Geophysical and

Mathematical
Background
Lecture 03
Jan 16, 2023
Basic Geophysical Theory
• The theory upon which seismic exploration for oil is based comes from a branch
of physics called classical mechanics that was developed by the late 17th to the
early 18th century.
• Of particular interest to us is the development of the wave equation.

Where u is the wavefield; x, y, and z are the three coordinates of a three

dimensional coordinate system (for example, x may be distance along some
particular direction, y is distance at right angles to x, and z is vertical depth or
altitude); t is time; and V is propagation velocity or rate at which the wave
progresses.
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• Solutions of the wave equation are facilitated if certain simplifying assumptions are
made about the medium through which the seismic waves are propagating. These
assumptions usually are that the medium is perfectly elastic, homogeneous, and
isotropic.

• An elastic solid is one in which stress is proportional to strain. Stress is a force

applied perpendicular or parallel to a surface of a body divided by the area of that
surface.

• Strain is the ratio of change in dimension(s) caused by an applied stress to the original
dimension(s). Different constants of proportionality are used depending on the type
of stress applied.

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• Young’s modulus (E) is defined as the force per unit area divided by the ratio of
change in length to original length.
• Bulk modulus (k) used to relate stress to volumetric strain. Bulk modulus is defined as
the force per unit area acting on a surface divided by the ratio of change in volume to
the original volume. In figure, it can be seen that a stress applied vertically changes
the vertical dimension of a cube from d to (d - h), but the two horizontal dimensions
are changed from d to (d + d). Thus, a stress applied in one direction results in strains
not only in the direction of the stress but in the orthogonal direction as well. It can be
seen that the compression in the vertical direction decreases the vertical dimension
while increasing the horizontal dimensions.
• The ratio of the strain in an orthogonal direction to the strain collinear with the stress
is called Poisson’s ratio (σ) and can be seen in Figure 3–1c. Poisson’s ratio varies from
0 to 0.5.
• The drawing in Figure 3–1d illustrates the shear modulus (μ).The stress in this case is
across, rather than perpendicular to, the surface on which it acts. The deformation is
in shape rather than volume or linear dimension.
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• Shear modulus is defined as the force per unit area acting on a surface divided by the angle through
which one dimension is rotated.

• A homogeneous body is identical throughout. If a homogeneous body were divided into pieces, then
every piece would be chemically and physically identical, no matter how small the pieces.

• This, of course, cannot be realized in the rocks through which seismic waves propagate. Rocks are
usually made of fragments or interlocking crystals. If such rocks were cut into very small pieces,
differences in pieces would be observed. Thus, rocks are inhomogeneous—not homogenous.

• An isotropic medium has the same physical properties in all directions. Of particular concern are the
propagation velocities of the medium—the time rate at which seismic waves travel through the
medium. In an anisotropic (not isotropic) medium, propagation velocity does depend on direction of
propagation. There are many types of anisotropy. One type, called transverse isotropy, behaves as
though it were composed of thin isotropic layers. As a result, there is a difference between
horizontal and vertical propagation velocities. Another type of anisotropy is found in rocks that have
cracks running through them. In such cases, the velocity parallel to the cracks differs from velocity
orthogonal to the cracks.
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Wave propagation
• Solutions of the wave equation for perfectly elastic, homogenous
and isotropic media describe four different types of waves. Two of
these propagate through the body of the medium and are called body
waves. One is called a P-wave and the other is called an S-wave.

• While P-waves can propagate in solids or fluids, S-waves can propagate in solids only.
• For a medium, P-wave velocity is always faster than S-wave velocity.

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S-wave motion can be resolved onto vertical and horizontal components, called SV and SH. In some anisotropic
media, the S-wave train becomes separated into separate SV and SH wave trains because the two have different
propagation velocities. Figure illustrates SV- and SH-wave motion.

• The other two solutions of the wave equation are called

surface waves. These are restricted to the surface of solid
media. There are two kinds of surface waves.

• One is called a Rayleigh wave, in honour of Lord Rayleigh, a

19th century British natural scientist who first developed the
theory. Rayleigh wave motion is described as retrograde
elliptical. That is, as the wave passes, a ground particle
describes an ellipse, starting at point A in Figure 3–4. This is
actually a combination of vertical and radial motion. Radial is
horizontal motion in the direction of propagation.

• Ground roll, a frequently encountered type of noise observed

on exploration seismic records, is a Rayleigh wave. Ground
roll can be the largest amplitude event on a seismic record
and mask the reflected events that are desired.

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• The second type of surface wave is called a Love wave. Love waves are also named for a British scientist who
developed the theory for them. As shown in Figure 3–5, Love wave motion is essentially SH motion but is restricted
to the surface of the medium.

• Love wave propagation velocity is slightly slower than Rayleigh wave velocity. Love waves are not usually a
problem on exploration seismic records. However, if special energy sources are used to generate SH-waves, Love
waves can be a severe problem because of their high amplitudes.

• Much theoretical work in, or applicable to, seismic exploration is based on ray theory. Rays are simply lines (not
necessarily straight) that show the paths waves take between two points. A very important concept in ray theory is
Fermat’s Principle (Fig. 3–7). This principle can be stated many ways. In Sheriff’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of
Exploration Geophysics, the first statement is, “The seismic raypath between two points is that for which the first-
order variation of travel time with respect to all neighboring paths is zero.” Further on, Sheriff states, “If the
intervening media have different speeds, the path will not be straight but will be such that the overall travel time is
minimized (usually).” The resulting raypath is also called the least time path or brachistochrone.

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• Seismic exploration is normally conducted in areas called sedimentary basins. There, rocks exist as thick
sequences called strata.

• Strata differ not only in rock type but also in geophysical parameters such as propagation velocity and bulk
density.

• When a seismic wave is incident on the boundary between two strata or layers, the normal circumstance is that
some of the incident energy is reflected in the first layer and some is transmitted into the second layer. Whether
a P-wave or an SV-wave is incident on the boundary, there will usually be reflected P- and S-waves and
transmitted P- and S-waves.

• Snell’s Law (Fig. 3–8) predicts the resulting ray paths for the waves generated at the interface. In each of the
four cases, a P-wave is incident on the interface at an angle 0—the angle between the ray and perpendicular to
the boundary. P- and S-wave velocities in layer 1 are VP1 and VS1, respectively. P- and S-wave velocities in layer 2
are VP2 and VS2, respectively.

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• In Figure 3–8a, the P-wave and S-wave velocities in the second layer are
faster than the P-wave velocity in the first layer. Consequently, the transmitted
P- and SV-waves are bent, or refracted, at angles greater than the incident
angle. That is, they are bent toward the horizontal. In the first layer, the angle
of reflection for the P-wave equals the incident angle, but the angle of
reflection for the reflected SV-wave is smaller. This is because the S-wave
velocity is slower than the P-wave velocity. The refraction angle of the SV-
wave in the second layer is also smaller than that of the refracted P-wave.

• In Figure 3–8b, the P-wave velocity in the second layer is still the fastest but
the S-wave velocity in the second layer is slower than the P-wave velocity in
the first layer. Thus, the angle of refraction for the SV-wave is now smaller
than the angle of incidence.

• In Figure 3–8c, the P-wave velocity in the first layer is faster than the P-wave
velocity in the second layer so the angle of refraction for the P-wave is less
than the angle of incidence—bent toward the vertical). Since the S-wave
velocity in layer 2 is faster than the S-wave velocity in layer 1, the angle of
refraction for the SV-wave is greater than the angle of reflection for the SV-
wave.

• In Figure 3–8d, the P-wave velocity in the first layer is faster than the P-wave
velocity in the second layer and the S wave velocity in the first layer is also
faster than the S-wave velocity in the second layer. As a result, the angle of
refraction for the P-wave is less than the angle of incidence, and the angle of
refraction for the SV-wave is less than the angle of reflection for the SV-wave.

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The first two terms of Equation 3.7 correspond to reflection in the upper layer and since the velocities are the
same, sinp= sin0. This is the Law of Reflection.

Generalizing from the first, fourth, and fifth terms, the Law of Refraction can be written as sinv2 = v2/v1(sinv1), where
2 is the angle of refraction, V2 is velocity in the lower layer for the refracted wave, 1 is the angle of incidence, and V1

is velocity in the upper layer for the incident wave.

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Exceptions
• There are two exceptions to the preceding discussion. The first is the case of an incident SH-wave. In this case,
no P-waves or SV-waves are generated so only reflected and refracted SH- waves result.

• The second exception is when the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle. The critical angle is the angle of
incidence at which the angle of refraction is 90°. Actually, there are two critical angles, one for P-waves and one
for S-waves. In the first case:

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The existence of a critical angle requires that the layer into which transmission occurs have a higher velocity than
in the incident layer. That is, VP2 > VP1 for critical P-waves and VS2 > VS1, for critical S-waves. If the angle of
incidence is larger than the critical angle, then no energy is transmitted into the lower layer.

From the ray theory point of view, a critically refracted wave travels along the interface between layers and is
refracted back into the upper layer at the critical angle, as shown in Figure 3–9. The waves refracted back into
the upper layer are called head waves or sometimes first-break refractions because at certain distances from a
source they are the first-arriving energy.

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1. The problem with ray theory is that a ray is one dimensional, showing only direction and only an infinitesimal
amount of energy can be transmitted along a ray.

2. To explain phenomena involving finite amounts of energy requires use of wavefronts.

3. A wave front can be defined as the locus of all points reached at the same time by a wave.

4. It turns out that rays intersect wavefronts at right angles. Figure 3–10 illustrates the relationship between
wavefronts and rays.

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 Figure 3–11 shows wavefronts corresponding to the time required for energy to be reflected from the bottom of the
first layer and return to the surface at the energy source point.

 Since a constant velocity is assumed, the direct and reflected wavefronts are spherical. The refracted wavefront,
however, is not spherical because it does not come from a single point. The figure also shows that the head wave
energy does not penetrate the lower layer. Its wavefront, which has the shape of a truncated cone, results from a
coupling between the reflected and refracted wavefronts.

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 Lecture 04
Jan 20, 2023
Fermat’s Principle and Snell’s Law

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 Huygen’s Principle is very
important to studies of seismic wave
propagation. Its definition from Sheriff's
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Exploration
Geophysics is, “The concept that every
point on an advancing wavefront can be
regarded as the source of a secondary
wave and the later wavefront is the
envelope tangent to all the secondary
waves.”

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 In geophysics and reflection seismology,
the Zoeppritz equations are a set of
equations that describe the partitioning
of seismic wave energy at an interface,
typically a boundary between two
different layers of rock. They are named
after their author, the
German geophysicist Karl Bernhard
Zoeppritz, who died before they were
published in 1919.

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The Seismic Records
• The objective of seismic data acquisition is to obtain data that can be
related to subsurface geology.
• At various points on or near the Earth’s surface, an energy source is used
to generate seismic waves that travel downward and are reflected at
interfaces between geologic strata that differ in acoustic impedance.
• The reflected energy returns to the surface where it is detected and
recorded. This reflected energy is called signal or primary reflections.
• From the times at which the primary reflections were recorded and their
amplitudes, it is desired to obtain the Earth’s reflectivity function. This is a
set of impulses with amplitudes

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• proportional to the reflection coefficient of each interface and time of
occurrence equal to the two-way reflection time. The impulse response can
then be related to the geologic
• section from which data were acquired (Fig. 3–15).
• Unfortunately, the primary reflection impulse response cannot be recorded
directly.
• It is impossible to record impulses; instead reflections are recorded as
wavelets whose
• shapes depend upon the energy source used and transmission losses along
the reflection
• path, as seen in Figure 3–16. For that matter, a seismic record cannot be
constrained to
• record signal only.

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proportional to the reflection coefficient of each interface and time of
occurrence equal to the two-way reflection time.
• Unfortunately, the primary reflection impulse response
cannot be recorded directly. It is impossible to record
impulses; instead reflections are recorded as wavelets
whose shapes depend upon the energy source used and
transmission losses along the reflection path
, as seen in Figure 3–16.

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For the two cases of an incident wave hitting a plane boundary between two media shown in figure.
• Determine which waves are P waves and which are S waves.
• Determine which media are liquid and which are solid.
• For the two media in each case, determine which has the
higher P-wave velocity.

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 Either the direct arrivals or the shallow refraction (head wave) are the first events seen on seismic records are
either direct arrivals or refractions. Direct arrivals travel a direct path from source to the nearest receivers.
Refractions, or head waves (Fig. 3–17), travel from source down to the base of near-surface layer, then more or
less horizontally, and, finally, back up to the farther receivers.

 As previously discussed, ground roll is really a Rayleigh wave. The heterogeneity of the surface layer distorts
the retrograde elliptical particle motion somewhat. Velocity increases with depth in the surface layer. The longer
wavelength components of the ground roll penetrate more deeply in the surface layer than the shorter
wavelengths and thus see higher velocities. Longer wavelength means lower frequency since f = V/ (Fig. 3–6).
Ground roll occurs as a set of dispersed wave trains with the lower frequency, longer wavelength components
arriving first.

 Airwaves are simply sound generated by the source traveling through the air.

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Multiple reflections are of three types.

 Simple multiples or reverberations (multiple reflections in a water layer) simply repeat the primary reflection
raypath.

 Peg-leg multiples add a reflection in the surface layer to the primary reflection raypath.

 Interbed multiples have a repeat reflection within a layer.

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Guided waves are trapped energy in surface layers—
reflected refractions that appear
to be multiples of first break refractions. Figure 3–20
illustrates guided wave raypaths.

Diffractions are scattered energy from a subsurface point,

such as the truncation of a reflector caused by a fault.
Figure 3–21 illustrates diffractions.

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The second type of noise, or unwanted recording, is called ambient noise. Perhaps the best way to describe
ambient noise is that it is what would be recorded if a seismic record were made without an energy source
being fired. Table 3–2 lists various types of ambient noise.

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A seismic shot record is a set of seismic traces recorded at one time from a single source. The number of traces on
a record varies considerably, sometimes more than a thousand traces per record. Figure 3–23, a schematic land
seismic record, shows the different kinds of events recorded on a seismic record. Figure 3–24 shows a real seismic
shot record.

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Lecture 05
23-01-2023

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Refraction Seismology
• The simplest approach of determining velocity at depth is from “Refraction
Seismology”; where velocity at depth from travel times treats the earth as flat layers
of uniform velocity material.
• Travel times curve will be derived which show seismic waves arrive at a particular
distance from a seismic source.
• The travel times, especially those of waves that are critically refracted at the
interfaces, are used to find the velocities of the layers and underlying half space & the
layer thicknesses. As a result, this technique is called “Refraction Seismology”.
• The refraction seismology is used on vastly different scales.
• “Sledge Hammer” or a “shot gun” is used as a source for near surface structures at
depth less than 100m.
• Similar methods are used to study the crust & the upper mantle, with earthquake or
explosion sources & many receivers at distances of hundreds of kilometres.

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 38
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At distances much greater than the layer
thickness (x>>h), the travel time for the
reflected wave asymptotically
approached the direct wave.

39
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Head wave appears
only beyond the critical
distance xc = 2h0tan ic;
where critical incidence
first occurs.

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This is an imaginary intercept which is found by projecting the
travel-time curve back to x=0. 41
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 44
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Figure 3.2-4 Mohorovičić’s results showing distinct mantle and crust

45
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• Travel time plots for refraction
experiments can be made by
displaying seismograms in record
section. Bcz seismograms are
function of time, aligning several as a
function of distance yields a travel
time plot showing the different arrival.
Figure shows a record section of a
profile of seismogram recorded in
England from explosive sources. The
figure is plotted as a reduced travel
time plot in which the time shown is
the true time minus the distance
divided by a constant velocity. This
reduces the size of the plot, and
makes waves arriving at the reducing
velocity appear as a line parallel to the
distance axis.

• Seismogram from a refraction profile,

plotted with a rerducing velocity of
6km/s. The direct wave Pg, and Moho
reflection PmP are observed. Pg does
not asymptotically approach PmP
because the crust, instead of being
homogeneous, has increasing velocity
with depth. (Stein and Wysession,
2012) 46
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Refraction data often show other arrivals in addition to Pg, Pn
and PmP. Figure shows a record section that also contains
head waves Pi and Pn2 from boundaries within the crust and
the mantle and PiP, a reflection off a mid-crustal interface,
which is analogous to the PmP reflection off the Moho.

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 Stein & Wysession, 2012

The thickness of successive layers

can be found by starting with the top
layer, whose thickness h0 is given
eqn 9 and 10, and continuing
downward using the iterative formula
on the left.

Thus for two layers over a half space,

the thickness of the second layer is
found by setting n=2, so (see bottom
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If the velocity increases with depth, the travel time curve for the head wave at the top of each
successive layer has a shallower slope. ‘

By contrast, a low velocity layer does not cause a head wave, so travel time curve does not
have a first arrival with the corresponding velocity.

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Another possible problem occurs if a layer is thin or has small velocity contrast with the one below
it. Although a head wave results, it may never appear as a first arrival, causing a blind zone that
can be missed in the interpretation.

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Dipping Layer
Method
(Seth and Stein 2012)

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 Sinic=vo/v1

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