Environmental and Exploration Geophysics II

Normal Incidence (coincident source-receiver)

Ray-Tracing
tom.h.wilson
tom.wilson@mail.wvu.edu
Department of Geology and Geography
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV
Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Off-end 12 geophone source receiver layout

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Drag receiver string to the right ->

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Dont forget to turn in today

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Moveout in the common midpoint gather is hyperbolic

For the flat layer there is no difference!

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

regardless of whether the layer is flat lying or dipping.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Crooked Line Effects

Along crooked survey lines,

the common midpoint gather
includes all records whose
midpoints fall within a
certain radius of some point

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

NMO corrections to the arrivals in a commonmidpoint gather yield the same coincidence of
sources and receivers, but in this case all sources
and receivers relocate to the same midpoint.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Source Receiver Offset ->

Pure signal

Reflection
coefficients with
wavelets

Lets assume that the

traces shown at right
are nmo corrected
traces in a common
midpoint gather.
They are all identical.
However, the real
world doesnt work this
way. We always have
noise in our data.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Pure signal

Noisy signal

Heres the same data

set with a lot of noise
thrown in.
Note so easy to see
the signal in this case is it?

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

= aij
i =1

Greenbrier

Where i is
the trace
number
and j is a
specific
time

Huron
Onondaga

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Stack Trace
If we sum all the
noisy traces
together - sample
by sample - we get
the trace plotted
in the gap at right.
This summation of
all 16 traces is
referred to as a
stack trace.

Pure
signal

Greenbrier
Huron
Onondaga

Note that the

stack trace
compares quite well
with the pure
signal.
Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

CMP sorting, NMO correction and stacking gives us

higher signal to noise ratio and resolution of detail

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Have a look at Ray-Trace Exercise IV

The simulated normal incidence ray-paths have the potential

to provide a more accurate visual image of the subsurface.
Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

A shot record
view. Compare to
the appropriate
equations

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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Thus when you look at data of the type we are

interpreting in our projects the individual traces shown in
that section are equivalent to coincident source-receiver
recordings and the ray paths are normal incident.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

NMO corrections to the arrivals in a commonmidpoint gather yield the same coincidence of
sources and receivers, but in this case all sources
and receivers relocate to the same midpoint.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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We have an easy-to-interpret image as long as the reflectors are flat

and horizontal, but as soon as we introduce structure into the
reflector geometry the records become complex in appearance.

Consider, for example, a survey across a syncline.

Consider the distribution of normal incidence ray-paths.
Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Consider what happens across the axis of the syncline

and the relation of recording points to reflection points.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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The record of reflection travel time to the various points in the

subsurface contains dramatic image distortions - instead of a syncline
we have an anticline

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

If you think this is

only a theoretical
construct - think
again

Pity the poor souls

that keeping drilling
these anticlines!

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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Reflection events are recorded downdip of the subsurface reflection points.

We will introduce the refraction response later.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Synclinal contraction

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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We have intentionally not included diffraction events.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

15

Anticlines from pointsThe Diffraction Point Response

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

16

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

17

Diffractor

Diffraction

Bring questions to class this Wednesday.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Common Midpoint (CMP) gather, also often

referred to as Common Depth Point (CDP)

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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Common Midpoint Gather

Doug Smiths seismic Data Processing site

http://www-geo.phys.ualberta.ca/~doug/G438/Assignments07/Lectures/Common_Midpoint.pdf

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Velocity Analysis

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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Discussion of problems 4.1

Read over and think about how you are

going to solve problems 4.5 and 4.8
Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

Dix Interval Velocities

Read over discussions of Dix Interval Velocities (pages 170 -181)

The Dix interval velocity

assumes VNMO velocities
are equivalent to RMS
velocities. Starting with the
basic definition of the RMS
velocity we derive the
interval velocity Vn.

Vn2

VRMS =
n

Vi2ti

i =1
n

ti

i =1

2
2
V RMS
t V RMS
t
n 0n
n 1 0 n 1

tn

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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 Turn in 12 phone stacking chart

Problem 4.1 is due next Monday
Familiarize yourself with the Dix interval velocity
computation.
This coming Wednesday, we will discuss the
multilayer reflection problem and assign problems
4.4 and 4.8. Look over these problems prior to
Wednesday. Be prepared to ask questions.
Look over Exercises IV-V. Due dates will be
assigned later.

Tom Wilson, Department of Geology and Geography

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