9 Subsurface Methods

Sequence Stratigraphy Part 6.
Seismic Stratigraphy
GEOL 6380
The Seismic Revolution

• Seismic data was acquired for petroleum exploration during latter
half of the 20th C.
• Provided continuous subsurface image of sedimentary basin fills.
• Structure and stratigraphic relationships observed in areas not
previously accessible.
• Scientists at Exxon recognized the stratigraphic significance of
the seismic tool (Vail et al., 1977).
• New data amenable to analysis using concepts developed by
Wheeler and others.
• Could compare seismic data from around the world.
• Developed science of seismic stratigraphy.
Vibraseis and Truck
Land Sesimic
Dynamite or a “vibrator”
vibrator” are
typically used to generate the
sound wave.
Nettleton, 1940 in Boggs, 2001
Bhattacharya, 2007 1
Sequence Stratigraphy Part 6. Seismic Stratigraphy
GEOL 6380
Snell’s Law
Snell’s Law: The angle between the normal to the interface of two media and an incident raypath is the
angle of incidence, and is equal to the angle of reflection in isotropic media. The angle of refraction
depends on the velocity of the wave in that medium. Snell's law describes the changes in the direction of
a wavefront as it travels in media of different velocities.
Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp
Controls on Geophysical Properties
• Geological rock properties control geophysical properties.

• Seismic amplitudes are proportional to acoustic impedance contrasts
and may directly indicate hydrocarbons.
GEOL 6380
Synthetic Seismogram
Synthetic Seismogram: Vertical Trace derived from well log data (sonic,
acoustilog). Used to measure velocity more accurately
Courtesy of Beauchamp, 2004
Polarity
Badley, 1996
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Ship Seismic Data Collection
Changes in Density and Velocity between two rocks of different

properties result in a seismic reflection when a compressional (P wave)
generated by a vibrator, or explosion travels through the earth.
Surface
Rock Unit 1
V1= 2,000 m/s
Reflection D1= 2.65 gm/cm3
Rock Unit 2
V1= 3,000 m/s
D1= 2.71 gm/cm3
Common depth point (CDP)
D = receiver (geophone) Courtesy of W. Beauchamp
GEOL 6380
Courtesy of W. Beauchamp
Seismic Acquisition and Fold
(Single Fold)
(2 Fold)
(3 Fold)
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Seismic Gather
AVO Basics: Amplitude Versus Offset
Near Offset Increasing amplitude from near offset to far offset geophones Far Offset
Shot
Geophone Geophone
20 °
10 °
48
°
Oil/Gas
Water
ervoir
ne res
s 3 Sandsto
s
ce-Cla
pedan
Low Im
Increase in Amplitude with offset & water/oil/gas fluid transition
GEOL 6380
Seismic Gather
The gather will be
stacked to make a
single trace
Seismic Acquisition and Display

All of this data = 1 trace (X) on a seismic line
GEOL 6380
Multi-fold (stacked) Seismic Line
Seismic Line, offshore South Africa, from Muntingh and Brown, 1993.
Migration
“Buried focus” (syncline). Points (a-f) are not in the proper location
due to the dipping horizon. Migration is necessary to steepen and
move the reflections into their proper spatial location. “Bowtie
Effect”.
GEOL 6380
Migration
Unmigrated seismic sections showing classic “Bowtie”

effect. (after Yilmaz)
Migration
Post-stack migration moves reflections into their proper locations

and “unities” the bowties (after Yilmaz). Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp
GEOL 6380
Depth Migration
Seismic Pitfalls
Complex structural geometries can play “tricks”. This seismic section shows a
footwall anticline in two-way time.
GEOL 6380
Seismic Pitfals
Footwall anticline “disappears” after migration.The anticline is the result of a velocity pull-up.
Vertical Seismic resolution

Seismic Trace
GPR Trace
GEOL 6380
Seismic Resolution
Seismic Resolution
The threshold for vertical resolution and deep features must be

Thicker than the shallower features to be resolved.
Example: A shallow rock unit with a v=2000 m/s and f=50 Hz

can be resolved with a thickness of 10 meters. A deeper rock
Unit with a v=5000 m/s and f=20 Hz must be at least 62 meters
In thickness to be imaged.
GEOL 6380
Multiples
Peg-leg multiple: A type of short-path multiple, or multiply-reflected seismic energy,
having an asymmetric path. Short-path multiples are added to primary reflections, tend to
come from shallow subsurface phenomena and highly cyclical deposition, and can be
suppressed by seismic processing. In some cases, the period of the peg-leg multiple is so
brief that it interferes with primary reflections, and its interference causes a loss of high
frequencies in the wavelet.
Multiples
Multiple reflection: Reflected seismic energy, or any event in seismic data that has incurred more
than one reflection in its travel path. Depending on their time delay from the primary events with
which they are associated, multiples are characterized as short-path or peg-leg, implying that they
interfere with the primary reflection, or long-path, where they appear as separate events. Multiples
from the water bottom (the interface of the base of water and the rock or sediment beneath it) and
the air-water interface are common in marine seismic data, but are suppressed by seismic
processing.
GEOL 6380
• Seismic reflections assumed to image bedding surfaces.
• Reflection character and geometry is related to lithology and
facies architecture.
• Stratal discontinuities identified by reflection terminations
(lapout).
• “Depositional Sequences” bounded by unconformities and their
correlative conformities.
• Conventional exploration seismic data remotely senses geology.
• Maximum resolution of about 75m.
Chronostratigraphic
significance of reflections
• Why would anyone assume or assert that
seismic reflections are effectively “time
lines”?
– “Primary seismic reflections are generated by
stratal surfaces which are chronostratigraphic
rather than by boundaries of arbitrarily defined
lithostratigraphic units” Vail et al., 1977
• What does this mean?
GEOL 6380
Lithostratigraphy
The Formation
• The basic unit of mapping.
• Units mapped at the regional to sub-regional scale.

– 1:50,000
• Emphasis on mapping in outcrop.

– Defined prior to availability of extensive subsurface data (e.g. seismic,
well log, core).
• Something to think about

– “A cross section is simply a map on its side!” (Grant Mossop)
Vertical Contacts
• Smooth versus
stepped vertical
transitions.
• Where do you
pick the
formation
contact?
GEOL 6380
Stratigraphy or Flags?
• Representations of lateral
transitions.
• No outcrop or seismic line
even vaguely resembles these
geometries!
• This is what the latest
textbooks teach to
undergraduates.
State-of-the-art stratigraphy in 1953
Which of these arbitrary lithostratigraphic units will produce a

coherent reflection?
Flags or Reality? Wheeler and Mallory, 1953
GEOL 6380

Flags or Reality? Wheeler and Mallory, 1953

Flags or Reality? Martini, 1971
GEOL 6380
Which of these
arbitrary
lithostratigraphic
units will
produce a
coherent
reflection?
Hobday et al., 1981

Flags or Reality?
These stratigraphic depictions

don’t look like seismic lines
What does the seismic data image that the

geological cross sections fails to convey?
GEOL 6380
Stacking greatly enhances the signal

to noise ratio
All of this data = 1 trace (X) on a seismic line
Coherent reflections
(off bedding surfaces)
constructively interfere.
Incoherent reflections
(lithofacies shazams)
destructively interfere.
Seismic vs Well Logs
ic
Lithostratigraph
Base of sst.
ic
Lithostratigraph
Base of sst.
Vail, 1987
GEOL 6380
Facies versus Seismic
• Lithostratigraphic facies boundaries are gradational and form “Shazam”-

type, interfingering boundaries.
• Seismic reflections are interpreted to mark bed, bedset or parasequence
boundaries.
• Bed, bedset or parasequence boundaries are typically sharply defined
surfaces across which there is a marked lithological change.
Vail, 1987
GEOL 6380
Remember Seismic Resolution!
Vail et al., 1977
Lapout
• Termination of reflections termed lapout.

• Used to separate apparently conformable sedimentary units.
GEOL 6380
Lapout in Outcrops
Permian Brushy Canyon (Gardner and Borer, 2000)
Incised Valleys
Seismic line of Quaternary Incised valley, Gulf of Mexico, Suter and

Berryhill 1985,
Truncation of strata at valley floor and margins.

Onlap and downlap of strata within vallley
GEOL 6380
Ferron Valleys - Outcrop Example
• Truncation of strata at valley floor and margins.

• Onlap and downlap of strata within valley.
Offlapping and downlapping beds in a deltaic

sandstone
Cretaceous Panther Tongue sandstone, Utah
GEOL 6380
GPR and Photomosiac

• Inclined (downlapping and offlapping) beds in a
prograding delta are well imaged by Ground
Penetrating Radar.
• These would be below typical 40Hz seismic
resolution.
100 m 20 m
Types of Lapout
GEOL 6380
Types of Lapout
Lapout and Sratal Termination
.
GEOL 6380
Interpretation
of Lapout
Onlap and downlap

relationships give
evidence of regressions
and transgressions. In
Seismic stratigraphic
interpretation these
events are important to
recognize to help to
estimate time stratigraphic
units.
GEOL 6380
Seismic Facies
Mitchum et al., 1977
Seismic Line, offshore Morocco, from Mitchum et al., 1977.
GEOL 6380
Seismic Faces, offshore Morocco, from Mitchum et al., 1977.
Seismic Facies Mapping
Seismic Facies Map,

offshore Morocco,
from Mitchum et al.,
1977.
GEOL 6380
Slug Model -
Passive Continental Margin
Seismic stratigraphy involves the correlation of stratal packages

bounded by discontinuities defined by stratal termination
(Sequence Boundaries and other surfaces). Vail, 1987
Slug Model - Clastic Margin

• Lapout geometries and seismic facies are used to interpret
depositional systems and facies.
• Facies interpretations are greatly enhanced if there is well log or core
data.
Vail, 1987
GEOL 6380
Slug Model - Carbonate Margin

“ditto”
Vail, 1987
3D Seismic Crossline:A seismic line

within a 3D survey
perpendicular to the
direction in which the data
were acquired.
Inline: A seismic line within

a 3D survey parallel to the
direction in which the data
were acquired. In marine
seismic data, the in-line
direction is that in which the
recording vessel tows the
streamers.
Courtesy of Beauchamp, 2004
GEOL 6380
Horizontal Seismic Resolution
Horizontal resolution refers to how close two reflecting

points can be situated horizontally and be recognized
as separate points.
The Fresnel zone depends on wavelength and frequency.
A high frequency wave front will yield a narrow Fresnel

zone.
The table to the left shows that the shallower the event,
the smaller the Fresnel zone. The Fresnel zone usually
increases with depth, therefore, spatial resolution also
decreases with depth.
Migration is the process that collapses, therefore,

migration can also increase spatial resolution.
Seismic
Geomorphology
Seismic Expression of
Sinuous Channel
Matagorda, Texas
GEOL 6380
Seismic Geomorphoplogy of Delta

Mouth Bars
Mahakham Delta, Kalimantan
after Brown, 1996
Seismic Expression of Low Sinuosity Channel Belt

Gulf of Mexico
GEOL 6380
Seismic Inline from GOM 3D data:

Can you find the channels?
Meandering Submarine
Meandering Submarine
Channels
Channels
Interval Attribute (Sea Floor + 80 msec)

Maximum Negative Polarity
one km
Note Slump Scars

Note Older
Meander Loops
Posamentier, et al., 2003
GEOL 6380
Migrating Leveed Channel on

Basin Floor Passive
Channel Fill
Channel Fill
one km
Levee
50 msec
Pre-Existing
Substrate
Posamentier, et al., 2003 lateral migration of channel fill
Posamentier,
Posamentier, et
et al.,
al., 2003
2003 No Vertical Exaggeration
Seismic interpretation is now most commonly done digitally using Unix or Windows based
software. Past software and hardware expenses limited digital interpretation to major oil companies.
Fast, inexpensive PC’s have made interpretation possible for individuals. It will be important in the
future for geoscientists to be trained in interpretation using workstations .
GEOL 6380
While 3D data and visualization does not give all of the answers. 3D space allows for the
integration of data that is a more efficient means of studying related data. It also is a
good way to convey concepts to non-geoscientists? Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp
Rock properties are used today to calibrate 3D seismic

data and create an “inversion” of the data. The seismic
attributes of the data are converted to represent as closely
as possible a real geological model of the earth.
Slide
Slide courtesy
courtesy of
of Weldon
Weldon Beauchamp
Beauchamp
GEOL 6380
Seismic Stratigraphy and Sea-level Change
• Developed at Exxon Production Research

Company.
• Theorized synchronous global changes in sea
level.
– Reservoir sands deposited during falls
– Fossil-rich hydrocarbon source rocks deposited
during rises.
Exxon had data from around the world
GEOL 6380
Seismic Data Give Image of

Continental Margin
Stratigraphy
Slide courtesy of H. Posamentier, after Vail et al., 1977
Time Stratigraphic Analysis
Mitchum et al., 1977
GEOL 6380
Time Stratigraphic Analysis
Wheeler diagram of North Sea.

Vail et al., 1984
Onlap charts showed globally synchronous

rises and falls of sea level (eustasy
(eustasy).
).
Todd and Mitchum, 1977
GEOL 6380
Developed global onlap chart

Vail et al., 1977
Mesozoic Global
onlap chart lacked
proprietary
Cretaceous
section.
GEOL 6380
Global Correlation and Eustasy

• We know there is a structure, but is there any reservoir rock?
• Vail applied Wheeler’s concepts to seismic cross sections.
• Observed similarity of coastal onlap between basins.
• Interpreted cause of apparent synchronicity to be eustasy.
• Global synchronicity allows lithology prediction in undrilled or
little known basins.
• Reservoirs may lie farther in basin during development of
unconformities.
• Publication of the first global sea level charts (Vail et al., 1977;
Haq et al., 1987, 1988).
• Eustasy has been heavily criticized in recent years (Miall, 1997,
Miall and Miall, 2003).

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Sequence Stratigraphy Part 6.

The Seismic Revolution

Vibraseis and Truck

Nettleton, 1940 in Boggs, 2001

Controls on Geophysical Properties

• Geological rock properties control geophysical properties.

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

Courtesy of Beauchamp, 2004

Ship Seismic Data Collection

Changes in Density and Velocity between two rocks of different

D = receiver (geophone) Courtesy of W. Beauchamp

Seismic Acquisition and Fold

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

AVO Basics: Amplitude Versus Offset

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

Seismic Acquisition and Display

Multi-fold (stacked) Seismic Line

Unmigrated seismic sections showing classic “Bowtie”

Post-stack migration moves reflections into their proper locations

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

Vertical Seismic resolution

The threshold for vertical resolution and deep features must be

Example: A shallow rock unit with a v=2000 m/s and f=50 Hz

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

• Units mapped at the regional to sub-regional scale.

• Emphasis on mapping in outcrop.

• Something to think about

State-of-the-art stratigraphy in 1953

Which of these arbitrary lithostratigraphic units will produce a

Flags or Reality? Wheeler and Mallory, 1953

State-of-the-art stratigraphy in 1953

Which of these arbitrary lithostratigraphic units will produce a

Flags or Reality? Wheeler and Mallory, 1953

State-of-the-art stratigraphy in 1971

Which of these arbitrary lithostratigraphic units will produce a

Flags or Reality? Martini, 1971

State-of-the-art stratigraphy in 1981

Hobday et al., 1981

These stratigraphic depictions

What does the seismic data image that the

Stacking greatly enhances the signal

Seismic vs Well Logs

Facies versus Seismic

• Lithostratigraphic facies boundaries are gradational and form “Shazam”-

Remember Seismic Resolution!

Vail et al., 1977

• Termination of reflections termed lapout.

Permian Brushy Canyon (Gardner and Borer, 2000)

Seismic line of Quaternary Incised valley, Gulf of Mexico, Suter and

Truncation of strata at valley floor and margins.

Ferron Valleys - Outcrop Example

• Truncation of strata at valley floor and margins.

Offlapping and downlapping beds in a deltaic

Cretaceous Panther Tongue sandstone, Utah

GPR and Photomosiac

Lapout and Sratal Termination

Onlap and downlap

Slide courtesy of Weldon Beauchamp

Mitchum et al., 1977

Seismic Line, offshore Morocco, from Mitchum et al., 1977.

Seismic Faces, offshore Morocco, from Mitchum et al., 1977.