A comparative study between a rectilinear 3-D seismic survey and a concentric-circle 3-D seismic survey
- Diamond Geophysical Service Corp., Houston, TX (United States)
- Oryx Energy Co., Dallas, TX (United States)
Due to the rectilinear nature of the previous 3D seismic survey, the details necessary for proper interpretation were absent. Theoretically, concentric 3D seismic technology may provide an avenue for gaining more and higher quality data coverage. Problems associated with recording a rectilinear 3D seismic grid over the salt dome in this area have created the need to investigate the use of such procedures as the concentric-circle 3D seismic acquisition technique. The difficulty of imaging salt dome flanks with conventional rectilinear 3D seismic may be a result of the inability to precisely predict the lateral velocity-field variation adjacent to both salt and sediments. The dramatic difference in the interval velocities of salt and sediments causes the returning ray to severely deviate from being a hyperbolic path. This hampers the ability to predict imaging points near the salt/sediment interface. Perhaps the most difficult areas to image with rectilinear seismic surveys are underneath salt overhangs. Modeling suggests that a significant increase in the number of rays captured from beneath a salt overhang can be achieved with the concentric-circle method. This paper demonstrates the use of the ``circle shoot`` on a survey conducted over a salt dome in the Gulf of Mexico. A total of 80 concentric circles cover an area which is equivalent to 31,000 acres. The final post-stack data were sorted into bins with dimensions of 25 meters by 25 meters. A comparison of 3D rectilinear shooting vs. 3D concentric circle shooting over the same area will show an improvement in data quality and signal-to-noise characteristics.
- OSTI ID:
- 80317
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941015-; TRN: IM9532%%445
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 64. annual meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and international exposition, Los Angeles, CA (United States), 23-27 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of SEG international exposition and sixty-fourth annual meeting -- 1994 Technical program: Expanded abstracts with authors` biographies; PB: 1736 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A radial 3-D seismic survey at Exxon's Grand Isle 16 field, Gulf of Mexico
3-D transmission tomography using wide aperture data for velocity estimation for irregular salt bodies