First Break - Volume 29, Issue 2, 2011

The mountainsides along Van Keulenfjorden on Svalbard show excellent exposure of the Palaeogene succession. We report the results of an integrated scientific programme of well drilling and seismic acquisition that was initiated to supplement outcrop studies of clinoform development for educational and research purposes. The well, drilled in 2008, is 1085 m deep and a complete clinoform section of Eocene age has been cored. In 2009, 48 km of 2D seismic lines were acquired on the glaciers in the area using snowstreamer technology, with two of the seismic lines crossing the well location. The energy in the shallow window is dominated by direct waves, airwaves, and surface waves. Careful processing integrated with geological interpretation was necessary to image the Palaeogene clinoforms. Based on well and outcrop information and seismic facies, the Palaeogene clinoform succession may be divided into four main units: basin floor shales, sandy bottomsets, slope to basin floor clinoforms, and topsets. We now have a complete dataset containing outcrops, cores, wireline logs, and seismic data for research, education, and to build geological models in a basin floor to shelf setting. It can be used as an analogue for exploration worldwide.

The emerging technology of three-dimensional vertical seismic profiles (3D VSPs) allows the extensive sampling of reflecting surfaces over a wide range of incident angles and azimuths. Such data can be used to provide additional insights into the effective rock properties associated with features that are below seismic resolution, such as layering or aligned systems of fractures which lead to elastic anisotropy. Here we analyse two 3D VSPs acquired in the Arabian Gulf and show how the data may be processed to extract slowness surfaces, how these surfaces can be used to estimate anisotropy parameters, and how the anisotropy relates to the geological characteristics of the formation and its stress history.

We use a real dataset to show, firstly, how unconstrained inversion of marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data can provide useful indications for estimating hydrocarbon saturation. Then we show that when constrained inversion is applied, more precise quantitative indications can be obtained. To constrain the inversion satisfactorily, porosity must be accurately estimated by independent methods and the relationship between resistivity, porosity, and saturation, whether Archie’s law or some other relationship, must be properly parameterized. By such constrained inversion, CSEM surveys can be used for quantitative reservoir characterization and the average hydrocarbon saturation in the reservoir can be estimated with reasonable accuracy.

Jill Lewis, Rune Hagelund and Stewart Levin describe the long road to establishing a new exchange format for seismic data.

Operational challenges involved in acquiring good quality seismic data on ice or snow covered surfaces of the Arctic.

S. Savazzi1 and U. Spagnolini discuss the most critical technological vulnerabilities of current cable-free land acquisition systems and focus on the most promising technologies to support next generation wireless equipment.

S. Savazzi1 and U. Spagnolini discuss the most critical technological vulnerabilities of current cable-free land acquisition systems and focus on the most promising technologies to support next generation wireless equipment.

Denis Mougenot, Anatoly Cherepovskiy and Liu JunJie trace the development of MEMS sensors in the last decade and the impact they have had on land seismic data acquisition.

Surface-related multiple elimination (SRME) has become the industry-preferred method for com- plex 3D multiple removal, mainly for its independence of any geological information. However, a dense set of recorded data is needed to predict the multiples accurately, and success is dependent on the way missing data is reconstructed. Peter Aaron, Simon Barnes, Rob Hegge and Roald van Borselen present an enhanced data reconstruction method to resolve this issue.