3D description and inversion of reflection moveout of PS‐waves in anisotropic media

Common‐midpoint moveout of converted waves is generally asymmetric with respect to zero offset and cannot be described by the traveltime series t²(x²) conventionally used for pure modes. Here, we present concise parametric expressions for both common‐midpoint (CMP) and common‐conversion‐point (CCP) gathers of PS‐waves for arbitrary anisotropic, horizontally layered media above a plane dipping reflector. This analytic representation can be used to model 3D (multi‐azimuth) CMP gathers without time‐consuming two‐point ray tracing and to compute attributes of PS moveout such as the slope of the traveltime surface at zero offset and the coordinates of the moveout minimum. In addition to providing an efficient tool for forward modelling, our formalism helps to carry out joint inversion of P and PS data for transverse isotropy with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI media). If the medium above the reflector is laterally homogeneous, P‐wave reflection moveout cannot constrain the depth scale of the model needed for depth migration. Extending our previous results for a single VTI layer, we show that the interval vertical velocities of the P‐ and S‐waves (V_P0 and V_S0) and the Thomsen parameters ε and δ can be found from surface data alone by combining P‐wave moveout with the traveltimes of the converted PS(PSV)‐wave. If the data are acquired only on the dip line (i.e. in 2D), stable parameter estimation requires including the moveout of P‐ and PS‐waves from both a horizontal and a dipping interface. At the first stage of the velocity‐analysis procedure, we build an initial anisotropic model by applying a layer‐stripping algorithm to CMP moveout of P‐ and PS‐waves. To overcome the distorting influence of conversion‐point dispersal on CMP gathers, the interval VTI parameters are refined by collecting the PS data into CCP gathers and repeating the inversion. For 3D surveys with a sufficiently wide range of source–receiver azimuths, it is possible to estimate all four relevant parameters (V_P0, V_S0, ε and δ) using reflections from a single mildly dipping interface. In this case, the P‐wave NMO ellipse determined by 3D (azimuthal) velocity analysis is combined with azimuthally dependent traveltimes of the PS‐wave. On the whole, the joint inversion of P and PS data yields a VTI model suitable for depth migration of P‐waves, as well as processing (e.g. transformation to zero offset) of converted waves.     

P‐wave stacking‐velocity tomography for VTI media

A major complication caused by anisotropy in velocity analysis and imaging is the uncertainty in estimating the vertical velocity and depth scale of the model from surface data. For laterally homogeneous VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis) media above the target reflector, P‐wave moveout has to be combined with other information (e.g. borehole data or converted waves) to build velocity models for depth imaging. The presence of lateral heterogeneity in the overburden creates the dependence of P‐wave reflection data on all three relevant parameters (the vertical velocity V_P0 and the Thomsen coefficients ε and δ) and, therefore, may help to determine the depth scale of the velocity field. Here, we propose a tomographic algorithm designed to invert NMO ellipses (obtained from azimuthally varying stacking velocities) and zero‐offset traveltimes of P‐waves for the parameters of homogeneous VTI layers separated by either plane dipping or curved interfaces. For plane non‐intersecting layer boundaries, the interval parameters cannot be recovered from P‐wave moveout in a unique way. Nonetheless, if the reflectors have sufficiently different azimuths, a priori knowledge of any single interval parameter makes it possible to reconstruct the whole model in depth. For example, the parameter estimation becomes unique if the subsurface layer is known to be isotropic. In the case of 2D inversion on the dip line of co‐orientated reflectors, it is necessary to specify one parameter (e.g. the vertical velocity) per layer. Despite the higher complexity of models with curved interfaces, the increased angle coverage of reflected rays helps to resolve the trade‐offs between the medium parameters. Singular value decomposition (SVD) shows that in the presence of sufficient interface curvature all parameters needed for anisotropic depth processing can be obtained solely from conventional‐spread P‐wave moveout. By performing tests on noise‐contaminated data we demonstrate that the tomographic inversion procedure reconstructs both the interfaces and the VTI parameters with high accuracy. Both SVD analysis and moveout inversion are implemented using an efficient modelling technique based on the theory of NMO‐velocity surfaces generalized for wave propagation through curved interfaces.     

Normal moveout velocity for pure‐mode and converted waves in layered orthorhombic medium

We study the azimuthally dependent hyperbolic moveout approximation for small angles (or offsets) for quasi‐compressional, quasi‐shear, and converted waves in one‐dimensional multi‐layer orthorhombic media. The vertical orthorhombic axis is the same for all layers, but the azimuthal orientation of the horizontal orthorhombic axes at each layer may be different. By starting with the known equation for normal moveout velocity with respect to the surface‐offset azimuth and applying our derived relationship between the surface‐offset azimuth and phase‐velocity azimuth, we obtain the normal moveout velocity versus the phase‐velocity azimuth. As the surface offset/azimuth moveout dependence is required for analysing azimuthally dependent moveout parameters directly from time‐domain rich azimuth gathers, our phase angle/azimuth formulas are required for analysing azimuthally dependent residual moveout along the migrated local‐angle‐domain common image gathers. The angle and azimuth parameters of the local‐angle‐domain gathers represent the opening angle between the incidence and reflection slowness vectors and the azimuth of the phase velocity ψ_phs at the image points in the specular direction. Our derivation of the effective velocity parameters for a multi‐layer structure is based on the fact that, for a one‐dimensional model assumption, the horizontal slowness and the azimuth of the phase velocity ψ_phs remain constant along the entire ray (wave) path. We introduce a special set of auxiliary parameters that allow us to establish equivalent effective model parameters in a simple summation manner. We then transform this set of parameters into three widely used effective parameters: fast and slow normal moveout velocities and azimuth of the slow one. For completeness, we show that these three effective normal moveout velocity parameters can be equivalently obtained in both surface‐offset azimuth and phase‐velocity azimuth domains.     

Characterization of dipping fractures in a transverselyisotropic background

Although it is believed that natural fracture sets predominantly have near‐vertical orientation, oblique stresses and some other mechanisms may tilt fractures away from the vertical. Here, we examine an effective medium produced by a single system of obliquely dipping rotationally invariant fractures embedded in a transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) background rock. This model is monoclinic with a vertical symmetry plane that coincides with the dip plane of the fractures. Multicomponent seismic data acquired over such a medium possess several distinct features that make it possible to estimate the fracture orientation. For example, the vertically propagating fast shear wave (and the fast converted PS‐wave) is typically polarized in the direction of the fracture strike. The normal‐moveout (NMO) ellipses of horizontal reflection events are co‐orientated with the dip and strike directions of the fractures, which provides an independent estimate of the fracture azimuth. However, the polarization vector of the slow shear wave at vertical incidence does not lie in the horizontal plane – an unusual phenomenon that can be used to evaluate fracture dip. Also, for oblique fractures the shear‐wave splitting coefficient at vertical incidence becomes dependent on fracture infill (saturation). A complete medium‐characterization procedure includes estimating the fracture compliances and orientation (dip and azimuth), as well as the Thomsen parameters of the VTI background. We demonstrate that both the fracture and background parameters can be obtained from multicomponent wide‐azimuth data using the vertical velocities and NMO ellipses of PP‐waves and two split SS‐waves (or the traveltimes of PS‐waves) reflected from horizontal interfaces. Numerical tests corroborate the accuracy and stability of the inversion algorithm based on the exact expressions for the vertical and NMO velocities.     

Converted-wave imaging in anisotropic media: theory and case studies

Common‐conversion‐point binning associated with converted‐wave (C‐wave) processing complicates the task of parameter estimation, especially in anisotropic media. To overcome this problem, we derive new expressions for converted‐wave prestack time migration (PSTM) in anisotropic media and illustrate their applications using both 2D and 3D data examples. The converted‐wave kinematic response in inhomogeneous media with vertical transverse isotropy is separated into two parts: the response in horizontally layered vertical transverse isotrophy media and the response from a point‐scatterer. The former controls the stacking process and the latter controls the process of PSTM. The C‐wave traveltime in horizontally layered vertical transverse isotrophy media is determined by four parameters: the C‐wave stacking velocity V_C2, the vertical and effective velocity ratios γ₀ and γ_eff, and the C‐wave anisotropic parameter χ_eff. These four parameters are referred to as the C‐wave stacking velocity model. In contrast, the C‐wave diffraction time from a point‐scatterer is determined by five parameters: γ₀, V_P2, V_S2, η_eff and ζ_eff, where η_eff and ζ_eff are, respectively, the P‐ and S‐wave anisotropic parameters, and V_P2 and V_S2 are the corresponding stacking velocities. V_P2, V_S2, η_eff and ζ_eff are referred to as the C‐wave PSTM velocity model. There is a one‐to‐one analytical link between the stacking velocity model and the PSTM velocity model. There is also a simple analytical link between the C‐wave stacking velocities V_C2 and the migration velocity V_Cmig, which is in turn linked to V_P2 and V_S2. Based on the above, we have developed an interactive processing scheme to build the stacking and PSTM velocity models and to perform 2D and 3D C‐wave anisotropic PSTM. Real data applications show that the PSTM scheme substantially improves the quality of C‐wave imaging compared with the dip‐moveout scheme, and these improvements have been confirmed by drilling.     

APPROXIMATIONS TO SHEAR-WAVE VELOCITY AND MOVEOUT EQUATIONS IN ANISOTROPIC MEDIA1

Backus and Crampin derived analytical equations for estimating approximate phase-velocity variations in symmetry planes in weakly anisotropic media, where the coefficients of the equations are linear combinations of the elastic constants. We examine the application of similar equations to group-velocity variations in off-symmetry planes, where the coefficients of the equations are derived numerically. We estimate the accuracy of these equations over a range of anisotropic materials with transverse isotropy with both vertical and horizontal symmetry axes, and with combinations of transverse isotropy yielding orthorhombic symmetry. These modified equations are good approximations for up to 17% shear-wave anisotropy for propagations in symmetry planes for all waves in all symmetry systems examined, but are valid only for lower shear-wave anisotropy (up to 11%) in off-symmetry planes. We also obtain analytical moveout equations for the reflection of qP-, qSH-, and qSV- waves from a single interface for off-symmetry planes in anisotropic symmetry. The moveout equation consists of two terms: a hyperbolic moveout and a residual moveout, where the residual moveout is proportional to the degree of anisotropy and the spread length of the acquisition geometry. Numerical moveout curves are computed for a range of anisotropic materials to verify the analytical moveout equations.     

Seismic characterization of vertical fractures described as general linear-slip interfaces

Fluid flow in many hydrocarbon reservoirs is controlled by aligned fractures which make the medium anisotropic on the scale of seismic wavelength. Applying the linear‐slip theory, we investigate seismic signatures of the effective medium produced by a single set of ‘general’ vertical fractures embedded in a purely isotropic host rock. The generality of our fracture model means the allowance for coupling between the normal (to the fracture plane) stress and the tangential jump in displacement (and vice versa). Despite its low (triclinic) symmetry, the medium is described by just nine independent effective parameters and possesses several distinct features which help to identify the physical model and estimate the fracture compliances and background velocities. For example, the polarization vector of the vertically propagating fast shear wave S₁ and the semi‐major axis of the S₁‐wave normal‐moveout (NMO) ellipse from a horizontal reflector always point in the direction of the fracture strike. Moreover, for the S₁‐wave both the vertical velocity and the NMO velocity along the fractures are equal to the shear‐wave velocity in the host rock. Analysis of seismic signatures in the limit of small fracture weaknesses allows us to select the input data needed for unambiguous fracture characterization. The fracture and background parameters can be estimated using the NMO ellipses from horizontal reflectors and vertical velocities of P‐waves and two split S‐waves, combined with a portion of the P‐wave slowness surface reconstructed from multi‐azimuth walkaway vertical seismic profiling (VSP) data. The stability of the parameter‐estimation procedure is verified by performing non‐linear inversion based on the exact equations.     

Moveout analysis for tranversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis

The transversely isotropic (TI) model with a tilted axis of symmetry may be typical, for instance, for sediments near the flanks of salt domes. This work is devoted to an analysis of reflection moveout from horizontal and dipping reflectors in the symmetry plane of TI media that contains the symmetry axis. While for vertical and horizontal transverse isotropy zero-offset reflections exist for the full range of dips up to 90°, this is no longer the case for intermediate axis orientations. For typical homogeneous models with a symmetry axis tilted towards the reflector, wavefront distortions make it impossible to generate specular zero-offset reflected rays from steep interfaces. The ‘missing’ dipping planes can be imaged only in vertically inhomogeneous media by using turning waves. These unusual phenomena may have serious implications in salt imaging. In non-elliptical TI media, the tilt of the symmetry axis may have a drastic influence on normal-moveout (NMO) velocity from horizontal reflectors, as well as on the dependence of NMO velocity on the ray parameter p (the ‘dip-moveout (DMO) signature’). The DMO signature retains the same character as for vertical transverse isotropy only for near-vertical and near-horizontal orientation of the symmetry axis. The behaviour of NMO velocity rapidly changes if the symmetry axis is tilted away from the vertical, with a tilt of ±20° being almost sufficient to eliminate the influence of the anisotropy on the DMO signature. For larger tilt angles and typical positive values of the difference between the anisotropic parameters ε and δ, the NMO velocity increases with p more slowly than in homogeneous isotropic media; a dependence usually caused by a vertical velocity gradient. Dip-moveout processing for a wide range of tilt angles requires application of anisotropic DMO algorithms. The strong influence of the tilt angle on P-wave moveout can be used to constrain the tilt using P-wave NMO velocity in the plane that includes the symmetry axis. However, if the azimuth of the axis is unknown, the inversion for the axis orientation cannot be performed without a 3D analysis of reflection traveltimes on lines with different azimuthal directions.     

Inversion of normal moveout for monoclinic media1

Multiple vertical fracture sets, possibly combined with horizontal fine layering, produce an equivalent medium of monoclinic symmetry with a horizontal symmetry plane. Although monoclinic models may be rather common for fractured formations, they have hardly been used in seismic methods of fracture detection due to the large number of independent elements in the stiffness tensor. Here, we show that multicomponent wide-azimuth reflection data (combined with known vertical velocity or reflector depth) or multi-azimuth walkaway VSP surveys provide enough information to invert for all but one anisotropic parameters of monoclinic media. In order to facilitate the inversion procedure, we introduce a Thomsen-style parametrization for monoclinic media that includes the vertical velocities of the P-wave and one of the split S-waves and a set of dimensionless anisotropic coefficients. Our notation, defined for the coordinate frame associated with the polarization directions of the vertically propagating shear waves, captures the combinations of the stiffnesses responsible for the normal-moveout (NMO) ellipses of all three pure modes. The first group of the anisotropic parameters contains seven coefficients (ε^(1,2), δ^(1,2,3) and γ^(1,2)) analogous to those defined by Tsvankin for the higher-symmetry orthorhombic model. The parameters ε^(1,2), δ^(1,2) and γ^(1,2) are primarily responsible for the pure-mode NMO velocities along the coordinate axes x₁ and x₂ (i.e. in the shear-wave polarization directions). The remaining coefficient δ⁽³⁾ is not constrained by conventional-spread reflection traveltimes in a horizontal monoclinic layer. The second parameter group consists of the newly introduced coefficients ζ^(1,2,3) which control the rotation of the P-, S₁- and S₂-wave NMO ellipses with respect to the horizontal coordinate axes. Misalignment of the P-wave NMO ellipse and shear-wave polarization directions was recently observed on field data by Pérez et al. Our parameter-estimation algorithm, based on NMO equations valid for any strength of the anisotropy, is designed to obtain anisotropic parameters of monoclinic media by inverting the vertical velocities and NMO ellipses of the P-, S₁- and S₂-waves. A Dix-type representation of the NMO velocity of mode-converted waves makes it possible to replace the pure shear modes in reflection surveys with the PS₁- and PS₂-waves. Numerical tests show that our method yields stable estimates of all relevant parameters for both a single layer and a horizontally stratified monoclinic medium.     

Modelling S-wave radiation for SP-waves in isotropic and anisotropic media

Utilizing shear-wave (S-wave) data acquired with compressional waves (P-waves) is becoming more common as joint imaging and inversion techniques improve. Interest in S-waves radiated from vertical sources and buried explosives exploits conversion to P-waves as primary reflections (SP-waves) for reducing acquisition costs and for application to legacy data. However, recent investigations overstate the extent of SP-wave illumination and show isotropic processing results with narrow bandwidth frequency and wavenumber data. I demonstrate that illumination with SP-waves is limited in general to near vertical polar angles up to around 30° or 35° for V_P/V_S of 2 or 3, respectively. At greater angles, S-waves are typically in the P-wave evanescent range and cannot excite SP-wave reflections. Contrary to recent claims, these sources for P-wave do not radiate S_H-waves polarized in horizontal planes in all azimuths. I show these properties for isotropic media with radiation expressions for amplitude derived in vector slowness coordinates. Also, I extend these expressions to transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis to show agreement with synthetic seismic data that only quasi S_V-waves are radiated and become more narrowly focused towards 45°. Furthermore, in orthorhombic media, synthetic data show that fast S₁- and slow S₂-waves polarized parallel and perpendicular to fractures may appear as S_V- and S_H-waves. For the partially saturated fracture model studied here, S₁-wave radiation has broader azimuthal illumination than slow S₂-waves, which are more narrowly focused in azimuth. These produce SP-wave splitting signatures on vertical component reflection data that are nearly identical to PS-wave signatures on radial horizontal component data. Separating these fast and slow SP-waves is an additional processing challenge.     

Velocity model updating in prestack Kirchhoff time migration for PS converted waves: Part I – Theory

A velocity model updating approach is developed based on moveout analysis of the diffraction curve of PS converted waves in prestack Kirchhoff time migration. The diffraction curve can be expressed as a product of two factors: one factor depending on the PS converted‐wave velocity only, and the other factor depending on all parameters. The velocity‐dependent factor represents the hyperbolic behaviour of the moveout and the other is a scale factor that represents the non‐hyperbolic behaviour of the moveout. This non‐hyperbolic behaviour of the moveout can be corrected in prestack Kirchhoff time migration to form an inverse normal‐moveout common‐image‐point gather in which only the hyperbolic moveout is retained. This hyperbolic moveout is the moveout that would be obtained in an isotropic equivalent medium. A hyperbolic velocity is then estimated from this gather by applying hyperbolic moveout analysis. Theoretical analysis shows that for any given initial velocity, the estimated hyperbolic velocity converges by an iterative procedure to the optimal velocity if the velocity ratio is optimal or to a value closer to the optimal velocity if the velocity ratio is not optimal. The velocity ratio (V_P/V_S) has little effect on the estimation of the velocity. Applying this technique to a synthetic seismic data set confirms the theoretical findings. This work provides a practical method to obtain the velocity model for prestack Kirchhoff time migration.     

Moveout approximation for horizontal transversely isotropic and vertical transversely isotropic layered medium. Part II: effective model‡

We use residual moveouts measured along continuous full azimuth reflection angle gathers, in order to obtain effective horizontal transversely isotropic model parameters. The angle gathers are generated through a special angle domain imaging system, for a wide range of reflection angles and full range of phase velocity azimuths. The estimation of the effective model parameters is performed in two stages. First, the background horizontal transversely isotropic (HTI)/vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) layered model is used, along with the values of reflection angles, for converting the measured residual moveouts (or traveltime errors) into azimuthally dependent normal moveout (NMO) velocities. Then we apply a digital Fourier transform to convert the NMO velocities into azimuthal wavenumber domain, in order to obtain the effective HTI model parameters: vertical time, vertical compression velocity, Thomsen parameter delta and the azimuth of the medium axis of symmetry. The method also provides a reliability criterion of the HTI assumption. The criterion shows whether the medium possesses the HTI type of symmetry, or whether the azimuthal dependence of the residual traveltime indicates to a more complex azimuthal anisotropy. The effective model used in this approach is defined for a 1D structure with a set of HTI, VTI and isotropic layers (with at least one HTI layer). We describe and analyse the reduction of a multi‐layer structure into an equivalent effective HTI model. The equivalent model yields the same NMO velocity and the same offset azimuth on the Earth's surface as the original layered structure, for any azimuth of the phase velocity. The effective model approximates the kinematics of an HTI/VTI layered structure using only a few parameters. Under the hyperbolic approximation, the proposed effective model is exact.     

Azimuth moveout correction for transversely isotropic media

The azimuth moveout (AMO) operator in homogeneous transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI), as in isotropic media, has an overall skewed saddle shape. However, the AMO operator in anisotropic media is complicated; it includes, among other things, triplications at low angles. Even in weaker anisotropies, with the anisotropy parameter η= 0.1 (10% anisotropy), the AMO operator is considerably different from the isotropic operator, although free of triplications. The structure of the operator in VTI media (positive η) is stretched (has a wider aperture) compared with operators in isotropic media, with the amount of stretch being dependent on the strength of anisotropy. If the medium is both vertically inhomogeneous, i.e. the vertical velocity is a function of depth (v(z)), and anisotropic, which is a common combination in practical problems, the shape of the operator again differs from that for isotropic media. However, the difference in the AMO operator between the homogeneous and the v(z) cases, even for anisotropic media, is small. Stated simply, anisotropy influences the shape and aperture of the AMO operator far more than vertical inhomogeneity does.     

Migration velocity analysis for tilted transversely isotropic media

Tilted transversely isotropic formations cause serious imaging distortions in active tectonic areas (e.g., fold‐and‐thrust belts) and in subsalt exploration. Here, we introduce a methodology for P‐wave prestack depth imaging in tilted transversely isotropic media that properly accounts for the tilt of the symmetry axis as well as for spatial velocity variations. For purposes of migration velocity analysis, the model is divided into blocks with constant values of the anisotropy parameters ε and δ and linearly varying symmetry‐direction velocity V_P0 controlled by the vertical (k_z) and lateral (k_x) gradients. Since determination of tilt from P‐wave data is generally unstable, the symmetry axis is kept orthogonal to the reflectors in all trial velocity models. It is also assumed that the velocity V_P0 is either known at the top of each block or remains continuous in the vertical direction. The velocity analysis algorithm estimates the velocity gradients k_z and k_x and the anisotropy parameters ε and δ in the layer‐stripping mode using a generalized version of the method introduced by Sarkar and Tsvankin for factorized transverse isotropy with a vertical symmetry axis. Synthetic tests for several models typical in exploration (a syncline, uptilted shale layers near a salt dome and a bending shale layer) confirm that if the symmetry‐axis direction is fixed and V_P0 is known, the parameters k_z, k_x, ε and δ can be resolved from reflection data. It should be emphasized that estimation of ε in tilted transversely isotropic media requires using nonhyperbolic moveout for long offsets reaching at least twice the reflector depth. We also demonstrate that application of processing algorithms designed for a vertical symmetry axis to data from tilted transversely isotropic media may lead to significant misfocusing of reflectors and errors in parameter estimation, even when the tilt is moderate (30°). The ability of our velocity analysis algorithm to separate the anisotropy parameters from the velocity gradients can be also used in lithology discrimination and geologic interpretation of seismic data in complex areas.     

Dense 3D residual moveout analysis as a tool for HTI parameter estimation

Three‐dimensional residual moveout analysis is the basic step in velocity model refinement. The analysis is generally carried out using horizontal and/or vertical semblances defined on a sparse set of in‐lines or cross‐lines with densely sampled source–receiver offsets. An alternative approach, which we call dense residual moveout analysis (DRMA), is to use all the bins of a three‐dimensional survey but sparsely sampled offsets. The proposed technique is very fast and provides unbiased and statistically efficient estimates of the residual moveout. Indeed, for the sparsest possible offset distribution, when only near‐ and far‐angle stacks are used, the variance of the residual moveout estimate is only 1.4 times larger than the variance of the least‐squares estimate obtained using all offsets. The high performance of DRMA makes it a useful tool for many applications, of which azimuthal velocity analysis is considered here. For a horizontal transverse isotropy (HTI) model, a deterministic procedure is proposed to define, at every point of residual moveout estimation, the azimuthal angle of the HTI axis of symmetry, the Thomsen anisotropy coefficients, and the interval (or root‐mean‐square) velocities in both the HTI isotropy and symmetry planes. The procedure is not restricted by DRMA assumptions; for example, it is also applicable to semblance‐based residual moveout estimates. The high resolution of the technique is illustrated by azimuthal velocity analysis over an oilfield in West Siberia.     

Kinematic parameters of pure‐ and converted‐mode waves in elastic orthorhombic media

I derive the kinematic properties of single‐mode P, S1, and S2 waves as well as converted PS1, PS2, and S1S2 waves in elastic orthorhombic media including vertical velocity, two normal moveout velocities defined in vertical symmetry planes, and three anelliptic parameters (two of them are defined in vertical symmetry plane and one parameter is the cross‐term one). I show that the azimuthal dependence of normal moveout velocity and anellipticity is different in phase and group domains. The effects on‐vertical‐axis singularity and on‐vertical‐axis triplication are considered for pure‐mode S1 and S2 waves and converted‐mode S1S2 waves. The conditions and properties of on‐vertical‐axis triplication are defined in terms of kinematic parameters. The results are illustrated in four homogeneous orthorhombic models and one multilayered orthorhombic model with no variation in azimuthal orientation for all the layers.     

Anisotropy and temporal variations in the fast azimuth of the fast shear wave beneath southern Kamchatka during 1993–2002

Parameters of split shear waves from local earthquakes in the area of the PET IRIS station (town of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski) were measured over the period 1993–2002 for the study of anisotropic properties of rocks in the subduction zone and variations in the fast azimuth of the fast shear wave (?). The dominating fast shear wave polarization directions were oriented in 1993–2002 along N90°E ± 20° in agreement with the direction of the Pacific plate motion. The normalized shear wave delay times δt _SS increase to a depth of 150 km. The values of δt _SS are largest (up to 20 ms/km) for earthquakes at depths of 50–60 and 90–150 km and smallest (up to 6 ms/km) for earthquakes at depths greater than 200 km. The fast azimuths for events with H < 80 km are described in terms of a horizontal transversely isotropic (HTI) model of the medium, with the axis oriented northward. Temporal variations in the fast azimuths with an amplitude of up to 90° and a predominant period of about 400–600 days are observed for events at depths of 80–120 km. The anisotropy of rocks is described by effective models of the orthorhombic and HTI symmetries. The predominant fast shear wave fast azimuths from events at depths of 120–310 km vary with time: the polarization axis was oriented to the north in 1993–1995, to the north and east in 1996–1998, to the east in 1999–2000, and to the northeast and southeast in 2001–2002. The anisotropy of rocks can be described in terms of the HTI model with the symmetry axis subparallel to the focal zone dip.     

Determination of shale stiffness tensor from standard logs

A technique allowing inversion of the shale stiffness tensor from standard logging data: sonic velocities, density, porosity and clay content is developed. The inversion is based on the effective medium theory. The testing of the technique on laboratory measurements of the elastic wave velocities in shale samples shows that the inversion makes it possible to predict the elastic wave velocities V_P, V_S1 and V_S2 in any direction within an error of a few per cent. The technique has been applied for the stiffness tensor inversion along a well penetrating a shale formation of the Mississippian age altered by thin layers of limestone. It is demonstrated that the symmetry of a stiffness tensor inverted at the sonic frequency (2 kHz) is slightly orthorhombic and taking into account the experimental errors, can be related to the vertical transverse isotropy symmetry. For the productive interval of the shale formation, the Thomsen parameters ?, γ, and δ average, respectively, 0.32, 0.25 and 0.21, which indicate anelliptic behaviour of the velocities in this shale. The coefficients of anisotropy of this shale interval are around 24% and 20% for the compressional and shear waves, respectively. The values of the inverted velocities in the bedding plane for this interval are in good agreement with the laboratory measurements. The technique also allows inversion of the water saturation of the formation (Sw) and the inverted values are in agreement with the Sw values available for this formation. A Backus‐like upscaling of the inverted stiffness tensors is carried out for the lower and upper bounds of the frequency band used in the crosswell tomography (100 Hz and 500 Hz). These results can serve as an initial velocity model for the microearthquake location during hydrofracking of the shale formation.