668 SPWLA Papers

Full-Wave Acoustic Logging SPWLAB Geologic Implications of Large- SPWLA-7

J. W. Minear, Welex
Conventional acousticlogsarebasedon a smallfractionof the
potentialinformationavailablein the acousticwavetrain propa-
gatingdown the borehole.The objectiveof full-wave acoustic
loggingis to record,process,and interpretthe entire acoustic
wavetrain. New acousticloggingtools,sophisticated signalpro-
cessingtechniques,and improvedcomputerprocessing capabili-
ties at the well site are providingthe ability to extractmoreof
theinformation.The acousticwavetrainassociated withthebore-
hole is composedof compressional, shear,normal mode and
Stoneleywaves.Characteristics of eachof thesephasesare dis-
cussedbriefly and illustratedwith waveformsrecordedin differ-
ent lithologies.Thesecharacteristics haveguidedthe designof
full-waveloggingsystems:tools,dataacquisition,and process-
ing. New generation full-waveacousticloggingtoolshavemore
receivers,greatertransmitter-to-receiver spacings,andlowerfre-
quencyresponsethan their short-spaced predecessors. Wave-
formsare generallyrecordedand processed digitally. Nonsym-
metricalsourcesand receiversare usedto generateshearwaves
preferentially.The reasonsfor thesedifferencesfrom conven-
tionalacoustictoolsarediscussed.
Seismic-typedata processing is usedto extractvelocityand
amplitudeinformationfromfull-waveacousticsignals.Phaseve-
locitiesof compressional, shearand Stoneleywavesare deter-
mined almostentirely by sometype of correlationtechnique.
Thesetechniques includecrosscorrelation, semblance and linear
and nonlineardelay and sum. Otherprocessing beingemployed
includesdepthstackingand time-domainfiltering. Severalex-
amplesof processing full-wavedatawith differenttechniques are
discussed. Full-waveacoustic logginghassomeproblemsaswell
asbenefits.The useof relativelysophisticated digitalprocessing
and the fact that full-wavetoolsgenerateaboutten timesmore
datathando otherloggingtoolsplacesconsiderable demandon
computingfacilities,particularlyat the well site. The greater
transmitter-to-receiver spacingsresult in greatersignalattenua-
tion and requiregreaterdynamicrange than do shortspaced
tools.Array-typeprocessing requiresnew boreholecompensation
techniques, Someof themostimportantapplications of full-wave
acousticinformationto formulationevaluationare presented.
Theseincludelithology,gaszoneidentification, andestimates of
porosity,elasticmodulii, and formationstrength.The newest
usesincludeestimationof structuraldip, fractureheight,perme-
ability, andgenerationof shearwavesyntheticseismograms.
Scale Trends in Well-Log Response,
Northern Green River Basin, Wyoming
S.E. Prensky, U.S. Geological Survey
Well-log responsein Tertiaryand UpperCretaceous rocksin
thenorthernGreenRiverbasin,Wyoming,wasexaminedaspart
of a comprehensive geologicinvestigation of gasreservesby the
U.S. GeologicalSurveys WesternTight Gas Sand Program.
Digitally recordedwell-log data for selectedwells located
throughout the basinwereprocessed by computerand displayed
ashighlycompressed depth-scale plotsfor examininglarge-scale
trends.AlthoughLowerTertiary(FortUnion formation)andUp-
perCretaceous (Mesaverdegroup)rockshavesimilarnonmarine
fluvial depositionalhistories,the presence of arkosicmaterialin
the Tertiaryrocksproduces a stronglithologiccontrastwith the
underlyingCretaceous rocks.Thesedifferencescan be seenin
plotsof variouslog parameters (gamma-ray,caliper,conductiv-
ity, density),which exhibit markedchangesacrossthe Creta-
ceous-Tertiary unconformity.In the Pinedaleareawherethe ar-
kosicfractionreaches40 volumepercent,the gamma-raylog is
so severelyaffectedthat it cannotbe usedfor distinguishing
sandsfrom shales.
The natureand extentof overpressuring hasbeenexamined.
Detaileddrilling-muddataindicatethatat leastwithin the study
area,the top of overpressuring is restricted
to Cretaceous rocks,
rangingstratigraphically from the Mesaverdegroupalong the
easternmarginof the basinto theFrontierformationin thewest.
Changesin shaleconductivityand shaletransit-time,whichpre-
viousstudiesin this areaascribedto overpressuring andusedfor
predictingoverpressured intervals,appearto reflect lithologic
changesacrossstratigraphic boundaries anddo not correspond to
changes in porepressure asreflectedin mudweights.The inabil-
ity of techniques developed for Gulf Coastconditions to identify
definitivelyoverpressuring in thenorthernGreenRiverbasinsug-
geststhatthesetechniques may not be applicablein geologically
olderbasinswhichexperienced differentdepositional
conditions
andratesand hadmorecomplextectonichistories.