Thrustbelt Imaging using RTM using Broadband Point Receiver Measurements- An Example from the UAE

P. van Baaren¹, E. Zubay², C. Cunnell², G. Mohamed², A. Zarkhidze², A. Al Qadi³, and L. Viertel Herrera³

Abstract

Onshore seismic surveys in the Middle East and North Africa benefit from integrated acquisition, data conditioning, and imaging flows designed to handle a wide range of challenging settings. We present the results of such an integrated survey west of the Oman mountains in Sharjah, UAE. The area is characterized by a highly heterogeneous near-surface geology with cultural obstructions, coupled with complex thrust-belt geology with steep dips, allocthonous events, and juxtaposed slow- and fast-velocity formations.

Point-source point-receiver broadband data and wide azimuths and offsets are needed for acquisition in conjunction with a data conditioning and advanced prestack depth migration (PSDM) workflow that takes advantage of these characteristics to build a velocity model that honors the complexity of the geology and wavefield propagation.

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