Integrated wide‐angle and near‐vertical subbasalt study using large‐aperture seismic data from the Faeroe—Shetland region

Abstract

Acquiring large‐aperture seismic data (38 km maximum offset) along a profile crossing the Faeroe—Shetland basin in the North Atlantic enables us to use wide‐angle reflections and refractions, in addition to conventional streamer data (0–6 km), for subbasalt imaging. The wide‐angle results are complemented and confirmed by images obtained from the conventional near‐vertical‐offset range. Traveltime tomography applied to the wide‐angle data shows a low‐velocity layer (3.5–4.5 km/s) underneath southeastward‐thinning lava flows, suggesting a 2.5–3.0‐km‐thick sedimentary layer. The velocity model obtained from traveltime tomography is used to migrate wide‐angle reflections from large offsets that arrive ahead of the water‐wave cone. The migrated image shows base‐basalt and sub—basalt reflections that are locally coincident with the tomographic boundaries. Application of a new multiple suppression technique and controlled stacking of the conventional streamer data produces seismic sections consistent with the wide‐angle results. Prestack depth migration of the near‐vertical offsets shows a continuous base‐basalt reflection and a clearly defined termination of the basalt flows.