Imaging salt with turning seismic waves

Abstract

Turning seismic waves, which first travel downward and then upward before (and after) reflection, have been recorded in a 3-D seismic survey conducted over an overhanging salt dome. Careful processing of these turning waves enables the imaging of the underside of the salt dome and of intrusions of salt into vertical faults radiating from the dome. When seismic wave velocity increases with depth, waves that initially travel downward are reflected and may turn so as to travel upward before reflection. A simple geometrical argument suggests that these turning waves are likely to exhibit abnormal moveout in common‐midpoint (CMP) gathers, in that reflection time decreases with increasing source‐receiver offset. This abnormal moveout and the attenuation of turning waves by most migration methods suggest that conventional seismic processing does not properly image turning waves. The most important step in imaging turning waves, assuming that they have been recorded, is the migration process. Simple and inexpensive modifications to the conventional phase‐shift migration method enable turning waves to be imaged for little additional computational cost. The examples provided in this paper suggest that these and other such modifications to conventional processing should be used routinely when imaging salt domes.