area in eastern Finland. The Cu-Co-Zn sulfide ore deposits of the Outokumpu area are hosted by Palaeoproterozoic ophiolite-derived altered ultrabasic rocks (serpentinite, skarn rock, and quartz rock) and black schist within turbiditic mica schist. Mining in the Outokumpu area has produced a total of 36 Mt of ore from three historical and one active mine. Seismic data comprises 2D vibroseis data surveyed along a network of local roads. The seismic sections provide a comprehensive 3D view of the reflective structures. Acoustic rock properties from downhole logging and synthetic seismograms indicate that the strongly reflective packages shown in the seismic data can be identified as the host-rock environments of the deposits. Reflectors show excellent continuity along the structural grain of the ore belt, which allows correlating reflectors with surface geology, magnetic map, and drilling sections into a broad 3D model of the ore belt. Massive ores have acoustic properties that make them directly detectable with seismic reflection methods assuming the deposit size is sufficient for applied seismic wavelengths. The seismic data revealed numerous interesting high-amplitude reflectors within the interpreted host-rock suites potentially coinciding with sulfides.

Performance of low-fold scalar migration for downhole seismic imaging of massive sulfide ore deposits at Norman West, Sudbury, Canada

Geophysics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. WC3-WC13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christof Mueller ◽  
Gilles Bellefleur ◽  
Erick Adam ◽  
Gervais Perron ◽  
Marko Mah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Seismic Imaging ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Massive Sulfide ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Ore Deposit ◽  
Seismic Scattering ◽  
Vertical Seismic Profiling ◽  
Sudbury Igneous Complex ◽  
Sulfide Ore

The Downhole Seismic Imaging consortium conducted two consecutive vertical seismic profiling surveys in the Norman West mining camp (Sudbury, Canada) in 1998 and 1999. These were aimed toward imaging a massive sulfide ore deposit situated within the footwall of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC). Three-component seismic data were acquired in four boreholes with variable signal-to-noise ratio and poor polarization quality. Consequently, the images suffered from strong azimuthal ambiguity. A strike filter, passing only reflections originating from within the SIC, was applied during migration to enhance interpretability of the images obtained. Migrated images showed structures correlating with the known position of an ore deposit located 1800 m away from one borehole (N40). Diffraction coherency migration enhanced the image of the deposit, and suggested strong seismic scattering from within the footwall of the SIC.

High-resolution acoustic impedance inversion to characterize turbidites at Marlim Field, Campos Basin, Brazil

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. T143-T153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiane M. Nascimento ◽  
Paulo T. L. Menezes ◽  
Igor L. Braga
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Acoustic Impedance ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Seismic Inversion ◽  
Background Model ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
High Porosity ◽  
Campos Basin

Seismic inversion is routinely used to determine rock properties, such as acoustic impedance and porosity, from seismic data. Nonuniqueness of the solutions is a major issue. A good strategy to reduce this inherent ambiguity of the inversion procedure is to introduce stratigraphic and structural information a priori to better construct the low-frequency background model. This is particularly relevant when studying heterogeneous deepwater turbidite reservoirs that form prolific, but complex, hydrocarbon plays in the Brazilian offshore basins. We evaluated a high-resolution inversion workflow applied to 3D seismic data at Marlim Field, Campos Basin, to recover acoustic impedance and porosity of the turbidites reservoirs. The Marlim sandstones consist of an Oligocene/Miocene deepwater turbidite system forming a series of amalgamated bodies. The main advantage of our workflow is to incorporate the interpreter’s knowledge about the local stratigraphy to construct an enhanced background model, and then extract a higher resolution image from the seismic data. High-porosity zones were associated to the reservoirs facies; meanwhile, the nonreservoir facies were identified as low-porosity zones.

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