scholarly journals Diffraction imaging to understand the internal fabric of mass-transport complexes from Gulf of Cadiz, south west Iberian Margin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ford ◽  
Roger Urgeles ◽  
Eulàlia Gràcia ◽  
Angelo Camerlenghi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transport ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Reverse Fault ◽  
Gulf Of Cadiz ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Gulf Of Cádiz ◽  
Diffraction Imaging

<p>Outcrop examples of mass-transport complexes (MTCs) often show a complex internal fabric which reflects disaggregation, deformation and entrainment that occurred during transport and emplacement. This can include intense folding, included blocks of substratum and internal shear zones. Seismic reflection images often cannot properly image this internal fabric as the scale of such structure is usually below the effective resolution. This can limit seismic interpretation to characterising only the overall morphology of the deposits (the top and basal reflectors).</p><p>Seismic reflections are primarily generated by smooth, laterally continuous interfaces. Discontinuities at or below the scale of the seismic wavelength instead generate seismic diffractions (“diffraction hyperbolae” in unmigrated images). Diffractions are often ignored during seismic processing as they are generally lower in amplitude than reflections, though they do not suffer from the same lateral resolution limit as reflections so are potentially sensitive to smaller scale structure. We suggest that the discontinuous internal fabric of MTCs will generate a significant amount of diffraction energy relative to unfailed sediments.</p><p>The main goal of this study is to use diffraction imaging to image the small-scale, heterogeneous internal fabric of MTCs. We demonstrate this using two high-resolution, multi-channel 2-D marine seismic profiles (3.125 m CMP spacing, 500 m maximum offset) acquired in 2018 and 2019 as part of the INSIGHT project to investigate submarine geohazards in the Gulf of Cadiz. Profile 1 intersects the Marques de Pombal reverse fault and shows a series of stacked MTCs (~1 s TWTT from top to bottom) in the footwall, thought to be related to episodic fault activity. Profile 2 is located in the Portimão Bank area and contains two large MTCs thought to be related to the mobilisation of a salt diapir. The diffraction imaging method proceeds as i) dip-guided plane-wave destruction to separate reflected and diffracted wavefields; ii) velocity analysis by cascaded constant velocity migrations of the diffraction wavefield; iii) post-stack Kirchhoff time migration of the diffraction wavefield.</p><p>The unmigrated profiles show that the MTC bodies do generate more internal diffractions than the surrounding unfailed sediments. We also observe large contributions of diffraction energy from the rugose top and base of the MTCs, the rugose top salt interface and from faults within the unfailed sediments. The migrated diffraction images reveal distinct internal structure, thought to represent rafted blocks, ramps and both extensional and compressional faulting. The envelope of the diffraction image is used as an overlay on the conventional reflection image to guide interpretation and highlight potential diffractors. This allows interpretation of thin MTCs and improved delineation of their lateral extent (runout) above conventional reflection images.</p><p>Diffraction imaging has previously been used to image heterogeneous geology such as fracture networks, channel systems and karst topography. Here we apply the technique to study the internal fabric of MTCs. The resulting images resolve small-scale internal structure that is not well resolved by conventional reflection images. Such structures can be used as kinematic indicators to constrain flow direction and emplacement dynamics, which inform the geohazard potential of future subaqueous mass-movements.</p>

Diffractivity — Another attribute for the interpretation of seismic data in hard rock environment, a case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. B23-B32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Javad Khoshnavaz ◽  
Andrej Bóna ◽  
Muhammad Shahadat Hossain ◽  
Milovan Urosevic ◽  
Kit Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Hard Rock ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Seismic Exploration ◽  
Image Point ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Diffraction Imaging

The primary objective of seismic exploration in a hard rock environment is the detection of heterogeneities such as fracture zones, small-scale geobodies, intrusions, and steeply dipping structures that are often associated with mineral deposits. Prospecting in such environments using seismic-reflection methods is more challenging than in sedimentary settings due to lack of continuous reflector beds and predominance of steeply dipping hard rock formations. The heterogeneities and “fractal” aspect of hard rock geologic environment produce considerable scattering of the seismic energy in the form of diffracted waves. These scatterers can be traced back to irregular and often “sharp-shaped” mineral bodies, magmatic intrusions, faults, and complex and heterogeneous shear zones. Due to the natural lack of reflectors and abundant number of diffractors, there are only a few case studies of diffraction imaging in hard rock environments. There are almost no theoretical models or field examples of diffraction imaging in prestack domain. We have filled this gap by applying a 3D prestack diffraction imaging method to image point diffractors. We calculated the diffractivity by computing the semblance of seismic data along diffraction traveltime curves in the prestack domain. The performance of the method is evaluated on a synthetic case and a field seismic data set collected over the Kevitsa mineral deposit in northern Finland. The high-resolution results obtained by the application of prestack diffraction imaging suggest that diffractivity is a robust attribute that can be used in addition to other seismic attributes for the interpretation of seismic data in hard rock environment.

3D diffraction imaging with Kirchhoff time migration using vertical traveltime difference gathers

Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. S555-S566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengwei Li ◽  
Jianfeng Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Fresnel Zone ◽  
Lateral Position ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Diffraction Imaging ◽  
Dip Angle ◽  
Angle Gather

We have built a vertical traveltime difference (VTD) gather to image diffractions in the 3D time domain. This significantly improves detection of small-scale faults and heterogeneities in 3D seismic data. The VTD gather is obtained using 3D Kirchhoff prestack time migration based on the traveltime-related inline and crossline dip angles, which is closely related to the 2D dip-angle gather. In VTD gathers, diffraction events exhibit flattening, whereas reflection events have convex upward-sloping shapes. Different from the 2D dip-angle gather, Fresnel zone-related specular reflections are precisely focused on the given regions over all offsets and azimuths, thus leaving more diffraction energy after muting. To image linear diffractors, such as faults in three dimensions, the VTD gather can be extended into two dimensions by adding a dip-azimuth dimension. This makes it possible to correct phases of edge diffractions and detect the orientations of the linear diffractors. The memory requirement of the VTD or VTD plus azimuth gathers is much less than that of the 2D dip-angle gathers. We can store the gathers at each lateral position and then correct the phase and enhance the weak diffractions in 3D cases. Synthetic and field data tests demonstrate the effectiveness of our 3D diffraction imaging method.

Seismic diffraction separation in the near-surface: Detection of high contrast voids in unconsolidated soils

Geophysics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-72
Author(s):  
Parsa Bakhtiari Rad ◽  
Craig J. Hickey
Keyword(s):  
Soft Soil ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Diffraction Imaging ◽  
Dip Angle ◽  
Scattering Time

Seismic diffractions carry the signature of near-surface high-contrast anomalies and need to be extracted from the data to complement the reflection processing and other geophysical techniques. Since diffractions are often masked by reflections, surface waves and noise, a careful diffraction separation is required as a first step for diffraction imaging. A multiparameter time-imaging method is employed to separate near-surface diffractions. The implemented scheme makes use of the wavefront attributes that are reliable fully data-derived processing parameters. To mitigate the effect of strong noise and wavefield interference in near-surface data, the proposed workflow incorporates two wavefront-based parameters, dip angle and coherence, as additional constraints. The output of the diffraction separation is a time trace-based stacked section that provides the basis for further analysis and applications such as time migration. To evaluate the performance of the proposed wavefront-based workflow, it is applied to two challenging field data sets that were collected over small culverts in very near-surface soft soil environments. The results of the proposed constrained workflow and the existing unconstrained approach are presented and compared. The proposed workflow demonstrates superiority over the existing method by attenuating more reflection and noise, leading to improved diffraction separation. The abundance of unmasked diffractions reveal that the very near-surface is highly scattering. Time migration is carried out to enhance the anomaly detection by focusing of the isolated diffractions. Although strong diffractivity is observed at the approximate location of the targets, there are other diffracting zones observed in the final sections that might bring uncertainties for interpretation.

Diffraction imaging of ground-penetrating radar data

Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. H1-H12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hemin Yuan ◽  
Mahboubeh Montazeri ◽  
Majken C. Looms ◽  
Lars Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Velocity Estimation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Surface Reflection ◽  
Diffraction Imaging ◽  
Saturated Media ◽  
Ground Penetrating

Diffractions caused by, e.g., faults, fractures, and small-scale heterogeneity localized near the surface are often used in ground-penetrating radar (GPR) reflection studies to constrain the subsurface velocity distribution using simple hyperbola fitting. Interference with reflected energy makes the identification of diffractions difficult. We have tailored and applied a diffraction imaging method to improve imaging for surface reflection GPR data. Based on a plane-wave destruction algorithm, the method can separate reflections from diffractions. Thereby, a better identification of diffractions facilitates an improved determination of GPR wave velocities and an optimized migration result. We determined the potential of this approach using synthetic and field data, and, for the field study, we also compare the estimated velocity structure with crosshole GPR results. For the field data example, we find that the velocity structure estimated using the diffraction-based process correlates well with results from crosshole GPR velocity estimation. Such improved velocity estimation may have important implications for using surface reflection GPR to map, e.g., porosity for fully saturated media or soil moisture changes in partially saturated media because these physical properties depend on the dielectric permittivity and thereby also the GPR wave velocity.

Diffraction imaging for fault-karst structure by least-squares reverse time migration

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Xinru Mu ◽  
Jianping Huang ◽  
Liyun Fu ◽  
Shikai Jian ◽  
Bing Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Least Squares ◽  
Western China ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Reverse Time ◽  
Reverse Time Migration ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Imaging Results ◽  
Heterogeneous Structures ◽  
Karst Reservoir

The fault-karst reservoir, which evolved from the deformation and karstification of carbonate rock, is one of the most important reservoir types in western China. Along the deep-seated fault zones, there are a lot widely spread and densely distributed fractures and vugs. The energy of the diffractions generated by heterogeneous structures, such as faults, fractures and vugs, are much weaker than that of the reflections produced by continuous formation interface. When using conventional full wavefield imaging method, the imaging results of continuous layers usually cover small-scale heterogeneities. Given that, we use plane-wave destruction (PWD) filter to separate the diffractions from the full data and image the separated diffractions using least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) method. We use several numerical examples to demonstrate that the newly developed diffractions LSRTM (D-LSRTM) can improve the definition of the heterogeneous structures, characterize the configuration and internal structure of the fault-karst structure well and enhance the interpretation accuracy for fault-karst reservoir.

scholarly journals Attenuating multiple-related imaging artifacts using combined imaging conditions

Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. S469-S475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto da Costa Filho ◽  
Andrew Curtis
Keyword(s):  
Small Scale ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Reverse Time ◽  
Reverse Time Migration ◽  
Depth Migration ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Migration Method ◽  
Combined Imaging ◽  
Spatial Locations ◽  
Imaging Conditions

The objective of prestack depth migration is to position reflectors at their correct subsurface locations. However, migration methods often also generate artifacts along with physical reflectors, which hamper interpretation. These spurious reflectors often appear at different spatial locations in the image depending on which migration method is used. Therefore, we have devised a postimaging filter that combines two imaging conditions to preserve their similarities and to attenuate their differences. The imaging filter is based on combining the two constituent images and their envelopes that were obtained from the complex vertical traces of the images. We have used the method to combine two images resulting from different migration schemes, which produce dissimilar artifacts: a conventional migration method (equivalent to reverse time migration) and a deconvolution-based imaging method. We show how this combination may be exploited to attenuate migration artifacts in a final image. A synthetic model containing a syncline and stochastically generated small-scale heterogeneities in the velocity and density distributions was used for the numerical example. We compared the images in detail at two locations where spurious events arose and also at a true reflector. We found that the combined imaging condition has significantly fewer artifacts than either constituent image individually.

scholarly journals Diffraction imaging using geometric-mean reverse time migration and common-reflection surface

Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. S355-S364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhang Yin ◽  
Nori Nakata
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Seismic Exploration ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Reverse Time ◽  
Reverse Time Migration ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Diffracted Waves ◽  
Common Reflection Surface ◽  
Diffraction Imaging

Diffracted waves contain a great deal of valuable information about small-scale subsurface structure such as faults, pinch-outs, karsts, and fractures, which are closely related to hydrocarbon accumulation and production. Therefore, diffraction separation and imaging with high spatial resolution play an increasingly critical role in seismic exploration. We have applied the geometric-mean reverse time migration (GmRTM) method to diffracted waves for imaging only subsurface diffractors based on the difference of the wave phenomena between diffracted and reflected waves. Numerical tests prove the advantages of this method on diffraction imaging with higher resolution as well as fewer artifacts compared to conventional RTM even when we only have a small number of receivers. Then, we developed a workflow to extract diffraction information using a fully data-driven method, called common-reflection surface (CRS), before we applied GmRTM. Application of this workflow indicates that GmRTM further improves the quality of the image by combining with the diffraction-separation technique CRS in the data domain.

Diffraction imaging using a mathematical morphological filter with a time-varying structuring element

Geophysics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-51
Author(s):  
Chuangjian Li ◽  
Jingtao Zhao ◽  
Suping Peng ◽  
Yanxin Zhou
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Stationary Point ◽  
Energy Band ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Morphological Filter ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Structuring Element ◽  
Diffraction Imaging

Diffraction imaging is an important technique for high-resolution imaging because of the close relationship between diffractions and small-scale discontinuities. Therefore, we propose a diffraction imaging method using a mathematical morphological filter (MMF). In a common-image gather (CIG), reflections have an evident energy band associated with the Fresnel zone and stationary point, whereas diffractions can be observed in a wide illumination direction and therefore has no energy band. Based on these phenomena, we analyze the amplitude distributions of the diffractions and reflections, and propose a time-varying structuring element (SE) in the MMF. Based on the time-varying SE, the proposed method can effectively suppress reflections and has the advantage of automatically preserving the diffractions energy near the stationary point. Numerical and field experiments demonstrate the efficient performance of the proposed method in imaging diffractions and obtaining high-resolution information.

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