A review of a quarter century of International Workshops on Seismic Anisotropy in the crust (0IWSA–12IWSA)

In 25 years, the presence of azimuthally varying seismic anisotropy throughout the Earth’s crust has progressed from general denial to universal acceptance, so that many international geophysical meetings now have sessions on seismic anisotropy. Over this period, the proceedings of the biennial series of International Workshops in Seismic Anisotropy (IWSAs) have captured many of the notable advances in the theory, calculation, observation and interpretation of particularly shear-wave splitting (seismic birefringence) in the Earth’s crust. Shear-wave splitting is the almost-infallible indicator of seismic anisotropy along the ray path. This paper reviews 13 IWSA meetings (0IWSA–12IWSA) as a catalogue of 25 years of progress in seismic anisotropy. The evidence now suggests that shear-wave splitting monitors the low-level pre-fracturing deformation of the stress-aligned fluid-saturated microcracks pervading almost all in situ rocks in the crust. Shear-wave splitting indicates that microcracks are so closely spaced they are critical systems with all the universality, calculability, predictability, “butterfly wing’s” sensitivity, and deterministic chaos that that implies. This leads to a New Geophysics, where low-level deformation can be monitored with shear-wave splitting, future behaviour calculated–predicted with the anisotropic poro-elastic model of rock evolution, and in some circumstances even potentially controlled by feedback. We anticipate the New Geophysics will greatly invigorate IWSA.     

Site-dependent shear-wave velocity equations versus depth in California and Japan

Shear-wave velocity of the near-surface ground is an important soil property in earthquake and civil engineering. Using the data from 643 boreholes from the KiK-net in Japan and 135 boreholes from California where the shear-wave velocity profile reaches at least 30 m, firstly, we classify sites by building code, then build site-dependent relationships between travel time and depth by regression utilizing the logarithmic model and power-law model, lastly, we get shear-wave velocity equations versus depth based on the mathematical relationship between travel time and velocity. The results show that: (1) the travel time is strongly correlated with depth, and the Pearson correlation coefficients range between 0.867 and 0.978. (2) there is a certain difference between linear velocity equations and power-law velocity equations, and the power-lower equations are generally more close to measured data than linear equations except for class E in Japan and class D in California. (3) the velocities are similar at the sites of each class for different regions but that the gradient of velocity with depth vary between different regions.     

The bound weighted average method (BWAM) for predicting S-wave velocity

The shear-wave velocity is a very important parameter in oil and gas seismic exploration, and vital in prestack elastic-parameters inversion and seismic attribute analysis. However, shearing-velocity logging is seldom carried out because it is expensive. This paper presents a simple method for predicting S-wave velocity which covers the basic factors that influence seismic wave propagation velocity in rocks. The elastic modulus of a rock is expressed here as a weighted arithmetic average between Voigt and Reuss bounds, where the weighting factor, w, is a measurement of the geometric details of the pore space and mineral grains. The S-wave velocity can be estimated from w, which is derived from the P-wave modulus. The method is applied to process well-logging data for a carbonate reservoir in Sichuan Basin, and shows the predicted S-wave velocities agree well with the measured S-wave velocities.     

PROCESSING SHEAR-WAVE VSP DATA*

Shear-wave arrivals in vertical seismic profiling recordings made with Vibroseis can be more accurately determined by wavelet processing and spectrum whitening. This method aids discrimination of shear-wave arrivals against P-wave disturbances. The data, thus improved, can be used to determine the main axis of shear-wave polarization for each sounding depth in order to maximize shear-wave amplitude by properly adding the two horizontal component signals vectorially.     

POROSITY AND PORE STRUCTURE FROM ACOUSTIC WELL LOGGING DATA1

Wyllie's time-average equation and subsequent refinements have been used for over 20 years to estimate the porosity of reservoir rocks from compressional (P)-wave velocity (or its reciprocal, transit time) recorded on a sonic log. This model, while simple, needs to be more convincingly explained in theory and improved in practice, particularly by making use of shear (S)-wave velocity. One of the most important, although often ignored, factors affecting elastic velocities in a rock is pore structure, which is also a controlling factor for transport properties of a rock. Now that S-wave information can be obtained from the sonic log, it may be used with P-waves to provide a better understanding of pore structure. A new acoustic velocities-to-porosity transform based on an elastic velocity model developed by Kuster and Toksöz is proposed. Employing an approximation to an equivalent pore aspect ratio spectrum, pore structure for reservoir rocks is taken into account, in addition to total pore volume. Equidimensional pores are approximated by spheres and rounded spheroids, while grain boundary pores and flat pores are approximated by low aspect ratio cracks. An equivalent pore aspect ratio spectrum is characterized by a power function which is determined by compressional-and shear-wave velocities, as well as by matrix and inclusion properties. As a result of this more sophisticated elastic model of porous rocks and a stricter theory of elastic wave propagation, the new method leads to a more satisfactory interpretation and fuller use of seismic and sonic log data. Calculations using the new transform on data for sedimentary rocks, obtained from published literature and laboratory measurements, are presented and compared at atmospheric pressure with those estimated from the time-average equation. Results demonstrate that, to compensate for additional complexity, the new method provides more detailed information on pore volume and pore structure of reservoir rocks. Examples are presented using a realistic self-consistent averaging scheme to consider interactions between pores, and the possibility of extending the method to complex lithologies and shaly rocks is discussed.     

Shear wave velocity prediction during CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-EOR and sequestration in the Gao89 well block of the Shengli Oilfield

Shear-wave velocity is a key parameter for calibrating monitoring time-lapse 4D seismic data during CO₂-EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) and CO₂ sequestration. However, actual S-wave velocity data are lacking, especially in 4D data for CO₂ sequestration because wells are closed after the CO₂ injection and seismic monitoring is continued but no well log data are acquired. When CO₂ is injected into a reservoir, the pressure and saturation of the reservoirs change as well as the elastic parameters of the reservoir rocks. We propose a method to predict the S-wave velocity in reservoirs at different pressures and porosities based on the Hertz–Mindlin and Gassmann equations. Because the coordination number is unknown in the Hertz–Mindlin equation, we propose a new method to predict it. Thus, we use data at different CO₂ injection stages in the Gao89 well block, Shengli Oilfield. First, the sand and mud beds are separated based on the structural characteristics of the thin sand beds and then the S-wave velocity as a function of reservoir pressure and porosity is calculated. Finally, synthetic seismic seismograms are generated based on the predicted P- and S-wave velocities at different stages of CO₂ injection.     

地震反应分析中输入界面的选取对地表地震动参数的影响

地震反应分析中输入界面选取合理与否对设计地震动参数有重要影响。基于唐山地区钻孔剖面,分别选取剪切波速为500m/s的硬黏土和800m/s的岩石顶面作为基岩输入界面,采用一维等效线性化方法讨论中硬场地输入界面的选取对地表地震动参数的影响,结果表明:(1)地表峰值加速度放大倍数及地表加速度反应谱特征周期都随输入界面深度的增加而递增,且这种递增与输入地震动的强度及频谱特性都有密切联系;(2)随着输入界面深度的增加,地表加速度反应谱几乎全频段内增大,仅在短周期内出现减小的情况,但幅度十分有限;(3)中硬场地地震反应分析中基岩输入界面宜取剪切波速为800m/s的土层顶面。     

Compressional- and shear-wave velocities as a function of confining stress in dry sandstones

A laboratory study was carried out to investigate the influence of confining stress on compressional- and shear-wave velocities for a set of rock samples from gas-producing sandstone reservoirs in the Cooper Basin, South Australia. The suite of samples consists of 22 consolidated sublitharenites with helium porosity ranging from 2.6% to 16.6%. We used a pulse-echo technique to measure compressional- and shear-wave velocities on dry samples (cylindrical 4.6 × 2 cm) at room temperature and at elevated confining stress (≤ 60 MPa). Compressional- and shear-wave velocities in samples increase non-linearly with confining stress. A regression equation of the form V = A ? Be^?DP gives a good fit to the measured velocities with improved prediction of velocities at high confining stresses compared with equations suggested by other studies. The predicted microcrack-closure stresses of the samples show values ranging from 70 MPa to 95 MPa and insignificant correlation with porosity, permeability or clay content. There is a positive correlation between change in velocity with core porosity and permeability, but this association is weak and diminishes with increasing confining stress. Experimental results show that pore geometry, grain-contact type, and distribution and location of clay particles may be more significant than total porosity and clay content in describing the stress sensitivity of sandstones at in situ reservoir effective stress. The stress dependence of Cooper Basin sandstones is very large compared with data from other studies. The implication of our study for hydrocarbon exploration is that where the in situ reservoir effective stress is much less than the microcrack-closure stress of the reservoir rocks, the variation of reservoir effective stress could cause significant changes in velocity of the reservoir rocks. The velocity changes induced by effective stress in highly stress-sensitive rocks can be detected at sonic-log and probably surface-seismic frequencies.     

不同尺度裂缝对弹性波速度和各向异性影响的实验研究

裂缝广泛分布于地球介质中并且具有多尺度的特点,裂缝尺度对于油气勘探和开发有着重要的意义.本文制作了一组含不同长度裂缝的人工岩样,其中三块含裂缝岩样中的裂缝直径分别为2 mm、3 mm和4 mm,裂缝的厚度都约为0.06 mm,裂缝密度大致相同(分别为4.8%、4.86%和4.86%).在岩样含水的条件下测试不同方向上的纵横波速度,实验结果表明,虽然三块裂缝岩样中的裂缝密度大致相同,但是含不同直径裂缝岩样的纵横波速度存在差异.在各个方向上,含数量众多的小尺度裂缝的岩样中纵横波速度都明显低于含少量的大尺度裂缝的岩样中纵横波速度.尤其是对纵波速度和SV波速度,在不同尺度裂缝岩样中的差异更明显.在含数量多的小尺度裂缝的岩样中纵波各向异性和横波各向异性最高,而含少量的大尺度的裂缝的岩样中的纵波各向异性和横波各向异性较低.实验测量结果与Hudson理论模型预测结果进行了对比分析,结果发现Hudson理论考虑到了裂缝尺度对纵波速度和纵波各向异性的影响,但是忽略了其对横波速度和横波各向异性的影响.     

A semi-empirical velocity-porosity-clay model for petrophysical interpretation of P- and S-velocities

We design a velocity–porosity model for sand-shale environments with the emphasis on its application to petrophysical interpretation of compressional and shear velocities. In order to achieve this objective, we extend the velocity–porosity model proposed by Krief et al., to account for the effect of clay content in sandstones, using the published laboratory experiments on rocks and well log data in a wide range of porosities and clay contents. The model of Krief et al. works well for clean compacted rocks. It assumes that compressional and shear velocities in a porous fluid-saturated rock obey Gassmann formulae with the Biot compliance coefficient. In order to use this model for clay-rich rocks, we assume that the bulk and shear moduli of the grain material, and the dependence of the compliance on porosity, are functions of the clay content. Statistical analysis of published laboratory data shows that the moduli of the matrix grain material are best defined by low Hashin–Shtrikman bounds. The parameters of the model include the bulk and shear moduli of the sand and clay mineral components as well as coefficients which define the dependence of the bulk and shear compliance on porosity and clay content. The constants of the model are determined by a multivariate non-linear regression fit for P- and S-velocities as functions of porosity and clay content using the data acquired in the area of interest. In order to demonstrate the potential application of the proposed model to petrophysical interpretation, we design an inversion procedure, which allows us to estimate porosity, saturation and/or clay content from compressional and shear velocities. Testing of the model on laboratory data and a set of well logs from Carnarvon Basin, Australia, shows good agreement between predictions and measurements. This simple velocity-porosity-clay semi-empirical model could be used for more reliable petrophysical interpretation of compressional and shear velocities obtained from well logs or surface seismic data.     

SHEAR-WAVE REFLECTION PROFILING FOR NEAR-SURFACE LIGNITE EXPLORATION*

We present the results of a shear-wave reflection experiment and in situ measurements in opencast lignite exploration. Near-surface coal seams have lower shear-wave velocities (～ 200 m/s) and lower densities than sand and clay layers. Due to strong reflection coefficients, a shear-wave reflection survey provides a powerful tool in lignite prospecting. Due to shorter seismic wavelengths shear waves will yield a higher resolution of shallow subsurface structure than compressional waves. Low shear-wave velocities and strong lateral velocity variations, however, require a dense data acquisition in the field. The variation of stacking velocities can exceed ± 15% within a profile length of 300 m. The different steps in processing and interpretation of results are described with actual records. The final CMP-stack shows steep-angle fault zones with maximum dislocations of 20 m within a coal seam.     

Simulation of two-phase fluid flow through compactible reservoirs

Fluid-flow simulators used in the oil industry model the movement of fluids through a porous reservoir rock. These simulators either ignore coupling between the flow and concurring deformation of the solid rock frame or take it into account approximately, in the so-called loose or staggered-in-time mode. In contrast to existing simulators, the one we describe here fully couples two-phase (oil and water) flow to subsurface deformation and simultaneously accounts for all relevant physical phenomena. As such, our flow simulator inherently links time-dependent fluid pressures, saturations, permeabilities and flow velocities to stresses in the whole subsurface. These stresses relate to strains through the non-linear theory of elasticity, allowing us to model time-lapse changes in seismic velocities and anisotropy. The velocity variations manifest themselves in time shifts and reflection amplitudes that are conventionally measured from 4D seismic data. Changes in anisotropy produce time-dependent shear-wave splitting that can be used for monitoring the horizontal stresses.     

谐振Q理论井震匹配法及品质因子反演

储层勘测中地震波速度一般低于声波测井速度,撇开观测系统与人为因素造成的误差,岩石本征的黏弹性是造成这一现象的重要原因.本文在井、震匹配问题中引入了黏弹性岩石的杨氏谐振品质因子(Q)模型,对储层岩石进行了井震匹配与Q反演.文章阐述了如何通过谐振Q模型合理的校正声波速度,从而实现井震匹配.在波形匹配的基础上,进行地层品质因子的反演,合理的计算出目的层位的品质因子值.     

Model-based shear-wave velocity estimation versus empirical regressions

Modelling of AVO signatures for reservoir characterization requires V _S estimation from other available logs when shear-wave data are not available. We tested various models for predicting V _S from P-wave velocity, porosity and shale volume measured in well logs. Effective medium models which characterize the pore space in terms of ellipsoidal inclusions were compared with statistical V _P– V _S regressions. The inclusion models were calibrated by non-linear minimization of the difference between model-predicted velocities and actual measured velocities. The quality of the V _S prediction was quantified in terms of the rms error by comparison with shear-wave data in wells where both V _P and V _S were measured. The linear regressions were found to be more robust and the rms error in the prediction was comparable to effective medium model-based predictions.     

Estimation of shear wave velocity profiles by the inversion of spatial autocorrelation coefficients

The subsurface shear-wave velocity (Vs) is considered to be a key parameter for site characterization and assessment of earthquake hazard because of its great influence on local ground-motion amplification. Array microtremor measurements are widely used for the estimation of shear-wave velocities. Compared to other methods such as frequency-wavenumber (f-k) methods, the spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) method requires fewer sensors and thus is relatively easier to implement and gives robust estimations of shear-wave velocity profiles for depths down to a few hundred meters. The quantity derived from observed data is the SPAC coefficient, which is a function of correlation distance, frequency and phase velocity. Generally, estimation of Vs profiles is a two stage process: Estimation of the dispersion data from the SPAC coefficients and inversion of the dispersion data for shear-wave velocity structure. In this study, instead of inverting dispersion curves, a more practical approach is used; that is, observed SPAC coefficients are directly inverted for the S-wave velocities. A synthetic case and a field data application are presented to test the potential of the inversion algorithm. We obtain an iterative damped least-squares solution with differential smoothing. The differential smoothing approach constrains the change in shear-wave velocities of the adjacent layers and thus stabilizes the inversion.     

On Shear-wave Splitting in Tangshan Region

Shear-wave splitting in Tangshan region is studied by using digital seismic data.Analyzing 3-component digital seismic data in Tangshan strong ground motion array,it is found that almost all earthquakes occurred during 1982 to 1984 have significant shear-wave splitting.The polarization directions of faster shear waves in 7 stations are near EW,which are consistent with the axis of maximum principal compressive stress obtained from earthquake fault mechanisms and geodetic surveys.The crack densities of the 7 stations are roughly estimated,0.019 for TS01,TS02 and TS15,0.015 for TS03,TS07 and TS18 and 0.024 for TS19,by using the average time delay of slow shear-wave at the 7 stations.     

基于微动方法研究五大连池火山区尾山火山锥浅层剪切波速度结构

为了研究五大连池火山区尾山火山锥浅层三维波速结构特征,在尾山火山锥附近区域布设了无线地震检波器密集台阵,记录连续地震背景噪声波形数据.基于微动方法(拓展空间自相关方法)提取了台站间2~5 Hz频率范围的Rayleigh面波相速度频散曲线.利用面波层析成像方法反演获得2~5 Hz Rayleigh面波二维相速度图像,基于每一个网格节点的频散曲线,进一步反演获得了尾山火山锥附近区域地表至700m深度的三维剪切波速度结构.成像结果显示:在0~150m较浅深度,靠近尾山火山锥区域显示为相对高速异常,远离火山锥区域则显示为相对低速异常.而至150~700m较深深度,波速异常特征与浅部相反,靠近尾山火山锥的区域显示为相对低速异常,远离火山锥的区域显示为相对高速异常.在远离尾山火山锥区域,浅层的相对低速异常可能与松散沉积层有关,深部的高速异常则反映了结晶变质岩的影响.在靠近尾山火山锥区域,浅部的相对高速异常应该反映了出露地表的玄武岩,而深部的相对低速异常则可能反映了火山通道周围广泛发育的破碎裂隙结构及其火山喷发后孔隙流体填充的影响.     

The 3D shear experiment over the Natih field in Oman. Reservoir geology, data acquisition and anisotropy analysis

This paper describes a large-scale reservoir characterization experiment carried out in Oman in 1991 which comprised the acquisition, processing and interpretation of a 28.4 km² 3D multicomponent seismic experiment over the Natih field. The objective of the survey was to obtain information on the fracture network present in the Natih carbonates from shear-wave anisotropy. Shear-wave anisotropy in excess of 20% time splitting was encountered over a large part of the survey. The seismic results are confirmed by geological and well data but provide additional qualitative information on fracturing where this was not available before. Regions of stronger and weaker shear-wave anisotropy appear to be fault-bounded. The average well flow rates (which are fracture-dominated) within such blocks correlate with the average anisotropy of the blocks. The further observation that the anisotropy is largest in the fracture gas cap of the reservoir suggests that shear waves can provide a direct hydrocarbon indicator for fractured rock.     

剪切波速和含水率双指标评价黄土震陷

为了研究地震荷载作用下黄土场地的震陷预测问题,以兰州黄土为研究对象来分析剪切波速和含水率与震陷系数的关系,并分别得出拟合函数关系。通过分析剪切波速和含水率在震陷过程中的内在联系,建立剪切波速和含水率双指标预测黄土震陷系数的方法,并依据该方法预测永登地震区黄土场地震陷量。研究结果表明:在一定的剪切波速区间内,震陷系数随着含水率的增加而增大;在一定的含水率区间内,震陷系数随着剪切波速的增加而减小。同时提出剪切波速可以反映黄土不因外部条件而变化的潜在震陷能力为绝对震陷能力的概念,相应的震陷系数称为绝对震陷系数,含水率影响潜在震陷能力的释放。通过震害实例计算验证剪切波速和含水率双指标预测方法的可行性。     

Laterally constrained inversion of surface wave data at Najaf city (Iraq)

A case history is reported to outline a possible strategy for the construction of a pseudo-2D model of shear-wave velocity for seismic site response studies. Experimental data have been collected using the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave technique (MASW) at six sites in the city of Najaf (Southern Iraq). The sites are aligned along the route of a proposed subway. The dataset has been processed to extract the dispersion curves of each site and then it has been inverted by using a Laterally Constrained Inversion (LCI) algorithm. The initial model for the local search algorithm has been obtained with a preliminary Monte Carlo Inversion (MCI). A priori information from borehole logs and lateral constraints between neighbors 1D models are used to mitigate the non-uniqueness of the solution. The result is a pseudo-2D shear-wave velocity model of the area which is in good agreement with sediment lithology and thicknesses obtained from borehole logs.