Lithological constraints from seismic waveforms: Application to the opal‐A to opal‐CT transition

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new method for seismic waveform characterization whose aim is threefold, namely (i) extraction of detailed information on the sharpness of transitions in the subsurface from seismic waveforms, (ii) reflector modeling, based on binary-mixture and percolation theory, and (iii) establishment of well-seismic ties, through parameterizations of our waveform and critical reflector model. We test this methodology on the opal-A (Amorphous) to opal-CT (Cristobalite/Tridymite) transition imaged in a migrated section of North Sea field data West of the Shetlands.

Sesimic Reflector Characterization by a Multiscale Detection-Estimation Method

“…Given the above signal presentation, Maysami and Herrmann (2007) proposed a new method to estimate attributes of major transitions in seismic data (see also Maysami, 2008). They divided the initial problem of delineating and characterizing transitions over the seismic signal into two easier steps: detection and estimation.…”

“…These observations led to a new type of parametrization, where the observed reflectivity is a superposition of parametrized waveforms. Maysami and Herrmann (2007) proposed a new detection-estimation method (see also Maysami, 2008) to estimate parameters that provide information on the transition sharpness that is related to the lithology (Herrmann et al, 2001;Liner et al, 2004).…”

Analytical Footprints: Compact Representation of Elementary Singularities in Wavelet Bases

“…In that case, it is appropriate to impose the sparsity constraint using minimization on the signal representation in the Dirac basis [8], [9]. The spike model can also be extended; for example, the Lipschitz exponent has been obtained using the continuous wavelet transform in order to measure local sharpness of the reflectors [10] or by investigating the effect of the singularity on the continuous wavelet [11]. This type of approach has also been pursued using discrete B-spline bases that are tuned to a large class of singularities [12].…”