Transformation to zero offset in transversely isotropic media

Abstract

Nearly all dip‐moveout correction (DMO) implementations to date assume isotropic homogeneous media. Usually, this has been acceptable considering the tremendous cost savings of homogeneous isotropic DMO and considering the difficulty of obtaining the anisotropy parameters required for effective implementation. In the presence of typical anisotropy, however, ignoring the anisotropy can yield inadequate results. Since anisotropy may introduce large deviations from hyperbolic moveout, accurate transformation to zero‐offset in anisotropic media should address such nonhyperbolic moveout behavior of reflections. Artley and Hale’s v(z) ray‐tracing‐based DMO, developed for isotropic media, provides an attractive approach to treating such problems. By using a ray‐tracing procedure crafted for anisotropic media, I modify some aspects of their DMO so that it can work for v(z) anisotropic media. DMO impulse responses in typical transversely isotropic (TI) models (such as those associated with shales) deviate substantially from the familiar elliptical shape associated with responses in homogeneous isotropic media (to the extent that triplications arise even where the medium is homogeneous). Such deviations can exceed those caused by vertical inhomogeneity, thus emphasizing the importance of taking anisotropy into account in DMO processing. For isotropic or elliptically anisotropic media, the impulse response is an ellipse; but as the key anisotropy parameter η varies, the shape of the response differs substantially from elliptical. For typical η > 0, the impulse response in TI media tends to broaden compared to the response in an isotropic homogeneous medium, a behavior opposite to that encountered in typical v(z) isotropic media, where the response tends to be squeezed. Furthermore, the amplitude distribution along the DMO operator differs significantly from that for isotropic media. Application of this anisotropic DMO to data from offshore Africa resulted in a considerably better alignment of reflections from horizontal and dipping reflectors in common‐midpoint gather than that obtained using an isotropic DMO. Even the presence of vertical inhomogeneity in this medium could not eliminate the importance of considering the shale‐induced anisotropy.