Seismic 17

Wide-Angle Reflections: A Tool to

Penetrate Horizons with High Acoustic
Impedance.Contrasts

s17.7

Jannis Makris and Jens Thiessen, Univ. of Hamburg, West

Germany
In the autumn of 1983 a seismic wide-angle reflection
survey was carried out in a complexarea in the Gulf of Suez
using ocean bottom seismographs(OBS). The stratigraphy
and velocities are well known only at boreholesthat bad

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Angle of IncidenceO

FIG. 4. P-wave reflectivity at two shale/sand interfaces.

Monzl 1, shale/sand; model 2, anisotropic shale/isotropic

direction for the highest V,, (model 3). However, with low
VIA(model l), the P-wave velocity decreasesto a minimum

of 8.8 kft/s at 35 degrees before rising to the 12.5 kft/s

velocity. The effect on the SV-phasevelocity is even more
pronouncedfor the low VI3 case, increasing90 percentfrom
0 to 42 degreesfrom vertical. This behavior controls the
critical angle position.
The secondexample(Figure 4) showsthe P-P reflectivity
of two shale/sandmodelsdemonstratingthe effect of taking
into account anisotropy in the shale. The isotropic shale
model(model 1) showsreflectivity increasingwith offset.In
this case, the shaleP-wave velocity is lower than the sand
velocity-a situation common to the Texas Gulf Coast
region. However, for an anisotropicshalewith a horizontal
P-wave velocity 20 percent higher than the vertical Pvelocity, the horizontal velocity is higher in the shale than
the sand and the P-P reflectivity decreaseswith offset
(model 2), reversing the trend expected under isotropic
assumptions.
In conclusion, the two examples of P-wave reflectivity
show that anisotropymust be taken into accountin amplitude-offsetstudiesinvolving shalesand that the presenceof
small amounts of gas in a shale (low V,J could produce
dramaticchangesin reflectivity at incident anglesof exploration interest.
References
Brown?R. J. S., and Korringa, J., 1975,On the depen@ce of the
elasticpropertiesof a porousrock on the compressllxhtyof the
oore fluid: geophysics 40. 608.
Daley, P. F., aid Hron, g., 1977, Reflection and transmission
coefficientsfor transverselyisotropic media: Bull. Seism. Sot.
Am., 67, 661.
1979, Reflectionand transmissioncoefficientsfor seismic
wavesin ellipsoidallyanisotropicmedia:Geophysics,44, 27.
Gassmann,F., 1964,Introductionto seismictraveltimemethodsin
anisotropicmedia:Pure and Appl. Geophys.58. 63.
Jones,L. E. A., and Wang, H. F., 1981,Ultrasonicvelocitiesin
Cretaceousshalesfrom the WillistonBasin:Geophysics,46, 288.

reachedbasementhighs.Due to the highoil productivityand

economic significanceof this area, extensive conventional
reflection seismic surveys had been performed during the
last decade. They had failed, however, to penetrate the
Miocene evaporiteswhich are characterizedby high acoustic impedanceand are underlain by low velocity layers. In
orderto overcomethis difficultywe proposedandperformed
a wide-angle reflection seismicexperiment. The main idea
was to exploit the intense increase of reflected seismic
energyat the wide-anglerange of incidencenear the critical
point of reflection.This type of subsurfacemappingcannot
provide information with resolution comparableto normal
steep-angleseismic techniques. It is, however, the only
physical method that can be deployed under the above
mentioned conditions. During the experiment, 120 OBS
positionswere observedand the data were evaluated with
ray tracing techniques, using traveltimes and amplitude
computations.This technique enabled us to delineate the
structures at the crystalline basement and permitted the
compilationof a regional basementmap.
The survey area lies in the middle of the Gulf of Suez
directly off the Sinai coast. It is characterizedby strong
tectonizedblocks of thick Plioceneand Miocene sediments
coveringa thinner seriesof Eocene to carboniferousrocks.
Inside the Miocene layers, the amount of anhydrite and salt
beds increases,so that observedP-wave velocities reach
values of up to 6 km/s. These high velocity formationsare
followed by marls, shales,and sandstoneswith low velocities ranging between 2.5 and 3.4 km/s. In this extreme
situationof severalreflectingsalt and anhydritebedsoverlying low velocity layers the reflectedamountof steepincident
seismicwaves is so high, that in reflection seismicsections
arrivals from deeper boundariesare weak and maskedby
noiseand multiples.
During the last decadethe oil industry has spent a great
amountof time and effort to overcomethis difficultywithout
success.In the following we show that seismic energy
reflectedunder wide-angleincidence(that is, totally reflected beyondthe critical angleof incidence)can penetratesuch
complex structures providing information about the deeper
parts of the basins. The basic idea behind the concept
presentedin this paper is that even small amountsof energy
penetrating through the high impedance layers may be
observedunder critical angle of incidence(see Figure 1).
In a joint venture between Deminex, Essen, and the
Institute of Geophysics, University of Hamburg, a wideangle reflection experiment using the OBS was designed,
which accordingto our estimates and by consideringthe
above mentioned physical facts should provide seismic
information from the deep situatedcrystalline basementin
the Gulf of Suez. The program was supported by the
Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic

Seismic 17

673

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critical
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FIG. 1. Theoretical energy distributionfor longitudinalplane
waves incident on a high acoustic impedance layer, after
Richards (1960). (VI = 3.9 km/s, p1 = 2.4 and V2 = 6.4 km/s,
pz = 2.65).

J
FIG. 2. Locationof seismiclines and ocean bottom seismographs (OBS).

of Germany. The instrumentationand survey techniquewas

mainly the same as describedby the authorsin their paper
presentedat the 53rd Annual SEC Meeting in 1983.
The survey
A net of profileswas chosenso that the researchtargets
were denselycoveredby seismicinformation(seeFigure 2).
The lines were laid approximately 3 km apart, running
parallel and perpendicularto the main strike of the structures. On eachline up to 15 OBS were deployedin constant
intervals of 2 km. The shootingwas performed with 4 air
gunsof 8 1 each, fired at intervals of 100 to 150 m along the
lines. The field work was completedwithin three weekswith
a total of 275 km seismic lines observed and 120 OBS
sectionsrecorded.For positioningwe used a high precision
Syledisnavigation system.

seismicsection three main groupsof arrivals, besidessurface and water wavesof low velocities,can be distinguished
in Figure 3: Pl are first arrivals, showingapparentvelocities
of about4.5 km/s from distancesof 5 km on. P2 appearswith
approximately the same velocity, but in larger epicentral
distancesand higher traveltimes than the Pl signals. P3
arrivals differ from Pl and P2 with much highervelocitiesof
about 6.5 km/s, but with comparableamplitudes.
It was shown with ray-tracing computations,that the Pl
and P2 arrivals representcritical refracted waves traveling
insidethe Miocene evaporitesand their reflectedrefractions.
The P3 arrivals were proved to originate at the top of the
crystalline basementas wide-angle reflectionsof P-waves.
For this purpose traveltimes and synthetic sectionswere
computed.

The seismicsections
Wide-angle reflected seismic arrivals need not be processed by CDP techniques since the exploited amount of
seismic energy has maximum values under critical incidence. Furthermore, due to the fact that these events have
very long travelpathsa common-depth-pointcannot be defined. InsteadeachOBS recordsa sectionwhich is comparable to a singleshotdisplayof a very long spreador streamer.
The processingof the data was thereforestraightforwardand
fast, including the following optional tasks: predictive deconvolution, filtering, mixing, traveltime reduction, and
display.
Figure 3 displaysa typical section,recordedby OBS 1 on
profile BB (see Figure 2). The traces were deconvolved,
band-passfiltered, and normalizedto their mean amplitude.
The traveltimes are reduced with a velocity of 4.5 km/s.
Therefore,seismiceventstraveling with an averagevelocity
of 4.5 km/s are aligned parallel to the distance-axis.On the

FIG. 3. Example for a deconvolved, filtered and time reduced OBS seismic section (OBS 1, profile BB).

674

Seismic 17
stack sections within three restricted offset ranges and
superimposingthem in the three primary colorsred, green,
and blue on a color video display terminal. The display is
implemented for some synthetic seismogramsgenerated
from an elastic earth model and for somedeep marine data
taken on the East Coastof the United States.The methodis
found to be successfulin its primary purposeof displaying
anomaliesin offsetdependentreflectivity in a form amenable
to interpretation.The methodis also found to be useful as a
quality control on velocity analysis and for distinguishing
multiplesfrom primary events,

FIG. 4. Model with raypaths and calculatedtraveltimesfor

the section of OBS 1 on profile BB.

Evaluation of the sections

The sectionswere evaluated with a fast ray tracing interactive program, especially designedfor computing traveltimes of wide-angle reflections and diving waves for twodimensionallateral and vertical inhomogeneousstructures.
By modifying the model parametersthe calculated traveltimes are fitted iteratively to the observedones and graphically displayed.The models are based on the known overburden structuresand velocities derived at boreholes.The
seismicmodelingwas thereforerestrictedin constructingthe
basementgeometryfrom seismiceventsgeneratedbelow the
Miocene evaporites. An example is given in Figure 4, in
which the modelfor the sectionin Figure 3 is showntogether
with the raypathsand computed(lined) traveltime curves.
One can seethat a basementelementof approximately2 km
lengthcan easily be resolvedby wide-anglereflections.The
complete basement geometry for each line could thus be
constructed and a basement map derived by combining
profilesparallel and perpendicularto the structures.
References
Makris,J., andThiessen,J., 1983.Offshoreseismicinvestigations
of
sedimentarybasinswith a newly developedoceanbottomseismograph:Presentedat the 53rd Annual SEC Meeting, Las Vegas.
Richards,T. C., 1960.Wide anglereflectionsandtheir applicationto
findinglimestonestructuresin the foothills of western Canada:
Geophysics,25, 385407.

Color Display of Offset Dependent

Reflectivity in Seismic Data

97.6

Gregory E. Onstott, Sohio Petroleum Co.; Mile M.

Backus, Clark R. Wilson, and J. il. Phillips, Univ. of
Texas, Austin
The changein seismicreflection coefficientwith angle of
incidenceof the wave on the reflectinghorizon can provide
cluesas to the elasticpropertiesof the rockson either sideof
the reflectinginterface. A methodis proposed for encoding
the change in reflection coefficient with source-receiver
offset in a single color display where it may be readily
interpreted. The technique consistsof generating partial

A useful measureof rock propertiesin the subsurfaceis

the behaviorof seismicreflectivity as a function of the angle
of incidenceof the seismic wave on the reflectinghorizon.
The variation in reflectivity with incidence angle is controlled by the contrastsin elastic parametersbetween the
rockson either sideof the reflectinginterface.This reflectivity information is normally collected at great expense in
exploration seismicsurveysonly to be thrown away in the
stacking of normal-moveout corrected common-midpoint
gathers.Recent work (Rosa, 1976) showedthe difficulty in
obtaining unique mathematicalsolutionsfor the elastic parametersof the rocksfrom precriticalreflectionamplitudes.
Nevertheless,it is proposedthat the changein reflectivity
with offset can be profitably exploited to spot seismic
anomaliesto which other data and geologicintuition can be
appliedto narrow the range of possibleinterpretations.
Several recent papers on the subject, by Backus et al
(1982), Ostrander (1982), and Gassawayet al. (1983), discussedthe use of offsetdependentreflectivity in petroleum
exploration.The latter two paperswere concernedwith the
analysisof seismicbright spot anomalies,usingamplitude
variationswith offsetin common-depth-pointgathers.Since
it is not practicalto examine all of the CDP gathersin a large
dataset,this approachis effectivelylimited to the analysisof
reflectivity anomalies which are visible on the stacked
section. Any stratigraphicchangein rock propertieswhich
doesnot result in a significantchangein the stackedtrace
amplitude will probably be missed and thus will not be
examinedin the nonzero offsetdomain. It is suggestedthat
many economichydrocarbontraps fall into this category.
A data processingand display method is proposedfor
encoding the reflection amplitude variation with offset in
color on a singlesectionwhere it can be readily observedby
the interpreter. The basic method is to form three partial
stacktracesinsteadof one from each NMO-corrected CDP
by summingthe traceswithin three restrictedoffsetranges.
The stacked traces are formed into three common offset
range sections and visually superimposedin the primary
colorsred, green, and blue on a color video displayterminal.
The resulting image resemblesa stacked section but indicates by color and brightnessthe distribution of reflection
amplitudesover the three offsetrangesat every point in the
section, Such a display allows the interpreter to perceive
changesin reflectivity over offsetwithout having to look at
CDP gathers or multiple partial stack sections,so that the
variations in reflectivity can be related to the structureand
depositionalpatterns.
Color may be consideredas a three-dimensionalvector
space,the basisvectorsbeing the primary colorsred, green,
and blue (for transmittedlight) or, alternatively, hue, saturation, and intensity. A color image is a vector field with a