The Importance of Anisotropy for Prestack Imaging of Extensional Fault Systems

S042 THE IMPORTANCE OF ANISOTROPY FOR PRESTACK IMAGING OF EXTENSIONAL FAULT SYSTEMS Introduction 1 The presence of anisotropy in the subsurface is a generally accepted but commonly overlooked concept in processing. When it is addressed usually only the effect on moveout is considered. This paper shows the importance of including anisotropy in imaging not only because it properly handles the long offset moveout but also because it correctly handles the focusing and spatial positioning which is subtler but may be even more important. The paper shows an imaging problem from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a