In quest of the flank

Geophysics ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 701-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Larner ◽  
Craig J. Beasley ◽  
Walt Lynn
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Velocity Variation ◽  
Wide Angle ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Ray Bending ◽  
Accurate Imaging

Primarily through synthetic and field data examples, this paper reviews the benefits of recent developments in time migration of seismic data and reveals limitations, some of them fundamental, that keep elusive the goal of imaging steep events with full accuracy. Even where velocity varies only with depth and, hence, time migration should suffice, accurate imaging of very steep events requires that the velocity structure be known with considerable precision and be finely sampled in depth. This sensitivity of migration accuracy to detail in velocity structure is attributable to the sensitivity of ray bending for wide‐angle rays to detail in the velocity structure. Also, interestingly, the presence of ray bending at interfaces is seen to enhance the steep‐event accuracy of some algorithms (e.g., phase shift and cascaded finite‐difference) while it degrades the accuracy of others (for example, conventional Kirchhoff summation and the frequency‐wavenumber domain method of Stolt). Of the various time‐migration schemes, a cascading of the Stolt method is the most efficient while having steep‐event accuracy in the presence of significant vertical velocity variation. Its behavior in the presence of even mild lateral velocity variation, however, differs greatly from that of the other methods and must be taken into account. A case involving 3-D migration of 3-D survey data shows how different issues in imaging of the subsurface (two‐pass versus single‐pass 3-D migration and algorithm choice in the presence of mild lateral velocity variation) can become intertwined in practice and lead to confusion as to which of the issues is essential for accurate imaging of the subsurface.

Evaluation of two‐pass three‐dimensional migration

Geophysics ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Velocity Variation ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Data Manipulation ◽  
Depth Migration ◽  
Data Comparison ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

The theoretically correct way to perform a three‐dimensional (3-D) migration of seismic data requires large amounts of data manipulation on the computer. In order to alleviate this problem, a true, one‐pass 3-D migration is commonly replaced with an approximate technique in which a series of two‐dimensional (2-D) migrations is performed in orthogonal directions. This two‐pass algorithm produces the correct answer when the velocity is constant, both horizontally and vertically. Here I analyze the error due to this algorithm when the velocities vary vertically. The analysis has two parts: first, a theoretical analysis is performed in which a formula for the error is derived; and second, a field data comparison between one‐pass and two‐pass migrations is shown. My conclusion is that two‐pass 3-D migration is, in general, a very good approximation. Its errors are usually small, the exceptions being when both the reflector dip is large (in practice this typically means greater than about 25 to 40 degrees) and the orientation of the reflector is in neither the inline nor the crossline direction. Even then the error is the same order of magnitude as that due to the uncertainty in the migration velocities. These conclusions are still valid when there is lateral velocity variation, as long as this variation is accounted for by trace stretching. The analysis presented here deals with time migration; no claims are made regarding depth migration.

Enhancements to prestack frequency‐wavenumber (f-k) migration

Geophysics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Li ◽  
W. Lynn ◽  
R. Chambers ◽  
Ken Larner ◽  
Ray Abma
Keyword(s):  
Computational Effort ◽  
Velocity Variation ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Migration Velocity Analysis ◽  
Prestack Time Migration ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Ray Bending ◽  
Excellent Source

Prestack frequency‐wavenumber (f-k) migration is a particularly efficient method of doing both full prestack time migration and migration velocity analysis. Conventional implementations of the method, however, can encounter several drawbacks: (1) poor resolution and spatial aliasing noise caused by insufficient sampling in the offset dimension, (2) poor definition of steep events caused by insufficient sampling in the velocity dimension, and (3) inadequate handling of ray bending for steep events. All three of these problems can be mitigated with modifications to the prestack f-k algorithm. The application of linear moveout (LMO) in the offset dimension prior to migration reduces event moveout and hence increases the bandwidth of non‐spatially aliased signals. To reduce problems of interpolation for steep events, the number of constant‐velocity migrations can be economically increased by performing residual poststack migrations. Finally, migration with a dip‐dependent imaging velocity addresses the issue of ray bending and thereby improves the positioning of steep events. None of these enhancements substantially increases the computational effort of f-k migration. Prestack f-k migration possesses a limitation for which no solution is readily available. Where lateral velocity variation is modest, steep events (such as fault‐plane reflections in sediments) may not be imaged as well as by other migration approaches. This shortcoming results from the restriction that, in the prestack f-k approach, a single velocity field must serve to perform two different functions: imaging and stacking. Nevertheless, in areas of strong velocity variation and gentle to moderate dip, the detailed velocity control afforded by the prestack f-k method is an excellent source of geologic information.

Plumes: Response of time migration to lateral velocity variation

Geophysics ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 1118-1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri Bevc ◽  
James L. Black ◽  
Gopal Palacharla
Keyword(s):  
Impulse Response ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Migration Velocity ◽  
Velocity Variation ◽  
Velocity Dependence ◽  
Geometrical Construction ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Offset Time ◽  
Zero Offset

We analyze how time migration mispositions events in the presence of lateral velocity variation by examining the impulse response of depth modeling followed by time migration. By examining this impulse response, we lay the groundwork for the development of a remedial migration operator that links time and depth migration. A simple theory by Black and Brzostowski predicted that the response of zero‐offset time migration to a point diffractor in a v(x, z) medium would be a distinctive, cusp‐shaped curve called a plume. We have constructed these plumes by migrating synthetic data using several time‐migration methods. We have also computed the shape of the plumes by two geometrical construction methods. These two geometrical methods compare well and explain the observed migration results. The plume response is strongly influenced by migration velocity. We have studied this dependency by migrating synthetic data with different velocities. The observed velocity dependence is confirmed by geometrical construction. A simple first‐order theory qualitatively explains the behavior of zero‐offset time migration, but a more complete understanding of migration velocity dependence in a v(x, z) medium requires a higher order finite‐offset theory.

Seismic data processing: Current industry practice and new directions

Geophysics ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 2452-2457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip S. Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Seismic Data Processing ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Data Transformations ◽  
Industry Practice ◽  
Multichannel Filtering ◽  
Ray Bending ◽  
Transform Domains

The last ten years have seen an evolution in the state of the art for seismic data processing on a number of fronts. Data transformations investigated have made some types of analyses much more straightforward. Deconvolution has become a sophisticated process which includes statistical, model‐based, and deterministic methods. Vibroseis® processing has led to a greater understanding of the statistical limitations in recovery of the wave‐field amplitude from sign‐bit recording, and the deconvolution of Vibroseis data has improved. Multichannel filtering and analysis in transform domains have resulted in increasingly effective tools for noise reduction and signal enhancement. In statics analysis, surface consistency as a constraint remains a standard, and refraction analysis has become popular as a means of preconditioning data for residual statics estimation. Advances in stacking methodology have come mainly from addressing three effects: ray bending through lateral velocity variations, complex structure, and source‐receiver azimuth variations. Recently many techniques of interpretation processing have been introduced with the goal of improving the estimate of earth properties, rather than generating a stacked or imaged section of higher fidelity. The interaction among related disciplines has increased and this serves to amplify the effectiveness of each discipline because they are now developing in less isolation.

Interpretation of three-dimensional seismic refraction data from western Hecate Strait, British Columbia: structure of the crust

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 1440-1452 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Hole ◽  
R. M. Clowes ◽  
R. M. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Surface Expression ◽  
Wide Angle ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Velocity Anomaly ◽  
Air Gun ◽  
Refraction Data

As part of a multidisciplinary investigation of the structure and tectonics of the Queen Charlotte Basin and underlying crust, deep multichannel seismic reflection and coincident crustal refraction data were collected in 1988. Energy from the reflection air-gun array source was recorded at land sites at offsets appropriate to record crustal refraction and wide-angle reflection data. Refraction data recorded in a broadside geometry provide good three-dimensional coverage of western Hecate Strait. These data are modelled using tomographic inversion techniques to determine the three-dimensional velocity structure of the crust in this region. The one-dimensional average velocity increases rapidly with depth to 6.5 km/s at 7 km depth. Velocities from 7 to at least 12 km depth remain approximately constant and are associated with rocks of the Wrangellia terrane. Significant lateral velocity variations, including large differences in near-surface velocities attributable to surface features, relatively low velocities representing interbedded Tertiary sediments and volcanics, and a deep high-velocity anomaly that may represent the root of an igneous intrusion, are mapped. Wide-angle reflections from the Moho are used to determine the thickness of the crust. The Moho is at 29 km depth beneath the east coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. This is deeper than the Moho observed below Queen Charlotte Sound and as deep as, or deeper than, that below Hecate Strait. Crustal thinning during Tertiary extension was thus greatest beneath the surface expression of the Queen Charlotte Basin, leaving the crust under the islands considerably thicker than under the basin. In an alternate or additional explanation, compression at the continental margin during the last 4 Ma may have been taken up by thickening or underplating of the continental crust beneath the islands. If the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the islands, the Moho observations constrain the slab to dip greater than 20–26°.

Seismic structure of the Central Metasedimentary Belt, southern Grenville Province

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Zelt ◽  
D. A. Forsyth ◽  
B. Milkereit ◽  
D. J. White ◽  
I. Asudeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
High Velocity ◽  
Hanging Wall ◽  
New York State ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Wide Angle ◽  
Seismic Structure ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Crust And Upper Mantle ◽  
Grenville Province

Crust and upper-mantle structure interpreted from wide-angle seismic data along a 260 km profile across the Central Metasedimentary Belt of the southern Grenville Province in Ontario and New York State shows (i) relatively high average crustal and uppermost mantle velocities of 6.8 and 8.3 km/s, respectively; (ii) east-dipping reflectors extending to 24 km depth in the Central Metasedimentary Belt; (iii) weak lateral velocity variations beneath 5 km; (iv) a mid-crustal boundary at 27 km depth; and (v) a depth to Moho of 43–46 km. The wide-angle model is generally consistent with the vertical-incidence reflectivity of an intersecting Lithoprobe reflection line. The mid-crustal boundary correlates with a crustal detachment zone in the Lithoprobe data and the depth extent of east-dipping wide-angle reflectors. Regional structure and aeromagnetic anomaly trends support the southwest continuity of Grenville terranes and their boundaries from the wide-angle profile to two reflection lines in Lake Ontario. A zone of wide-angle reflectors with an average apparent eastward dip of 13° has a surface projection that correlates spatially with the boundary between the Elzevir and Frontenac terranes of the Central Metasedimentary Belt and resembles reflection images of a crustal-scale shear zone beneath Lake Ontario. A high-velocity upper-crustal anomaly beneath the Elzevir–Frontenac boundary zone is positioned in the hanging wall associated with the concentrated zone of wide-angle reflectors. The high-velocity anomaly is coincident with a gravity high and increased metamorphic grade, suggesting northwest transport of mid-crustal rocks by thrust faulting consistent with the mapped geology. The seismic data suggest (i) a reflective, crustal-scale structure has accommodated northwest-directed tectonic transport within the Central Metasedimentary Belt; (ii) this structure continues southwest from the exposed Central Metasedimentary Belt to at least southern Lake Ontario; and (iii) crustal reflectivity and complexity within the eastern Central Metasedimentary Belt is similar to that observed at the Grenville Front and the western Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary.

scholarly journals Deep structure of the Grenada Basin from wide-angle seismic, bathymetric and gravity data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crelia Padron ◽  
Frauke Klingelhoefer ◽  
Boris Marcaillou ◽  
Jean-Frédéric Lebrun ◽  
Serge Lallemand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transition Zone ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Gravity Modeling ◽  
Wide Angle ◽  
Reflection Seismic ◽  
Direct Modeling ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Lesser Antilles Arc

<p>Studying back-arc basins, where sedimentation is less deformed than in the forearc, provides complementary information about formation and tectonic evolution of subduction zones. At the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, the North and South American plates are subducting underneath the Caribbean plate at a velocity of 2 cm per year. The crescent-shaped Grenada back-arc basin is located between the Aves Ridge, which hosted the remnant Early Paleogene “Great Caribbean Arc”, and the Eocene to present Lesser Antilles Arc. In this study, based on wide-angle data, we provide constraints about lateral variations in basement thickness and velocity structure in the Lesser Antilles back-arc, and to a lesser extend in the arc and forearc domain, constraining for the first time the extent of oceanic crust in the Grenada Basin and shed light on the structure and compositions of the basin’s margins.</p><p>Three combined wide-angle and reflection seismic profiles, together with gravity and bathymetric data, were acquired in the Lesser Antilles back-arc basin. Direct modeling techniques were applied to the wide-angle seismic data in order to include shallow structures imaged by the coincident reflection seismic data. The resulting velocity models were additionally constrained by gravity modeling and synthetic seismogram calculation. The final models from direct modeling image variations in thickness and velocity structure of the sedimentary and crustal layers to a depth of up to 35 km. The sedimentary cover has a variable thickness from less than a kilometer on top of the ridges to nearly 10 km in the basin. North of Guadeloupe Island, the crust is ~20 km thick from back-arc to forearc, without significant change between the Aves Ridge, the Eocene and present Lesser Antilles volcanic arc. While based on the seismic velocities, the southern part of the basin is underlain by a 6.5-7 km thick crust of of mainly magmatic origin over a width of ~80 km, the northern part is underlain by thinned continental crust. At the western flank of the Lesser Antilles Arc, the crust is 17.5-km thick, about 5 km thinner than north of Martinique island. The velocity structure is typical of volcanic arcs or oceanic plateaus. Between Aves Ridge and the Grenada basin the crust thins in a 80-100 km wide transition zone. No anomalous high velocities indicating the presence of exhumed upper mantle material were detected at the transition zone. This narrow E-W arc-ocean transition zone suggests that opening might have proceeded in a direction highly oblique to the main convergence.</p>

Reverse time migration from topography

Geophysics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. S141-S152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Shragge
Keyword(s):  
Wave Propagation ◽  
Acoustic Wave ◽  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Velocity Variation ◽  
Reverse Time ◽  
Reverse Time Migration ◽  
Acoustic Wave Propagation ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Time Migration

Migration of seismic data from topography using methods based on finite-difference (FD) approximation to acoustic wave propagation commonly suffers from a number of imaging drawbacks due to the difficulty of applying FD stencils to irregular computational meshes. Altering the computational geometry from Cartesian to a topographic coordinate system conformal to the data acquisition surface can circumvent many of these issues. The coordinate transformation approach allows for acoustic wave propagation and the crosscorrelation and inverse-scattering imaging conditions to be posed and computed directly in topographic coordinates. Resulting reverse time migration (RTM) images may then be interpolated back to the Cartesian domain using the known inverse mapping. Orthogonal 2D topographic coordinates can be developed using known conformal mapping transforms and serve as the computational mesh for performing migration from topography. Impulse response tests demonstrate the accuracy of the 2D generalized acoustic wave propagation. RTM imaging examples show the efficacy of performing migration from topography directly from the data acquisition surface on topographic meshes and the ability to image complex near-surface structure even in the presence of strong lateral velocity variation.

Revealing tectonic evolution across the Northeastern Flemish Cap-Goban Spur margin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Yang ◽  
J.Kim Welford
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Potential Field ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Crustal Thickness ◽  
Borehole Data ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
Potential Field Data ◽  
Shelf Slope ◽  
Goban Spur

<p>In past years, a good understanding of the structure and tectonics of the Flemish Cap and the Goban Spur margin has been obtained based on seismic data, potential field data, and borehole data. However, due to limited data coverage and quality, the rift-related domains along the margin pair have remained poorly defined and their architecture has been primarily delineated on the basis of a small number of co-located 2-D seismic profiles. In addition, according to previous studies, the geophysical characteristics (e.g. velocity structure, crustal thickness, seismic patterns, etc.) across both the margins are strikingly different. Furthermore, from restored models of the southern North Atlantic, some scholars argue against the linkage of the Goban Spur and the Flemish Cap, questioning the widely-accepted “conjugate” relationship of the two margins. However, these restored models are mainly dependent on potential field data analysis, lacking seismic constraints, particularly for the Irish Atlantic Margin.</p><p>In this study, new long offset 2D multichannel seismic data, acquired in 2013 and 2014 by Eni Ireland for the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment of Ireland, cover the shelf, slope, and deepwater regions of the offshore Irish Altlantic margin. Combining these with seismic reflection data at the NE Flemish Cap, seismic refraction data, DSDP drilling sites, gravity and magnetic maps, crustal thickness maps, and oceanic isochrones, we integrate all constraints together to characterize the structure and evolution of both margins. These geophysical data reveal significant along-strike structural variations along both margins, and aid to delimit five distinct crustal zones related to different rifting stages and their regional extents. The geometries of each crustal domain are variable along the margin strike, probably suggestive of different extension rates during the evolution of the margin and/or inherited variations in crustal composition and rheology. Particularly, the along-strike exhumed serpentinized mantle domain of the Goban Spur margin spans a much wider (~ 42 - 60 km) area while it is much narrower (~25 km) at the NE Flemish Cap margin. In the exhumed domain, only peridotite ridges are observed at the Flemish Cap, while both peridotite ridges and a wide region of exhumed mantle with deeper basement are observed at the Goban Spur, indicative of a more complex evolutionary model than previously thought for both margins. Plate reconstruction of the Goban Spur and the Flemish Cap using GPlates reveals asymmetry in their crustal architectures, likely due to rift evolution involving more 3-D complexity than can be explained by simple 2-D extensional kinematics. In spite of uncertainties, the crustal architecture comparison between the two margins provides 3D seismic evidence related to the temporal and spatial rifting evolution on both sides.</p>

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