2014 -2015

PGSC3014
ADVANCED GEOPHYSICS
BSc. Petroleum Geoscience
Introduction to Seismic
Hosein
1
Aim
1. To gain a greater understanding of seismic theory, methods and
applications.

2. To gain an appreciation for industry-wide standard workflows and

processes.

3. To guide you on the different geophysical career paths available.

2
Course Outline
Introduction to Seismic

Seismic Acquisition

Seismic Processing

Seismic Applications

Reservoir Geophysics

Industry Lectures

In class assignments

Mid-term assessment

Final Exam
3
 Today
Class info. please provide class rep. with a face picture ID
and place into the Miscellaneous folder in Dropbox
Update student information with data being passed around
Volunteer a moment for safety!
Assignments 1 & 2 overview!
Definition of Seismic
Wave Theory Refresher
Seismic Acquisition
Seismic Processing
Seismic Interpretation
Geophysical Workflows
Well Planning and Decision Making
Summary 4
Course schedule Semester I (2015)
Topic Natalie * Tentative
Introduction to Seismic Theory X
X - Semester I
Seismic Acquisition - Marine

Seismic Acquisition - Land X

Seismic Processing

Seismic Interpretation - Theory X

Seismic Interpretation - Practical X

Rock Physics X

AVO, Inversion X

Industry Lectures* X (3 lectures)

In class Assignments* X (3 assignments)

End of Semester I Exam N/A

Final Exam
5
2015 -2016

PGSC3014
ASSIGNMENT #1 (NNH)
BSc. Petroleum Geoscience
Introduction to Seismic
Hosein / Ameerali
6
 Teams of 3, so 6 teams!
You are a subsurface team that must present to the CEO and
CFO of your company, Geoscience Inc. or some other name.

Aim: To convince them that a new seismic survey in existing

acreage is important to the future strategy of the company.

No more than 15 minutes.

See the Assignments folder in Drop-box for details.
Date due: 9th October, 2015
In drop-box, look for this assignment in the Assignments
folder. 7
 Assignment is worth 50 marks!

Teams will be graded on the following:

Technical Content* 20 marks

Delivery 10 marks
Influencing Skills 10 marks
Presentation (Visual) Skills 10 marks

* must submit slide pack into Drop-box for a post presentation review

8
 Map of Area

Cross-section which shows the targets/area of interest

Seismic Technology to be deployed

Cost of Survey No need to get exact numbers e.g. Conventional

marine acquisition ~ US $125,000.00 per day , other types are more
expensive

Any Risks? Environmental, Technical, Business, other

Timeline

Business Impact of shooting new seismic on prospective area

Be Creative! 9
 10
* Scoring can be individual or by group
 Teams Technical Delivery Influencing Presentation TOTAL (50)
Content (10) Skills (Visual) Skills
(20) (10) (10)

Team 1
Emily
Zain
Alicia

Team 2
Saeed
Nykesi
Aidan

Team 3
Isioma
Vernelle
Saara
11
* Scoring can be individual or by group
 Teams Technical Delivery Influencing Presentation TOTAL (50)
Content (10) Skills (Visual) Skills
(20) (10) (10)

Team 4
Kami
Varune
Amrit

Team 5
Ibraheem
Vanita
Brendon

Team 6
Tanuja
Adele
Lawrence
12
* Scoring can be individual or by group
2015 -2016

PGSC3014
ASSIGNMENT # 2 (NNH)
BSc. Petroleum Geoscience
Introduction to Seismic
Hosein / Ameerali
13
 Aim: To learn about aspects of seismic acquisition and
processing
You are required to present to the class on your given topic for
no longer than 10 minutes with 5 minutes of discussion.
You are required to put your presentation/ word document notes
in the assignments folder of drop-box.
You can present your topic in any format you choose (does not
have to be a PPT)
Date due dates and topics assigned on next slide and in drop-
box, look for this assignment in the Assignments folder.
14
15
 Assignment is worth 40 marks!

You will be graded on the following:

Technical Content* 20 marks

Delivery 10 marks
Presentation Skills* 10 marks

* must submit notes used or slide pack into Drop-box as this counts as part of your
technical content !

16
Recommended Reading

Yilmaz, 2001, Published by SEG

Now available on DVD for $99
(Less for SEG Student members!)

17
 Further Reading

FREE!

http://segdl.org/dictionary/ http://www.xsgeo.com/course/contents.htm

W. M. Telford, L. P. Geldart , R. E. Sheriff Mamdouh R. Gadallah, Ray L. Fisher R. E. Sheriff L. P. Geldart

18
1.0 Introduction to Seismic
X-Ray Seismic Line

Gshtx.org

19
What are the key similarities and differences?
Seismic History
Chinese had a seismic device in 100AD

Explosives used to delineate structures in 1920s and

30s in Southern USA and South America

Tape recording in the 1950s

Digital computer processing in the 1960s

Since then, driven by two factors: Technology , World Oil

20
Price
Seismic definition
Seismic exploration can be thought of as the sonic
equivalent of radar.

21
Compressional (P) Waves

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating compression

and dilation. Particle motion is parallel to the direction of propagation
(longitudinal). Material returns to its original shape after wave passes.

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/Pwave.gif
22
Transverse (S) Waves

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating transverse

motion. Particle motion is perpendicular to the direction of propagation
(transverse). Transverse particle motion shown here is vertical but can be in
any direction; however Earths layers tend to cause mostly vertical (SV) or
horizontal (SH) shear motions. Material returns to its original shape after wave 23
passes.
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/Swave.gif

N.B. Cannot Occur in a Fluid

Rayleigh Waves

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of elliptical motions in the

vertical plane and parallel to the direction of propagation. Amplitude decreases
with depth. Material returns to its original shape after wave passes. If the
graphic makes you feel seasick, it is because Rayleigh waves are the same kind
of waves that cause swell at sea.

N.B. Decay rapidly from surface

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/Rwave.htm 24
Love Waves

Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating transverse

motions. Particle motion is horizontal and perpendicular to the direction of
propagation (transverse). Amplitude decreases with depth. Material returns to
its original shape after wave passes.

N.B. Decay rapidly from surface

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/Rwave.htm 25
26
 4/3 u +k p - density
Vp =
p
k - bulk modulus

u
Vs = u - shear modulus
p

Bulk modulus controls Shear modulus controls

the response of the rock to the response of the rock to
compressive stresses. shear transitional stresses
i.e. rigidity of the rock.
27
Body Waves

Propagate inside earth

PAYDIRT!

Decay as 1/r

Generally P waves (Vp)

Occasionally can be shear (Vs)

28
Surface Waves
Propagate along surface

NOISE!

Decay as 1/sqrt(r)

Rayleigh waves and Love waves

29
 Material Vp (m/s) P (g/cc)
Air 330 .001
Water 1450-1530 1.0
Petroleum 1300-1400 0.87 1.0

Sand and gravel near surface 400-2300 1.9

Sand and gravel (at 2 km depth) 3000-3500 2.0
Clay 1000-2500 2 2.7
Sandstone 1400-4500 2.0 2.6

Limestone (soft) 1700-4200 2.2-2.4

Limestone (hard) 2800-7000 2.4 2.7
Dolomites 2500-6500 2.5 2.9
Anhydrite 3500-5500 2.8 3.0
Rock Salt 4000-5500 1.9 2.1 30
Gypsum 2000-3500 2.3

How do these properties affect the seismic image?

 Incident P Energy S wave P wave

P wave (Refracted)

S wave

When a P-wave strikes an interface with an impedance contrast, P waves are reflected
and transmitted (if the angle is not too great). If the incident angle is greater than zero then
31
energy is also converted into reflected and transmitted S-waves. The reflection coefficient
is the proportion of the P wave reflected when the incident angle is zero.
 Incident Reflected
Energy Energy

Density p1
Velocity Vp1 Interface
Density p2
Velocity Vp2

Transmitted
Energy At normal incidence:

R = AI2
Amplitude of Reflected wave = R x Amplitude of Incident AI1 AI2 + AI1 32
Wave
Acoustic Impedance Trends
ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE OF RESERVOIR
RELATIVE TO EMBEDDING MATERIAL

Shale LOW EQUAL HIGH Note distinction

between low Sg
BRIGHT SPOT

Brine sd
Gas sd
Low Sg and Gas sand!
PHASE CHANGE

Depth
DIM SPOT

33
Water Filled Reservoir Gas Filled Reservoir

More on this in a later section

 Direct wave

V1

Swell noise /
tailbuoy jerk

V2 > V1
Reflection seismics

V1

V2 > V1 Refraction seismics

Limited to depths <100ft 34

Reflected
wave

35
Reflected
wave

36
 Recall reflection and refraction at surface interfaces
What is Snells law?

37
Seismic Data and Convolution
Earth Function Source Reflection Combined
Geologic Model (reflectivity Function contribution reflection
series) by interface time series
refl. coeff.
(m/sec)
Velocity

source receiver
interface

amplitude amplitude amplitude

0
2000
0.9 1
1

time
3000
0.6 2

1
3500 convolved
0.5 3 with
3800
4
2
0.5

2
(sec)

3500
time

0.7 5

(sec)
time
4200

The left diagram is a simple geological model together with the reflection coefficients of each interface. These coefficients can be rearranged as a
time series shown in the next diagram.
When we convolve these series with an assumed source function we end up with the diagram on the right, showing the wavelets in both time and
amplitude according to the reflection coefficient.
Combining all six reflection wavelets gives us our reflection trace in the far right diagram. 38
The source function can be considered as a single system combining the effects of the source signature, the filtering effect of the earth and any
other effects such as geophone coupling etc.
If we could input a single spike to the system then the output would be the response of the total system.
 Seismic data can be described by filters
Convolutions of impulse responses
Multiplications of Fourier transforms
Multiplications of Z transforms (sampled data)

D ( z ) = W ( z ) E ( z ) + noise
Data Wavelet Earth

39
 Yilmaz, 2001

40

What about Fourier Transforms?

Acquisition Equipment and Methodology
Sources

Receivers

Recording equipment

Recording methodology

Recording formats 41
Types of Acquisition
Largely controlled by surface environment

Two main types

Marine
Land

Some others
Transition zone
Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC)/Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS)
Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) 42
Acquisition Characteristics
Marine

Plan view
Land

Unconsolidated
material

43
Plan view
Land Acquisition I

44
Land Acquisition II

45
 Detroit Diesel GPS location
power Plant sensor
comms
antenna

baseplate & stilt 46

reaction mass
Example Land Shot Records

Yilmaz 2001 47
Transition Zone Acquisition

48
Dynamite Source: Shothole Drilling

49
Marine Acquisition

50
Example Marine Shot Records

Yilmaz 2001
51
3D Marine Acquisition

52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
25m

66
The CMP Method
CMP Stacking
Add all traces in CMP (after NMO)

Increases signal-to-random noise by sqrt(N)

Controlled by number of traces (N)
N is called the FOLD of coverage

Attenuates coherent noise

Controlled by
Moveout/apparent velocity of the noise
Frequency content of the noise
Trace spacing
Effectiveness of groups 67
CMP Recording

Common midpoint

sources receivers

Common MidPoint gather 68

CMP
Single Fold Recording

SP 1

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
69
Single Fold Recording

SP 5

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
70
Source and cable advance by whole cable length
CMP Recording

SP 1

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
71
CMP Recording

SP 2

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
72
CMP Recording

SP 3

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
73
CMP Recording

SP 4

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
74
CMP Recording

SP 5

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
75
CMP Recording

SP 6

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
76
CMP Recording

SP 7

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
77
CMP Recording

SP 8

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
78
CMP Recording

SP 9

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
79
CMP Recording

SP 10

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
80
CMP Recording

SP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

offset
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
81
CMP Recording

SP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

offset
Full fold coverage (ff)
near
4
Fold

3
far 2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CMP
82

Single fold coverage (f)

83
There can be four different rays produced
:-
Direct ray
Ghosted only at the shot
Ghosted only at the receiver
Ghosted at both shot & receiver.
In general terms, a ghost will cause "notches" in
the frequency spectrum at frequencies that are a
multiple of (roughly) 750/(Shot Depth) and
750/(Receiver Depth) Hz.
In practice, the Shot and Receiver depths are
usually chosen so that these frequency notches are
beyond the range of frequencies required for the
seismic data.
84
Typically, depths of less than 10 metres are used,
making the first notch > 75 Hz.
Inline 85
S

Inline 86
 S2

Sources Fire Alternately

87
88
 4D: Time-Lapse

OBC: Ocean Bottom Cable

WATS: Wide Azimuth Towed Streamer

MAZ: Multi Azimuth Towed Streamer

89
 Time-lapse measurements

Repeated 3D surveys

Measure fluid movement

Due to production

Can help extend/increase production

90
 Use receivers on seabed

Surface ghost now a multiple!

Can have more than just P waves

Can make multicomponent measurements

Geometries more like land than conventional marine

91

Also Dual Sensor Streamer

92
Field Data
1 Transcription Conversion of the field data to an appropriate internal format.
2 S.O.D Correction A static correction so that time zero is the time that the shot was fired.
3 Signature Deconvolution Replacement of the source signature with a more desirable wavelet.
4 Initial Gain Recovery An initial correction for the spherical spreading of the signal with time.
5 Resample Anti-aliased and resampled to the highest sample period commensurate with the desired frequency range.
6 Edit Removal of bad traces / shots and correction of any polarity reversals.
7 Multichannel Filtering Attenuation of shot-generated noise, improvement in spatial coherency.
8 CMP Gather Input of geometry, and calculation of traces from every common mid-point.
9 De-Multiple Removal of long period multiple reflections.
10 Dip Moveout Correction of the spread of data within one CMP for dipping events.
11 Deconvolution Removal of short period multiple and frequency balancing.
12 NMO Correction Correction of curvature on events due to differing trace offsets.
13 Mute Removal of first-break noise.
14 Equalisation Amplitude normalisation.
15 CMP Stack Summation of all data from one common mid-point.
16 Datum Correction Final static correction to the final datum.
17 Final Gain Recovery Adjustment of the initial gain recovery to compensate for velocity changes.
18 Multichannel Filtering Additional coherency enhancement (spatially).
19 Deconvolution Final frequency balancing.
20 Migration Re-positioning of dipping events to their correct spatial position.
21 Spectral Shaping Adjustments to the final amplitude / phase spectrum.
22 Bandpass filter Limiting of frequencies to the useful signal range.
23 Equalisation Amplitude normalisation.
Final Display 93
 Processing Workflow
Pre-Stack Processing Post-Stack Processing

Mute Migration

Amplitude Deconvolution
Recovery

Data Filter FX Decon

Trace Editing Filter

Predictive Scale
Deconvolution

Velocity Stack
NMO
Analysis

Radon
Demultiple
94
DMO
Tailbuoy jerk/ Swell
noise
Direct Arrivals

Refractions

Bird noise

95
96
 Time Windowed AGC

Spherical Divergence

Compensates for the attenuation in seismic wave amplitude due to

the geometrical spreading of the wavefront through the various
velocity layers, and for attenuation due to energy dissipation

97
 Freq. Spec. graph

1 2

98
Normal Move-out Correction

NMO

Converts travel times to those for zero offset

Requires velocities

Required for stacking

99
Effect of Velocity Errors in NMO

Too Low Correct Too High

Operates on CMP gathers 10
0

Can be used to measure velocity

Velocity Picking Tools

10
1
Gathers Stacks Spectra
 S R SR

Migration is the process that moves the data on our stacked seismic
section into its correct position in both space and time.
10
2
2D Migration
Stack Migration

dipping reflections appear shorter,

shallower and updip

bow ties become synclines

broad synclines appear broader

anticlines appear narrower

diffractions collapse to points 10

3
Stack

10
4

Does not look like geology!

Migration

10
5

Looks (more) like geology!

10
6
This seismic horizon is the basal surface of
a delta-to-slope system (see parent
regional project). It is draped with seismic
amplitude extracted along the horizon (red
= high amplitude, blue = low amplitude).
Seismic data is courtesy of CGGVeritas.

Image presented at the "Frontiers of

Seismic Geomorphology" showcase held
at the Geological Society, London, June,
2010.
10
7
10
8
109
110
111