The Relationship Between Rock Type And Seismic Velocity

Geologists have been able to determine the Earth's internal composition based on
changes in the velocity of seismic waves with depth based on the type of rocks they
pass through and the percentage of the pore spaces within the rock per total bulk
volume and that known as Rock Porosity.

It is a known fact about seismic waves that their speed increases with the increase in
density and stiffness of the medium in which they pass, and that the primary (P)
waves travel in all material media, while the secondary (S) waves do not travel in
liquid and gaseous media.

Rock Quality RQD refers the measure of quality of rock core taken from a borehole.
RQD signifies the degree of jointing or fracture in a rock mass measured in
percentage, where RQD of 75% or more shows good quality hard rock and less than
50% show low quality weathered rocks.

RQD is calculated by taking a rock core sample from a borehole and lengths of all
sound rock pieces which are minimum 100 mm long are summed up and are divided
by the length of the core run.

Table 1: Quality of rocks and their RQD percentage.

Seismic velocity: The speed with which an elastic wave propagates through a
medium. For non-dispersive body waves, the seismic velocity is equal to both the
phase and group velocities; for dispersive surface waves, the seismic velocity is
usually taken to be the phase velocity. Seismic velocity is assumed usually to increase
with increasing depth and when measured in a vertical direction it may be 10–15%
lower than when measured parallel to strata.

The velocities of various rock types vary rather widely so it is usually difficult to
determine rock type based only upon velocities.

The relations between elastic properties and velocity, introduced under

"Fundamentals", are given again here.

Seismic measurements of velocity are averaged over the horizontal distance through
which the seismic energy travels. Sediment velocities generally increase with depth
due to increased pressure of the overburden. Fluids within pores tend to make the
rocks less compressible and lead to higher interval velocities for P-waves. The
adjacent figure summarizes typical velocities for differing lithologies and porosities.
Carbonates in particular show a large range in velocities depending on porosity.
Generally, is its correct to stack the data with seismic velocity but little else.
Nevertheless, seismic velocity is often used for depth conversion and migration
purposes and can be calibrated to well information or used where well information is
particularly sparse.
Table (2) shows rough ranges of velocities in
units of kilometers per second for several
types of earth materials. Therefore seismic
surveys are most effective at delineating
structure, .i.e boundaries where rock type
changes.

Seismic Velocity types

Density and P-wave velocity in gas increase with pressure and temperature. Seismic
velocity types

Seismic velocity types commonly considered, are:

1. Interval 2. Average 3. NMO

4. RMS 5. Stacking 6. Dix

1. The interval velocity (Vi) is the velocity in a single layer, which can be
determined from sonic logs or laboratory measurements on cores from the layer.

2. The average velocity (VN ) to the Nth layer is defined in terms of the layers
properties as:

where N: the total number of layers, Vi: the interval velocity in the i-th layer, and
∆T0i = T0i – T0i-1; where T0i-1 and T0i are the zero-offset travel times to the top and
bottom of the i-th layer, respectively (T00 = 0).

The average velocity is the velocity that we get by dividing the depth (ZN) over the
zero-offset one-way travel time (T0N/2) to the bottom of the Nth layer:

3 . The NMO velocity (VNMO) to the bottom of the Nth layer is the velocity found
using the approximate NMO correction formula.

VNMO is found practically by searching for the velocity that will align the true T-X
curve horizontally using the approximate NMO correction formula.

This is usually done through the constant velocity stack (CVS) method during the
velocity analysis phase of the seismic data processing flow.

4. The root-mean-square velocity (VRMS) to the bottom of the Nth layer

It is defined, in terms of the true T-X curve, as the reciprocal of the square root of the
X2 coefficient we get by fitting a polynomial to the true 2 T - 2 X curve.

5. The stacking velocity (VS) to the bottom of the Nth layer is defined as the velocity

found by fitting a hyperbola to the true T-X curve of the form:

Note that the stacking velocity is a special case of the RMS velocity.
By fitting a hyperbola to the true nonhyperbolic T-X curve, we are lumping all the
layers above the Nth reflector into a single virtual layer and assigning this virtual layer
a velocity of VSN.

VS is determined practically by searching for the velocity that will produce the best-
fit hyperbola to the true T-X curve.This is usually done through the velocity spectrum
method during the velocity analysis phase of the seismic data processing flow.

At small offsets (X/ZN < 1),VRMSN ≈ VSN ≈ VNMON.

6. Dix velocity (VN) of the Nth layer is the interval velocity calculated from the
RMS velocities to the top and bottom of the Nth layer (VRMSN-1 and VRMSN)
using Dix’s following formula:

However, if only small offsets are used, we can use VSN-1 and VSN or VNMON-1
and VNMON in place of VRMSN-1 and VRMSN in Dix’s velocity formula.

Seismic attenuation
Seismic attenuation is an intrinsic property of rocks causing dissipation of energy as
seismic waves propagate through the subsurface. It results in the decay of amplitude
of the seismic waves. Attenuation is related to velocity dispersion. The energy of
seismic wave is conserved if it travels through a perfectly elastic medium.
Propagating seismic waves loose energy due to[

• Geometrical spreading (wave front radiating from a point source is distributed

over a spherical surface of increasing size)
• Absorption (anelastic attenuation)
• Scattering (elastic attenuation)
 Quality Factor Q
Attenuation is measured by a dimensionless quality known as the rock quality factor
Q or attenuation factor. It is assumed that Q is linked to the physical state of the rock.
Q is as ratio of stored energy to dispersed energy. It measures a relative energy loss
per oscillation cycle. Q increases when the density and the velocity of the material
increases. In the Earth’s crust and mantle Q ranges from 10 to 1000.

energy of seismic wave 2𝜋𝐸

Q= =
energy lost during one cycle of wave ∆𝐸

Where, E is the energy of seismic wave and ∆E is the energy change per cycle.

We often come across the inverse quality factor Q-1, where Q is inversely related to
the strength of the attenuation. It means more attenuation in the regions where Q is
low than where Q is high.

Table (3): Typical range of Q values in the Earth

Rock type Qp Qs

Shale 30 10

Sandstone 58 31

Granite 250 70-250

Peridotite 650 280

The following data types are used to measure seismic attenuationː

• Free oscillations (Normal Modes)

• Surface waves
• Body waves (P and S)

Seismic attenuation and rock properties

The attenuation is directly related to the composition of the Earth's layers. Thus it
changes whenever the changes in the layering composition occur. This property of
attenuation allows scientists to identify variations in rock properties. Measurements of
seismic attenuation can also provide information of fluid content or zones of high
𝑉𝑝
permeability. Greater porosity and higher correspond to higher attenuation.
𝑉𝑠

Completely dry rocks display negligible attenuation. Fluid motion between pores and
presence of volatiles can induce a loss. Shaly sandstone shows greater attenuation
despite the fact that a macroscopic fluid flow is compromised.

Applications of attenuation
Seismic attenuation in rocks is proportional to frequency, the higher-frequency
components of propagating seismic waves are more attenuated than the lower-
frequency components. Q is sensitive to clay volume, pressure, saturation, and
fracture, therefore seismic attenuation can be used for lithology discrimination. The
effect of saturation and pore pressure on attenuation is greater on the order of
magnitude than the effect of saturation on velocity. Seismic attenuation is a powerful
attribute that is sensitive to hydrocarbon accumulation, fluid-saturated fractures, and
rugosity. Thus, attenuation is extremely useful for reservoir characterization. The ratio
of compressional to shear attenuations is applied as hydrocarbon indictor in well logs.
𝑄𝑝 𝑄𝑝
< 1 indicates presence of gas or condensate, while [ – 1] indicates 'full water' or
𝑄𝑠 𝑄𝑠

'oil + water' saturation. The upper mantle demonstrates a prevailing shear attenuation
𝑄𝑝
not bulk attenuation, so ratios are usually small in partially molten materials. At
𝑄𝑠
𝑉𝑝 𝑉𝑝
the same time, rocks near their melting point have large ratios ( > 2). Estimates
𝑉𝑠 𝑉𝑠

of seismic attenuation combined with Vp and Vs variations provide information of the

physical state of the upper mantle and explain the impact of temperature, composition
and melt friction.

References:
• ROCK QUALITY, SEISMIC VELOCITY, ATTENUATION AND
ANISOTROPY - Nick Barton & Associates
• SEGwiki – website - https://wiki.seg.org/wiki/Seismic_attenuation
• The constructer – Website - https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/rqd-rock-quality-
designation-calculation/20536/

• Wiley Online Library – website -

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1365-2478.1979.tb00977.x