Reflection imaging using earthquake sources: A novel application of reverse vertical seismic profiling (RVSP)

Quiros, D. A.; Brown, L. D.; Cabolova, A.; Chen, Chen; Davenport, K. K.; Hole, J. A.; Han, Liang; Chapman, Martin C.; Mooney, Walter D.

doi:10.1190/segam2015-5931898.1

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…We have shown how microearthquakes can be used as illumination sources for 3‐D reflection imaging by treating dense recordings as VSP surveys. The work presented here expands on the work of Inamori et al [], and Quiros et al [, ]. The 3‐D depth profiles obtained from a single aftershock and 13 events show very clear reflectors underneath the receiver array.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and Quiros et al [2015aQuiros et al [ , 2015b. The 3-D depth profiles obtained from a single aftershock and 13 events show very clear reflectors underneath the receiver array.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As we will discuss in the next section, the NMO correction used by Inamori et al [] is part of a set of reflection processing techniques used in the oil and gas industry known as Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP). Quiros et al [, ] applied these VSP processing techniques to create reflection images by mapping the actual waveforms in 3‐D space from a single microearthquake. In this manuscript we attempt to extend the work of Quiros et al [, ] to using multiple earthquakes for 3‐D imaging via VSP techniques.…”

Section: Reflection Imaging With Earthquake Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As shown in Figure , a conventional reflection survey and a microearthquake reflection survey differ in raypath geometry due to the depth of the earthquake (Figures a and b). On the contrary, a single microearthquake occurring several kilometers beneath the surface and recorded by a surface receiver array is directly equivalent to a reverse vertical seismic profiling survey (Figures b and c) [ Quiros et al ., ].…”

Section: Reflection Imaging With Earthquake Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quiros et al [2015aQuiros et al [ , 2015b applied these VSP processing techniques to create reflection images by mapping the actual waveforms in 3-D space from a single microearthquake. In this manuscript we attempt to extend the work of Quiros et al [2015aQuiros et al [ , 2015b to using multiple earthquakes for 3-D imaging via VSP techniques. Figure 6b as it would have been recorded by a surface array with the AIDA geometry.…”

Section: Reflection Imaging With Earthquake Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reflection imaging with earthquake sources and dense arrays

et al. 2017

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The Mw 5.8 earthquake that occurred in Louisa County, Virginia, on 23 August 2011 provided an opportunity to record with several “high density” seismic arrays, in addition to traditional, sparse temporary seismic networks. Traditional aftershock networks consist of a few dozen stations spread over tens of kilometers. As a result, the recorded seismic waveforms suffer from spatial aliasing that is so severe that many types of waveform processing are not applicable. Here we report the results of recording with a large number of oil industry‐type instruments deployed at a spacing that is an order of magnitude closer than in traditional deployments. The objective was to image subsurface structure with array methods, using the aftershocks as sources. The dense array recorded continuously for 12 days and consisted of 172 vertical component seismometers that were placed at 200–400 m and a 60 km long three‐component regional profile with stations every 2 km. We demonstrate how processing techniques from Vertical Seismic Profiling can produce high‐resolution 3‐D reflection images of structure beneath the array. These images display reflectivity that correlates with that observed on a nearby deep reflection survey collected by the U.S. Geological Survey. Of particular interest is a strong reflector imaged across multiple profiles. Our analysis demonstrates how a surface array of seismometers can provide 3‐D images of structure using microearthquake sources when wavefields are sampled sufficiently densely.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and Quiros et al [2015aQuiros et al [ , 2015b. The 3-D depth profiles obtained from a single aftershock and 13 events show very clear reflectors underneath the receiver array.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reflection Imaging With Earthquake Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reflection Imaging With Earthquake Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reflection Imaging With Earthquake Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reflection imaging with earthquake sources and dense arrays

et al. 2017

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Magma reflection imaging in Krafla, Iceland, using microearthquake sources

et al. 2017

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The details of magma plumbing beneath active volcanoes remain a major challenge in geochemistry, geophysics, and volcanic hazard evaluation. Here we apply a relatively novel variation of seismic interferometry, which we call Virtual Reflection Seismic Profiling, to produce a high‐resolution image of a known crustal magma body. The technique takes advantage of recent advances in both seismic instrumentation (dense arrays) and seismic analysis (seismic interferometry). We have applied this technique to data recently acquired at an iconic volcanic system, Krafla, which lies on the mid‐Atlantic ridge as exposed in northern Iceland. What make this particular site exceptional are encounters with rhyolitic magma in two drill holes, K‐39 and Iceland Deep Drilling Project‐1 (IDDP‐1). These known magma bodies represent a unique calibration opportunity for surface geophysical measurements of magma distribution at depth. In this study, we produced a stacked, seismic reflection section by applying common depth point processing techniques to virtual shot gathers derived from interferometry of P waves from microearthquakes generated by tectonic, magmatic, and/or geothermal activity. We observe a strong, coherent reflection on the seismic section at a travel time corresponding to the depth at which magma was encountered in the IDDP‐1 wellbore. We interpret this reflection to be from magma or magma‐related fluids. Additional coherent reflections may correspond to other components of the magma plumbing beneath Krafla. These results represent a promising new technique for structural imaging with natural sources that can be applied to a wide array of geologic and energy problems that involve natural or induced seismic clusters.

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Towards adapting reverse vertical seismic profiling for ambient-noise imaging with transient sources: Automatic estimation of stationary-phase receivers for improved retrieval of the interferometric Green’s function

et al. 2022

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The majority of ambient-noise studies are performed with sensor arrays located at the surface. Passive recordings containing seismic arrivals from subsurface sources could be seen as having a geometry resembling reverse vertical seismic profiling (rVSP). In such scenarios, the inter-source seismic-interferometry technique can be used to redatum the surface receivers to the subsurface source positions resulting in virtual shot gathers at depth. The success of the interferometric processing primarily requires that a correlation panel created in the interferometric process contains stationary-phase regions that, when summed, retrieve events with correct timing, while nonstationary contributions are canceled. We address the combination of the rVSP configuration and ambient-noise measurements. We propose a prototype of a data-driven technique allowing to adapt the summation process such that changes in the stationary-phase requirements imposed by changes in the noise-sources distribution can be adaptively satisfied without the need for array redeployment. We propose to identify the receivers located in the stationary-phase regions by scanning for stationary contributions in the correlation panel prior to stacking. Our method uses the correlation coefficient and time-windowing to distinguish between stationary and non-stationary arrivals. The improved Greens function estimate is obtained by limiting the summation to only those receivers that, when summed, enhance the stationary and attenuate the non-stationary contributions. We test this using a simple 2D numerical example to show a practical way to alleviate insufficient receiver coverage. We demonstrate the theoretical possibility to improve the inter-source Greens function estimates without explicit knowledge of the target and the source distribution. However, our data-driven approach has the disadvantage of being limited to scenarios in which the correlation panel from all receivers contains identifiable stationary-phase arrivals.

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Reflection imaging using earthquake sources: A novel application of reverse vertical seismic profiling (RVSP)

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Reflection imaging with earthquake sources and dense arrays

Reflection imaging with earthquake sources and dense arrays

Magma reflection imaging in Krafla, Iceland, using microearthquake sources

Towards adapting reverse vertical seismic profiling for ambient-noise imaging with transient sources: Automatic estimation of stationary-phase receivers for improved retrieval of the interferometric Green’s function

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