Subsurface Void Imaging and Mapping Using 3D Multi Component Ultra High Resolution 3D Shallow Seismic Imaging, Reverse Time Migration and Multi-Attribute Calculations

Session: Environmental and Near Surface Seismology: From Glaciers and Rivers to Engineered Structures and Beyond
Type: Oral
Date: 4/29/2020
Time: 09:15 AM
Room: 110 + 140
Description: 

Subsurface karst and mining-related subsurface voids pose significant risk to human health, the environment, infrastructure and energy transmission and extraction. Innovations in 3D seismic acquisition and processing provide technological advancements in site characterization applications. Imaging and mapping of karst networks can be accomplished using shallow high-resolution dense sourcing and receiver acquisition with customized processing workflows. Multi-component seismic acquisition with swept-frequency active sourcing and full azimuthal coverage successfully delineates subsurface voids from 3 to 3000-foot depths using 3D seismic acoustic velocity structure, attenuation and resonance constraints. These data provide enough resolution of subsurface characteristics to guide targeted drilling investigations, monitor real-time mining and drilling, map karst systems and aquifer flow paths, identify potential sinkhole locations and manage risk during placement of critical infrastructure such as stacks, mining equipment, pipelines, flowlines, horizontal directional drill paths, tanks, bridge foundations, dams and tailings. These 3D seismic techniques are also scalable and applicable for obtaining continuous engineering moduli for levee and dam assessments, sub-foundation characterization, liquefaction susceptibility and identification of weak zones in levees. These data are most valuable when tied to empirical borehole data, thus providing data constraints for interpolation between borings. 2D seismic methods do no work for these applications and 3D multicomponent sensors and processing continue to become more affordable and much more effective for sufficient data resolution. Published seismic research on finite-frequency wave propagation clearly illustrates why 2D seismic acquisition and processing using ASTM and high-frequency methods are virtually guaranteed to fail for these applications. 2D (linear) seismic has nearly zero sensitivity in the areas they claim to resolve but maximum sensitivity to structures and features outside the plane of analysis.

Presenting Author: Jamey Turner

Authors