Seismic Wave Theory

Sheriff & Geldart, Chapter 2 stress stress is force per unit area

units: 1 N/m2 = 1 Pa = 10 bar (non-metric: psi)

F A-5

stress on a box within a volume of material

Hobbs, Means, and Williams, 198x

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Seismic Waves

normal stresses

xx , yy , zz
first subscript defines force directon second subscript defines face of box (by its normal) upon which the force acts normal stress on opposite faces of box must be balanced, or box will move (accelerate) in physics, engineering; tension is positive in geoscience: compression is positive shear stresses

xy = yx , yz = zy , zx = xz
shear stress on neighbouring faces of box must be balanced, or box will spin (accelerate)

stress tensor

xx yx zx

xy yy zy

xz yz zz

a tensor is a rank-2 vector: a vector full of vectors (actually, a vector is a tensor of rank 1) can be mathematically manipulated like a matrix the stress tensor is symmetric

Hole: GEOS 4174 1.1-2 Seismic Waves

particle displacement as a result of stress, a particle in the material is displaced (moves) along a vector

u x u = u( x , y, z, t ) = u y uz
neighbouring particles might move along different vectors the motion might change with time

strain strain measures deformation; change in size or shape

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Seismic Waves

normal strain change in length per unit length

=
units: dimensionless

L L0 L0

consider 2 particles separated by an infinitesimally small distance particle 1 is displaced in the x direction by a distance u x

dx

u u x + x dx x u x after the displacement, the distance between the points is dx + dx x

particle 2 is displaced in the x direction a distance then the normal strain in the x direction is

u x dx dx dx + u x x xx = = x dx
normal strains:

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xx =

u x x

yy =

u y y
1.1-4

zz =

u z z
Seismic Waves

shear strain change in angle

xy = yx = tan
units: dimensionless

consider 4 particles in x,y separated by infinitesimally small distances recognize that for infinitesimally small angles, tan = similar derivation as for normal strain shear strains:

dx and dy

u y u x xy = yx = + x y u z u y yz = zy = + y z u x u z zx = xz = + z x
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Seismic Waves

volumetric strain change in volume per unit volume

V V0 u x u y u z = = + + V0 x y z = xx + yy + zz
Reynolds 1997

strain tensor

xx yx zx

xy yy zy

xz yz zz

the strain tensor is symmetric

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Hobbs, Means, and Williams, 198x

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Seismic Waves

Elastic Strain for small stress, the strain is elastic occurs immediately when the stress is applied recovers (un-strains) when the stress is removed seismic stresses are small enough (except at source) to produce elastic strain
Kehew 1995

Hookes Law elastic strain is proportional to stress

spring:

F=k

x x

where F is applied force (stress), x is change in length of the spring (fraction is strain) and k is the spring constant, a physical property of the spring
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Seismic Waves

Hookes Law normal strain:

xx = E xx
E is Youngs modulus (aka modulus of elasticity), a property of the material units: same as stress shear strain:

is the shear modulus (aka modulus of rigidity), a property of the material units: same as stress
volumetric strain:

xy = 2 xy

xx = yy = zz = P = k

P is pressure k is the bulk modulus, a property of the material; minus sign makes it positive units: same as stress Poissons ratio, defined for a single normal stress

yy = = zz xx xx
(unfortunately, is the standard notation for both Poissons ratio and stress) Poissons ratio ranges from 0 to 0.5 units: dimension-less

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Seismic Waves

Hookes Law in a medium that is anisotropic, the physical properties are a function of direction

ij = cijkl kl
k l

i, j , k , l = x , y , z

stress is a linear combination of the 9 strains (which can be inverted to say strain is linear in stress) cijlk contains 81 elastic moduli, but because of symmetries, only 21 independent moduli units: same as stress in a medium that is isotropic, the physical properties do not depend upon direction

ii = + 2ii i = x , y, z ij = 2ij i, j = x , y , z i j
only two independent moduli! and are called Lams constants; is shear modulus units: same as stress

relationships between isotropic elastic moduli (if you know 2, you know them all!)

( 3 + 2) E= +
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2( + )

1 k = ( 3 + 2 ) 3
Seismic Waves

1.1-9

wave equation up to now, the stresses have been balanced on the small cube to prevent it from moving normal stress on face of cube that is normal to x direction:

xx
xx + xx x x

normal stress on other face of cube that is normal to x direction: net normal stress in x direction acting on the cube:

xx x x net normal force in x direction is stress times area: xx xyz x

xx xy xz Fx = + + xyz x y z

adding shear forces acting in x direction gives total force on the tiny cube:

2u Newtons Law: F = ma = m 2 t 2 u x xx xy xz 2 = + + t x y z plus similar terms for u y and u z

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Seismic Waves

wave equation replace stress with strain using Hookes Law, define strain using displacement, and rearrange

2ux 2 u x 2 u x 2 u x 2 = ( + ) + 2 + 2 + 2 t x y z x
plus similar terms for

uy

and

uz

differentiate the three equations for the three components of u and add together

2 1 2 2 2 = + + 2 t 2 x 2 y 2 z 2

4 k+ + 2 3 = =
this is a wave equation for (compression), with a wave speed of P-wave (compressional wave)

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Press & Siever

Seismic Waves

wave equation differentiate pairs of equations for the three components of u and take differences

1 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x = 2 + 2 + 2 2 2 t x y z 1 u z u y x = = 2 y z and similar equations for y and z , where these are rotations

about the x,y,z axes this is a wave equation for i (shear), with a wave speed of S-wave (shear wave) since the elastic moduli positive, p waves are always faster than s are waves

0 (fluid) and is between

0.71 2

S-wave motion is perpendicular the direction of travel, but can be any direction(s) in this 2D plane often we define SH waves as polarized horizontally and SV waves as polarized somewhere within the vertical plane but other polarizations and/or rotations of polarization are possible P and S waves are body waves; they travel through the interior of a solid
Press & Siever

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Seismic Waves

surface waves Rayleigh waves (aka ground roll) at Earths surface, a coupled P-SV wave is generated particle motion is in vertical plane along direction of wave propagation: detected in vertical geophones usually VR 0.92 depth of penetration depends upon wavelength, which depends upon frequency lower frequencies sample deeper into the Earth since usually increases with depth, lower frequencies travel faster dispersion: different frequencies travel at different speeds
Sheriff & Geldart 1995

Love waves in a thin layer at Earths surface, a SH wave is generated partical motion is in horizontal plane: not detected in vertical geophones; less important for exploration VL is between in shallowest and next-shallowest layers dispersive due to increase of with depth

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Seismic Waves

P-wave velocity of rocks Sheriff & Geldart, Chapter 5

Reynolds 1995

Sharma 1995

Christensen & Mooney 1995 J. Geophys. Res.

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Seismic Waves

P-wave velocity of rocks slowest sandstone/shale -- limestone slowest soil -- sediment -- sedimentary rock -- crystalline rock slowest high porosity -- low porosity slowest gas-saturated porosity -- water/oil-saturated porosity slowest felsic (e.g., granite) -- mafic (e.g., gabbro) effect of porosity

fastest fastest fastest fastest fastest

1 Vrock

Vfluid

1 Vminerals

factors affecting porosity and velocity

Sheriff & Geldart 1995

most important factor: pressure, which is caused by depth

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Seismic Waves

P-wave velocity of rocks average velocity profile of the continental crust caused by pressure plus trend towards more mafic at greater
Christensen & Mooney, 1995, Journal of Geophysical Research

depth

other factors

Sheriff & Geldart 1995

note that Vs often behaves different from Vp determination of both Vp and Vs (or Vp/Vs ratio) can identify lithology/porosity/saturation
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P-wave velocity of rocks relationship between density and velocity for comparison of seismic and gravity observations for prediction of seismic from gravity or vice versa Nafe-Drake curve Gardners relation for sedimentary rocks

= 1670 0.25
for in kg/m3 and in km/s

Sharma 1997

anisotropy can be up to ~20% due to: - layered sedimentary (e.g., sands & shales) or volcanic (e.g., flows) strata - preferred mineral orientation (most crystals are anisotropic) - preferred fracture orientation (indicative of a preferred stress orientation) - shear layering, either strong faulting or ductile shear zone - foliated metamorphic texture (e.g., slate, schist, gneiss) if the rock has anisotropic texture, the seismic velocity can be anisotropic
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solution to wave equation Sheriff & Geldart, Chapter 2 elastic wave equation:

where

1 2 2 2 2 = 2+ 2 + 2 2 2 V t x y z is a strain (e.g., = for P-waves; = i

for S-waves;

=u

for all waves)

any function of the following form satisfies the above wave equation

this solution is a plane wave of shape f() that travels in the +x direction with speed V

= f ( x Vt )

more generally, any function of the following form also satisfies the wave equation

where n

r Vt ) = f (n

is any unit vector (a vector of length 1), and the dot indicates the vector dot product:

is any position in 3D space

n x x r = n y y = n x x + n y y + n z z n z nz are called the directional cosines of the unit vector the components of n direction with speed V this is a plane wave that travels in the n
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Seismic Waves

solution to wave equation Fourier theory (a topic discussed later in this course) says that any function can be expressed as a summation of cosine and sine waves single-frequency plane wave traveling in the +x direction:

= A cos[k ( x Vt ) + 0 ] = A cos[(kx t ) + 0 ]

Sheriff & Geldart 1995

A T

= amplitude = period

= phase at t=x=0

f=

1 T

= frequency

= 2f =
k= 2

2 T

= angular frequency

= wavelength
V=

= wavenumber

= = velocity of wave k T

1.1-19 Seismic Waves

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exponential notation

e j = cos + j sin j = 1
only the real part is used in physical measurements, but having the imaginary part around makes some of the math easier easy to take derivatives:

multiplying by ej produces a phase shift (no change in amplitude)

d j e = je j d d n j n j e = j e ( ) n d

d cos = sin d dn cos = cos + n n d 2

a + jb = ce j c = a2 + b2 a = c cos
0 0

tan = b = c sin

b a

from before, the single-frequency plane wave traveling in the +x direction:

= Ae j [ ( kx t )+ ] = Ae j e j ( kxt ) , the x is replaced by n r for wave traveling in arbitrary direction n

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wavefronts and rays plane waves: at a fixed point in time, all points in space that have the same wave amplitude (strain, particle displacement) lie along a spatial r = a constant, which surface defined by n is a plane in 3D space (hence plane wave) this surface is called a wavefront the direction perpendicular to the wavefront, the direction the wave travels, is called the ray

non-plane waves can be simulated by adding together many plane waves for non-plane waves, wavefronts are non-planar and rays can be straight or bent e.g., for a point wave source in a homogeneous medium, wavefronts are spheres and rays are radial lines
Ikelle & Amundsen, 2005

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Seismic Waves

Huygens Principle each point on a wavefront acts as a point source superposition (i.e., addition) of these point sources for a small time step determines the position of the wavefront at the next time

Sherrif & Geldart 1995

Reynolds 1997

Fermats Principle a ray will follow the path for which small changes in the path produce no change in traveltime (the travel time is stationary with respect to small changes in ray path) in practice, this means that most rays follow the path of minimum travel time the principle of least time

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Seismic Waves

Reflection and Transmission (Refraction) Sheriff & Geldart, Chapter 3

Ikelle & Amundsen, 2005

Snells Law derived from Huygens or Fermats principle

sin i sin r sin t = = V1 V1 V2

i = r
Ikelle & Amundsen, 2005

when sin t = 90 the refracted wave is critically refracted it transmits energy back up in the form of head waves

Ikelle & Amundsen, 2005 Ikelle & Amundsen, 2005

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Seismic Waves

Reflection and Transmission (Refraction) an incident P wave will generate SV waves, and vice versa:

Ikelle & Amundsen, 2005

Ikelle & Amundsen, 2005

sin i sin r sin t sin i sin r sin t = = = = = =p VP 1 VP 1 VP 2 VS 1 VS 1 VS 2

where p is called the ray parameter

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Seismic Waves

energy partitioning boundary conditions: displacement must be continuous (or the interface will split apart) stresses acting on the interface must be continuous (or the interface will have infinite acceleration) Zoeppritzs Equations for an incident P-wave of amplitude Ai amplitudes A and B of incident, reflected, and transmitted waves:

Ai cos i + Ar cos i Br sin r = At cos t Bt sin t Ai sin i + Ar sin i + Br cos r = At sin t Bt cos t Ai Z1 cos 2 i + Ar Z1 cos 2 i BrW1 sin 2 r = At Z 2 cos 2 t + Bt W2 sin 2 t V V Ai S1 W1 sin 2 i + Ar S1 W1 sin 2 i + BrW1 cos 2 r VP 1 VP 1 V = At S 2 W2 sin 2 t + Bt W2 cos 2 t VP 2 Z i = iVPi Wi = iVSi i = 1,2

Z and W are the P-wave and S-wave acoustic impedance in materials 1,2 angles are known from Snells Law; incident amplitude is known if know physical properties of media, then 4 equations in 4 unknowns => can be solved

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reflection and transmission coefficients at normal incidence ( i = r = t for P-wave at normal incidence:

= r = t = 0)
T= At 2 Z1 = Ai Z 2 + Z1 Br = Bt = 0

R=

T are called the reflection coefficient and transmission coefficient R and

for most geological interfaces, R<<0.2 and most energy is transmitted exceptions: at earths surface and at sea surface, R is close to 1 at sea floor, R can be large

Ar Z 2 Z 1 = Ai Z 2 + Z1

Sheriff & Geldart 1995

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Seismic Waves

energy loss Sheriff & Geldart, Chapter 6 geometric spreading from point source: spherical divergence energy proportional to 1/r2 ; amplitude proportion to 1/r intrinsic attenution: anelastic loss of energy to heat exponential energy & amplitude loss scattering: energy scattered in all directions by small-scale heterogeneity hard to separate from intrinsic attenuation, so often included in effective attentuation
Reynolds 1997

combined amplitude loss:

1 A = A0 e r r

f QV

Q=

1 2

higher frequencies are more attenuated Q is the quality factor, and is related to the energy loss per wavelength (or per period)

near-surface rocks (weathering layer and weak sediments) absorb most of the seismic energy
Sheriff & Geldart 1995

E 2 = E Q

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layer over a half space Sheriff & Geldart, Chapter 4 reflection:

Ikelle & Amundsen 2005

Sheriff & Geldart 1995

t=

x 2 + 4h2 V1

t 2V12 x 2 2 =1 2 4h 4h

the above equation is a hyperbola in t-x space, centered at x=0 normal moveout: difference in traveltime from value at x=0

for x << h

t NMO = t t 0 =

x 2 + 4 h 2 2h V1 V1

x2 t t0 = 2 V1
2 2

t NMO

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x2 x2 = 4 hV1 2t 0V12
1.1-28 Seismic Waves

layer over a half space critical refraction

Ikelle & Amundsen 2005

Sharma 1997

2h V22 V12 1 2h cos c 1 t = x+ = x+ V2 V1 V2 V1V2

the above equation is a straight line in t-x space critical distance: shortest offset at which critical refractions exist

x critical =

2 hV1 V22 V12 V2 + V1 V2 V1

1.1-29 Seismic Waves

at this point, the reflection and refraction times (and slopes) are identical cross-over point: where direct time equals refracted time

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x crossover = 2 h

dipping layer over a half-space reflection:

t=

x 2 + 4 h 2 + 4 hx sin V1
2

x + 2 h sin ) t 2V12 ( =1 4 h 2 cos 2 4 h 2 cos 2

the above equation is still a hyperbola in t-x space, but centered at x=-2hcos reflection points are shifted updip
Sheriff & Geldart 1995

dip moveout (DMO): difference in time td between positive offset x and negative offset x

t d

2x sin V1
1.1-30 Seismic Waves

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dipping layer over a half-space critical refraction:

t downdip =

sin( c + ) 2 h cos cos c x+ V2 V1

sin( c ) 2 h cos cos c t updip = x+ V2 V1

the above equations are still straight lines in t-x space, but the slope is now apparent velocity

Sheriff & Geldart 1995

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Seismic Waves

1-D velocity (layer stack or continuous) according to Snells Law

p=

sin 1 sin 2 sin n = = ... = V1 V2 Vn

for a ray leaving the surface at a takeoff angle defined by p , and a reflector depth H , the ray will return to the surface at offset X and time T given by:
N

X = 2
i=1 N

phiVi 1 p Vi hi
2 2

=2
0 H

pV ( z) 1 p V ( z)
2 2

dz

T = 2
i=1

Vi 1 p 2Vi 2

=2
0

1 dz 2 2 V ( z) 1 p V ( z)
Sheriff & Geldart 1995

turning ray: at a depth defined by V(zp) = p , the ray will turn horizontal, and return to the surface using this depth, the above equations give the turning (refracted) rays offset and time
Sheriff & Geldart 1995

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Seismic Waves

resolution Sheriff & Geldart, Chapter 6 interference of two wavelets that arrive close together in time

Sheriff & Geldart 1995

T is the dominant period (or the dominant wavelength) of the wavelet two distinct wavelets are observed if t > T/2 => definition of resolved for seismic imaging if two wavelets have same polarity, amplitude grows at small separation if two wavelets have opposite polarity, small separation produces derivative of original wavelet => usually detectable to T/10 or better, depending on signal-to-noise ratio

Yilmaz 2001

detection of a thin layer in reflection data a detectable reflection is produced if the thin layer is thicker than ~/30 depends upon signal-to-noise ratio vertical resolution of top and bottom of a layer in reflection data top and bottom of a layer are observed at resolvably different times if layer is thicker than /4
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resolution horizontal resolution in reflection data nearby parts of a reflector constructively contribute to the reflection for all points within the first Fresnel zone

Yilmaz 2001

radius of first Fresnel zone is

h V = 2 2

t f

migration collapses the Fresnel zone, ideally shrinking resolution to ~

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