Seismic Interpretation: A Practical Approach

Reflection seismic images are the richest source of information about the Earth's subsurface. Interpreting the increasingly detailed and voluminous datasets available from sedimentary basins around the world requires sophisticated and rapidly developing software tools on now widely available hardware platforms. In contrast to days gone by when interpretation was done using pencils and paper, workstation approaches to seismic interpretation have introduced a complex layer of technologies between the seismic data and the interpreter. This book provides a guide to modern seismic interpretation techniques and applications, considering a variety of data types and applications in various basin contexts and environments. In this book the authors show how to load, view, interact with and interpret both 2D and 3D seismic reflection data and associated datasets (e.g. well data, culture data). Clearly structures throughout, a methodology is presented that will stand students and industry users in good stead, either as a first-time primer or ongoing practical reference guide. The book opens with an outline of how seismic reflection data are acquired and processed, and introduces the key link between geophysics and geology; seismic stratigraphy and seismic facies analysis. Two further sections consider how seismic interpretation can be applied to understand the structure and fill of a range of structures, basin types, depositional settings and fluids, and discuss the key factors a seismic interpreter should consider when presenting their results in an industrial setting.