Feasibility of using passive seismic diffractions for imaging and monitoring

Abstract

SUMMARY We present a feasibility study of using passive seismic data for imaging of diffractors. Imaging and characterisation of seismic diffractors is important for many applications of seismic methods, including carbon geosequestration, since in sedimentary setting the diffractors are associated with terminations of layers at faults, as well as edges of the zones altered through the reservoir depletion or fluid (e.g. CO2) injection. One of the findings is that the diffracted waves from ambient sources can be sometimes incorrectly interpreted as active seismic sources that might lead to wrong conclusions about induced seismicity of processes generating the ambient noise, such as injection of fluids in the subsurface.