Cluster Nature of Scattering Energy Response of Groups of Caverns and Fractures

The paper treats the nature of a reflected wavefield produced by scattering of elastic energy by zones of diffuse fracturing and/or cavernosity in massive rocks by numerical modeling of elastic waves in randomly inhomogeneous media. <br>It is shown that the intensity of the of scattering response of the entire deconsolidated macrozone increases considerably with nonuniformity of distribution of microinhomogeneities in such zones and their concentration (formation of clusters). Energy scattering does not happen when the distribution of microinhomogeneities is uniform. Reflections are generated by the upper and lower interfaces of the macrozone only. <br>The scattering response of a fractured zone at the same structure of the wavefield differs greatly from that of a cavernous zone in stronger attenuation of its total energy and change of relative intensity of compressional and converted waves in favor of the latter. <br>The effect of nonuniformity of microinhomogeneities is the key factor of generation of a response of scattered energy, that is why we can speak about its "cluster" nature. Methods of quantitative estimation of scattering response energy and the degree of nonuniformity of microinhomogeneities in fractured and/or cavernous macrozones are suggested in the paper to analyze the results of numerical modeling. <br><br>