Michael C. Fehler

Surface wave tomography from microseisms in Southern California

Received 5 April 2005; revised 23 May 2005; accepted 9 June 2005; published 26 July 2005. [1] Since it has already been demonstrated that point-topoint seismic propagation Green Functions can be extracted from seismic noise, it should be possible to image Earth structure using the ambient noise field. Seismic noise data from 148 broadband seismic stations in Southern California were used to extract the surface wave arrival-times between all station pairs in the network. The seismic data were then used in a simple, but densely sampled tomographic procedure to estimate the surface wave velocity structure within the frequency range of 0.1–0.2 Hz for a region in Southern California. The result compares favorably with previous estimates obtained using more conventional and elaborate inversion procedures. This demonstrates that coherent noise field between station pairs can be used for seismic imaging purposes. Citation: Sabra, K. G., P. Gerstoft, P. Roux, W. A. Kuperman, and M. C. Fehler (2005), Surface wave tomography from microseisms in Southern California, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L14311, doi:10.1029/2005GL023155.

P‐waves from cross‐correlation of seismic noise

Received 13 June 2005; revised 19 August 2005; accepted 31 August 2005; published 6 October 2005. [1] We present results from the cross-correlations of seismic noise recordings among pairs of stations in the Parkfield network, California. When performed on many station pairs at short ranges, the noise correlation function (NCF) is the passive analog to a shot gather made with active sources. We demonstrate the presence of both a P-wave and a Rayleigh wave in the NCF. A time-frequency analysis allows us to separate the two wave packets that are further identified through their polarization. Arrival times were estimated from the NCF and they compared favorably with predictions using ray tracing in a regional velocity model and with the velocity gradient across the San Andreas Fault. Citation: Roux, P., K. G. Sabra, P. Gerstoft, W. A. Kuperman, and M. C. Fehler (2005), P-waves from crosscorrelation of seismic noise, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L19303,

Green's functions extraction and surface-wave tomography from microseisms in southern California

We use crosscorrelations of seismic noise data from 151 stations in southern California to extract the group velocities of surface waves between the station pairs for the purpose of determining the surface-wave velocity structure. We developed an automated procedure for estimating the Green’s functions and subsequent tomographic inversion from the 11,325 station pairs based on the characteristics of the noise field. We eliminate specific events by a procedure that does not introduce any spurious spectral distortion in the band of interest, 0.05–0.2 Hz. Further, we only used the emerging arrival structure above a threshold signal-to-noise ratio. The result is that mostly station pairs with their axes oriented toward the sea are used, consistent with the noise having a microseism origin. Finally, it is the time derivative of the correlation function that is actually related to the Green’s function. The emergence of the time-domain Green’s function is proportional to the square root of the recording time and inversely proportional to the square root of the distance between stations. The tomographic inversion yields a surface-wave velocity map that compares favorably with more conventional and elaborate experimental procedures.

Extended local Born Fourier migration method

A migration approach based on a local application of the Born approximation within each extrapolation interval contains a singularity that can make direct application unstable. Previous authors have suggested adding an imaginary part to the vertical wavenumber to eliminate the singularity. However, their method requires that the reference slowness must be the maximum slowness of a given layer; consequently, the slowness perturbations are larger than those when the average slowness is selected as a reference slowness. Therefore, its applicability is limited. We develop an extended local Born Fourier migration method that circumvents the singularity problem of the local Born solution and makes it possible to choose the average slowness as a reference slowness. It is computationally efficient because of the use of a fast Fourier transform algorithm. It can handle wider angles (or steeper interfaces) and scattering effects of heterogeneities more accurately than the split‐step Fourier (SSF) method, which acco...

Induced Microearthquake Patterns in Hydrocarbon and Geothermal Reservoirs: Six Case Studies

Abstract — The injection or production of fluids can induce microseismic events in hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs. By deploying sensors downhole, data sets have been collected that consist of a few hundred to well over 10,000 induced events. We find that most induced events cluster into well-defined geometrical patterns. In many cases, we must apply high-precision, relative location techniques to observe these patterns. At three sedimentary sites, thin horizontal strands of activity are commonly found within the location patterns. We believe this reflects fracture containment between stratigraphic layers of differing mechanical properties or states of stress. At a massive carbonate and two crystalline sites, combinations of linear and planar features indicate networks of intersecting fractures and allow us to infer positions of aseismic fractures through their influence on the location patterns. In addition, the fine-scale seismicity patterns often evolve systematically with time. At sedimentary sites, migration of seismicity toward the injection point has been observed and may result from slip-induced stress along fractures that initially have little resolved shear. In such cases, triggering events may be critical to generate high levels of seismic activity. At one crystalline site, the early occurrence of linear features that traverse planes of activity indicate permeable zones and possible flow paths within fractures. We hope the continued development of microseismic techniques and refinement of conceptual models will further increase our understanding of fluid behavior and lead to improved resource management in fractured reservoirs.

Detailed joint structure in a geothermal reservoir from studies of induced microearthquake clusters

Microearthquake clusters form distinct, planar patterns within five study regions of a geothermal reservoir undergoing hydraulic fracturing at Fenton Hill, New Mexico. The patterns define individual, slipping joint surfaces of dimension 40–120 m, containing 80–150 events each. Sharp, straight edges truncate the clusters; we interpret these as marking intersections with aseismic joints. Each edge orientation is consistent with an intersection between the active joint and a plane oriented parallel to one of the other clusters we identify. Therefore it appears that cluster shapes constrain the geometry of seismic and aseismic joints; both could be important components of the fluid-flow network. The distribution of inferred slip plane orientations is consistent with but fails to provide sufficient constraint to differentiate conclusively between two, very different, stress field estimates, one measured using pressurization and wellbore breakouts, the other using focal mechanisms of the largest microearthquakes. An impermeable joint model, requiring pore pressure in excess of the normal stress on a joint before slip can occur, was inconsistent with many of the inferred slip plane orientations. The high-quality locations were possible because events from the same cluster generated nearly similar waveforms, permitting the precise determination of relative arrival times. Standard deviations of arrival-time residuals fall between 0.1 and 1.1 ms for these clusters. Major axes and aspect ratios of the 90% confidence ellipsoids range from 6 to 28 m and 1.5 to 8, respectively. Small events dominate the seismic energy release and thoroughly populate the identified, active joints, allowing the hypocenters to reflect details of the joint structure. To further investigate the reservoir structure, we applied a source-array, slant-stack technique to waveforms from the well-located clusters, yielding directions that scattered energy left each cluster. By studying paths of scattered waves we expected to pinpoint impedance contrasts that might have indicated concentrations of fluid-filled joints. However, results show that scattered energy in the S wave coda left the source region in the same direction as the direct S wave. Direct waves may have excited borehole tube waves that became trapped in the vicinity of the geophone tool, overwhelming any energy scattered from the reservoir.

Traveltime tomography: A comparison of popular methods

Noisy or inconsistent traveltime data yielded tomographic images that contain geologically unrealistic fluctuations. In addition to diverting attention away from structural patterns, these high‐wavenumber fluctuations can generate shadow zones and caustics that destabilize iterative solution schemes requiring ray tracing. We evaluated the performance of a number of popular methods that have been designed to reduce this effect, using synthetic crosswell data containing Gaussian noise. Quantitative comparisons between tomography methods were based on the misfit with the true model, solution stability under different sets of noise of the same level, and resolution‐covariance relationships. Other important factors included versatility and simplicity. Versatility is the ability to treat data with a wide range of noise levels as well as data generated by different structures. Simplicity is characterized by the number of adjustable inputs such as smoother shape, starting model, and damping or regularization para...

Using Automated, High-precision Repicking to Improve Delineation of Microseismic Structures at the Soultz Geothermal Reservoir

Abstract — An automatic, adaptive, correlation-based algorithm for adjusting phase picks in large digital seismic data sets provides significant improvement in resolution of microseismic structures using only a small fraction of the time and manpower which would be required to re-analyze waveforms manually or semi-automatically. We apply this technique to induced seismicity at the Soultz-sous-Forêts geothermal site, France. The method is first applied to a small, previously manually repicked subset of the catalogue so that we may compare our results to those obtained from painstaking, visual, cross-correlation-based techniques. Relative centroid-adjusted hypocenters show a decrease in median mislocation from 31 to 7 m for preliminary and automatically adjusted picks, respectively, compared to the manual results. Narrow, intersecting joint features not observed in the preliminary hypocenter cloud, but revealed through manual repicking, are also recovered using the automatic method. We then address a larger catalogue of ∼7000 microearthquakes. After relocating the events using automatic repicks, the percentage of events clustering within 5 m of their nearest neighbor increases form 5 to 26% of the catalogue. Hypocenter relocations delineate narrow, linear features previously obscured within the seismic cloud, interpreted as faults or fractures which may correspond to fluid propagation paths, or to changes in stress as a result of elevated pore pressures. RMS travel-time residuals for the larger data set are reduced by only 0.2%; however, phase-pick biases in the preliminary catalogue have influenced both the velocity model and station correction calculations, which will affect location residuals. These pick biases are apparent on the adjusted, stacked waveforms and correcting them will be important prior to future velocity model refinements.

Permeability dependence of seismic amplitudes

Can permeability be determined from seismic data? This question has been around since Maurice Biot, working for Shell in the 1950s, introduced the idea that seismic waves induce fluid flow in saturated rocks due to fluid-pressure equilibration between the peaks and troughs of a compressional wave (or due to grain accelerations in the case of a shear wave). Biot (1956) established a frequency-dependent analytical relation between permeability and seismic attenuation. However, laboratory, sonic log, crosswell, VSP, and surface seismic have all demonstrated that Biots predictions often greatly underestimate the measured levels of attenuation—dramatically so for the lower-frequency measurements. Yet, if an unresolved link truly exists between seismic amplitudes and permeability, the potential benefit to the oil industry is enormous. For this reason, the Department of Energy (DOE) brought together 15 participants from industry, national laboratories, and universities to concentrate for two days on whether permeability information is conceivably contained in and retrievable from seismic data. The present article represents much of the workshop discussion (which took place 5–6 December 2001 in Berkeley, California), but is not strictly limited to it. Not all connections between hydrological and seismic properties are considered. Three-dimensional seismic images and time-lapse seismic monitoring are routinely used by reservoir engineers in constructing and constraining their reservoir model. Such imaging applications of seismic surveys to hydrological modeling are not discussed. Furthermore, in fractured reservoirs it is reasonable to postulate that any locally determined seismic anisotropy defines a symmetry class for the geologic material that must also be satisfied by the permeability tensor. Neither are such material-symmetry constraints discussed. The focus here is only on whether the permeability of the rocks through which seismic waves propagate directly influences the decay of the wave amplitudes with distance. Key to addressing this question is an up-to-date discussion of the likely attenuation …

Extended local Rytov Fourier migration method

We develop a novel depth‐migration method termed the extended local Rytov Fourier (ELRF) migration method. It is based on the scalar wave equation and a local application of the Rytov approximation within each extrapolation interval. Wavefields are Fourier transformed back and forth between the frequency‐space and frequency‐wavenumber domains during wavefield extrapolation. The lateral slowness variations are taken into account in the frequency‐space domain. The method is efficient due to the use of a fast Fourier transform algorithm. Under the small angle approximation, the ELRF method leads to the split‐step Fourier (SSF) method that is unconditionally stable. The ELRF method and the extended local Born Fourier (ELBF) method that we previously developed can handle wider propagation angles than the SSF method and account for the phase and amplitude changes due to the lateral variations of slowness, whereas the SSF method only accounts for the phase changes. The stability of the ELRF method is controlled ...