Detailed velocity structure of salt domes in Pricaspian basin from refraction data

Valentina B. Piip, Nadezhda G. Zamozhnyaya, and Arsen K. Suleymanov demonstrate that seismic refraction data offers advantages in the imaging of salt domes. We demonstrate a distinct methodology from the standard approach to interpretation of refraction data. First arrivals of refraction waves received from deep long offset CDP surveys in Pricaspian basin were inverted by a homogeneous function method. We not only received velocity images but the detailed inner structures of salt domes, including structures below the salt overhangs and against of flank of salt body, and also fault blocks. The conventional method using only reflected waves coincided with the more detailed image from refraction data.