Mode-Converted (P-SV) Waves for Imaging Thin Intercalated Basaltic Layers and Their Possible Geologic Implications

The subsurface imaging using conventional seismic reflection technique is challenging in areas where high velocity rocks such as basalts are underlain by low velocity rocks. The seismic image quality worsens in the presence of intercalated sediments within the basaltic layers. In the recent years, the multicomponent seismic exploration technique has drawn great attention because it reduces the ambiguity in seismic imaging, enlarges the S-wave information, and improves the prediction and identification of reservoir fluids. Improvements in sub-basalt imaging techniques could hold highly significant geologic implications such as resource exploration and identifying permanent geochemical trapping potential (such as for carbon sequestration studies). In this article, we examine the possibility of utilizing mode-converted (P-SV) waves for sub-basalt imaging as well as likely complicacies one may expect in such processes.