GEOP480 – Special Topics

Spring 2024 (232)

Chapter 1.1: Introduction to Seismic Exploration

Abdullatif A. Al-Shuhail
Professor of Geophysics
Geosciences Department
ashuhail@kfupm.edu.sa
For more info, follow: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cbf1pc0y6ggt8my/AAAyecBvO-7B_LAjyXOsoqRwa?dl=0
 Surface seismic exploration

1. We send artificially-generated seismic

waves into the subsurface. Earth’s surface
S R
2. The waves get reflected off layer
boundaries.

3. We record the times and amplitudes

of the reflected waves on the surface.

4. We process the records to enhance the

signal and suppress the noise. Reflection
point
5. We interpret the records geologically. Subsurface reflector

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 Seismic waves
• Elasticity theory
– Stress (s)
• Force per unit area, with units of pressure such as Pascal (N/m 2) or psi
(Pounds/in2).

– Strain (e)
• Fractional change in a length, area, or volume of a body due to the
application of stress.
• For example, if a rod of length L is stretched by an amount DL, the strain
is DL/L.

F
DL
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 Seismic waves

Y
F

z
w
v y

X
u

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 Seismic waves
• Elasticity theory
– Hooke’s Law
• For small strains (<10-6), stress is linearly proportional to strain:

– Elastic constants 𝝈=𝒄 . 𝜺

• In the above equation, c is called the elastic constant.
• Most rocks (e.g., sandstone, limestone) are isotropic; where c is a combination of
only two independent elastic constants (l, m) called Lame’s constants.
• Some rocks (e.g., shale) are anisotropic; where c is a combination of more than
two independent elastic constants.
• Practically, isotropy means that seismic properties (e.g., velocity) is independent
of measurement direction; while anisotropy is the opposite.
• In contrast, homogeneity means that seismic properties (e.g., velocity) is
independent of position; while heterogeneity is the opposite.

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 Seismic waves
 Seismic wave properties

 Wavefront: Surface on which the wave

amplitude is the same (circles in the figure).

 Ray (propagation direction): Normal to the

wavefront at a point (arrow in the figure).

 Wavefronts are spherical near the source and

become planar far from it (spherical in the
figure).

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 Seismic waves
Dominant period =1/dominant frequency
 Typical wave characteristics in petroleum

seismic exploration:
 Most seismic sources produce a vibration with a

frequency range (2-120 Hz) within a short time

duration (50-100 msec) (i.e., wavelet).

Dominant wavelength

 The dominant frequency range of seismic signals is

15 - 50 Hz. Remaining frequencies produce noise.

 The dominant wavelength range is 30 – 400 m.

0 50 100 150 200

Distance (m)
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 Seismic waves
 Waves commonly encountered in seismic exploration include:

 Seismic wave: wave in the frequency range (2 - 120 Hz).

 Acoustic wave: wave propagating in a fluid.

 Sonic wave: wave in the hearing frequency range of humans (20 – 20,000 Hz).

 Ultrasonic wave: wave whose frequency is > 20,000 Hz, commonly used in well logs and lab
experiments.

 Infrasonic wave: wave with frequency <20 Hz, commonly encountered in earthquake studies.

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 Seismic waves
 Body waves

 Primary wave (P-wave) X

Propagation direction
Particle motion direction
 Particle motion is parallel to propagation direction.

√
 Fastest: velocity (a) given by:
𝑚 𝜆+2𝜇
𝛼 ( )=
 r: density (~ 103 kg/m3)
𝑠 𝜌
 (~ 109 kg/m/s2) are Lame’s constants ( in fluids)
 Least expensive to generate, record, process and interpret
 Most commonly used wave in seismic exploration
• Typical values:
• Air: 331 m/s (at STP: 0 °C and 100,000 Pa) Z
• Water: 1500 m/s (at STP)
• Sedimentary rocks: 1800-6000 m/s (in situ)
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 Seismic waves
 Body waves

Particle motion
 Shear wave (S-wave)

 Particle motion is perpendicular to propagation SV

direction. Propagation direction
 Two S-waves in any solid material:

Propagation direction
 SH: Particle motion is parallel to ground surface
 SV: Particle motion is normal to SH
 Velocity (b) is about /2 in same medium):


𝑚
𝛽( )=
𝑠
𝜇
𝜌 √
Expensive to generate, record, process and interpret
SH

Particle motion
 Considered noise in exploration • Typical values:
• Air: 0 m/s
• Water: 0 m/s
• Sedimentary rocks: 800-3000 m/s

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 Seismic waves
 Surface waves
 They exist due to the presence of a free surface

Particle motion
(e.g., air over solid).

 They are called surface waves because they are

only strong near the ground surface.

 Their amplitudes decay rapidly with

distance from ground surface.

 The most encountered surface wave Propagation direction

in seismic exploration is the Rayleigh wave (ground roll):
• Typical values:
• Air: 0 m/s
 It propagates along the ground surface.
• Water: 0 m/s
 Particle motion is elliptical. • Sedimentary rocks: 500-2500 m/s
 Velocity is about 0.9 b in the same solid.
 Most of its energy is confined to 1-2 wavelengths of depth from ground surface.
 Considered noise in seismic exploration

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 Seismic waves
Offset
 Propagation effects on waves

Time
 Effects on amplitude
 Geometrical spreading (spherical divergence): As the wavefront gets
farther from the source, its energy spreads over a larger spherical
surface area causing its intensity (energy density) to decrease.
 Absorption: In some sediments (e.g., loose sand), considerable part
of the seismic energy is lost as heat due to sand-particle friction.

A0
A(r ) 
r

A(r )  A0 .e  .r

Before amplitude correction After amplitude correction

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 Seismic waves
R Offset S
 Propagation effects on waves

Time (s)
· Effects on velocity
· Dispersion: Different frequencies of surface waves (e.g.,
ground roll) travel with different velocities.

https://ocw.mit.edu/

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 Seismic waves

 Interface effects on waves

1. Reflection
· When a seismic wave encounters an interface (i.e.,
boundary between two layers), it is reflected,
transmitted, and converted to other modes (e.g., P to S).
· Snell’s Law governs the angles of reflected and
transmitted waves.

2. Refraction (head wave)

· It occurs when the angle of transmission is 90˚.
· Angle of incidence, in this case, is called the critical
angle given as: 𝜃 𝑐 =𝑆𝑖 𝑛
−1
( )
𝑣1
𝑣2
v1 and v2 are velocities in the incidence and transmission media

3. Total internal reflection (TIR) TIR

· It occurs when the angle of incidence is > .
· All wave energy is reflected.
www.ukm.my

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 Seismic waves

 Interface effects on waves

3. Diffraction
· When a seismic wave encounters a sharp edge (e.g., fault) or
small heterogeneity (e.g., cave), its energy is diffracted
(scattered) in all directions.
· Scattered energy produces a hyperbolic T-X curve on seismic
records.
· Seismic migration is required to handle diffractions because
they do not follow Snell’s Law.
· Diffraction amplitude decreases rapidly as we get further
from the diffractor.

Al-Lehyani
(2009)

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 Seismic waves
 Interface effects on waves
4. Reflection coefficients Reflected P-wave
Incident P-wave
· Zoeppritz equations govern how the incident wave energy is amplitude=RC
amplitude=1

𝜌1
distributed to the reflected, transmitted, and converted waves.
· Zoeppritz equations are complicated functions of rock properties (P-,

·
S-wave velocities and angles, and densities).
The reflection coefficient (RC) is the ratio of reflected to incident P-
𝜌2
waves amplitudes.
· For normal (small) incidence angles (<15˚), Zoeppritz equation for
RC reduces to a simple form:

𝜌 2 𝛼 2 − 𝜌 1 𝛼1
𝑅𝐶=
𝜌 2 𝛼 2 +𝜌 1 𝛼1
r1: density in incident medium
r2: density in refraction medium
a1: P-wave velocity in incident medium
a2: P-wave velocity in refraction medium

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 Time-distance (T-X) curves
• Single horizontal layer
• T2 = T02 + X2/V2
• T-X curve is a hyperbola with apex at
X= 0 and T0= 2H/V
• V and H are the layer velocity and thickness
• T2-X2 plot is a straight line whose
slope = 1/V2 and intercept = T02
• Normal moveout (NMO): difference between times at
V (m/s) H (m)
offsets X and 0: DTNMO (X)X2/(2T0V2)
3000 300
Approximation is better at short offsets (X/H<2).

Ground
surface

Interface
𝑉=
1
√ 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 √
1 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡
,T 0=√ 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 ,H =( )
2 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒

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 Time-distance (T-X) curves

• Single dipping layer

• T2 = T02 cos2 + (X+2H sin)2/V2
• : layer dip angle
• T0=2H/V

• T-X curve is a hyperbola with apex at:

• X=Xa= -2H sin
q V (m/s) H (m)
• T=Ta=T0 cos. 30 3000 300

• To calculate layer properties:

• We read Ta, T0, and Xa from the seismic
record.
• Then, we use them as follows:
1.  = Cos-1(Ta/T0)
2. H = Xa/(-2sin )
3. V = 2H/ T0

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 Time-distance (T-X) curves

• Multiple layers
• T-X curve is NOT a hyperbola because R
raypath is not straight due to ray bending
at interfaces.

• T-X curve resembles a hyperbola at short

offsets (X/Z<2, Z: reflector’s depth).

• We fit a hyperbola to the T-X curve from

the bottom of each (ith) layer (at short
offsets):
Ti2 = T0i2 + X2/Vsi2

• Basically, we are replacing all layers

above the ith reflector with one layer
having a velocity Vsi (stacking velocity).

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 Time-distance (T-X) curves

• Multiple layers
• To calculate layer velocities and thicknesses:
1. Fit a line to the Ti2 - X2 curve of each ith curve and calculate: and .
2. Calculate layers interval (Dix) velocities: ,
3. Calculate layers thicknesses: .

=0, T00=0

i Vi (m/s) Hi (m)
1 1500 500
2 3000 1000
3 4500 1500

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 Seismic Signal and Noise
• Signal

• Primary reflection
• P-waves reflected once from interfaces
• most important part of seismic sections
S S

All
hyperbolas Direct
are All shifted
primaries hyperbolas Primary
from are
horizontal primaries Head
layers from
Multiple
dipping
layers
V1 (m/s) 1000 Ground roll
V2 (m/s) 2000
H (m) 500
VGG (m/s) 400

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 Seismic Signal and Noise
S S

• Noise Direct

1. Direct wave
• P-wave that travels Head
from source to
receiver along
ground surface
• T-X is a straight
line with
slope=1/V1 and
intercept=0
• First arrival at
short offsets

2. Head wave (refraction)

• Critically refracted
P-wave
• T-X is a straight
line with
slope=1/V2 and
intercept0
• First arrival at long
offsets
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 Seismic Signal and Noise
S

S S

Primary

Primary

Ground
Roll

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 Seismic Signal and Noise

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 Seismic Signal and Noise

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 Direct

S
 Reflected Direct

Transmitted S
 Reflected Direct

Head
S

Transmitted
 Second First
multiple multiple

S
 Seismic Signal and Noise

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 Direct

S
 Direct
Reflected

Transmitted
 Reflected Direct Head

Transmitted
 Reflected
Direct
Head

Transmitted
 Data Acquisition

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