Copyright © 2012, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)

3-D Seismic Interpretation: A Primer for Geologists (SC48), 2000

CHAPTER 4 : INTERPRETATION OF 2-D SEISMIC DATA

INTERPRETATION WORKFLOW

In previous times it was considered that the interpretation phase of a seismic

project began when the processing people delivered a "final stack" (perhaps not even
migrated) data set to the geophysical interpreter. Today, it is realized that the
interpretation truly begins at the survey design phase, when choices about offsets, line
orientation, source characteristics etc . are made . These choices can influence the
interpretability of the resultant data . For example, a survey designed for deep targets
may not have the high frequencies or fold needed to image stratigraphic details at
shallow levels . Alternatively, the spacing between midpoints (seismic traces) might be
too great to image subsurface features of interest (e.g ., "shoestring" sandstones) . The
interpretive choices continue through the processing phase, as processors make decisions
(often based on timelmoney considerations) that influence the character, and also
interpretability of the stacked seismic data . Realizing the importance of processing,
some larger companies routinely send their field data out to two or more processing
shops and compare the results .
Another change from previous times is that an increasing amount of processing is
occurring during the interpretation phase, interactively, by the interpreter . As noted at
the end of the last chapter, interpreters can now interactively evaluate the effects of
different processing routines (filtering, trace balancing, deconvolution, etc .) on stacked,
migrated data sets ("post-stack processing") . This type of analysis might be employed to
enhance certain aspects of the data, remove unwanted noise or to match two or more data
sets of different vintages .
Although there is considerable variability (from interpreter to interpreter, and
from project to project) as to what goes into a "seismic interpretation", a generalized
workflow is shown in Figure 4 .1 . The steps in this workflow are described in the
following sections in this chapter . Although this chapter is entitled "Interpretation Of 2-
D Seismic Data", many of the procedures described below apply equally to 2-D and 3-D
seismic interpretation . As such, they will not be repeated in the chapter on 3-D
interpretation .

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