Seismic Energy

Depending upon wavelength / frequency, the

seismic spectrum is divided into three ranges :

 Infrasonic
 Audible
 Ultrasonic
 Seismic Energy (contd.)

Infrasonic range is further classified into:

• Earth oscillation
• Earth quake
• Nuclear explosion
• Crustal refraction studies
 Seismic Energy (contd.)

Audible range :

• Conventional reflection & refraction seismics

• High resolution seismics
• Sparker profiling

Ultrasonic range :
• Sonic logging
 Wave propagation

Classification of Mechanical waves :

• Longitudinal waves
• Transverse waves
Body waves
• P- wave
• S- wave
Surface waves
• Rayleigh wave
• Love wave
Particle motion in P and S wave
Particle motion in SH and SV wave
 Wave Propagation

The velocity of the wave depends on the

elastic modulus and density of the medium

V = (E / ρ)1/2
where,

V = Velocity of the wave

E = Elastic modulus of the medium
ρ = Density of the medium
 Seismic waves

• Compressional Waves
• Shear waves
• Rayleigh waves
• Love waves
 Compressional Waves

The particle motion is along the direction of

wave propagation

Vp = [(λ+2μ) /] 1/2 = [(K+(4/3)μ) / ρ]1/2

Where,
λ = Lame’s coefficient of the medium
μ = Rigidity Modulus of the medium
ρ = Density of the medium
 Shear waves

The particle motion is perpendicular to the

direction of wave propagation
Velocity, Vs = (μ / ρ) 1/2
where,
μ = Rigidity Modulus of the medium
ρ = density of the medium
 Seismic waves
• Ratio of P- & S- wave velocities

Vp / Vs = [(1-σ) / (1/2)- σ)] 1/2

where σ = Poisson’s ratio

• Compressional speed is always greater than shear speed

in a medium

• For more consolidated rock material Vp / Vs is between

1.5 to 2.0.
 Rayleigh Waves
• Travel along the free surface of a solid medium

• Particle motion in a vertical plane and retrograde with

respect to the direction of propagation

• Amplitude decreases exponentially with depth

• These waves constitute the principal component of

ground roll (Low velocity-Low frequency surface
waves)
 Love Waves
• These waves travel along the free surface of a solid
material

• The particle motion is horizontal and transverse

• Since their motion is restricted to horizontal motion,

they are not recorded in P wave prospecting
 Wave speed
The velocity is a function of four parameters :
V (x, ,  , A)

where x = Observation point

 = Unit vector pointing in the direction
of wave travel
 = Wavelength
A = Amplitude of the wave
 Wave Speed (contd.)

 If wave speed depends on the observation point, the

material is said to be heterogeneous, e.g. speed of
sound in room having temperature variation

 If wave speed depends on the direction of travel, the

medium is said to be anisotropic, e.g. anisotropy is
common in sedimentary rocks due to fine layering,
fracturing etc
 Wave Speed (contd.)

• If the wave speed depends on wavelength, the

medium is said to be dispersive, e.g. Seismic
surface wave (Rayleigh wave)

• If the wave speed depends on the amplitude of

the wave, the medium is said to be nonlinear,
e.g. not common in seismic waves in the 10-100
Hz band but measurable effects at Sonic
frequencies
Wavefront, Rays and Principles

• The locus of all particles of the medium which at

any instant are vibrating in the same plane is called
the wavefront
 Wave Front

Rays and wavefront: (A) in constant velocity media &

(B) when velocity varies
 Principles

• Huygen’s Principle

• Fermat ’s Principle

• Snell’s Law
 Huygen’s Principle

• It defines a geometric construction to

determine the new position of a wave front
at any instant

• In other words ,the principle gives a

method to know as to how the wave
propagates in the medium
 Assumptions

• Each point on the primary wave front acts as a

source of secondary wavelets, sending out
disturbance in all directions in a similar manner as
the original source of the disturbance

• The new position of the wave front (called

secondary wave front) at any instant is the
envelope of the secondary wavelet at that instant
Huygen’s Principle

Primary & secondary wavefront

 Fermat’s Principle

“The actual path between two points taken

by a beam of light is the one which is
traversed in the least time”. This is also
called the principle of least time
 Snell’s Law

The Law defines the geometry of the

ray path in a medium defined by the
equation :

Sin i / Sin r = V1/ V2

 Phenomena associated with
Propagation of seismic waves
• Generation
• Transmission
• Absorption
• Attenuation
• Reflection
• Refraction and
• Diffraction
Generation

(A)

(B)

(C)

Sound wave generation

 Transmission

Geometric Spreading:
• Energy per unit area varies inversely as the
square of the distance from the source

• Hence, A  (1/r)
where, A is the amplitude of the signal and r is
distance traveled

• This effect is sometimes termed as spherical

spreading or spherical divergence

• Since R=vt, we can also write A  (1/t)

 Absorption and Attenuation
• Attenuation is the process in which seismic wave
amplitude weakens with distance or time traveled

• Attenuation of the signal may be due to but not

limited to:

– Geometric spreading
– Absorption
– Scattering
– Mode conversion
– Short period multiple
 Absorption
• Loss of amplitude due to frictional dissipation of the
energy into heat and this loss is exponential with
distance

• For a wave of frequency f that has been propagating

t seconds in an absorbing medium, the amplitude A
(t) is described by:

• A (t) = Ao* e - f t / Q = Ao e-at, where a =  f / Q

where, Ao is the amplitude at zero time, Q is the

seismic quality factor and is dimensionless
and A is the damping factor in units of dB/s
 Absorption (contd.)
• Larger the value of Q, smaller is the damping and
infinite Q implies no damping at all (absorption
free medium)

• Since time is distance divided by velocity, this can

also be written as spatial absorption

A(x)= Ao e- f x / v Q=Ao e-x;

where, = f / v Q and is referred to as the

absorption coefficient (units: dB/wavelength)

Q= f / a or f / v; ~27 / Q
 Absorption (contd.)

• Absorption does more than just diminish the

wave amplitude, it also has the effect of
carving away high frequencies relative to
low frequencies
 Reflection & Refraction

When a plane P wave strikes a boundary between two

different media, reflected and refracted waves are
generated

V1

V2

Reflection & Refraction

 Reflection & Refraction

R = Ar / Ai = (ρ2 V2 – ρ1 V1) / (ρ2 V2 + ρ1 V1)

where,
R = Reflection co-efficient
Ar = Amplitude of reflected wave
Ai = Amplitude of incident wave
ρ1, ρ2 are the respective densities of the medium
V1, V2 are the respective velocities of P waves in
two media
 Refraction

Snell’s Law :

Sin i / Sin r = V1/ V2

When r = 90º , Sin i = V1/ V2 ; i is called

the critical angle and denoted by ic.

In this case refracted wave does not penetrate

the medium but travels along the interface
ic= Sin -1 (V1/ V2 )
 Diffraction

• Whenever a wave encounters a feature whose

radius of curvature is comparable to or smaller than
the wavelength, the energy is diffracted rather than
reflected or refracted

• Since seismic wavelengths are large (often 100 mts

or more) compared with some geologic dimensions,
diffraction is an important process
Diffraction wave fronts
 Application of Seismic
Waves in Oil Exploration

• Seismic exploration consists of generating seismic

waves and measuring the travel times from the
sources to a series of geophones

• From the knowledge of travel times and velocities,

the paths of seismic waves may be reconstructed
 CDP method
Conventional coverage implies that each reflecting point is
sampled only once. In Common Depth Point (CDP) technique,
each subsurface depth point is covered with different source to
receiver distances

Different gathers for horizontal interface

Reflection points for Dipping Reflector
 Stages of Exploration

• o
T delineate the basin with a generalized picture of the
sub surface: Gravity magnetic exploration methods
are useful

• o
T find structures within the basins which are
favourable for hydrocarbon exploration:
2D seismic reflection method is useful

• T
o map the structures precisely:
High resolution 2D seismic reflection method is
extensively being used
Stages of Exploration (contd.)

• To delineate strati-structural features and to

understand reservoir characterization: 3D
reflection methods are highly useful

• For identification of bypassed oil as well as

thermal front movement: 4D seismic is useful

• To detect the gas clouds, to identify the facies

variation within reservoir sequence and to
understand fractures: Multi-Component seismic
exploration is effective
 Seismic Events
Travel time curves are fundamental to any
understanding and discrimination of seismic
events
Different kinds of events may be recognized by
their travel time characteristics, amplitude
variations, and relationship to related events
– Direct wave
– Head wave
– Surface wave
– Air wave
– Diffraction
– Reflection
– Ghost
– Multiples
Different Seismic Events
Primary and Multiple Reflection Events
Reflection geometry and travel time
curve for a horizontal interface
A horizontal bed in the subsurface appears on a seismic
record as a Hyperbolic Curve because of normal move-out

S X R

To

Reflection Geometry Travel time for horizontal reflector

ΔT = Tx – T0 = √ (T02 + x2 / v2 ) - T0
ΔT = Difference in travel time between zero
offset and far offset trace
o = travel time at zero offset
T
x = Offset distance
v = the velocity of the medium