Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Publication
    Efficacy of Seismic Interferometry in Removing Surface Waves from Active Seismic Records
    (Copernicus, 2021-04-30) ;
    While there are seismic techniques which make use of surface waves in imaging the subsurface, there are also those where these types of waves are considered coherent noise. Important examples where the surface waves may significantly degrade the obtained images include different types of reflection seismic surveys (e.g., shallow surveys for engineering, environmental and groundwater investigations, and deep surveys for imaging hydrocarbon reservoirs). In a strongly heterogeneous medium (encountered typically in onshore surveys), the conventional methods for attenuating these waves (such as f-k "velocity" filtering) often do not give satisfactory results.
      160
  • Publication
    Simulation of High-Frequency Rotational Motion in a Two-Dimensional Laterally Heterogeneous Half-Space
    The seismic waves responsible for vibrating civil engineering structures undergo interference, focusing, scattering, and diffraction by the inhomogeneous medium encountered along the sourceto-site propagation path. The subsurface heterogeneities at a site can particularly alter the local seismic wave field and amplify the ground rotations, thereby increasing the seismic hazard. The conventional techniques to carry out full wave field simulations (such as finite-difference or spectral finite element methods) at high frequencies (e.g., 15 Hz) are computationally expensive, particularly when the size of the heterogeneities is small (e.g., <100 m). This study proposes an alternative technique that is based on the first-order perturbation theory for wave propagation. In this technique, the total wave field due to a particular source is obtained as a superposition of the ‘mean’ and ‘scattered’ wave fields. Whereas the ‘mean’ wave field is the response of the background (i.e., heterogeneity-free) medium due to the given source, the ‘scattered’ wave is the response of the background medium excited by fictitious body forces. For a two-dimensional laterally heterogeneous elastic medium, these body forces can be conveniently evaluated as a function of the material properties of the heterogeneities and the mean wave field. Since the problem of simulating high-frequency rotations in a laterally heterogeneous medium reduces to that of calculating rotations in the background medium subjected to the (1) given seismic source and (2) body forces that mathematically replace the small-scale heterogeneities, the original problem can be easily solved in a computationally accurate and efficient manner by using the classical (analytical) wavenumber-integration method. The workflow is illustrated for the case of a laterally heterogenous layer embedded in a homogeneous half-space excited by plane bodywaves.
      185
  • Publication
    An Outlook on Seismic Diffraction Imaging Using Pattern Recognition
    A seismic image is formed by interactions of the seismic wavefield with geological interfaces, in the form of reflections, diffractions, and other coherent noise. While in conventional processing workflows reflections are favoured over diffractions, this is only beneficial in areas with uniform stratigraphy. Diffractions form as interactions of the wavefield with discontinuities and therefore can be used to image them. However, to image diffractions, they must first be separated from the seismic wavefield. Here we propose a pattern recognition approach for separation, employing image segmentation. We then compare this to two existing diffraction imaging methods, plane-wave destruction and f-k filtering. Image segmentation can be used to divide the image into pixels which share certain criteria. Here, we have separated the image first by amplitude using a histogram-based segmentation method, followed by edge detection with a Sobel operator to locate the hyperbola. The image segmentation method successfully locates diffraction hyperbola which can then be separated and migrated for diffraction imaging. When compared with plane-wave destruction and f-k filtering, the image segmentation method proves beneficial as it allows for identification of the hyperbolae without noise. However, the method can fail to identify hyperbolae in noisier environments and when hyperbolae overlap.
      293Scopus© Citations 7
  • Publication
    Diffraction imaging of sedimentary basins: An example from the Porcupine Basin 
    iffraction imaging is the technique of separating diffraction energy from the source wavefield and processing it independently. As diffractions are formed from objects and discontinuities, or diffractors, which are small in comparison to the wavelength, if the diffraction energy is imaged, so too are the diffractors. These diffractors take many forms such as faults, fractures, and pinch-out points, and are therefore geologically significant. Diffraction imaging has been applied here to the Porcupine Basin; a hyperextended basin located 200km to the southwest of Ireland with a rich geological history. The basin has seen interest both academically and industrially as a study on hyperextension and a potential source of hydrocarbons. The data is characterised by two distinct, basin-wide, fractured carbonates nestled between faulted sandstones and mudstones. Additionally, there are both mass-transport deposits and fans present throughout the data, which pose a further challenge for diffraction imaging. Here, we propose the usage of diffraction imaging to better image structures both within the carbonate, such as fractures, and below.
      460
  • Publication
    The state of stress in the shallow crust of the Hikurangi Subduction Margin hangingwall, New Zealand
    Knowledge of in situ stress fields is critical for a better understanding of deformation, faulting regime, and earthquake processes in seismically active margins such as the Hikurangi Subduction Margin (HSM), North Island, New Zealand. In this study, we utilize Leak-off Test (LOTs) data, borehole breakout widths measured from borehole image logs, and rock unconfined compressive strengths (UCS) derived from empirical P-wave velocity log relationships to estimate vertical (Sv), minimum (Shmin), and maximum horizontal stress magnitudes (SHmax) and interpret the likely faulting regime experienced in four boreholes (Kauhauroa-2, Kauhauroa-5, Titihaoa-1, and Tawatawa-1). Using the standard Anderson’s stress regime classification, relative stress magnitudes in Kauhauroa-5 at 1200-1700 m depth and Kauhauroa-2 at 1800-2100 m and indicate that the stress state in the shallow crust of the central and northern part of HSM is predominantly strike-slip (SHmax≥Sv≥Shmin) and normal Sv≥SHmax> Shmin respectively. Moving to the offshore, southern HSM a dominant compressional stress regime (SHmax> Shmin >Sv), with some possible strike slip stress states are observed in Titihaoa-1 from 2240-2660 m and Tawatawa-1 from 750-1350 m. The observed normal/strike-slip stress state in Kauhauroa-2 and Kauhauroa-5 is consistent with the average SHmax orientation of 64° ± 18° (NE-SW) determined from borehole breakouts and dominantly NE–SW striking normal faults interpreted from seismic reflection data. The normal/ strike-slip regime in this area suggests that the stress regime here is probably influenced by the effect of the clockwise rotation of the HSM hangingwall associated with oblique Pacific-Australia plate convergence (ENE-WSW). Alternatively, these stress states could be the result of gravitational collapse due to rapid uplift of the subducting plate during the mid-Miocene. The compressional stress regime in the southern HSM in Titihaoa-1 and Tawatawa-1 is in agreement with the SHmax orientations of 148° ± 14° (NW-SE ) and 102° ± 16° (WNW-ESE) obtained from image logs and mapped NE–SW striking reverse faults in this region. This observation suggests that the tectonics here are strongly linked to the subduction of Hikurangi plateau under Australian Plate (NW-SE) or active frontal thrusts in the overriding plate.
      238