Structural–formational interpretation tools for seismic stratigraphy

Abstract

In the framework of a structural‐and‐formational interpretation (SFI) approach to seismic data processing and geological interpretation, specific software/technology tools were created to facilitate sequence stratigraphy analysis and reservoir characterization. The most important tools are two types of time–frequency representation of seismic data: the first is spectrum‐time analysis (STAN), which presents a seismic trace as a series of very narrow frequency band traces, while the second tool converts an initial seismic section into a set of sections ranked with preselected frequency bands, narrower than those of the initial section, but wider than those related to STAN traces. Jointly, these two representations reflect both general trends and local temporal and spatial variations of seismic data frequency content. The use of these tools, developed in Russia in the 1980s, facilitates detection of sedimentation cycles and their depositional environments, identification of hierarchies within faulting patterns, and delineation of geological anomalies on seismic sections. This, in turn, provides reliable starting points for palaeotectonic restoration and basin modelling. In many regions, these tools have helped to clarify obscure formation structures under study and to estimate the hydrocarbon potential of these formations.