Amoco Corporation

Bp Amoco Corporation

James M Gridley

Gregory A Partyka

Kurt J Marfurt

R Lynn Kirlin

The present invention is directed generally toward a method of processing seismic data to provide improved quantification and visualization of subtle seismic thin bed tuning effects and other sorts of lateral rock discontinuities. A reflection from a thin bed has a characteristic expression in the frequency domain that is indicative of the thickness of the bed: the reflection has a periodic sequence of notches in its amplitude spectrum, with the notches being spaced a distance apart that is inversely proportional to the temporal thickness of the thin bed. Further, this characteristic expression may be used to track thin bed reflections through a 3-D volume and estimate their thicknesses and lateral extent. The usefulness of this invention is enhanced by a novel method of frequency domain whitening that emphasizes the geologic information present within the spectrum. Although the present invention is preferentially applied to a 3-D seismic volume, it is alternatively applied to any collection of spatially related seismic traces.

Spectral decomposition for seismic interpretation

The present invention is directed generally toward a method of processing seismic data so as to provide improved quantification and visualization of subtle seismic thin bed tuning effects and other sorts of lateral rock discontinuities. A reflection from a thin bed has a characteristic expression in the frequency domain that is indicative of the thickness of the bed: the reflection has a periodic sequence of notches in its amplitude spectrum, said notches being spaced a distance apart that is inversely proportional to the temporal thickness of the thin bed. Further, this characteristic expression may be used to track thin bed reflections through a 3-D volume and estimate their thicknesses and lateral extent. The usefulness of this invention is enhanced by a novel method of frequency domain whitening that emphasizes the geologic information present within the spectrum. Although the present invention is preferentially applied to a 3-D seismic volume, it is alternatively applied to any collection of spatially related seismic traces.

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Tulsa, OK, United States of America

James M Gridley