Subtask 2.2 - Creating A Numerical Technique for Microseismic Data Inversion

Abstract

Geomechanical and geophysical monitoring are the techniques which can complement each other and provide enhancement in the solutions of many problems of geotechnical engineering. One of the most promising geophysical techniques is passive seismic monitoring. The essence of the technique is recording the acoustic signals produced in the subsurface, either naturally or in response to human activity. The acoustic signals are produced by mechanical displacements on the contacts of structural elements (e.g., faults, boundaries of rock blocks, natural and induced fractures). The process can be modeled by modern numerical techniques developed in geomechanics. The report discusses a study that was aimed at the unification of the passive seismic monitoring and numerical modeling for the monitoring of the hydraulic fracture propagation. The approach adopted in the study consisted of numerical modeling of the seismicity accompanying hydraulic fracture propagation and defining seismic attributes and patterns characterizing the process and fracture parameters. Numerical experiments indicated that the spatial distribution of seismic events is correlated to geometrical parameters of hydrofracture. Namely, the highest density of the events is observed along fracture contour, and projection of the events to the fracture plane makes this effect most pronounced. The numerical experiments also showed that dividing the totality of the events into groups corresponding to the steps of fracture propagation allows for reconstructing the geometry of the resulting fracture more accurately than has been done in the majority of commercial applications.