Browsing by Subject "AVO"
Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item An AVO method toward direct detection of lithologies combining P-P and P-S reflection data(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Carcuz Jerez, Juan Ramon de JesusI here present a combined AVO analysis of P-P and P-S reflection data whose objective is to improve the identification of lithology by estimating the specific values of Poisson's ratio, [sigma], for each rock formation in a given geological model, rather than a contrast between formations. Limited knowledge on the elastic parameters of a given rock formation and difficulty regarding the availability and processing of P-S data constitute hindrances of lithology identification. Considering that ocean bottom seismology (OBS) has aided in solving the problem of P-S data availability, limited information on elastic parameters is still a challenge, and the focus of this thesis. The present analysis is based on Zoeppritz' solution for the P-P and P-S reflection coefficients, RPP and RPS, with a slight modification. We used the normalized P-S reflection coefficient; i.e., R'PS = RPS / sin [theta] for [theta] > 0, instead of RPS, where [theta] is the incident angle. By normalizing RPS, we avoid dealing with the absence of converted S-waves at small incident angles and enhance the similar linear behavior of the P-P and normalized P-S reflection coefficients at small angles of incidence. We have used the linearity of RPP and R'PS at angles smaller than 35 degrees to simultaneously estimate the average VP/VS ratio, the contrasts of P- and S-wave velocities, and the contrast of density. Using this information, we solve for Poisson's ratio of each formation, which may enable lithology discrimination. The feasibility of this analysis was demonstrated using nonlinear synthetic data (i.e., finite-difference data). The results in estimating Poisson's ratio yielded less than 5 percent error. We generalize this new combined P-P and P-S AVO analysis for dipping interfaces. Similarly to the nondipping interface case, our derivations show that the amplitude variation with offset (AVO) of P-P and P-S for a dipping interface can be cast into intercepts and gradients. However, these intercepts and gradients depend on the angle of the dipping interface. Therefore, we further generalize our analysis by including a migration step that allows us to find the dipping angle. Because seismic data is not available in terms of RPP and R'PS, this process includes recovery of reflection coefficients after migrating the data and correcting for geometrical spreading, as done by Ikelle et al. (1986 and 1988). The combination of all of these steps, namely geometrical-spreading correction, migration, and AVO analysis, is another novelty of this thesis, which leads to finding the specific values of Poisson's ratio of each rock formation directly from the seismic data.Item AVA analysis and modeling of multi-component seismic wave modes (P-P, P-SV and SV-P): Wolfberry Play Midland Basin, Texas(2015-12) Ileri, Saygin; Hardage, Bob Adrian, 1939-; Spikes, Kyle T; Fomel, SergeyIn this study, amplitude variation with angle (AVA) of different seismic wave modes, P-P, P-SV and SV-P, will be evaluated. AVA analysis can provide important information about reservoir rocks such as lithology, porosity, and pore fluids that can be used to reduce hydrocarbon exploration risk. P-P AVO analysis has become a common practice in oil and gas exploration industry specifically in offshore areas such as Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, and West Africa. Because P-SV AVO has no practical way to evaluate large 3D pre-stack seismic data sets as in P-P AVO (Intercept (A) and Gradient (B) cross-plotting method) analysis, it is not very common in industry use. Because SV-P wave mode is a new research area in seismic community and by all means, there has been no work about SV-P AVO/AVA analysis in the geophysics literature, this thesis represents a pioneer study. Real seismic data from the Wolfberry unconventional reservoir play of the Midland Basin which consists of sandstone and limestone lithologies as a mixture of different amounts, manually created synthetics, synthetics created with well log data, and real brine and gas sand points from Castagna and Smith (1994) were employed in this investigation of AVA attributes. viii Generally, AVA analysis works for high-porosity and gas-saturated rocks. Because the Wolfberry unconventional reservoir play is oil prone and composed of low-porosity formations, by P-P AVA analysis, I rarely found gas influence or higher porous rocks in my database. Similar to Gonzalez’s (2000) “E” attribute from P-SV AVO, a new “E” attribute is found from SV-P AVA analysis. Both “E” attributes were investigated with 25 shale to brine and shale to gas sand points. Not only “E” attribute for P-SV but also new “E” attribute for SV-P reflectivity provided sound lithology and pore fluid discrimination.Item Characterization of VTI media with PS[subscript v] AVO attributes(2014-12) Gustie, Patrick John; Tatham, R. H. (Robert H.), 1943-Amplitude variation with offset (AVO) signatures in vertically transverse isotropic (VTI) media vary as the degree of the anisotropy contrast between layers varies. When the contrasts in two parameters (δ and ε) that quantify the VTI elastic anisotropy are varied, the fraction of energy that reflects from a given layer interface as a mode converted shear wave (R[subscript PS]) also varies for specified angles of incidence. Mode-converted (PS[subscript V]) AVO crossplots may potentially be used to map stratigraphic layers exhibiting intrinsic VTI anisotropy with the moderate to high degrees of weak elastic anisotropy that are often attributed to shale formations. Calculated values of reflected, mode-converted energy as a function of angle of incidence (R[subscript PS](i)) are plotted to determine what mode-converted seismic data indicate about the degree of VTI weak elastic anisotropy present in a given layer. These computations involve varying the degree of weak elastic anisotropy, in this case contrasts in Thomsen’s δ and ε parameters, so that the relationship between these parameters and the amplitude variation with offset (AVO) signature can be quantified. Once this relationship is understood, it may be possible to delineate sweet spot areas of shale formations in seismic data according to how the representative points plot on an AVO crossplot. For such crossplots, the y-intercepts of the reflectivity curves in a particular parameterized space are plotted on the x-axis while the slopes of the parameterized reflectivity curves in this parameterized space are plotted on the y-axis. The grouping of points on the mode-converted AVO crossplots according to the contrast in Thomsen’s δ and ε parameters for weak elastic anisotropy is encouraging. This grouping implies that it may indeed be possible to use an AVO attribute map to characterize a given organic shale formation according to its degree of intrinsic VTI anisotropy. This attribute map would be calibrated to known production data in the locality in order to locate which areas of the mode-converted AVO crossplot predict a likely production sweet spot.Item Correction for distortion in polarization of reflected shear-waves in isotropic and anisotropic media(2013-12) Campbell, Terence A; Tatham, R. H. (Robert H.), 1943-The progressive growth of onshore shale production (both gas and liquids) to replace depleting and aging oil fields may benefit from the use of surface seismic shear wave data analysis for full characterization of shale reservoir properties and lead to optimum development of these resources. This includes descriptions of azimuthal anisotropy (HTI - transverse isotropy with a horizontal symmetry axis) for characterization of fractures and internal fracture systems. The objective of this study is to document a predicted distortion in polarization of propagating seismic shear waves upon reflection at a subsurface interface and to propose a correction to this distortion. The polarization distortion occurs even in wholly isotropic media. This correction is based on an understanding of shear amplitude behavior as a function of the reflection incidence angle, particularly differences in the reflection angle relation for different shear components. This study includes a demonstration of the efficacy of the proposed correction by applying it to simulated and real direct shear-wave source data. Such corrections should result in a minimized polarization distortion in the reflection process. The apparent consistency of a null value (zero crossing) of the SV-SV reflectivity (near 20-24 degrees) for common density and velocity contrasts as well as the remarkably regular behavior of the SV-SV and SH-SH reflectivity curves following a linear relation in sin2 and tan2 of the incidence angle and offers the opportunity for a simple and stable correction with minimal sensitivity to detailed knowledge of contrasts in velocity and density. The only independent information required for the correction is the angle of incidence where the SV-SV and SH-SH reflections vanish and the range of these angles is typically quite limited. Some key questions were addressed in gaining an understanding of shear wave polarization distortion upon reflection for varying model data: 1) how do we address reflected polarization distortion for purely isotropic medium for varying incidence angles? 2) How do we apply this correction for an isotropic and anisotropic media for both simulated and actual field data 3) How do we address applications to real data and how distorted amplitudes can be corrected to identify actual subsurface HTI anisotropy. Significantly, the polarization distortion correction is implemented as a simple extension of the established Alford rotation for normal incidence shear reflections of varying polarization. This extension leads to the improved analysis of direct shear-source 3D data with inherently distorted polarization. Thus, analysis may be applied to estimate HTI anisotropy previously not realizable in finite offset data subject to polarization distortion. Example applications to actual field data are included. Note that the polarization correction does remove the AVO effects often exploited in analysis of P-P data where polarization is not an issue that is, the AVO amplitude effect is essentially removed from the SV-SV and SH-SH oriented direct shear-wave profiles, which permits proper analysis of the polarization. Further, additional analysis of the polarization correction on field data with documented anisotropy will be required to fully develop the usefulness of this proposed correction.Item Effect of a discrete three-phase methane equilibrium zone on the bottom-simulating reflection(2016-12) Shushtarian, Arash; Daigle, HughMarine gas hydrates are stable under conditions of low temperature and high pressure in the upper few hundreds of meters below the seafloor in a variety of geological setting. At a discrete horizon where thermodynamically favored phase switches from hydrate to gas, a characteristic seismic reflection referred as the bottom-simulating reflection (BSR) is produced. Furthermore, in sediments with a distribution of pore sizes, the gas and hydrate phases can coexist in pores of different sizes, giving a rise to three-phase equilibrium zone. This three-phase zone causes the BSR to have distinct characteristics that differ from those observed with a discrete phase boundary. The main objective of this thesis is to model the seismic response of a potential three-phase zone at the Walker Ridge Block 313H in the northern Gulf of Mexico. I modeled the BSR arising from this three-phase zone and analyzed the characteristics of the BSR and their relationships to the thickness and phase saturation within the three-phase zone. This was done by determining the elastic properties of the formation via rock physics models and their mathematical convolution with a seismic wavelet to create synthetic seismograms. Results show that the main factor for the intensity of the BSR is the abundance of the free gas in the three-phase zone. Free gas saturation as low as 5% in the three-phase zone is enough to make the BSR visible in synthetic seismograms regardless of the hydrate saturation. Results of this thesis are significant for resource prospecting based on seismic data, drilling hazard identification, as well as the importance of hydrate as a potential source of energy and its influence on the global climate. For seismic prospecting, the presence of a three-phase zone inferred from BSR characteristic indicates the minimum methane flux into the base of the hydrate stability zone, and can be used to infer whether sufficient methane is available to form hydrate. For drilling hazard identification, the BSR characteristic indicates a possible shallower occurrence of gas than would be estimated under the assumption of a discrete phase boundary.Item Frequency dependent seismic reflection analysis: a path to new direct hydrocarbon indicators for deep water reservoirs(2009-06-02) Yoo, Seung ChulTo better study frequency related e?ects such as attenuation and tuning, we developed a frequency dependent seismic re?ection analysis. Comprehensive tests on full waveform synthetics and observations from the Teal South ocean bottom seismic (OBS) data set con?rmed that normal moveout (NMO) stretch could distort both frequency and amplitude information severely in shallow events and far o?set traces. In synthetic tests, our algorithm recovered amplitude and frequency information ac-curately. This simple but robust target oriented NMO stretch correction scheme can be used on top of an existing seismic processing ?ow for further analyses. By combining the NMO stretch correction, spectral decomposition, and crossplots of am-plitude versus o?set (AVO) attributes, we tested the frequency dependent work?ow over Teal south and Ursa ?eld data sets for improved reservoir characterization. As expected from NMO stretch characteristics, low frequencies have been less a?ected while mid and high frequency ranges were a?ected considerably. In seismic attribute analysis, the AVO crossplots from spectrally decomposed prestack data con?rmed the improved accuracy and e?ectiveness of our work?ow in mid and high frequency regions. To overcome poor spectral decomposition results due to low signal to noise ratio (S/N) in the Teal South application, we also implemented a substack scheme that stacks adjacent traces to increase S/N ratio while reducing the amount of data to process and increasing the accuracy of the spectral decomposition step. Synthetic tests veri?ed the e?ectiveness of this additional step. An application to the Ursa, Gulf of Mexico, deep water data set showed signi?cant improvement in high frequency data while correcting biased low frequency information.Item Pore fluid pressure detection within the plate boundary fault interface of the Costa Rica convergent margin using AVO attributes(2012-12) Graf, Stephen Boyer; Bangs, Nathan; McIntosh, Kirk; Tatham, Robert; Cloos, MarkI conducted an amplitude vs. offset (AVO) analysis on newly acquired 3D seismic reflection data to detect elevated pore fluid content and pore fluid pressure along the Costa Rica convergent margin to address dewatering processes of subduction zone sediments. These data provide the highest quality 3D seismic data acquired to date along a convergent margin for detailed analysis of geophysical properties along the plate boundary fault interface. In 2011, a 55 km by 11 km 3D seismic reflection survey was completed using the R/V Marcus G. Langseth offshore western Costa Rica at the convergent margin of the Cocos and Caribbean plates. We applied pre-stack Kirchhoff time migration to a subset of these data across the frontal prism where amplitude versus offset (AVO) attributes were extracted along the decollement. When pore fluid pressure, l , exceeds 0.7, the pressure at which Poisson’s ratio begins to approach that of water, the AVO response of a fluid-filled, clay-rich decollement requires a high Poisson’s ratio and an excessively low seismic P-wave and S-wave velocity. Acute wedge taper, undercompacted subducted hemipelagic and pelagic sediments, and a smooth decollement in the northwest half of the survey correspond with decollement AVO response of relatively high values of Poisson’s ratio. These findings suggest increased pore fluid content and vertical containment of near-lithostatic pore fluid pressures within the decollement. In contrast, increased wedge taper angles, thin hemipelagic and pelagic sediments, and a rugose decollement beneath the southeastern frontal prism produce an AVO response interpreted as due to lower pore fluid contents and pressures. We propose that large-offset subducting basement normal faults in this area, as close as 20 m from the decollement, induce vertical fractures within the decollement that allow for fluid expulsion into the frontal prism and lower fluid pressure. Lateral variability of overpressure within the decollement shear zone of subduction margins is important in understanding the evolution of frontal prism strain accumulation and seismogenic rupture.Item Seismic modeling of complex stratified reservoirs(2009-05-15) Lai, Hung-LiangTurbidite reservoirs in deep-water depositional systems, such as the oil fields in the offshore Gulf of Mexico and North Sea, are becoming an important exploration target in the petroleum industry. Accurate seismic reservoir characterization, however, is complicated by the heterogeneous of the sand and shale distribution and also by the lack of resolution when imaging thin channel deposits. Amplitude variation with offset (AVO) is a very important technique that is widely applied to locate hydrocarbons. Inaccurate estimates of seismic reflection amplitudes may result in misleading interpretations because of these problems in application to turbidite reservoirs. Therefore, an efficient, accurate, and robust method of modeling seismic responses for such complex reservoirs is crucial and necessary to reduce exploration risk. A fast and accurate approach generating synthetic seismograms for such reservoir models combines wavefront construction ray tracing with composite reflection coefficients in a hybrid modeling algorithm. The wavefront construction approach is a modern, fast implementation of ray tracing that I have extended to model quasishear wave propagation in anisotropic media. Composite reflection coefficients, which are computed using propagator matrix methods, provide the exact seismic reflection amplitude for a stratified reservoir model. This is a distinct improvement over conventional AVO analysis based on a model with only two homogeneous half spaces. I combine the two methods to compute synthetic seismograms for test models of turbidite reservoirs in the Ursa field, Gulf of Mexico, validating the new results against exact calculations using the discrete wavenumber method. The new method, however, can also be used to generate synthetic seismograms for the laterally heterogeneous, complex stratified reservoir models. The results show important frequency dependence that may be useful for exploration. Because turbidite channel systems often display complex vertical and lateral heterogeneity that is difficult to measure directly, stochastic modeling is often used to predict the range of possible seismic responses. Though binary models containing mixtures of sands and shales have been proposed in previous work, log measurements show that these are not good representations of real seismic properties. Therefore, I develop a new approach for generating stochastic turbidite models (STM) from a combination of geological interpretation and well log measurements that are more realistic. Calculations of the composite reflection coefficient and synthetic seismograms predict direct hydrocarbon indicators associated with such turbidite sequences. The STMs provide important insights to predict the seismic responses for the complexity of turbidite reservoirs. Results of AVO responses predict the presence of gas saturation in the sand beds. For example, as the source frequency increases, the uncertainty in AVO responses for brine and gas sands predict the possibility of false interpretation in AVO analysis.Item Seismic sensitivity to variations of rock properties in the productive zone of the Marcellus Shale, WV(2013-12) Morshed, Sharif Munjur; Tatham, R. H. (Robert H.), 1943-The Marcellus Shale is an important resource play prevalent in several states in the eastern United States. The productive zone of the Marcellus Shale has variations in rock properties such as clay content, kerogen content and pore aspect ratio, and these variations may strongly effect elastic anisotropy. The objective of this study is to characterize surface seismic sensitivity for variations in anisotropic parameters relating to kerogen content and aspect ratio of kerogen saturated pores. The recognized sensitivity may aid to characterize these reservoir from surface seismic observations for exploration and production of hydrocarbon. In this study, I performed VTI anisotropic modeling based on geophysical wireline log data from Harrison County, WV. The wireline log data includes spectral gamma, density, resistivity, neutron porosity, monopole and dipole sonic logs. Borehole log data were analyzed to characterize the Marcellus Shale interval, and quantify petrophysical properties such as clay content, kerogen content and porosity. A rock physics model was employed to build link between petrophysical properties and elastic constants. The rock physics model utilized differential effective medium (DEM) theory, bounds and mixing laws and fluid substitution equations in a model scheme to compute elastic constants for known variations in matrix composition, kerogen content and pore shape distribution. The seismic simulations were conducted applying a vertical impulse source and three component receivers. The anisotropic effect to angular amplitude variations for PP, PS and SS reflections were found to be dominantly controlled by the Thomsen Ɛ parameter, characterizing seismic velocity variations with propagation direction. These anisotropic effect to PP data can be seen at large offset (>15o incidence angle). The most sensitive portion of PS reflections was observed at mid offset (15o-30o). I also analyzed seismic sensitivity for variations in kerogen content and aspect ratio of structural kerogen. Elastic constants were computed for 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% kerogen content from rock physics model and provided to the seismic model. For both kerogen content and aspect ratio model, PP amplitudes varies significantly at zero to near offset while PS amplitude varied at mid offsets (12 to 30 degree angle of incidences).