PETROLEUM GEOPHYSICS

Introduction of geophysics:

 The science of geophysics applies the principles of physics to the study of the Earth.
Geophysical investigations of the interior of the Earth involve taking measurements at or
near the Earth’s surface that are influenced by the internal distribution of physical
properties. Analysis of these measurements can reveal how the physical properties of the
Earth’s interior vary vertically and laterally.

Geophysical methods of exploration :

 An alternative method of investigating subsurface geology is, of course, by drilling
boreholes, but these are expensive and provide information only at discrete locations.
Geophysical surveying, although sometimes prone to major ambiguities or uncertainties
of interpretation, provides a relatively rapid and cost-effective means of deriving a really
distributed information on subsurface geology.
 In the exploration for subsurface resources the methods are capable of detecting and
delineating local features of potential interest that could not be discovered by any realistic
drilling programme. Geophysical surveying does not dispense with the need for drilling
but, properly applied; it can optimize exploration programmes by maximizing the rate of
ground coverage and minimizing the drilling requirement.
 The importance of geophysical exploration as a means of deriving subsurface geological
information is so great that the basic principles and scope of the methods and their main
fields of application should be appreciated by any practicing Earth scientist.

 There is a broad division of geophysical surveying methods into those that make use of
natural fields of the Earth and those that require the input into the ground of artificially
generated energy. The natural field methods utilize the gravitational, magnetic, electrical
and electromagnetic fields of the Earth, searching for local perturbations in these
 naturally occurring fields that may be caused by concealed geological features of
economic or other interest.

 Artificial source methods involve the generation of local electrical or electromagnetic

fields that may be used analogously to natural fields, or, in the most important single
group of geophysical surveying methods, the generation of seismic waves whose
propagation velocities and transmission paths through the subsurface are mapped to
provide information on the distribution of geological boundaries at depth. Generally,
natural field methods can provide information on Earth properties to significantly greater
depths and are logistically more simple to carry out than artificial source methods.
 The latter, however, are capable of producing a more detailed and better resolved picture
of the subsurface geology. Several geophysical surveying methods can be used at sea or
in the air. The higher capital and operating costs associated with marine or airborne work
are offset by the increased speed of operation and the benefit of being able to survey
areas where ground access is difficult or impossible.

Method Measured parameter Operative physical property

Seismic Travel times of reflected/refracted Density and elastic moduli, which

seismic waves determine the propagation velocity of
seismic waves

Gravity Spatial variations in the strength of Density

the gravitational field of the Earth

Magnetic Spatial variations in the strength of Magnetic susceptibility and

the geomagnetic field remanence

Electrical

Resistivity Earth resistance Electrical conductivity

Induced polarization Polarization voltages or frequency- Electrical capacitance

dependent ground resistance

Self-potential Electrical potentials Electrical conductivity

Electromagnetic Response to electromagnetic radiation Electrical conductivity and

 inductance

Radar Travel times of reflected radar pulses Dielectric constant

Geophysical surveying applications

Application Appropriate survey methods

Exploration for fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) S, G, M, (EM)
Exploration for metalliferous mineral deposits M, EM, E, SP, IP, R
Exploration for bulk mineral deposits (sand and gravel) S, (E), (G)
Exploration for underground water supplies E, S, (G), (Rd)
Engineering/construction site investigation E, S, Rd. (G), (M)
Archaeological investigations Rd, E, EM, M, (S)

G, gravity; M, magnetic; S, seismic; E, electrical resistivity; SP, self-potential; IP, induced

polarization; EM, electromagnetic; R,radiometric; Rd, ground-penetrating radar.
Geophysical Methods

Geophysical techniques work through applying one of several types of force to the ground, to
measure the resulting energy with use of geophysical equipment and infer the geology from this.
Geophysics is generally much quicker than the aforementioned methods, however, requires more
data processing (office-based work) to develop the geological picture. A great advantage of these
methods is that certain instruments can be attached to small aircraft for covering large areas
during regional airborne surveys. This provides sparser geological information, but can highlight
potential metal anomalies on a county-country scale, which can be followed up by more detailed,
ground-based geophysical surveys. However, as the material is being tested indirectly, there is no
100% guarantee of its conclusions; in addition to being susceptible to contamination by many
man-made metallic structures e.g. power-lines. Therefore, should geophysical surveys prove
sufficiently interesting, drilling will be required afterwards to confirm the accuracy of the results.

The physical properties of rocks have been used to devise geophysical methods that are essential
in the search for minerals, oil and gas and other geological and environmental problems.

These methods are:

 Gravity method
 Seismic method
 Electromagnetic method
 Geothermal method
 Magnetic method
 Electrical method
 Radiometric method
Geophysical methods respond to the physical properties of the subsurface media (rocks,
sediments, water, voids, etc.. ) and can be used Successfully when one region differs sufficiently
from another in some physical property.
Passive methods

Which detect variations within the natural fields associated with the earth, like the gravitational
and magnetic fields, such as gravit, magnetic, some electric and some electromagnetic methods,
radioactive and geothermal methods?

Active mothods

These artificially generated signals transmitted into the ground and then modify the received
signals in ways that are characteristic of the materials through which they travel. Examples of
these methods are seismic and some electrical methods.

Generally, natural field methods (passive methods) can provide information on earth properties
to greater depths and are simpler to carry out than artificial source methods (active methods).
Moreover, the artificial source methods are capable of producing a more detailed and better
resolved picture of the subsurface geology.

Geophysical methods may from part of a larger survey and thus geophysicists must be in contact
with the whole survey team and particularly to the client.

Few, if any geophysical methods provide a unique solution to a particular geological situation. It
is possible to obtain a very large number of geophysical solutions to some problems, some of
which may be geologically non-sensical. It is necessary, therefore, always to ask the question:
“Is the geophysical model geologically plausible?. If it is not, then the geophysical model has to
be rejected and a new one developed which does provide a reasonable geological solution.
Importance of Geophysical Surveys.

1. Hydrocarbon exploration (coal, gas, oil)

2. Regional geological studies (over areas of 100s of km2 )
3. Exploration of mineral deposits.
4. Engineering site investigation.
5. Hydrogeological investigation.
6. Detection of subsurface cavities.
7. Mapping of leachate and contaminant plumes.
8. Location and definition of buried metallic objects.
9. Archaeo-geophysics.
10. Forensic geophysics.
Several geophysical surveying methods can be used at sea ( marine geophysics ) or in the air
(aerogeophysics )

Reconnaissance surveys are often carried out from the air because of the high speed of operation.

Airborne versus ground geophysical methods:

 Airborne geophysical methods are used in reconnaissance work, but the ground
methods are used in more detailed investigations.
 They are fast and are relatively inexpensive per unit area.
 Several kinds of surveys can be done at once.
 They can provide a more objective coverage than ground surveys in many kinds of
terrains.
 For example: several hundred line kilometers of airborne electromagnetic surveying
can be done in a day compared with three to five line kilometers per crew in a ground
EM survey .
 The cost of an airborne electromagnetic survey, with magnetic and radiometric data
included is likely to be 1/4 to 1/5 the cost of an equivalent ground EM survey
  Airborne survey patterns are reasonably uniform and complete because they do not
have the access and traverse problems of ground survey in swamps, dense brush and
rugged topography.
 An airborne survey will give more accuracy than a ground survey in some areas, but it
will seldom provide such detail or such sharp signals as a ground survey .

Gravity method:

 It is mainly used for oil exploration. Sometimes in mineral and ground water
prospecting.
 Gravity prospecting involves the measurement of variations in the gravitational field
of the earth (i.e. minute variations in the pull of gravity from rock within the first few
miles of the earth’s surface).
 Different types of rock have different densities and the denser rocks have the greater
gravitational attraction.
 If the higher–density formations are arched upward in a structural high, such as an
anticline, the earth’s gravitational field will be greater over the axis of the structure
than along its flanks.
A salt dome which is generally less dense than the rock, into which it is intruded, can be detected
from the low value of gravity recorded gravity recorded above it compared with that measured
on either side.

Anomalies in gravity which are sought in oil exploration may represent only one – millionth or
even one – ten – millionth of the earth’s total field.

For this reason, gravity instruments are designed to measure variations in the force of gravity
from one place to another than the absolute force itself.

The gravity method is useful wherever the formations of interest have densities which are
appreciably different from those of surrounding formations.

Gravity is an effective means of mapping sedimentary basins where the basement rocks have a
higher density than the sediments.

Gravity is also suitable for locating and mapping salt bodies because of the low density of salt
compared with that of surrounding formations.

Gravity can be used for direct detection of heavy minerals such as chromite.
Magnetic method:

Magnetic method deals with variations in the magnetic field of the earth which are related to
changes of structures or magnetic susceptibility in certain near surface rocks.

Magnetic surveys are designed to map structure on or inside the basement rocks or to detect
magnetic mineral directly.

In mining exploration, magnetic methods are employed for direct location of ores containing
magnetic minerals such as magnetite.

Intrusive bodies such as dikes can often be distinguished on the basis of magnetic observations
alone.

Electrical methods:

Electrical prospecting uses many techniques, based on different electrical properties of the
earth’s materials such as:
Geo-electric measurements (ERT) are carried out to investigate the lithological structures and the
geological situation in the subsurface, e.g. clay, sand, gravel. The method is applied non-
destructively on the surface.

 The resistively method is designed to give information about the electrical

conductivity of the earth’s rocks.
 In resistivity method the current is driven through the ground using a pair of
electrodes and the resulting distribution of the potential in the ground is mapped by
using another pair of electrodes connected to a sensitive voltmeter.
 The resistivity method has been used to map boundaries between layers having
different conductivities.
 It is employed in engineering geophysics to map bedrock.
 It is used in groundwater studies to determine salinity. – The induced polarization (IP)
makes use ionic exchanges on the surfaces of metallic grains (disseminated
sulphides).
 Telluric current and magneto-telluric methods use natural earth currents and
anomalies are sought in the passage of such currents through earth materials.
 The self potential method is used to detect the presence of certain minerals which
react with electrolytes in the earth to generate electrochemical potentials.
 Electromagnetic methods detect anomalies in the inductive properties of the earth’s
subsurface rocks.
 The method involves the propagation of time varying, low frequency electromagnetic
fields in and over the earth.
 An alternating voltage is introduced into the earth by induction from transmitting coils
and the amplitude and phase shift of the induced potential generated in the subsurface
are measured by detecting coils and recorded.
 Electromagnetic methods are used to detect metallic ore bodies.

Seismic reflection method

This method is used to map the structure of subsurface formations by measuring the times
required for a seismic wave, generated in the earth by a near surface exploration of dynamite,
mechanical impact or vibration, to return to the surface after reflection from interface between
formations having different physical properties.
The reflections are recorded by detecting interments which are called geophones responsive to
ground motion.

Variations in the reflection times from place to place on the surface indicate structural features in
the strata below.

Depths to reflecting can be determined from the times using seismic velocity information.

Reflections from depths as great as 20,000 feet can be observed from a single explosion, so that
in most areas, geologic structures can be determined throughout the sedimentary section. S.P. G
Reflected Ray Layer 1, V1 Layer 2, V2 Reflector

With reflection method one can locate and map such features as anticlines, faults, salt domes and
reefs. Many of these are associated with the accumulation of oil and gas.

Seismic refraction method:

In refraction method, the detecting instruments recorded the arrival times of the seismic waves
when refracted from the surface of discontinuity.

These times give information on the velocities and depths of the subsurface formations along
which they propagate. Refracted Ray Refractor Layer 1, V1 Layer 2, V2 S.P. G

Refraction method makes it possible to cover a given area in a shorter time and more
economically than with the reflection method.
Electromagnetic (EM)

EM surveys differ from magnetic surveys in that as opposed to relying on the signature of
naturally high intensity magnetic minerals, it induces an electromagnetic current into the ground
and measures the resulting field. Because it is not limited to the presence of magnetite and
pyrrhotite, it is useful for exploring for a wide range of metallic minerals, including important
metals such as cobalt which is used in batteries for renewable energy sources. .

The EM system consists of a transmitter and receiver coil which is suspended above the ground.
A primary electromagnetic field is output by the transmission coil which induces a secondary
field in the ground – the magnitude of which is measured by the receiving coil which also
measures the ratio between the primary and secondary fields. The magnitude of the secondary
field is proportional to the conductivity of the material and can be used to detect signs of changes
in rock type, potential mineralisation, groundwater, ground contamination and buried metal man-
made objects. Similar to magnetic surveys, EM is conducted on a grid of sampling points at set
intervals.

Induced Polarisation (IP)

IP is the Earth's capacity to hold an electric charge over time. It is measured through inducing a
current into the ground, then switching it off and measuring how the voltage decays over time,
usually a matter of seconds, eventually disappearing. Where resistivity answers "What is the
resistance to the flow of electric current?" IP answers "How long do the rocks hold an electric
charge?" IP often uses the same cable setup and same instrument as resistivity surveys, but
instead turns off the current and measures the time component. It uses electrodes.

This method is important because it tests for the capacity of rocks to hold charge and hence
properties in the subsurface that can be used to locate clay and other chargeable minerals.
Usually these surveys are very informative for determining rocks because you end up with both
an IP and resistivity map at the same time, allowing both measurement types to be interpreted. It
is therefore important for mineral exploration, as sulphide minerals – including those hosting
gold, silver and copper, generate a very large IP signature. This is especially useful when the
metal-bearing minerals are more loosely distributed within the rock – as opposed to forming a
concentrated ore body. IP also is a useful tool in environmental work e.g. mapping a zone of
contamination to help clean-up.

Radiometric

Radiometric surveys (also known as Gamma ray spectrometry) are an airborne method which
measures the amounts of natural radiation produced at the Earth's surface. Radioactive uranium,
thorium and potassium minerals occur naturally in rocks, producing relatively high amounts of
radiation which can be measured in contrast to the surrounding rocks. Due to gamma radiation
only being able to penetrate several centimetres of earth/ground, the radioactive materials must
be present in outcrops to be detected. However, through atmosphere, these rays can penetrate up
to a couple of hundred metres, and so low-flying aircraft are useful in this method for covering
large regional areas. Because the energy of gamma radiation received is distinctive of the
specific element, it can be used to map uranium-thorium-potassium concentrations over wide
areas. This in turn is used to infer rock types such as granite and zones within rocks that may
have been altered by metal-rich fluids passing through. It is extremely important to note that
these surveys measure levels of naturally occurring radiation in the rocks, and the instruments
themselves do not emit any radiation, making them harmless to both people and livestock.

Radioactive Method

This method is used to detect radioactive minerals such as uranium and thorium.

Well logging method

 This involves probing the earth with instruments which give continues readings
recorded at the surface as they are lowered into boreholes.
 The rock properties which are covered by well logging techniques are electrical
resistivity, self potential, gamma ray generation density, magnetic susceptibility and
acoustic velocity.
 Well logging is one of the most widely used of all geophysical techniques