Seismic prism waves generated by seafloor canyons and their effects on subsurface imaging

James Deeks; David Lumley

doi:10.1071/ASEG2015ab015

24th International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition – Geophysics and Geology Together for Discovery

ISSN: 2202-0586
E-ISSN:

oa Seismic prism waves generated by seafloor canyons and their effects on subsurface imaging
Authors James Deeks^a and David Lumley^b
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^a The University of Western Australia, Geophysics, M004, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, , WA, , 6009, [email protected] ^b The University of Western Australia, Geophysics, M004, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, , WA, , 6009, [email protected]
Publisher: Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Source: ASEG Extended Abstracts, Volume 2015, Issue 24th International Geophysical Conference and Exhibition – Geophysics and Geology Together for Discovery, Dec 2015, p. 1 - 4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/ASEG2015ab015
- Published online: 01 Dec 2015

Abstract

Complex seafloor bathymetry can create significant challenges for subsurface imaging and geologic interpretation of seismic exploration and monitoring data. Steep seafloor canyons that cut through continental shelf areas can produce very strong seismic wavefield distortions. Neglecting such wavefield complexity can result in inaccurate velocity models, significant imaging errors, misleading amplitudes and uncertain geologic interpretations. In this paper we investigate the kinematic and dynamic effects of seismic “prism waves” generated by seafloor canyons. Prism waves are waves that undergo multiple primary reflections at scattering interfaces before propagating to the recording sensor array. We demonstrate that strong prism waves can be generated for realistic seafloor canyon geometries, and show how their adverse effects can contaminate the seismic imaging process.

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2015-12-01

2026-01-22

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References

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Bisley, R., and MacNeill, M., 2008, Application of true azimuth 3D SRME in the Northwest Shelf, Australia: 78th Annual Meeting, SEG, Expanded Abstracts, 2436-2440.
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Virieux, J., 1986, P-SV wave propagation in heterogeneous media: Velocity-stress finite-difference method: Geophysics, 51, 889-901.
Zuberi, M.A.H., and Alkhalifah, T., 2014, Generalized internal multiple imaging (GIMI) using Feynman-like diagrams: Geophysical Journal International, 197, 1582-1592.

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Article Type: Research Article

Keyword(s): canyons; imaging; Prism waves; seafloor

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oa Seismic prism waves generated by seafloor canyons and their effects on subsurface imaging

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