Basic Borehole Geophysics

Phil Armstrong, VSI School

30th July 2001
 Basic Geophysics

• Seismic Data
• Seismic Waves
• Earth Models
• Reflections
• Constituents of Seismic Data

2 Initials
 Generating Seismic data

Marine Vibroseis
Land Vibroseis
Explosive

Vibrational

Dynamite (Land)
Airguns (Marine)

3 Initials
 Seismic Waves

Surface Waves

Body Waves

4 Initials
 Body Wave Types

• 2 types defined by the direction of particle motion

wave
direction

1. P-waves
Particle motion parallel to wave propagation

2. S-waves
Particle motion perpendicular to wave propagation
5 Initials
 Surface Waves

Wave
direction

• Particle motion is complex, may be elliptical

• Surface waves are noise
• Low velocity, less than S-waves
• Ground roll in land surface seismic
• Cause of tube waves
6 Initials
 Definitions of Elastic Parameters
P
12
P = κ ∆V/V éκ + 4 µ 3 ù
Vp = ê ú
P = Hydrostatic stress
∆V/V = Volumetric strain ë ρ û
κ = Bulk Modulus = 1/C
C = Compressibility Z p = Vp ⋅ ρ

P P = µe 12
θ
éµ ù
No volume P = Shear stress Vs = ê ú
change e = tan θ = Shear strain ëρû
µ = Shear Modulus
Zs = Vs ⋅ ρ

7 Initials
9/25/01
 Definitions of Elastic Parameters 2
Bar under tensile stress

h ∆h
h-∆

L
∆L
L+∆

Transverse strain ∆h h
Poisson’s Ratio (σ) = - =
Longitudinal strain ∆L L

3κ − 2 µ Vp2 − 2Vs2
σ= σ=
8 Initials
9/25/01
6κ + 2 µ 2Vp2 − 2Vs2
 Raypaths and Wavefronts
shot receivers shot receivers

Reflection
points
interface

Raypaths
Wavefronts
• Rays perpendicular to
• How waves actually travel
wavefronts
• Surface of equal travel time
• Simple to use
• Surface of equal phase
9 Initials • Ray trace modelling
 Wave Propagation

• Energy from the source is distributed along the surface of

an expanding wavefront

• Body waves decay much more rapidly than surface waves

For Body waves, energy propagation For Surface waves, energy propagation
is spherical is cylindrical
1
energy density α energy density α 1
distance from source 2 distance from source

10 Initials
 Wave Energy
• On land, the energy division can be as poor as this:

P-wave 6% S-wave 26% Surface waves 68%

11 Initials
 Huygen’s Principle

• Every point on an advancing wavefront can be regarded as

a secondary source of energy. Each of these secondary
sources expands to form new wavefronts.
• The new wavefront is formed by taking the tangent to the
wavefronts of all these secondary sources
Original Wavefront

Wave
Direction New Wavefront

12 Initials
 What is a reflection ?

• Seismic waves are reflected Layer 1

at a boundary between
different rocks
incident reflected
1 R
• At normal incidence,
Z2 − Z1
the reflected wave R=
has an amplitude R : Z2 + Z1 Layer 2

transmitted
Zi = ρi × Vi T

= ( density) × ( wavespeed )

13 Initials

pafc 02/02/97
 Snell’s Law

• The transmitted energy at the interface is refracted

incident
Reflected
energy
i energy
Velocity 1 interface
Velocity 2 r
transmitted
energy

sin i = Velocity 1
sin r Velocity 2
14 Initials
 The Critical Angle
• The critical angle (c) for an interface is at the point where the
refracted energy travels along that interface, i.e. where r = 90
degrees
• At incident angles greater than critical, total internal reflection
occurs
i<c i=c i>c

V1 i V1 i V1 i

V2 V2 V2

15 Initials
 P waves, S waves and Amplitude
Variation with Offset (AVO)

Shale reflected
Vp = 2100m/s S wave
Vs = 1100m/s
ρ = 2.1g/cc reflected incident
P wave P wave
θ

Oil sand
Vp = 2500m/s
Vs = 1400m/s
transmitted
ρ = 2.2g/cc
P wave
transmitted
S wave

Verm & Hilterman,

16Leading
Initials Edge,
[ ]
RPP (θ ) ≈ RP 0 cos2 θ + ∆σ (1 − σ ) sin 2 θ
2

14, 1995 RPP (θ ) ≈ NI cos2 θ + PR sin 2 θ

 Ideal Seismogram

• The seismic data recorded should give us the Earth’s

reflectivity sequence:
Surface

Time

Depth

17 Initials
 Convolutional Model

Time

Source Input Earth, represented by log data Noise Seismic traces

18 Initials
 Constituents of Seismic Data
Source Array Surface Waves

Receiver Array
Surface
Reverberations
Ghosts

Scattering

Interbed Multiples

uneven seabed

Lateral Variation
Steep Dips

Fresnel Zone overburden

Thin Beds

Small Throws

Schlumberger
Geco - Prakla

19 Initials