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Stratigraphic filtering

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Abstract

A plane-wave signal traveling at normal incidence through the earth's sedimentary layers attenuates, spreads, and changes waveform as it propagates, partly in response to “stratigraphic filtering” resulting from the buildup in the medium of intrabed multiples caused by the layering, and partly in response to absorption. This paper consists of a review of one-dimensional stratigraphic filtering. The action of stratigraphic filtering resembles that of absorption, and the filter's spectrum can be characterized by an effective quality factor. A comparison between the spectra of field data and synthetic data derived from absorption-free one-dimensional models suggests that in some geologic formations, stratigraphic filtering causes a significant fraction of the total attenuation evident on seismic records. In such studies, however, the simplicity of one-dimensional models leaves some uncertainty regarding the generality of the results. Nonetheless, one-dimensional stratigraphic filtering can serve as a useful metaphor that provides insight into the workings of more complex multi-dimensional scattering models.

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  1. Western Geophysical, P.O. Box 2469, 77252, Houston, TX, USA

    J. R. Resnick

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Resnick, J.R. Stratigraphic filtering. PAGEOPH 132, 49–65 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00874357

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00874357

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