Static corrections from shallow‐reflection surveys

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Shallow seismic reflection surveys can assist in determination of velocity and/or thickness variations in near‐surface layers. Static corrections to seismic reflection data compensate for velocity and thickness variations within the “weathered zone.” An uncompensated weathered‐layer thickness variation on the order of 1 m across the length of a geophone array can distort the spectrum of the signal and result in aberrations on final stacked data. P-wave velocities in areas where the weathered zone is composed of unconsolidated materials can be substantially less than the velocity of sound in air. Weathered‐layer thickness variation of 1 m in these low‐velocity materials could result in a static anomaly in excess of 3 ms. Shallow‐reflection data from the Texas panhandle illustrate a real geologic situation with sufficient variability in the near surface to significantly affect seismic signal reflected from depths commonly targeted by conventional reflection surveys. Synthetic data approximating a conventional reflection survey combined with a weathered‐layer model generated from shallow‐reflection data show the possible dramatic static effects of alluvium. Shallow high‐resolution reflection surveys can be used both to determine the severity of intra‐array statics and to assist in the design of a filter to remove much of the distortion such statics cause on deeper reflection data. The static effects of unconsolidated materials can be even more dramatic on S-wave reflection surveys than on comparable P-wave surveys.