Integration of 2D and 3D Seismic Near-Surface Tomographic Models with Inversion and Geostatistics

R.M. Bridle¹, J. McNeely¹, M.W. Akhtar², and F. Almutairi ³

Abstract

The study area contains 13 3D surveys using tomographic modeling. The geology of the area is outcropping horizons gently dipping, with a carbonate layer suffering a dissolution collapse where it passes through the water table. A tomogram of the near-surface velocity field is only one of many possible solutions of the observed travel times. The 13 surveys began with individual tomograms providing very good local solutions of the near-surface. Different parameters used for these individual surveys caused miss-ties between surveys and problems interpreting the structural seismic image. Near-surface anomalies caused by carbonate dissolution collapse and inter-survey miss-tie issues are resolved by the tomographic modeling of the merged 13 3D surveys. There remains a concern for the long wavelength regional dip of the time structure compared to 2D seismic lines.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90188 ©GEO-2014, 11th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition, 10-12 March 2014, Manama, Bahrain