The influence of mesoscopic flow on the P-wave attenuation and dispersion in a porous media permeated by aligned fractures

Abstract

In sedimentary rocks attenuation/dispersion is dominated by fluid-rock interactions. Wave-induced fluid flow in the pores causes energy loss through several mechanisms, and as a result attenuation is strongly frequency dependent. However, the fluid motion process governing the frequency dependent attenuation and velocity remains unclear. We propose a new approach to obtain the analytical expressions of pore pressure, relative fluxes distribution and frame displacement within the double-layer porous media based on quasi-static poroelastic theory. The dispersion equation for a P-wave propagating in a porous medium permeated by aligned fractures is given by considering fractures as thin and highly compliant layers. The influence of mesoscopic fluid flow on phase velocity dispersion and attenuation is discussed under the condition of varying fracture weakness. In this model conversion of the compression wave energy into Biot slow wave diffusion at the facture surface can result in apparent attenuation and dispersion within the usual seismic frequency band. The magnitude of velocity dispersion and attenuation of P-wave increases with increasing fracture weakness, and the relaxation peak and maximum attenuation shift towards lower frequency. Because of its periodic structure, the fractured porous media can be considered as a phononic crystal with several pass and stop bands in the high frequency band. Therefore, the velocity and attenuation of the P-wave show an oscillatory behavior with increasing frequency when resonance occurs. The evolutions of the pore pressure and the relative fluxes as a function of frequency are presented, giving more physical insight into the behavior of P-wave velocity dispersion and the attenuation of fractured porous medium due to the wave-induced mesoscopic flow. We show that the specific behavior of attenuation as function of frequency is mainly controlled by the energy dissipated per wave cycle in the background layer.