AAPG-CUSC

Geophysics for Geologists

K. M. Shemis

April 2009
Geophysics is a part of remote sensing
science as it measures the underneath
earth layers using surface tools.

Geophysics is used in many science
branches like petroleum industry,
archaeology, hydrology,. etc.
Petroleum Exploration
Geophysics
Magnetism

(Magnetic Susceptibility)
Gravity

(Density)
Seismology
(Acoustic Impedance)
(V)
Seismic Wavelet
Mechanical wave
Seismic wave
Sonic wave
Acoustic wave
Sound wave


Types of
waves
Electromagnetic

e.g. Light waves

(Dont need a media
to propagate)
Mechanical waves

(need a media
to propagate)

Surface waves
Seismic waves


P-Waves
S-Waves
Rayleigh waves
Love waves
P-Waves = Primary waves, the particle motion in the
direction of wave propagation, its faster than S-
waves and propagate through fluids.

S-Waves = Secondary waves, the particle motion is
perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation,
its slower than P-waves and faster than Surface
waves and cant propagate through fluids.

Surface waves are propagating through surface
planes, its slower than S-waves and its considered
as seismic noise.


Snells law:
Reflection Coefficient (R)
Acoustic Impedance (Z) =
Density () x Velocity (V)

R = Z2-Z1/Z2+Z1
1 R -1
Polarity: The sign of R
+ve or ve.
Magnitude: The absolute
value of R and its refer to
the amplitude value (e.g.
+0.5 = -0.5 as magnitude)
If the A.I of the lower
formation is higher than
the upper one , the
reflection polarity will be
+ve and vice versa.

If the difference in A.I
between the two
formations is high, the
reflection magnitude
(Amplitude) will be high.
Seismic Methods
Surface seismic
Borehole seismic
Reflection Refraction
VSP Sonic Logging
To build a model using the surface
seismic, we have to go through the
following steps:

1- Seismic Data Acquisition.

2- Seismic Data Processing

3- Seismic Data Interpretation


1- Seismic Data Acquisition
The Seismic Data Acquisition is categorized to:


Land or Marine

2D or 3D

Procedures of Land
Seismic Data Acquisition
1) Mine Clearance (removal of small arms) if needed

2) The area is surveyed to determine shot and receiver
locations using integrated handheld survey
equipment which uses GPS or Laser ranging to
determine distances, elevations, and locations.

3) Flags are planted at shot and receiver-station
locations. Accuracy for measuring distances in
land surveying is less than 1cm.

4) Shot holes are drilled (only if dynamite is the source
of energy)

5) Seismic cables are laid-out, geophones planted at
correct locations.
9) Data acquisition in the vicinity of cultural
locations should be coordinated to
increase safety and decrease noise.

10) After the shot-holes or vibrating points are
recorded, cables are moved to the
adjoining area to continue the survey.

11) Moving cables should be properly
coordinated with data acquisition and
movement of equipment and personnel
should not interfere with data recording

Energy Source (Dynamite)
Detonator.
Explosive charge.
Heli-portable drilling operations.
Lowering of charge into
shothole.
Conventional drilling rig.
Energy Source (VIBRATORS)
Source Array (Vibrators)


coil hanging inside cylindrical magnet by spring
Magnet moves with ground.
Coil stays fixed by spring inertia.
electric current produced
measure ground velocity
important to plant them firmly and vertically
Receivers (Geophones)
Geophones
Receiver Array (Geophones)

Procedures of Marine
Seismic Data Acquisition
1- Streamers are lowered. All sections and connected
equipment are checked.

2- Gun arrays are lowered.

3- After deploying the streamers and the air gun arrays,
the vessel proceeds to the data area.

4- The guns refill time is 8 seconds and the vessel
speed is about 4.65 knots, and divided by 8
seconds gives a shot interval of 18.75 meters. The
shot interval is varied by changing the speed or
changing the firing interval.



5) Recording 2 ms sampling interval, 5 second record
length, 148 channels for each streamer, 6
streamers, and 1000 shots give 2.22 billion
samples of data. Seismic data is recorded on
cartridges.

6) Vessel must be steered close to the lines being
surveyed.

7) Navigation and steering must be coordinated at all
times.

8) Time sharing in the field with other seismic data
acquisition vessels in the area is coordinated to
avoid interference between crews.


Energy Source (Air Gun)
Air Gun
Source Array (Air Gun)

generates voltage when stressed
measure fluid acceleration
independent of wave direction
Depth is 10-15 m under water.
mounted in a streamer (~ 6 km long)
Marine Receivers (Hydrophones)
OCEAN BOTTOM CABLE
OBC
Advantages of OBC Acquisition Image

There are several advantages in acquiring seismic data
using an ocean-bottom cable.

The sea floor is generally a quieter environment to record
seismic data than the surface, with better coupling, and
shorter travel times in deepwater surveys. The result is
often seismic data with improved signal content and
frequency bandwidth compared to conventional streamers.

Shear waves do not travel through water, and so
conventional marine sources do not generate them and
hydrophones will not record them. However, part of the
downgoing p-wave energy produced by an airgun will be
converted to upgoing shear wave energy at a reflecting
horizon. Shear wave receivers placed on the seafloor will be
able to record this mode-converted shear wave energy.

2-D Acquisition

CDP Fold
Spread refers to the relative locations of source and
receivers.
The main difference between 2D and 3D data Acquisition
is the way of arranging sources and receivers relative to
each others.

Types
Split: source at center of receivers line
end-on: source at end of receivers line
Broadside: source is offset perpendicular to receivers line
Cross: two crossing receiver lines
2-D Acquisition Spreads
2-D Field methods
Spreads
Split End-on
3-D Acquisition

What is 3-D seismic?
It is a group of closely spaced source and
receiver lines forming a grid that covers an area.
Receiver and source lines are perpendicular to
each other.

Why 3-D seismic?
3-D migration provide better positioning over
dipping reflectors.
presents a more detailed image of the subsurface
Introduction
Inline: direction parallel to receiver lines.
Crossline: direction parallel to shot lines.
CMP bin: a small rectangle (1/2 RI x 1/2 SI)
that contains all the traces which belong to the
same CMP.
Box (unit cell): area bounded by two adjacent
receiver lines and two adjacent source lines.
Patch (template): area of all live receivers
recording from the same source.
Swath: length over which sources are recorded
without crossline rollover.
3-D Terminology
Fold: The number of midpoints that are stacked within a CMP
bin.

Fold Taper: The width of the additional fringe area that needs
to be added to the 3-D surface area to build up full fold .

Migration Apron: The width of the fringe area that needs to be
added to the 3-D survey to allow proper migration of any
dipping event.

Shot Density (SD): The number of source points/km2 or
source points/mi2. Together with the number of channels, NC,
and the size of the CMP bin, SD determines the fold.

Super Bin: This term (and others like macro bin or maxi bin)
applies to a group of neighboring CMP bins

3-D Terminology
1. Receiver lines are laid in parallel lines.
2. Source lines are laid in parallel lines in a direction
perpendicular to receiver lines.
3. An area of receivers (patch) is activated.
4. Source at patch center is shot and recorded.
5. Patch is moved crossline one source interval.
6. Source at new patch center is shot and recorded.
7. Repeat this until source line is finished.
8. This is one swath.
9. Roll over one source-line interval and begin recording
the next swath.
10.Keep doing this until the survey is finished.
3-D Swath Shooting Method
1. Shallowest reflector of interest
2. Deepest reflector of interest
3. Target Size
4. Target dip
5. Multiples
6. Cost
Factors Controlling 3-D Survey Design
- RI and SI
- RLI and SLI
- CMP Fold
- Maximum Offset
- Minimum Offset
- Record length
- Frequency
- Migration Aperture
Parameters of 3-D Survey Design

Seismic Data Recording
For
2D or 3D, Land or Marine

1- Signal from detectors is digitized and amplified.

2- Filters may be applied to remove unwanted frequencies.

3- Traces are displayed for quality control.

4- Data is recorded and stored in tapes for later retrieval and
processing.
Seismic data Recording
Earths surface
Subsurface reflector
S
R
A/D
Converter
Amplifier
Filter
Trace display
Recording
Tape
storage
Seismic data Recording
Recorder
Camera unit and monitor record.




2- Seismic Data Processing

Demultiplexing




Gain Recovery





Static Corrections




Deconvolution




CMP Gathers
Stacking



Migration




Display




A very simplified,
traditional processing
flow.



Multiplexing and
Demultiplexing
Conversion of scan sequential mode to
trace sequential mode.

Essentially a Matrix transposition (rows to
columns and vice versa)

Ch-1
Ch-2
Ch-4
Ch-5
Ch-12
Ch-20
Ch-48
Amp
Demultiplexing
SCAN-1,ch-1 SCAN-1,ch-24 SCAN-1,ch-36 SCAN-1,ch-48
SC-1200,ch-1 SC-1200,ch-24 SC-1200,ch-36 SC-1200,ch-48
SCAN-2,ch-1 SCAN-2,ch-24 SCAN-2,ch-36 SCAN-2,ch-48
SCAN-3,ch-1 SCAN-3,ch-24 SCAN-3,ch-36 SCAN-3,ch-48
SCAN-4,ch-1 SCAN-4,ch-24 SCAN-4,ch-36 SCAN-4,ch-48
SC-2500,ch-48 SC-2500,ch-36 SC-2500,ch-24 SC-2500,ch-48




Gain Recovery
The gain loss (Amplitude loss) is due to:

1- Geometric Spreading (Spherical Divergence)

2- Attenuation Loss

3- Reflectivity
Spherical Divergence
Spherical Divergence
Attenuation Loss
The energy loss is due to the inelastic propagation of
waves, the collision of particles to each others produces
heat which is considered as an energy loss
Reflectivity
Time
Amplitude
Decay curve
Recovery
function
Amplitude Recovery:
Geometric spreading
(Spherical divergence),
attenuation loss and
reflectivity combine to
cause a rapid decay of
the seismic signal with
time (depth). If these
losses are left
uncorrected, only the
uppermost reflectors
would be visible on the
final section.
After
Before
Amplitude Recovery is
becoming a very
important topic for
amplitude variation with
offset (AVO) studies




Static Correction
Reflector
Surface
LVL
Data collected on land need to have the effects of changes in ground
surface elevation removed and, potentially, the effects of changes in
thickness (and velocity) of the Low Velocity layer.
Datum




Deconvolution
Geological reflection (Desired) +
Source wavelet (Undesired)
Convolvution
Output Trace
Output Trace
Deconvolvution
Geological reflection (Desired)
Deconvolution:-
Suppresses multiples.
Removes effect of source signature.
Reduces duration of wavelet (increase
wavelet frequency).
Before After



Normal Moveout (NMO)
& Stacking
After NMO Cor. Before NMO Cor.
Offset
Time
Stacking
Each common mid point gather after
normal move out correction is summed
together to yield a stacked trace.

Stacking enhances the S\N ratio and reduces
the random noise.
CDP Stacking



Migration
source receiver receiver source
Assumed

Actual
For a dipping horizon, the reflection point is not at
the Mid Point, but offset up dip from it.
Unmigrated Section
Multiple
Time Migrated Section
What Migration and When?

Post-Stack

Pre-stack

Time

Depth

Classes
Poststack
Depth
Migration
Prestack
Depth
Migration
Poststack
Time
Migration
Prestack
Time
Migration
Lateral velocity variation
S
t
r
u
c
t
u
r
a
l

c
o
m
p
l
e
x
i
t
y

Migration What Kind?
Unmigrated Section
Time Migrated Section
Depth Migrated Section




Seismic Display
2D View
3D View (3D Cube)
3D View (Inline, Crossline &Time Slice)



Vertical Seismic Profile

VSP
The VSP idea is depending on recording
the seismic data directly in the bore hole to
minimize the negative effects of the earth
overburden.

The main use of VSP data is the
correlation with the surface seismic to
define the actual formation boundaries on
the surface seismic




Common Types of the VSP
Offset VSP
Zero Offset VSP
Walkabove VSP
Walkaway VSP
Depth
Time
Upgoing Reflection
Downgoing Reflections
Output of different types of VSP




Synthetic Seismogram
If we dont have VSP data in the well, we
can use Sonic and Density Logs to
synthesize a seismogram (Synthetic
Seismogram).
We synthesize wavelets from Reflection
Coefficient (r.c)
R.C = .v (Density*Velocity)
Density is from Density Log
Velocity is from Sonic Log


3- Seismic Data Interpretation
Petroleum Trap
The four basic steps in seismic data
interpretation are:

1- Picking.
2- Timing.
3- Posting to the map.
4- Contouring
Picking
Timing
Posting to the map
Contouring
- How to define the formation top (depth) on
the seismic section (time) ???

We are tying a VSP of a specific well to
the Seismic section to define the
Formation Top on the seismic section, and
then extend the interpretation by tying the
seismic sections with each others.
Tie between Seismic Sections

Seismic Interpretation of Reflection
Seismic Data:
1- Structural Interpretation
2- Stratigraphic Interpretation
3- Seismic Attributes Analysis
1- Structural Interpretation
Fault Definition
The reflections change amplitude across the
center line. The reflections on the right have
higher amplitudes than those on left
Fault Definition
There is a slight change in phase from the left to the right
side of the figure. The left side shows a symmetrical
doublet, where as the right doublet is asymmetrical
Fault Definition
Reflections on the left side are dipping where as the
reflections on the right are horizontal. There is change in
dip from one side of the section to the other.
Fault Definition
There is change in nose level. The left side has
clean reflections whereas the traces are noisy
on the right.
Fault Definition
There is an offset from the left side to the right
side.
Coherency Cube
2- Stratigraphic Interpretation
Sequence Stratigraphy Features
Toplap
termination of strata against an overlying
surface, representing the result of non-
deposition and/or minor erosion
Truncation
this implies the deposition of strata and their subsequent
tilting and removal along an unconformity surface. This
termination is the most reliable top-discordant criterion of
a sequence boundary
Onlap
The initially horizontal strata progressively terminate
against an initially inclined surface, or in which initially
inclined strata terminate progressively updip against a
surface of greater initial inclination
Downlap
relationship in which seismic reflections of
inclined strata terminate downdip against an
inclined or horizontal surface
Offlap
termination of strata against an overlying
surface, normally without non-deposition or
erosion
Offlap


3- Seismic Attribute Analysis
A seismic attribute is any measure of seismic data that
helps us better visualize or quantify features of
interpretation interest. Seismic attributes fall into two
broad categories those that help us quantify the
morphological component of seismic data
(e.g. Coherency Cube) and those that help us quantify
the reflectivity component of seismic data (e.g. AVO).
The morphological attributes help us extract
information on reflector dip, azimuth, and
terminations, which can in turn be related to faults,
channels, fractures, diapirs, and carbonate buildups.
The reflectivity attributes help us extract information
on reflector amplitude, waveform, and variation with
illumination angle, which can in turn be related to
lithology, reservoir thickness, and the presence of
hydrocarbons.
What is Seismic attribute


Amplitude Variation with Offset
(AVO)
After NMO Cor. Before NMO Cor.
Offset
Time
When we throw a stone into water, the
amplitude of the wave will be different at
different incident angle. When we send a
wave (instead of stone) into earth (which is
filled with fluids), the amplitude of the
wave will vary with incidence angle (or
offset, as the offset increase the incidence
angle increase). This variation is called
Amplitude Variation with Offset or AVO
The AVO response depend on the
elasticity of the fluid (expressed by
Poissons ratio Vp/Vs). As water is very
inelastic and gas is very elastic, the AVO
response in the case of Gas-wet sand is
opposite of the AVO response in the case
of Water-wet sand.
The determination of the type of amplitude
variation with offset is depending on the
acoustic impedance of reservoir and its
surrounding formations

Thank You