86/FIRST BREAK VOL 7, NO 3, MARCH 1989
Dip and azimuth displays for 3D seismie
interpretation
R.M. Dalley':", E. C.A. Gevers':",
G .M. Stampfli':", D.J. Davies+, C.N. Gastaldil ,
P.A. Ruijtenberg! and G.J.O. Vermeer+"
Introduction
In the last decade, the sophistication of three-dimen-
sional (30) seismie data has been applied increasingly to
the more precise definition of geological structures
containing oil and gas accumulations. In favourable
circumstances, it is even possible to define the limits of
the hydrocarbons themselves and, in rare cases, show
the retreat of hydrocarbon-water contacts in response
to sustained oil and gas production.
In the early days, 30 seismie data were interpreted in
a manner comparable to the interpretation of a grid of
two-dimensional (20) profiles. Equispaced in-lines and
cross-lines were abstracted from the total data volume
and, with the additional benefit of arbitrary lines and
time-slices, interpreters were abIe to construct time
contour maps of selected horizons with increased
confidence. However, a significant percentage of the
total volume of acquired data was by-passed in this
process, and it was not until the advent of interactive
trace interpretation systems (the so-called work
stations) th at the interpretation of the full data volume
became feasible.
Feasibility turned into reality with the development of
new and powerful automatic tracking (horizon picking)
programs. These enable the interpreter to incorporate
data from every common midpoint (CMP) in the data
volume. In some more advanced programs, selected
'seed' lines, which are initially interpreted by hand, are
fed to the automatic tracking programs which, in turn,
extrapolate the horizon piek until every CMP in the
survey has been covered. For any given reflection
horizon it is thus possible to generate files of two-way
time, amplitude, instantaneous phase, etc. in a
framework of x,y coordinates. These files permit the
IShell Internationale Petroleum Maatschappij BV, Postbus 162,2501
AN The Hague, The Netherlands.
2Present address: Shell Expro, Aberdeen, UK.
3Present address: KSEPL, Rijswijk, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands.
"Present address: Institut de Géologie et Paléontologie, Université de
Lausanne, Switzerland.
5Present address: Shell Canada Ltd., Calgary, Canada.
calculation of additional horizon attributes, especially
dip and azimuth (Shell Internationale Petroleum
Maatschappij BV 1988. Horizon processing techniques
for recognition of structural geology on 30 seismic.
Research Disclosure 29473). This paper is concerned
with the determination and display of the latter two attri-
butes. It will be shown that, with carefully chosen colour
display parameters, subtie laterally continuous features
that would have been overlooked during traditional
interpretation may be interpreted with relative ease and
confidence as having geological significance. The
techniques employed have much in common with those
used in photogeology.
Technique
With the use of interactive interpretation workstations,
the interpreter has the ability to reeall and display
virtually all seismie data of interest in a particular 30 (or
20) survey. Once the trace data have been displayed,
tracking (horizon picking) of selected horizons and
faults can be carried out on the screen, and a number of
programs exist to help with the extension of manual
tracks to every CMP in the survey. The automatic
tracking algorithms employed for this purpose vary
greatly in complexity. The simplest are merely a means
of extrapolating from the maximum time sample on one
loop to the maximum on the next, and the more sophis-
ticated depend on full trace to trace correlation over a
window of determined length. Recent advances in the
handling of 30 data have permitted the line to line corre-
lation of horizon data in pseudo-automatic mode. The
tracks generated by such programs are not only
produced more quickly than by manual techniques, but
are also more consistent. Other advantages incIude an
increasing likelihood of acceptable fault interpretations,
and the accurate location of horizon tracks in separate
fault blocks with the minimum of user con trol.
An essential element in the success of these programs
is the ability to do rapid quality control on the resulting
tracks by virtue of the rapid display and editing facilities
 FIRST BREAK VOL 7, NO 3, MARCH 1989/87

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Fig. 2. (a) Map displays on un-interpolated time picks (azimuth. dip and time). Bccausc thc data samples are discrete thc azimuth and dip plots
show 'contours' of high dip and variabie azimuth wherc the sample vatucs incrernent. ,....uh a zero-dip background.
 FIRST BREAK VOL 7, NO 3, MARCH 1989/89

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Fig. 2. (b) Map displays on interpolated time picks (azirnuth. dip and time).
 90lARST BREAK VOL 7, NO 3, MARCH 1989

EASTERL Y DIP

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Fig. 3. Azimuth map-Alpine thrust belt.

offered by the werkstations. Manual intervention is only
necessary when mispicks are spotted. Once tracked, the
interpreted horizon farms a time function over the
picked part of the survey, the essential prerequisite to
producing processed horizon information, such as maps
of dip and azirnuth.
'Instantaneous' dip is the local dip (amount of incli-
nation of a horizon in the subsurface ) calculated at each
sample of the horizon grid. 'Instantaneous' azimuth is
the direction of this inclination measured from alocal
reference direction .
In its simplest form the attribute calculation is
represented by the following equations:
Dip = V ((dt/dy)'+(dt/dy)')
Azimuth = arctan ((dt/dy)/(dt/dx))
Here dt/dx is the dip in ms m-I in the x direction, and
dt/dy the same in the y direction. The computation is
carried out on every picked CMP in the horizon file. The
dt/dx and dt/dy terms are computed by looking at the
local neighbours of the point of interest and computing
 FIRST BREAK VOL 7, NO 3, MARCH 1989/91

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Fig. 5. Time structure of faulted anticline.

 FIRST BREAK VOL 7, NO 3, MARCH 1989/93

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Fig. 6. Dip map of faulted anticline.

94/FIRST BREAK VOL 7. NO 3. MARCH 1989

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Fig. 7. Azimuth map of faulted anticline .


the mean gradient. One or more nearest neighbours in
both directions along the x and y axes may be used;
normally two in each of the four directions are satis-
factory.
Several factors are of importance in improving the
quality of dip and azimuth maps. Firstly, the horizon
should be picked consistently from line to line at the
same phase of the wavelet, in order to increase the
lateral continuity of subtIe features and reduce
background noise. Secondly, it is an advantage to use an
automatic tracking algorithm which interpolates the
manually input horizon picks on every CMP, in order to
ensure the right degree of phase continuity. It is th is
requirement more than any other that makes the use of
automatic (rather than manual) tracking over the full
data set highly desirabie. Figure 1 shows a dataset for
which both automatic and manual tracking has been
used. Clearly, the phase continuity available from
automatic tracking results in a superior azimuth deter-
mination compared to th at generated in the manually
tracked sector.
The degree of detailed resolution available is
determined ultimately by the precision of the time data
used in the program to track the trace data. Figure 2
shows a comparison between dip maps generated from
the same data set with, in one case, horizon picks on the
time samples and, in the other, on interpolated samples
with an accuracy of 0.001 ms. More detail can certainly
be resolved on the interpolated sample map.
Ideally, the time function supplied to the dip and
azimuth ca1culation is continuous in space. In practice,
faults and are as of poor signal-to-noise ratio lead to
gaps. To reduce these gaps and distinguish between fault
planes and poor signal due to other causes, it is an
advantage to interpret faults as part of the horizon (i.e.
where the bed may have zero thickness). The inter-
preted fault then shows up as a lineation of relatively
high dip and locally anomalous azimuth.
Suitable colour scales are important for the effective
display of dip and azimuth maps. A smooth rainbow
colour scale is of ten used for dip (low dip in red, high dip
blue), whilst for azimuth a spectrum of colours
simulating an illumination direction gives a useful
'topographical' display for ease of interpretation.
Examples
In the first example we show data from an oilfield
situated in front of the Alpine thrust belt. Hydrocarbons
FIRST BREAK VOL 7, NO 3, MARCH 1989/95
are found in gently folded sandstones of Eoeene and
Upper Cretaceous age. Good data quality and astrong
reftection at Top Eoeene result in this horizon being
interpretable over the whole survey, making a complete
dip and azimuth ca1culation possible. Part of the azimuth
map, shown in Fig. 3, reveals several interesting features
including a conjugate set of ftexures which interseet at
about 90° (the yellow and blue coloured striations).
These ftexures have been interpreted as typical features
associated with thrust regimes, where conjugate shears
are of ten seen to develop in front of the overthrust belt.
Figure 4 is a seismie line (from the 3D data volume)
through both the east- and west-dipping flexures. The
point illustrated here is that whilst the east-dipping
flexure is unmistakable, and would have been inter-
preted as such on the seismie line of Fig. 4, the west-
dipping flexure might easily have been mistaken for
noise without the benefit of the laterally consistent
lineament visible on the azimuth map (Fig. 3).
Figures 5, 6 and 7 show maps of time-structure, dip
and azimuth from a different survey over a field in the
North Sea Basin. The power of the technique to high-
light faults and flexures in fine detail is very clear in this
case, some of the faults having throws as small as 4 ms of
two-way time. Whilst the time map shows the trend of
these small faults, it is only on the dip map that their
precise location and en-échelon arrangement becomes
clear. The azimuth map, here displayed as if artificially
illuminated from the east, gives further detailed infor-
mation not apparent on either the dip or time maps. The
two identifiabie fault trends are interpeted to be
conjugate fault sets resulting from transtensional defor-
mation. This dataset illustrates th at dip and azimuth
maps should be considered as complementary displays,
information apparent on one greatly influencing the
interpretation of the other.
Conclusions
In this article, we have outlined a technique by which
simple horizon processing of time data, picked on every
CMP in a 3D survey, can contribute important addi-
tional information to the geological interpretation. In
particular the ca1culated attributes of dip and azimuth
have proved valuable in this respect. With suitable
hardware and software these are available for very little
extra interpretation effort.
Received and accepted 8 December 1988.