Seismic Stratigraphy — Applications to Hydrocarbon Exploration
Papers from a research symposium at the 1975 American Association of Petroleum Geologists and supplemented by later reports became “Seismic Stratigraphy Applications to Hydrocarbon Exploration”, one of AAPG’s best-selling book publications. Dramatic improvements in seismic imaging were demonstrated, a result of developments in seismic data quality and the processing capability of electronic technology. Twenty-eight articles are grouped into three sections. The first describes principles that both permit and also limit interpretations. The second section presents sixteen articles that describe the qualitative approach to stratigraphic interpretations of reflection records, and the final section presents techniques and examples of modeling. Of particular interest are a series of eleven papers in the second section under the subject heading of “Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level”. Prepared by P. R. Vail, R. M. Mitchum and others from Exxon, they describe the regional unconformities and stratigraphic changes resulting from sea level fluctuations, and the manner in which these changes can be interpreted from seismic surveys. For many individuals within the oil industry who purchased this book, it was their first introduction to the modern concept of sequence stratigraphy that would have a major impact on the methodology of petroleum exploration.
Application of Amplitude, Frequency, and Other Attributes to Stratigraphic and Hydrocarbon Determination1
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Published:January 01, 1977
Abstract
Improvements in seismic data acquisition and processing techniques make it possible to observe geologically significant information in seismic records which has not been evident in the past. New types of measurements help in locating and analyzing geologic features, including some hydrocarbon accumulations. Analysis of a seismic trace as a component of an analytic signal permits the transformation to polar coordinates and the measurement of quantities called “reflection strength” and “ instantaneous phase.” These, plus several other quantities derived from them, are called attribute measurements and can be coded by color on seismic sections. Such color displays permit an interpreter to associate measurements and changes in measurements with structural and other features in the seismic data. They thus facilitate identification of interrelations among measurements. A series of examples shows how such analysis and display helps in locating and understanding faults, unconformities, pinchouts, prograding deposition, seismic sequence boundaries, hydrocarbon accumulations, and Stratigraphic and other variations which might be misinterpreted as hydrocarbon accumulations.