A B S T R A C TWe present the results of a 3D seismic survey acquired near the city of Schneeberg in the western Erzgebirge (Germany). The main objective of this survey was to use reflection seismic exploration methods to image a major fault zone in crystalline rock, which could serve as a geothermal reservoir at a target depth of about 5 km-6 km with expected temperatures between 160 • C-180 • C. For this purpose, a high-resolution 3D Vibroseis survey was performed in late 2012 covering an area of about 10 km × 12 km. The 3D survey was complemented by a wide-angle seismic survey for obtaining velocity information from greater depths using explosives along ten profile lines radially centred at the target area. The region itself is dominated by the northwestsoutheast striking Gera-Jáchymov fault system and the southwest-northeast striking Lössnitz-Zwönitz syncline. The main geological features in the survey area are well known from intensive mining activities down to a depth of about 2 km. The seismic investigations aimed at imaging the partly steeply dipping fault branches at greater depths, in particular a dominant steeply northeast dipping fault (Roter Kamm) in the central part of the survey area. In addition to this main structure, the Gera-Jáchymov fault zone consists of a series of steeply southwest dipping conjugate faults. For imaging these structures, we used a focusing pre-stack depth migration technique, where the wavefield coherency at neighbouring receivers is used for weighting the amplitudes during migration. This method delivers a clear, focused image of the 3D structures within the target area. A 3D velocity model for depth imaging was obtained by first-arrival tomography of the wide-angle survey data. With this approach, we were able to image several pronounced structures interpreted as faults within the crystalline rock units, which partly reach the target depth where the temperatures for a geothermal usage would be sufficient. In general, the results show a complex three-dimensional image of the geological structures with different reflection characteristics, which can serve as a basis for a detailed characterization of the potential deep geothermal reservoir.
A 10.5 km2 3D seismic survey was acquired over the Kylylahti mine area (Outokumpu mineral district, eastern Finland) as a part of the COGITO-MIN (COst-effective Geophysical Imaging Techniques for supporting Ongoing MINeral exploration in Europe) project, which aimed at the development of cost-effective geophysical imaging methods for mineral exploration. The cost-effectiveness in our case was related to the fact that an active-source 3D seismic survey was accomplished by using the receiver spread originally designed for a 3D passive survey. The 3D array recorded Vibroseis and dynamite shots from an active-source 2D seismic survey, from a vertical seismic profiling experiment survey, as well as some additional “random” Vibroseis and dynamite shots made to complement the 3D source distribution. The resulting 3D survey was characterized by irregular shooting geometry and relatively large receiver intervals (50 m). Using this dataset, we evaluate the effectiveness of the standard time-imaging approach (post-stack and pre-stack time migration) compared to depth imaging (standard and specialized Kirchhoff pre-stack depth migration, KPreSDM). Standard time-domain processing and imaging failed to convincingly portray the first ~1500 m of the subsurface, which was the primary interest of the survey. With a standard KPreSDM, we managed to obtain a good image of the base of the Kylylahti formation bordering the extent of the mineralization-hosting Outokumpu assemblage rocks, but otherwise the image was very noisy in the shallower section. The specialized KPreSDM approach (i.e., coherency-based Fresnel volume migration) resulted in a much cleaner image of the shallow, steeply dipping events, as well as some additional deeper reflectors, possibly representing repetition of the contact between the Outokumpu assemblage and the surrounding Kalevian metasediments at depth.
This paper describes the principles of three novel seismic imaging techniques and their application to two deep seismic reflection data sets from the vicinity of the German Continental Deep Drilling Site (KTB). These imaging techniques are based on Kirchhoff prestack depth migration and use an inherent restriction of the migration operator to focus the wavefield to its actual reflection point. For Fresnel volume migration, the emergent angle at the receivers is estimated and then used to propagate the wavefield back into the subsurface along which the Fresnel volume is determined. The migration operator is restricted to this volume, thereby focusing the image to the part of the isochrone which physically contributes to the reflection. For coherency migration, the coherency of the wavefield at neighboring traces is calculated and used as a weighting factor within the migration integral, leading to a comparable focusing to the reflection point. For coherency‐based Fresnel volume migration, both approaches are combined, resulting in an even more focused seismic image with significantly increased image quality. We applied these methods to two seismic data sets from the area around the KTB: a survey with standard split‐spread geometry (KTB8502) and a sparse data set with a small number of source points in combination with short receiver lines (INSTRUCT93). The focusing approaches yield major improvements in the final images for both data sets. Incoherent noise and migration artifacts are reduced and the visibility of crustal structures is strongly enhanced, allowing for an improved geologic and tectonic characterization.
A B S T R A C TWe present an approach for analysing seismic reflections from faults in a crystalline hard rock environment. We analysed 3D seismic reflection data for geothermal reservoir characterization acquired in the Erzgebirge Region, Germany. The seismic image derived from this data set revealed two main features: a less pronounced reflector corresponding to a steeply dipping major fault zone Roter Kamm and a group of pronounced reflectors attributed to the existence of conjugate mineralized faults. We analysed these reflections in the pre-stack data to characterize the nature and origin of reflectivity. This was done by extracting the corresponding waveforms from the raw data and carefully pre-processing them, including amplitude correction for geometrical spreading and signal-to-noise enhancement. Reflection coefficients were derived from the pre-processed shot gathers by comparing the amplitudes of the reflected and direct waves. Synthetic waveform modelling using the reflectivity method has been performed for several model families consisting of one-dimensional velocity-depth functions with varying velocities, densities, and thicknesses of the layers. A comparison of the modelled and observed waveforms revealed that a reflection coefficient of 0.18 for the conjugate mineralized faults can be explained by single layers with high impedance contrast and a thickness between 30 m and 40 m, whereas the reflection from the Roter Kamm fault zone with a reflection coefficient of −0.23 requires a model consisting of several low-velocity layers with a total thickness of up to 100 m embedded in a high-velocity background model. These results are in accordance with the geological interpretation of these reflectors. However, the characteristics of these reflections vary significantly within the investigation area, both in terms of the reflection coefficient and the waveform, which is also in agreement with the general lateral variation of fault zone characteristics known from tectonic investigations such as geological mapping of outcrops and fabric analysis.
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