ALBERT

Description: A strategy is presented to incorporate prior information from conceptual geological models in probabilistic inversion of geophysical data. The conceptual geological models are represented by multiple-point statistics training images (TIs) featuring the expected lithological units and structural patterns. Information from an ensemble of TI realizations is used in two different ways. First, dominant modes are identified by analysis of the frequency content in the realizations, which drastically reduces the model parameter space in the frequency-amplitude domain. Second, the distributions of global, summary metrics (e.g. model roughness) are used to formulate a prior probability density function. The inverse problem is formulated in a Bayesian framework and the posterior pdf is sampled using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. The usefulness and applicability of this method is demonstrated on two case studies in which synthetic crosshole ground-penetrating radar traveltime data are inverted to recover 2-D porosity fields. The use of prior information from TIs significantly enhances the reliability of the posterior models by removing inversion artefacts and improving individual parameter estimates. The proposed methodology reduces the ambiguity inherent in the inversion of high-dimensional parameter spaces, accommodates a wide range of summary statistics and geophysical forward problems.

Description: Many rocks and layered/fractured sequences have a clearly expressed electrical anisotropy although it is rare in practice to incorporate anisotropy into resistivity inversion. In this contribution, we present a series of 2.5-D synthetic inversion experiments for various electrode configurations and 2-D anisotropic models. We examine and compare the image reconstructions obtained using the correct anisotropic inversion code with those obtained using the false but widely used isotropic assumption. Superior reconstruction in terms of reduced data misfit, true anomaly shape and position, and anisotropic background parameters were obtained when the correct anisotropic assumption was employed for medium to high coefficients of anisotropy. However, for low coefficient values the isotropic assumption produced better-quality results. When an erroneous isotropic inversion is performed on medium to high level anisotropic data, the images are dominated by patterns of banded artefacts and high data misfits. Various pole–pole, pole–dipole and dipole–dipole data sets were investigated and evaluated for the accuracy of the inversion result. The eigenvalue spectra of the pseudo-Hessian matrix and the formal resolution matrix were also computed to determine the information content and goodness of the results. We also present a data selection strategy based on high sensitivity measurements which drastically reduces the number of data to be inverted but still produces comparable results to that of the comprehensive data set. Inversion was carried out using transversely isotropic model parameters described in two different co-ordinate frames for the conductivity tensor, namely Cartesian versus natural or eigenframe. The Cartesian frame provided a more stable inversion product. This can be simply explained from inspection of the eigenspectra of the pseudo-Hessian matrix for the two model descriptions.

Description: We studied artificial ore models that contained galena, pyrite, magnetite, graphite and cryptomelane with the time domain induced polarization technique. The models were mixtures of sand and metallic-type, electronically conductive mineral particles. We varied the volumetric content of the particles, their mineral composition and average grain size, as well as the pore water salinity. Based on the Debye decomposition approach, we obtained relaxation time distributions, which contained peaks. From these distributions, we obtained the total chargeability and the peak relaxation time. We correlated these parameters with the particle mineral composition, grain size, particle content and the pore solution resistivity. We also compared the experimental data with the Wong model prediction, which was unable to explain the entire data set. The above-mentioned correlations, in conjunction with some previously published data, allowed us to formulate a new, semi-empirical model that links (1) the total chargeability with the volumetric content of the particles and the total chargeability of the host matrix and (2) the time constant with the particle mineralogy, the particle radius and the pore solution resistivity.

Description: Electrodes installed on active landslides and vulnerable earthworks to monitor changes in resistivity associated with moisture dynamics can be subject to movement. This affects the geoelectrical data and leads to errors in the resulting electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) images. This paper demonstrates the selection of appropriate ERT measurements to provide sensitivity to electrode displacements in both directions on a surface grid. Combinations of linear and equatorial dipole–dipole measurements are considered, which permit use on rectangular grids of any aspect ratio. A Gauss–Newton inversion scheme, initially based on simple homogeneous resistivity model calculations, is developed that allows for the incorporation of constraints based on the magnitude and direction of movement. The effects of the constraints are demonstrated with synthetic data, which are also used to show that displacement inversion can track electrodes positions during movement as a function of time. The conclusions of these simulations are subsequently confirmed by analogous experiments in a laboratory tank. The results show that tracking the positions of the electrodes is possible with sufficient accuracy, even in the presence of realistic subsurface resistivity structures, to correct the majority of distortions and resistivity anomalies caused by using the wrong electrode locations in ERT inversion. By incorporating estimates of the resistivity structure into the forward response modelling, the accuracy of the recovered displacements is improved. This also enables an iterative displacement and resistivity inversion to be developed that, for the first time, demonstrates the principle of using 3-D ERT data to monitor both subsurface geoelectrical properties and surface movements simultaneously.

Description: Seismic waves propagating in a porous medium, under favourable conditions, generate measurable electromagnetic fields due to electrokinetic effects. It has been proposed, following experimental and numerical studies, that these so-called ‘seismoelectromagnetic’ couplings depend on pore fluid properties. The theoretical frame describing these phenomena are based on the original Biot's theory, assuming that pores are fluid-filled. We study here the impact of a partially saturated medium on amplitudes of those seismoelectric couplings by comparing experimental data to an effective fluid model. We have built a 1-m-length-scale experiment designed for imbibition and drainage of an homogeneous silica sand; the experimental set-up includes a seismic source, accelerometers, electric dipoles and capacitance probes in order to monitor seismic and seismoelectric fields during water saturation. Apparent velocities and frequency spectra (in the kiloHertz range) are derived from seismic and electrical measurements during experiments in varying saturation conditions. Amplitudes of seismic and seismoelectric waves and their ratios (i.e. transfer functions) are discussed using a spectral analysis performed by continuous wavelet transform. The experiments reveal that amplitude ratios of seismic to coseismic electric signals remain rather constant as a function of the water saturation in the S w  = [0.2–0.9] range, consistently with theoretically predicted transfer functions.

Description: New marine geophysical data recorded across the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone are used to image deformation and seismic velocity structures of the forearc and Pacific Plate where the Louisville Ridge seamount chain subducts. Due to the obliquity of the Louisville Ridge to the trench and the fast 128 mm yr –1 south–southwest migration of the ridge-trench collision zone, post-, current and pre-seamount subduction deformation can be investigated between 23°S and 28°S. We combine our interpretations from the collision zone with previous results from the post- and pre-collision zones to define the along-arc variation in deformation due to seamount subduction. In the pre-collision zone the lower-trench slope is steep, the mid-trench slope has ~3-km-thick stratified sediments and gravitational collapse of the trench slope is associated with basal erosion by subducting horst and graben structures on the Pacific Plate. This collapse indicates that tectonic erosion is a normal process affecting this generally sediment starved subduction system. In the collision zone the trench-slope decreases compared to the north and south, and rotation of the forearc is manifest as a steep plate boundary fault and arcward dipping sediment in a 12-km-wide, ~2-km-deep mid-slope basin. A ~3 km step increase in depth of the middle and lower crustal isovelocity contours below the basin indicates the extent of crustal deformation on the trench slope. At the leading edge of the overriding plate, upper crustal P -wave velocities are ~4.0 km s –1 and indicate the trench fill material is of seamount origin. Osbourn Seamount on the outer rise has extensional faulting on its western slope and mass wasting of the seamount provides the low V p material to the trench. In the post-collision zone to the north, the trench slope is smooth, the trench is deep, and the crystalline crust thins at the leading edge of the overriding plate where V p is low, ~5.5 km s –1 . These characteristics are attributed to a greater degree of extensional collapse of the forearc in the wake of seamount subduction. The northern end of a seismic gap lies at the transition from the smooth lower-trench slope of the post-collision zone, to the block faulted and elevated lower-trench slope in the collision zone, suggesting a causative link between the collapse of the forearc and seismogenesis. Along the forearc, the transient effects of a north-to-south progression of ridge subduction are preserved in the geomorphology, whereas longer-term effects may be recorded in the ~80 km offset in trench strike at the collision zone itself.

Description: Satellite radar altimetry observations are used to derive short wavelength gravity anomaly fields over the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, where in situ and ship-borne gravity measurements have limited spatial coverage. In this study the retracking algorithm ‘Extrema Retracking’ (ExtR) was employed to improve sea surface height (SSH) measurements that are highly biased in the study regions due to land contaminations in the footprints of the satellite altimetry observations. ExtR was applied to the waveforms sampled by the five satellite radar altimetry missions: TOPEX/POSEIDON, JASON-1, JASON-2, GFO and ERS-1. Along-track slopes have been estimated from the improved SSH measurements and used in an iterative process to estimate deflections of the vertical, and subsequently, the desired gravity anomalies. The main steps of the gravity anomaly computations involve estimating improved SSH using the ExtR technique, computing deflections of the vertical from interpolated SSHs on a regular grid using a biharmonic spline interpolation and finally estimating gridded gravity anomalies. A remove–compute–restore algorithm, based on the fast Fourier transform, has been applied to convert deflections of the vertical into gravity anomalies. Finally, spline interpolation has been used to estimate regular gravity anomaly grids over the two study regions. Results were evaluated by comparing the estimated altimetry-derived gravity anomalies (with and without implementing the ExtR algorithm) with ship-borne free air gravity anomaly observations, and free air gravity anomalies from the Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008). The comparison indicates a range of 3–5 mGal in the residuals, which were computed by taking the differences between the retracked altimetry-derived gravity anomaly and the ship-borne data. The comparison of retracked data with ship-borne data indicates a range in the root-mean-square-error (RMSE) between approximately 1.8 and 4.4 mGal and a bias between 0.4062 and 2.1413 mGal over different areas. Also a maximum RMSE of 4.4069 mGal, with a mean value of 0.7615 mGal was obtained in the residuals. An average improvement of 5.2746 mGal in the RMSE of the altimetry-derived gravity anomalies corresponding to 89.9 per cent was obtained after applying the ExtR post-processing.

Description: A LArge Reservoir Simulator (LARS) was equipped with an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) array to monitor hydrate formation and dissociation experiments. During two hydrate formation experiments reaching 90 per cent bulk hydrate saturation, frequent measurements of the electrical properties within the sediment sample were performed. Subsequently, several common mixing rules, including two different interpretations of Archie's law, were tested to convert the obtained distribution of the electrical resistivity into the spatial distribution of local hydrate saturation. It turned out that the best results estimating values of local hydrate saturation were obtained using the Archie var – phi approach where the increasing hydrate phase is interpreted as part of the sediment grain framework reducing the sample's porosity. These values of local hydrate saturation were used to determine local permeabilities by applying the Carman-Kozeny relation. The formed hydrates were dissociated via depressurization. The decomposition onset as well as areas featuring hydrates and free gas were inferred from the ERT results. Supplemental consideration of temperature and pressure data granted information on discrete areas of hydrate dissociation.

Description: Modelling of pressure transients recorded in wells allows for characterization of reservoirs surrounding the well. Simulation of pressure transients furthermore permits sensitivity studies for individual model parameters. We numerically simulated pumping tests in a vertical well intersecting a single horizontal fracture to evaluate the diagnostic potential of periodic pumping procedures for subsurface characterization. The pressure responses in the pumping and monitoring wells were analysed with respect to their sensitivity to geometrical and hydraulic properties of the fracture and of the surrounding rock material. We focused on interference analysis that for periodic pumping tests reduces to a consideration of amplitude ratio and phase shift between pressure transients recorded at an injection well and monitoring points. Fluid flow in the deformable fracture was modelled employing (1) a hybrid-dimensional hydro-mechanically coupled approach and (2) an uncoupled-diffusion equation. Results of both approaches were compared to quantify the effects of hydro-mechanical coupling. While in the uncoupled-diffusion approach a bulk storage capacity value is prescribed for the fracture, storage capacity is implicitly accounted for by the coupling in the hybrid-dimensional approach. Results reveal that hydro-mechanical coupling strongly affects the pressure transient at the pumping well and the monitoring points. Asymmetry of the pressure profiles between injection and production phases at the injection point is a peculiar characteristic of the hydro-mechanical results and is related to changes in fracture permeability with fluid pressure caused by fracture deformation. Further hydro-mechanical effects, such as reverse-pressure response, occur at monitoring points along the fracture domain, in particular at positions in the conduit where the contribution of diffusive pressure propagation remains small, that is, at monitoring distances large compared to classic scaling for penetration depth using hydraulic diffusivity. During periodic pumping tests the reverse response is potentially triggered various times within one period and thus chances to unequivocally recognize this effect are largely enhanced in comparison to conventional pulse or step testing procedures. The standard scaling relation for diffusion processes, often employed in the analysis of induced seismicity, has limited applicability to deformable fractures.

Description: Satellite radar altimetry observations are used to derive short wavelength gravity anomaly fields over the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, where in situ and ship-borne gravity measurements have limited spatial coverage. In this study the retracking algorithm ‘Extrema Retracking’ (ExtR) was employed to improve sea surface height (SSH) measurements that are highly biased in the study regions due to land contaminations in the footprints of the satellite altimetry observations. ExtR was applied to the waveforms sampled by the five satellite radar altimetry missions: TOPEX/POSEIDON, JASON-1, JASON-2, GFO and ERS-1. Along-track slopes have been estimated from the improved SSH measurements and used in an iterative process to estimate deflections of the vertical, and subsequently, the desired gravity anomalies. The main steps of the gravity anomaly computations involve estimating improved SSH using the ExtR technique, computing deflections of the vertical from interpolated SSHs on a regular grid using a biharmonic spline interpolation and finally estimating gridded gravity anomalies. A remove–compute–restore algorithm, based on the fast Fourier transform, has been applied to convert deflections of the vertical into gravity anomalies. Finally, spline interpolation has been used to estimate regular gravity anomaly grids over the two study regions. Results were evaluated by comparing the estimated altimetry-derived gravity anomalies (with and without implementing the ExtR algorithm) with ship-borne free air gravity anomaly observations, and free air gravity anomalies from the Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008). The comparison indicates a range of 3–5 mGal in the residuals, which were computed by taking the differences between the retracked altimetry-derived gravity anomaly and the ship-borne data. The comparison of retracked data with ship-borne data indicates a range in the root-mean-square-error (RMSE) between approximately 1.8 and 4.4 mGal and a bias between 0.4062 and 2.1413 mGal over different areas. Also a maximum RMSE of 4.4069 mGal, with a mean value of 0.7615 mGal was obtained in the residuals. An average improvement of 5.2746 mGal in the RMSE of the altimetry-derived gravity anomalies corresponding to 89.9 per cent was obtained after applying the ExtR post-processing.

Description: Subduction zones exhibit variable degrees of interseismic coupling as resolved by inversions of geodetic data and analyses of seismic energy release. The degree to which a plate boundary fault is coupled can have profound effects on its seismogenic behaviour. Here we use GPS measurements to estimate co- and post-seismic deformation from the 2012 August 27, M w 7.3 megathrust earthquake offshore El Salvador, which was a tsunami earthquake. Inversions of estimated coseismic displacements are in agreement with published seismically derived source models, which indicate shallow (〈20 km depth) rupture of the plate interface. Measured post-seismic deformation in the first year following the earthquake exceeds the coseismic deformation. Our analysis indicates that the post-seismic deformation is dominated by afterslip, as opposed to viscous relaxation, and we estimate a post-seismic moment release one to eight times greater than the coseismic moment during the first 500 d, depending on the relative location of coseismic versus post-seismic slip on the plate interface. We suggest that the excessive post-seismic motion is characteristic for the El Salvador–Nicaragua segment of the Central American margin and may be a characteristic of margins hosting tsunami earthquakes.

Description: The Okavango Delta of northern Botswana is one of the world's largest inland deltas or megafans. To obtain information on the character of sediments and basement depths, audiomagnetotelluric (AMT), controlled-source audiomagnetotelluric (CSAMT) and central-loop transient electromagnetic (TEM) data were collected on the largest island within the delta. The data were inverted individually and jointly for 1-D models of electric resistivity. Distortion effects in the AMT and CSAMT data were accounted for by including galvanic distortion tensors as free parameters in the inversions. By employing Marquardt–Levenberg inversion, we found that a 3-layer model comprising a resistive layer overlying sequentially a conductive layer and a deeper resistive layer was sufficient to explain all of the electromagnetic data. However, the top of the basal resistive layer from electromagnetic-only inversions was much shallower than the well-determined basement depth observed in high-quality seismic reflection images and seismic refraction velocity tomograms. To resolve this discrepancy, we jointly inverted the electromagnetic data for 4-layer models by including seismic depths to an interface between sedimentary units and to basement as explicit a priori constraints. We have also estimated the interconnected porosities, clay contents and pore-fluid resistivities of the sedimentary units from their electrical resistivities and seismic P -wave velocities using appropriate petrophysical models. In the interpretation of our preferred model, a shallow ~40 m thick freshwater sandy aquifer with 85–100 m resistivity, 10–32 per cent interconnected porosity and 〈13 per cent clay content overlies a 105–115 m thick conductive sequence of clay and intercalated salt-water-saturated sands with 15–20 m total resistivity, 1–27 per cent interconnected porosity and 15–60 per cent clay content. A third ~60 m thick sandy layer with 40–50 m resistivity, 10–33 per cent interconnected porosity and 〈15 per cent clay content is underlain by the basement with 3200–4000 m total resistivity. According to an interpretation of helicopter TEM data that cover the entire Okavango Delta and borehole logs, the second and third layers may represent lacustrine sediments from Paleo Lake Makgadikgadi and a moderately resistive freshwater aquifer comprising sediments of the recently proposed Paleo Okavango Megafan, respectively.

Description: We discuss an inverse source formulation aimed at focusing wave energy produced by ground surface sources to target subsurface poroelastic formations. The intent of the focusing is to facilitate or enhance the mobility of oil entrapped within the target formation. The underlying forward wave propagation problem is cast in two spatial dimensions for a heterogeneous poroelastic target embedded within a heterogeneous elastic semi-infinite host. The semi-infiniteness of the elastic host is simulated by augmenting the (finite) computational domain with a buffer of perfectly matched layers. The inverse source algorithm is based on a systematic framework of partial-differential-equation-constrained optimization. It is demonstrated, via numerical experiments, that the algorithm is capable of converging to the spatial and temporal characteristics of surface loads that maximize energy delivery to the target formation. Consequently, the methodology is well-suited for designing field implementations that could meet a desired oil mobility threshold. Even though the methodology, and the results presented herein are in two dimensions, extensions to three dimensions are straightforward.

Description: Attenuating random noise is of great significance in seismic data processing. In recent years, time–frequency peak filtering (TFPF) has been successfully applied to seismic random noise attenuation field. However, a fixed window length (WL) is used in the conventional TFPF. Since a short WL in the TFPF is used to preserve signals while a long WL can eliminate random noise effectively, signal preserving and noise attenuation cannot be balanced by a fixed WL especially when the signal-to-noise ratio of the noisy seismic record is low. Thus, we need to divide a noisy signal into signal and noise segments before the filtering. Then a short WL is used to the signal segments to preserve signals and a long WL is chosen for noise segments to eliminate random noise. In this paper, we test the smoothness of signals and random noise in time using the Hurst exponent which is a statistic for representing smoothness characteristics of signals. The time-series of signals with higher smoothness which lead to larger Hurst exponent values, however random noise is a random series in time without fixed waveforms and thus its smoothness is low, so the signal and noise segments can be divided by the Hurst exponent values. After the segmentation, we can adopt different filtering WLs in the TFPF for different segments to make a trade-off between signal preserving and random noise attenuation. Synthetic and real data experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can remove random noise from seismic record and preserve reflection events effectively.

Description: Often in geophysical monitoring experiments time-lapse inversion models vary too smoothly with time, owing to the strong imprint of regularization. Several methods have been proposed for focusing the spatiotemporal changes of the model parameters. In this study, we present two generalizations of the minimum support norm, which favour compact time-lapse changes and can be adapted to the specific problem requirements. Inversion results from synthetic direct current resistivity models that mimic developing plumes show that the focusing scheme significantly improves size, shape and magnitude estimates of the time-lapse changes. Inversions of the synthetic data also illustrate that the focused inversion gives robust results and that the focusing settings are easily chosen. Inversions of full-decay time-domain induced polarization (IP) field data from a CO 2 monitoring injection experiment show that the focusing scheme performs well for field data and inversions for all four Cole–Cole polarization parameters. Our tests show that the generalized minimum support norms react in an intuitive and predictable way to the norm settings, implying that they can be used in time-lapse experiments for obtaining reliable and robust results.

Description: An experimental system is built for the electrokinetic measurements with a small scaled seismoelectric detector and a high resolution digitizer (1 MS s –1 , 22 bits). The acoustic and seismoelectric experiments are carried out in different borehole models at the high frequency of 90 kHz in the laboratory. All the localized seismoelectric signals that accompany compressional wave, shear wave and Stoneley wave are first clearly observed with a monopole source in sandstone boreholes that are saturated by tap water. The amplitudes of these signals are measured in the range of 1–120 μV, which is useful for designing the seismoelectric logging instruments. Then the amplitude ratio of electric signal to acoustic pressure (REP) for each of the three waves is calculated and compared with the theoretical simulations. Based on the experimental data, we find that seismoelectric logging signals as well as REP become stronger at the more permeable borehole model. We also find that seismoelectric logging signals are more sensitive to permeability and porosity compared with acoustic logging signals. Therefore, this study verifies the feasibility of seismoelectric well logging, and further indicates that the seismoelectric logging technique might be a preferable method to estimate formation parameters in the field measurements.

Description: Overpressure and buoyant effect of underlying sediments are generally used to account for the upward motion or formation of submarine mud volcanoes and mud diapirs. In this study, we process and interpret the gravity anomalies associated with the active mud diapirs off SW Taiwan. Geologically, the mud diapirs are just formed and are still very active, thus we can better understand the initial process of the mud diapirs formation through the gravity analysis. Our results show that the density contrasts of the submarine mud diapirs with respect to the surroundings are generally positive. Because the study area is in a tectonically compressive regime and the gas plume venting from the submarine mud volcanoes is very active, we thus infer that mechanically the mud diapirs off SW Taiwan have been formed mainly due to the tectonic compression on the underlying sediments of high pore-fluid pressure, instead of the buoyancy of the buried sediments. The overpressured sediments and fluid are compressed and pushed upwards to pierce the overlying sediments and form the more compacted mud diapirs. The relatively denser material of the mud diapirs probably constrains the flowing courses of the submarine canyons off SW Taiwan, especially for the upper reaches of the Kaoping and Fangliao submarine canyons.

Description: This paper presents the gravimetric analysis together with seismic data as an integral application in order to identify the continental–oceanic crust boundary (COB) of the Argentine continental margin from 36°S to 50°S in a continuous way. The gravimetric and seismic data are made up of large grids of data obtained from satellite altimetry and marine research. The methodology consists of three distinct methods: (i) the application of enhancement techniques to gravimetric anomalies, (ii) the calculation of crustal thinning from 3-D gravity inversion modelling of the crust–mantle discontinuity and (iii) 2-D gravimetric modelling supported by multichannel reflection and refraction seismic profiles. In the first method, the analytic signal, Theta map, and tilt angle and its horizontal derivative were applied. In the second method, crustal thickness was obtained as the difference in the depths of the crystalline basement and the crust–mantle discontinuity; the latter was obtained via gravimetric inversion. Finally, 2-D modelling was performed from free-air anomalies in two representative sections by considering as restriction surfaces those coming from the interpretation of seismic data. The results of the joint application of enhancement techniques and 2-D and 3-D modelling have enabled continuous interpretation of the COB. In this study, the COB was determined continuously from the integration of 2-D profiles of the enhancement techniques, taking account of crustal thickness and performing 2-D gravimetric modelling. The modelling technique was complemented by regional studies integrated with multichannel seismic reflection and seismic refraction lines, resulting in consistent enhancement techniques.

Description: This work is concerned with the Biot/squirt (BISQ) models for wave propagation in saturated porous media. We show that the models allow exponentially exploding solutions, as time goes to infinity, when the characteristic squirt-flow coefficient is negative or has a non-zero imaginary part. We also show that the squirt-flow coefficient does have non-zero imaginary parts for some experimental parameters or for low angular frequencies. Because the models are linear, the existence of such exploding solutions indicates instability of the BISQ models. This result, for the first time, provides a theoretical explanation of the well-known empirical observation that BISQ model is not reliable (not consistent with Gassmann's formula) at low frequencies. It calls on a reconsideration of the widely used BISQ theory. On the other hand, we demonstrate that the 3-D isotropic BISQ model is stable when the squirt-flow coefficient is positive. In particular, the original Biot model is unconditionally stable where the squirt-flow coefficient is 1.

Description: Full waveform inversion (FWI) is a powerful tool used to quantify the elastic properties of the subsurface from seismic data. Because of very high computational cost, the technique has so far been used for either 2-D full elastic or 3-D acoustic media while the extension to 3-D elastic media to a realistic model size is still a challenging task. However, the Earth being 3-D, elastic and highly heterogeneous, one would require a full 3-D elastic wave equation for accurate modelling of amplitudes and phases within the inversion process. The acoustic approximation could significantly impact the final waveform inversion results, mainly due to the amplitude variation with offset effect. This effect becomes extremely important in the presence of strong contrasts in S -wave velocity and density, specifically when long-offset reflection data are included for waveform inversion. Recent increase in computer power allows for more efficient parallel computing using thousands of processors simultaneously thus making 3-D elastic waveform inversion feasible today. In this paper we consider a synthetic study based on a 3-D elastic medium for inversion of both P - and S -wave velocities using multicomponent, ocean-bottom cable seismic data. Both the forward modelling part and the inversion part are carried out in the time domain. The inverse problem is parametrized in terms of P - and S -wave velocities, while the density, being difficult to reconstruct, is not inverted and is linked to the P -wave velocity. Among several synthetic examples, a successful experiment on a small part of a 3-D SEG/EAGE overthrust model is presented, demonstrating the feasibility of inverting and accurately quantifying both P - and S -wave velocities. The resolution analysis of the waveform inversion is tested using a checkerboard model. Our results show that 3-D elastic FWI of sparsely spaced sources can retrieve P - and S -wave velocities accurately.

Description: Interpolation and random noise removal is a pre-requisite for multichannel techniques because the irregularity and random noise in observed data can affect their performances. Projection Onto Convex Sets (POCS) method can better handle seismic data interpolation if the data's signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is high, while it has difficulty in noisy situations because it inserts the noisy observed seismic data in each iteration. Weighted POCS method can weaken the noise effects, while the performance is affected by the choice of weight factors and is still unsatisfactory. Thus, a new weighted POCS method is derived through the Iterative Hard Threshold (IHT) view, and in order to eliminate random noise, a new adaptive method is proposed to achieve simultaneous seismic data interpolation and denoising based on dreamlet transform. Performances of the POCS method, the weighted POCS method and the proposed method are compared in simultaneous seismic data interpolation and denoising which demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. The recovered SNRs confirm that the proposed adaptive method is the most effective among the three methods. Numerical examples on synthetic and real data demonstrate the validity of the proposed adaptive method.

Description: In presence of large wavelength-scale shear-velocity variations in the Earth, acoustic waveform inversion may not be sufficient even when inverting long-offset data to retrieve the long-to-intermediate wavelengths of the compressional velocity. An acoustic modelling does not always correctly represent the compressional/primary waves when tuning effects and energy conversion between compressional and shear waves occur. Elastic waveform inversion with land data is challenging not only because of its computational cost but also due to the presence of the very energetic ground roll. To avoid inverting the ground roll and focus the inversion on the body waves recorded at long offsets, we propose to modify the surface boundary conditions in the elastic modelling. Zeroing the normal derivatives of the shear stress components parallel to the surface instead of the shear stress components themselves as with the free-surface boundary conditions leads to an elastic modelling that does not generate ground roll. These modified elastic surface conditions allow us to invert the seismic data that have been pre-processed to remove the ground roll as we do in acoustic waveform inversion. In this way, the inversion can focus on the retrieval of the long-to-intermediate wavelengths of the compressional velocity and we can apply the standard frequency continuation approach without having to process out the ground roll in the (elastic) synthetic data. An analysis of the modified surface conditions based on a plane wave decomposition shows that the reflection coefficients at the surface do not depend on incident angles and earth parameters. With a not too high shear-to-compressional ( S -to- P ) velocity ratio at the surface, the PP -reflection coefficients are close to the ones with the free-surface conditions, but with a high ratio they differ significantly. The approximation is then valid when the ( S -to- P ) velocity ratio is not too high at the surface in the actual Earth. Based on some synthetic examples, we discuss the limitations of the approach and the possible computational gain by playing with the shear velocity background value. This elastic modelling with the modified surface boundary conditions aims at inverting low-frequency wide-aperture active land seismic data that correspond to measurements of the vertical component of the particle displacement or velocity due to a vertical force source. It may be seen as an intermediate step between the acoustic waveform inversion and the elastic waveform inversion with the free-surface conditions.

Description: Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a useful tool to detect and track water flow paths in the subsoil. However, measurements are strongly affected by subsurface heterogeneities such as fissures of different sizes and genesis (shrinking-swelling, macropores and deformation). In this work, we focus on surface fissures characterized by dimensions lower than the interelectrode spacing and correct their effect on apparent resistivity pseudo-sections by incorporating fissure geometry in the topography. We show that fissures with depths greater than 0.10 times the interelectrode spacing for a dipole–dipole array and equal to 0.16 for the gradient array and the Wenner–Schlumberger arrays create significant anomalies (greater than 5 per cent) in the pseudo-section. Surface fissure widths and dip angles have little effect with respect to the fissure depths which can increase the apparent resistivity up to 200 per cent. The clogging of the fissures with water or soil material decreases the anomaly effect linearly with the percentage of filling. The correction of apparent resistivity values is possible for relatively simple fissure geometries and only requires a manual survey of the surface fissures. It allows to improve the quality of the inverted resistivity section by mitigating the inversion artefacts and therefore a better interpretation.

Description: It is well known that sedimentary rocks having same porosity can have very different pore size distribution. The pore distribution determines many characteristics of the rock, among which its transport properties are often the most useful. Multifractal analysis is a powerful tool that is increasingly used to characterize the pore space. In this study, we performed multifractal analysis of pore distribution on simulated sedimentary rocks using the relaxed bidisperse ballistic deposition model (RBBDM). The RBBDM can generate a 3-D structure of sedimentary rocks of variable porosity by tuning the fraction p of particles of two different sizes. We also performed multifractal analysis on two samples of real sedimentary rock to compare with the simulation studies. One sample, an oolitic limestone is of high porosity (40 per cent) while the other is a reefal carbonate of low porosity, around 7 per cent. 2-D sections of X-ray microtomographs of the real rocks were stacked sequentially to reconstruct the real rock specimens. Both samples show multifractal character. The results from analysis of real rock agree quite well with the simulated structure of low porosity. The simulated rock of high porosity showed a weak multifractal nature though the real rock sample of similar porosity was found to be strongly multifractal. We propose a ‘structure parameter’ which is a function of porosity and the generalized dimensions, and controls the transport properties of the rock.

Description: This paper applies nonlinear Bayesian inversion to marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data collected near two sites of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 311 on the northern Cascadia Margin to investigate subseafloor resistivity structure related to gas hydrate deposits and cold vents. The Cascadia margin, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, has a large accretionary prism where sediments are under pressure due to convergent plate boundary tectonics. Gas hydrate deposits and cold vent structures have previously been investigated by various geophysical methods and seabed drilling. Here, we invert time-domain CSEM data collected at Sites U1328 and U1329 of IODP Expedition 311 using Bayesian methods to derive subsurface resistivity model parameters and uncertainties. The Bayesian information criterion is applied to determine the amount of structure (number of layers in a depth-dependent model) that can be resolved by the data. The parameter space is sampled with the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm in principal-component space, utilizing parallel tempering to ensure wider and efficient sampling and convergence. Nonlinear inversion allows analysis of uncertain acquisition parameters such as time delays between receiver and transmitter clocks as well as input electrical current amplitude. Marginalizing over these instrument parameters in the inversion accounts for their contribution to the geophysical model uncertainties. One-dimensional inversion of time-domain CSEM data collected at measurement sites along a survey line allows interpretation of the subsurface resistivity structure. The data sets can be generally explained by models with 1 to 3 layers. Inversion results at U1329, at the landward edge of the gas hydrate stability zone, indicate a sediment unconformity as well as potential cold vents which were previously unknown. The resistivities generally increase upslope due to sediment erosion along the slope. Inversion results at U1328 on the middle slope suggest several vent systems close to Bullseye vent in agreement with ongoing interdisciplinary observations.

Description: We examine along-axis variations in melt content of the axial magma lens (AML) beneath the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR) using an amplitude variation with angle of incidence (AVA) crossplotting method applied to multichannel seismic data acquired in 2008. The AVA crossplotting method, which has been developed for and, so far, applied for hydrocarbon prospection in sediments, is for the first time applied to a hardrock environment. We focus our analysis on 2-D data collected along the EPR axis from 9°29.8'N to 9°58.4'N, a region which encompasses the sites of two well-documented submarine volcanic eruptions (1991–1992 and 2005–2006). AVA crossplotting is performed for a ~53 km length of the EPR spanning nine individual AML segments (ranging in length from ~3.2 to 8.5 km) previously identified from the geometry of the AML and disruptions in continuity. Our detailed analyses conducted at 62.5 m interval show that within most of the analysed segments melt content varies at spatial scales much smaller (a few hundred of metres) than the length of the fine-scale AML segments, suggesting high heterogeneity in melt concentration. At the time of our survey, about 2 yr after the eruption, our results indicate that the three AML segments that directly underlie the 2005–2006 lava flow are on average mostly molten. However, detailed analysis at finer-scale intervals for these three segments reveals AML pockets (from 〉62.5 to 812.5 m long) with a low melt fraction. The longest such mushy section is centred beneath the main eruption site at ~9°50.4'N, possibly reflecting a region of primary melt drainage during the 2005–2006 event. The complex geometry of fluid flow pathways within the crust above the AML and the different response times of fluid flow and venting to eruption and magma reservoir replenishment may contribute to the poor spatial correlation between incidence of hydrothermal vents and presence of highly molten AML. The presented results are an important step forward in our ability to resolve small-scale characteristics of the AML and recommend the AVA crossplotting as a tool for examining mid-ocean ridge magma-systems elsewhere.

Description: The relative permittivity ( r ) and the electrical conductivity ( ) of porous media are known to be functions of water saturation ( S ). As such, their measurements can be useful in effective characterisations and monitoring of geological carbon sequestration using geoelectrical measurement techniques. In this work, the effects of pressure, temperature and salt concentration on bulk r – S and – S relationships were investigated for carbonate (limestone) and silicate porous media (both unconsolidated domains) under dynamic and quasi-static supercritical CO 2 (scCO 2 )-brine/water flow. In the silica sand sample, the bulk r ( b ) for scCO 2 –water decreases as the temperature increases. On the contrary, slight increase was seen in the b with temperature in the carbonate sample for the scCO 2 -water system. These trends are more conspicuous at high water saturation. The b – S curves for the scCO 2 –water flow in the silica sand also show clear dependency on the domain pressure, where b increases as the domain pressure increases. Furthermore, the bulk ( b ), at any particular saturation for the scCO 2 -brine system rises as the temperature increases with more significant increase found at very high water saturation. Both b and b values are found to be greater in the limestone than silica sand porous samples for similar porosity values. Based on different injection rates investigated, we do not find significant dynamic effects in the b – S and b – S relationships for the scCO 2 -brine/water system. As such, geoelectrical characteristics can be taken as reliable in the monitoring of two-phase flow system in the porous media. It can be inferred from the results that the geoelectrical techniques are highly dependent on water saturation. This dependence is more conspicuous at higher water saturation. Different mathematical models examined show their reliability at different water saturation ranges. The polynomial fit developed in this work takes into consideration the fluid pressure in the system as well as the initial bulk relative permittivity prior to the injection of CO 2 . The polynomial fit shows a good reliability in the prediction of the geo-electrical properties of the CO 2 –water–porous media system, especially at higher water saturation. In comparison, the mixing model from the literature shows more reliability in the prediction of similar property at lower water saturation.

Description: The Canada Basin and the southern Alpha-Mendeleev ridge complex underlie a significant proportion of the Arctic Ocean, but the geology of this undrilled and mostly ice-covered frontier is poorly known. New information is encoded in seismic wide-angle reflections and refractions recorded with expendable sonobuoys between 2007 and 2011. Velocity–depth samples within the sedimentary succession are extracted from published analyses for 142 of these records obtained at irregularly spaced stations across an area of 1.9E + 06 km 2 . The samples are modelled at regional, subregional and station-specific scales using an exponential function of inverse velocity versus depth with regionally representative parameters determined through numerical regression. With this approach, smooth, non-oscillatory velocity–depth profiles can be generated for any desired location in the study area, even where the measurement density is low. Practical application is demonstrated with a map of sedimentary thickness, derived from seismic reflection horizons interpreted in the time domain and depth converted using the velocity–depth profiles for each seismic trace. A thickness of 12–13 km is present beneath both the upper Mackenzie fan and the middle slope off of Alaska, but the sedimentary prism thins more gradually outboard of the latter region. Mapping of the observed-to-predicted velocities reveals coherent geospatial trends associated with five subregions: the Mackenzie fan; the continental slopes beyond the Mackenzie fan; the abyssal plain; the southwestern Canada Basin; and, the Alpha-Mendeleev magnetic domain. Comparison of the subregional velocity–depth models with published borehole data, and interpretation of the station-specific best-fitting model parameters, suggests that sandstone is not a predominant lithology in any of the five subregions. However, the bulk sand-to-shale ratio likely increases towards the Mackenzie fan, and the model for this subregion compares favourably with borehole data for Miocene turbidites in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The station-specific results also indicate that Quaternary sediments coarsen towards the Beaufort-Mackenzie and Banks Island margins in a manner that is consistent with the variable history of Laurentide Ice Sheet advance documented for these margins. Lithological factors do not fully account for the elevated velocity–depth trends that are associated with the southwestern Canada Basin and the Alpha-Mendeleev magnetic domain. Accelerated porosity reduction due to elevated palaeo-heat flow is inferred for these regions, which may be related to the underlying crustal types or possibly volcanic intrusion of the sedimentary succession. Beyond exploring the variation of an important physical property in the Arctic Ocean basin, this study provides comparative reference for global studies of seismic velocity, burial history, sedimentary compaction, seismic inversion and overpressure prediction, particularly in mudrock-dominated successions.

Description: Ongoing works on full waveform inversion (FWI) are yielding an increasing number of objective functions as alternative to the traditional L2-waveform. These studies aim at designing more robust functions and inversion strategies to reduce the intrinsic dependence of the FWI results on (1) the initial model and (2) the lowest frequency present in field data. In this work, we perform a comparative study of five objective functions in time domain under a common 2-D-acoustic FWI scheme using the Marmousi model as benchmark. In particular, we compare results obtained with L2-based functions that consider the minimization of different wave attributes; the waveform-based, non-integration-method; instantaneous envelope; a modified version of the wrapped instantaneous phase and an improved version of the cross-correlation travel time (CCTT) method; and hybrid strategies combining some of them. We evaluate the robustness of these functionals as a function of their performance with and without low frequencies in the data and the presence of random white Gaussian noise. Our results reveal promising strategies to invert noisy data with limited low-frequency content (≥4 Hz), which is the single strategy using the instantaneous phase objective function followed by the hybrid strategies using the instantaneous phase or CCTT as initial models, in particular the combinations [I. Phase + Waveform], [CCTT + Waveform] and [CCTT + I. Phase].

Description: We study the well log and seismic responses of intensively fractured portions of deep intrusive/metamorphic rocks in southern Tuscany (Italy), which constitute the main drilling targets of the geothermal exploration in the Larderello–Travale area. In particular, the target we consider is located near the contact between a deep Pliocene granitic intrusion and the overlying Palaeozoic metamorphic basement. Sonic, density and borehole image logs are analysed together with post-stack reflection attributes and reflection amplitude versus source to receiver azimuth (AVAZ) responses. It turns out that the intense fracturing in the contact zone causes significant decreases in the density and P -wave velocity, and that fracture planes exhibit very high dips and a common preferential direction. The fractured zone found by the well coincides with peculiar alignments of high-amplitude signals in the 3-D seismic stack volume, which are particularly visible on the reflection strength and instantaneous phase time slices. The normal incidence synthetic seismogram based on the log data matches the observed stack trace nearest to the well and confirms that the high-amplitude reflection occurs at the fractured zone. We then consider the pre-stack domain to study the same reflections on bin gathers that are close to the well and coincident with the anomalies in the 3-D volume. In particular, we perform AVAZ analysis to detect possible anisotropic features in the reflected amplitudes due to the preferential orientation of the fractures, and we study the effect of crack density on the seismic responses and on velocity and density values. To this end, we build simplified models where a level with vertical fractures is encased in tight isotropic rocks. Notwithstanding the suboptimal quality of the seismic data, we estimate the overall matching between the borehole information and the seismic response as fair. In particular, the azimuthal amplitude variation of the reflections from the studied fractured zone has a sinusoidal trend that is quite consistent with the fracture planes’ orientation as indicated by the image logs. Moreover, the comparison between the actual AVAZ response and the AVAZ responses of synthetic seismograms generated on models with different crack densities suggests that it may be feasible to estimate crack density values from the azimuthal amplitude variation of the observed reflections, within the resolution of the seismic data.

Description: Surface-based monitoring of mass transfer caused by injections and extractions in deep boreholes is crucial to maximize oil, gas and geothermal production. Inductive electromagnetic methods, such as magnetotellurics, are appealing for these applications due to their large penetration depths and sensitivity to changes in fluid conductivity and fracture connectivity. In this work, we propose a 3-D Markov chain Monte Carlo inversion of time-lapse magnetotelluric data to image mass transfer following a saline fluid injection. The inversion estimates the posterior probability density function of the resulting plume, and thereby quantifies model uncertainty. To decrease computation times, we base the parametrization on a reduced Legendre moment decomposition of the plume. A synthetic test shows that our methodology is effective when the electrical resistivity structure prior to the injection is well known. The centre of mass and spread of the plume are well retrieved. We then apply our inversion strategy to an injection experiment in an enhanced geothermal system at Paralana, South Australia, and compare it to a 3-D deterministic time-lapse inversion. The latter retrieves resistivity changes that are more shallow than the actual injection interval, whereas the probabilistic inversion retrieves plumes that are located at the correct depths and oriented in a preferential north–south direction. To explain the time-lapse data, the inversion requires unrealistically large resistivity changes with respect to the base model. We suggest that this is partly explained by unaccounted subsurface heterogeneities in the base model from which time-lapse changes are inferred.

Description: Adaptive optimal experimental design methods use previous data and results to guide the choice and design of future experiments. This paper describes the formulation of an adaptive survey design technique to produce optimal resistivity imaging surveys for time-lapse geoelectrical monitoring experiments. These survey designs are time-dependent and, compared to dipole–dipole or static optimized surveys that do not change over time, focus a greater degree of the image resolution on regions of the subsurface that are actively changing. The adaptive optimization method is validated using a controlled laboratory monitoring experiment comprising a well-defined cylindrical target moving along a trajectory that changes its depth and lateral position. The algorithm is implemented on a standard PC in conjunction with a modified automated multichannel resistivity imaging system. Data acquisition using the adaptive survey designs requires no more time or power than with comparable standard surveys, and the algorithm processing takes place while the system batteries recharge. The results show that adaptively designed optimal surveys yield a quantitative increase in image quality over and above that produced by using standard dipole–dipole or static (time–independent) optimized surveys.

Description: The presence of mesoscopic heterogeneities in fluid-saturated porous rocks can produce measurable seismoelectric signals due to wave-induced fluid flow between regions of differing compressibility. The dependence of these signals on the petrophysical and structural characteristics of the probed rock mass remains largely unexplored. In this work, we derive an analytical solution to describe the seismoelectric response of a rock sample, containing a horizontal layer at its centre, that is subjected to an oscillatory compressibility test. We then adapt this general solution to compute the seismoelectric signature of a particular case related to a sample that is permeated by a horizontal fracture located at its centre. Analyses of the general and particular solutions are performed to study the impact of different petrophysical and structural parameters on the seismoelectric response. We find that the amplitude of the seismoelectric signal is directly proportional to the applied stress, to the Skempton coefficient contrast between the host rock and the layer, and to a weighted average of the effective excess charge of the two materials. Our results also demonstrate that the frequency at which the maximum electrical potential amplitude prevails does not depend on the applied stress or the Skempton coefficient contrast. In presence of strong permeability variations, this frequency is rather controlled by the permeability and thickness of the less permeable material. The results of this study thus indicate that seismoelectric measurements can potentially be used to estimate key mechanical and hydraulic rock properties of mesoscopic heterogeneities, such as compressibility, permeability and fracture compliance.

Description: The early detection of the oil–water encroachment front is of prime interest during the water flooding of an oil reservoir to maximize the production of oil and to avoid the oil–water encroachment front to come too close to production wells. We propose a new 4-D inversion approach based on the Gauss–Newton approach to invert cross-well resistance data. The goal of this study is to image the position of the oil–water encroachment front in a heterogeneous clayey sand reservoir. This approach is based on explicitly connecting the change of resistivity to the petrophysical properties controlling the position of the front (porosity and permeability) and to the saturation of the water phase through a petrophysical resistivity model accounting for bulk and surface conductivity contributions and saturation. The distributions of the permeability and porosity are also inverted using the time-lapse resistivity data in order to better reconstruct the position of the oil water encroachment front. In our synthetic test case, we get a better position of the front with the by-products of porosity and permeability inferences near the flow trajectory and close to the wells. The numerical simulations show that the position of the front is recovered well but the distribution of the recovered porosity and permeability is only fair. A comparison with a commercial code based on a classical Gauss–Newton approach with no information provided by the two-phase flow model fails to recover the position of the front. The new approach could be used for the time-lapse monitoring of various processes in both geothermal fields and oil and gas reservoirs using a combination of geophysical methods.

Description: This paper describes computational studies of tangential ground motions generated by spherical explosions in a heavily jointed granite formation. Various factors affecting the shear wave generation are considered, including joint spacing, orientation and frictional properties. Simulations are performed both in 2-D for a single joint set to elucidate the basic response mechanisms, and in 3-D for multiple joint sets to realistically represent in situ conditions in a realistic geological setting. The joints are modelled explicitly using both contact elements and weakness planes in the material. Simulations are performed both deterministically and stochastically to quantify the effects of geological uncertainties on near field ground motions. The mechanical properties of the rock and the joints as well as the joint spacing and orientation are taken from experimental test data and geophysical logs corresponding to the Climax Stock granitic outcrop, which is the geological setting of the source physics experiment (SPE). Agreement between simulation results and near field wave motion data from SPE enables newfound understanding of the origin and extent of non-spherical motions associated with underground explosions in fractured geological media.

Description: Submarine mud volcanos at the seafloor are surface expressions of fluid flow systems within the seafloor. Since the electrical resistivity of the seafloor is mainly determined by the amount and characteristics of fluids contained within the sediment's pore space, electromagnetic methods offer a promising approach to gain insight into a mud volcano's internal resistivity structure. To investigate this structure, we conducted a controlled source electromagnetic experiment, which was novel in the sense that the source was deployed and operated with a remotely operated vehicle, which allowed for a flexible placement of the transmitter dipole with two polarization directions at each transmitter location. For the interpretation of the experiment, we have adapted the concept of rotational invariants from land-based electromagnetics to the marine case by considering the source normalized tensor of horizontal electric field components. We analyse the sensitivity of these rotational invariants in terms of 1-D models and measurement geometries and associated measurement errors, which resemble the experiment at the mud volcano. The analysis shows that any combination of rotational invariants has an improved parameter resolution as compared to the sensitivity of the pure radial or azimuthal component alone. For the data set, which was acquired at the ‘North Alex’ mud volcano, we interpret rotational invariants in terms of 1-D inversions on a common midpoint grid. The resulting resistivity models show a general increase of resistivities with depth. The most prominent feature in the stitched 1-D sections is a lens-shaped interface, which can similarly be found in a section from seismic reflection data. Beneath this interface bulk resistivities frequently fall in a range between 2.0 and 2.5 m towards the maximum penetration depths. We interpret the lens-shaped interface as the surface of a collapse structure, which was formed at the end of a phase of activity of an older mud volcano generation and subsequently refilled with new mud volcano sediments during a later stage of activity. Increased resistivities at depth cannot be explained by compaction alone, but instead require a combination of compaction and increased cementation of the older sediments, possibly in connection to trapped, cooled down mud volcano fluids, which have a depleted chlorinity. At shallow depths (≤50 m) bulk resistivities generally decrease and for locations around the mud volcano's centre 1-D models show bulk resistivities in a range between 0.5 and 0.7 m, which we interpret in terms of gas saturation levels by means of Archie's Law. After a detailed analysis of the material parameters contained in Archie's Law we derive saturation levels between 0 and 25 per cent, which is in accordance with observations of active degassing and a reflector with negative polarity in the seismics section just beneath the seafloor, which is indicative of free gas.

Description: Passive interferometry technology is based on the relation between the reflection and the transmission responses of the subsurface. The transmission response can be received at surface in the presence of the ambient noise source in the subsurface with the cross-correlation (CC) or multidimensional deconvolution methods. We investigate the feasibility of electromagnetic (EM) wave passive interferometry with CC method. We design a 2-D finite-difference time domain (FDTD) algorithm to simulate the long-duration ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurements with random distribution of passive EM sources. The noise sources have random duration time, waveform and spatial distribution. We test the FDTD GPR passive interferometry code with above source characteristics and apply the method to light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) monitoring. Based on the model simulation data, by using common midpoint velocity analysis and normal move out correction to process the interferometry retrieve record, we can accurately obtain the dynamic changing characteristics of the target's permittivity. The LNAPL dynamic leakage model can be imaged as well. The synthetic results demonstrate that the GPR passive interferometry is feasible in subsurface LNAPL monitoring. Our work provides a foundation for a passive interferometry field application using GPR.

Description: 3-D electrical resistivity surveys and inversion models are required to accurately resolve structures in areas with very complex geology where 2-D models might suffer from artefacts. Many 3-D surveys use a grid where the number of electrodes along one direction ( x ) is much greater than in the perpendicular direction ( y ). Frequently, due to limitations in the number of independent electrodes in the multi-electrode system, the surveys use a roll-along system with a small number of parallel survey lines aligned along the x -direction. The ‘Compare R’ array optimization method previously used for 2-D surveys is adapted for such 3-D surveys. Offset versions of the inline arrays used in 2-D surveys are included in the number of possible arrays (the comprehensive data set) to improve the sensitivity to structures in between the lines. The array geometric factor and its relative error are used to filter out potentially unstable arrays in the construction of the comprehensive data set. Comparisons of the conventional (consisting of dipole-dipole and Wenner–Schlumberger arrays) and optimized arrays are made using a synthetic model and experimental measurements in a tank. The tests show that structures located between the lines are better resolved with the optimized arrays. The optimized arrays also have significantly better depth resolution compared to the conventional arrays.

Description: We apply a reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method to sample the Bayesian posterior model probability density function of 2-D seafloor resistivity as constrained by marine controlled source electromagnetic data. This density function of earth models conveys information on which parts of the model space are illuminated by the data. Whereas conventional gradient-based inversion approaches require subjective regularization choices to stabilize this highly non-linear and non-unique inverse problem and provide only a single solution with no model uncertainty information, the method we use entirely avoids model regularization. The result of our approach is an ensemble of models that can be visualized and queried to provide meaningful information about the sensitivity of the data to the subsurface, and the level of resolution of model parameters. We represent models in 2-D using a Voronoi cell parametrization. To make the 2-D problem practical, we use a source–receiver common midpoint approximation with 1-D forward modelling. Our algorithm is transdimensional and self-parametrizing where the number of resistivity cells within a 2-D depth section is variable, as are their positions and geometries. Two synthetic studies demonstrate the algorithm's use in the appraisal of a thin, segmented, resistive reservoir which makes for a challenging exploration target. As a demonstration example, we apply our method to survey data collected over the Scarborough gas field on the Northwest Australian shelf.

Description: Compressional and shear wave seismic measurements were performed in an old railway tunnel and in galleries excavated in a 250-m-thick Toarcian claystone formation in the Tournemire experimental station (France). Three component (3C) geophones and three orthogonal orientations of the vibroseismic force source were used. Additionally, vertical seismic profiling (VSP) measurements were recorded with a 3C borehole geophone, a hydrophone and a microphone in a 159 m deep borehole (ID180) in the tunnel. The seismic data show that Toarcian claystone has strong transverse isotropy (TI) with a vertical symmetry axis. The qP , SH and qSV wave propagation velocities in horizontal directions—the plane of isotropy of the TI medium—are measured as 3550, 1850 and 1290 m s –1 , respectively. The zero-offset VSP reveals that only one shear wave propagates in the vertical (depth) direction and the P - and S -wave velocities are 3100 and 1375 m s –1 , respectively. Four elastic moduli of the TI medium are determined from the seismic velocities and from the bulk density of 2.53 g cm –3 : c 11 = 31.9 GPa, c 33 = 24.3 GPa, c 44 = 4.5 GPa and c 66 = 8.7 GPa. A walkaway VSP with the borehole geophone at 50 m depth in borehole ID180 and shot points in the galleries leads to oblique seismic ray paths which allow us to determine the fifth elastic modulus of the TI medium to c 13 = 16 GPa. The tube wave recorded by a hydrophone in the water filled lower part of the borehole propagates with 1350 m s –1 , which confirms the estimate of the elastic constant c 66 . The analysis of body wave and surface wave data from a seismic experiment in Galerie Est shows reflections from several fracture zones in the gallery floor. The thickness of the excavation damaged zone (EDZ) in the floor of Galerie Est is estimated to 0.7 m.

Description: The Tonga-Kermadec forearc is deforming in response to on-going subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Indo-Australian Plate. Previous research has focussed on the structural development of the forearc where large bathymetric features such as the Hikurangi Plateau and Louisville Ridge seamount chain are being subducted. Consequently, knowledge of the ‘background’ forearc in regions of normal plate convergence is limited. We report on an ~250-km-long multichannel seismic reflection profile that was shot perpendicular to the Tonga-Kermadec trench at ~28°S to determine the lateral and temporal variations in the structure, stratigraphy and deformation of the Kermadec forearc resulting solely from Pacific Plate subduction. Interpretation of the seismic profile, in conjunction with regional swath bathymetry data, shows that the Pacific Plate exhibits horst and graben structures that accommodate bending-induced extensional stresses, generated as the trenchward dip of the crust increases. Trench infill is also much thicker than expected at 1 km which, we propose, results from increased sediment flux into and along the trench. Pervasive normal faulting of the mid-trench slope most likely accommodates the majority of the observed forearc extension in response to basal subduction erosion, and a structural high is located between the mid- and upper-trench slopes. We interpret this high as representing a dense and most likely structurally robust region of crust lying beneath this region. Sediment of the upper-trench slope documents depositional hiatuses and on-going uplift of the arc. Strong along-arc currents appear to erode the Kermadec volcanic arc and distribute this sediment to the surrounding basins, while currents over the forearc redistribute deposits as sediment waves. Minor uplift of the transitional Kermadec forearc, observed just to the north of the profile, appears to relate to an underlying structural trend as well as subduction of the Louisville Ridge seamount chain 250 km to the north. Relative uplift of the Kermadec arc is observed from changes in the tilt of upper-trench slope deposits and extensional faulting of the basement immediately surrounding the Louisville Ridge.

Description: New methods are required to combine the information contained in the passive electrical and seismic signals to detect, localize and monitor hydromechanical disturbances in porous media. We propose a field experiment showing how passive seismic and electrical data can be combined together to detect a preferential flow path associated with internal erosion in a Earth dam. Continuous passive seismic and electrical (self-potential) monitoring data were recorded during a 7-d full-scale levee (earthen embankment) failure test, conducted in Booneschans, Netherlands in 2012. Spatially coherent acoustic emissions events and the development of a self-potential anomaly, associated with induced concentrated seepage and internal erosion phenomena, were identified and imaged near the downstream toe of the embankment, in an area that subsequently developed a series of concentrated water flows and sand boils, and where liquefaction of the embankment toe eventually developed. We present a new 4-D grid-search algorithm for acoustic emissions localization in both time and space, and the application of the localization results to add spatially varying constraints to time-lapse 3-D modelling of self-potential data in the terms of source current localization. Seismic signal localization results are utilized to build a set of time-invariant yet spatially varying model weights used for the inversion of the self-potential data. Results from the combination of these two passive techniques show results that are more consistent in terms of focused ground water flow with respect to visual observation on the embankment. This approach to geophysical monitoring of earthen embankments provides an improved approach for early detection and imaging of the development of embankment defects associated with concentrated seepage and internal erosion phenomena. The same approach can be used to detect various types of hydromechanical disturbances at larger scales.

Description: We propose a two-phase damage theory in a viscoelastic medium to study the pressure and porosity diffusion in fractured near-surface porous rocks. The key ingredient in the viscoelastic theory is that the pressure difference between solid and fluid is divided into three parts, which contribute to reversible elastic potential energy, irreversible viscous entropy production and surface energy stored during deformation. The resulting continuum description of weakening and failure (distributed void generation and microcracking) in a linear Kelvin body accounts for surface energy being created by both viscous and elastic deformational work. The model shows that while non-linear permeability models leads to an enhanced diffusivity, damage makes the matrix more compressible if we assume the geometry/size of cracks remain unchanged. The net effect is that the porosity diffusivity is reduced causing fluid infiltration to accumulate closer to the injection source, leading to a slower fluid diffusion during hydraulic fracturing with a fixed porosity boundary condition. However if a constant overpressure boundary condition is applied, a weakened matrix with damage leads to greater pressure diffusivity than for porosity.

Description: We define an algorithm in the time domain for computing the unwrapped instantaneous phase and its derivative, the instantaneous frequency, using only derivatives and integrals. It does not require user-defined parameters, like most algorithms proposed so far. We validate and compare its performance with respect to open-source and commercial software by synthetic and real data examples.

Description: Simulating electromagnetic fields in the quasi-static regime by solving Maxwell's equations is a central task in many geophysical applications. In most cases, geophysical targets of interest exhibit complex topography and bathymetry as well as layers and faults. Capturing these effects with a sufficient level of detail is a huge challenge for numerical simulations. Standard techniques require a very fine discretization that can result in an impracticably large linear system to be solved. A remedy is to use locally refined and adaptive meshes, however, the potential coarsening is limited in the presence of highly heterogeneous and anisotropic conductivities. In this paper, we discuss the application of multiscale finite volume (MSFV) methods to Maxwell's equations in frequency domain. Given a partition of the fine mesh into a coarse mesh the idea is to obtain coarse-to-fine interpolation by solving local versions of Maxwell's equations on each coarsened grid cell. By construction, the interpolation accounts for fine scale conductivity changes, yields a natural homogenization, and reduces the fine mesh problem dramatically in size. To improve the accuracy for singular sources, we use an irregular coarsening strategy. We show that using MSFV methods we can simulate electromagnetic fields with reasonable accuracy in a fraction of the time as compared to state-of-the-art solvers for the fine mesh problem, especially when considering parallel platforms.

Description: Wave-equation tomography (WT) and full waveform inversion (FWI) are combined through a hybrid misfit function to estimate high-resolution subsurface structures starting from a poorly constrained initial velocity model. Both methods share the same wavefield forward modelling and inversion schemes, while they differ only on the ways to calculate misfit functions and hence the ways to sample in the model space. Aiming at minimizing the cross-correlation phase delay between synthetic and real data, WT can be used to retrieve the long- and middle-wavelength model components, which are essential to FWI. Compared to ray-based traveltime tomography that is based on asymptotic high-frequency approximation, WT provides a better resolution by exploring the band-limited feature of seismic wavefield. On the other hand, FWI is capable of resolving the short-wavelength model component, complementing the WT. In this study, we apply WT to surface first-arrival refraction data, and apply FWI to both refraction and reflection data. We assign adaptive weights to the two different misfit measurements and build a progressive inversion strategy. To illustrate the advantage of our strategy over conventional ‘ray tomography + FWI’ approach, we show in a synthetic lens test that WT can provide extra subsurface information that is critical for a successful FWI application. To further show the efficiency, we test our strategy on the 2-D Marmousi model where satisfactory inversion results are achieved without much manual intervention. Finally, we apply the inversion strategy to a deep-water seismic data set acquired offshore Sumatra with a 12-km-long streamer. In order to alleviate several practical problems posed by the deep-water setting, we apply downward continuation (DC) to generate a virtual ocean bottom experiment data set prior to inversion. The new geometry after DC boosts up the shallow refractions, as well as avoiding cumbersome modelling through the thick water column, thus reducing the computation cost by 85 per cent. The inversion result from the new data set shows high-resolution shallow sediment structures and the migration images prove the superiority of the inverted model over a conventional tomography model.

Description: The activation of Late Quaternary faults in the Central Apennines (Italy) could generate earthquakes with magnitude of about 6.5, and the Monte Vettore fault system probably belongs to the same category of seismogenetic faults. Such structure has been defined ‘silent’, because of its geological and geomorphological evidences of past activation, but the absence of historical records in the seismic catalogues to be associated with its activation. The ‘Piano di Castelluccio’ intramountain basin, resulting from the Quaternary activity of normal faults, is characterized by a secondary fault strand highlighted by a NW–SE fault scarp: it has been already studied through palaeoseismological trenches, which highlighted evidences of Quaternary shallow faulting due to strong earthquakes, and through a 2-D ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey, showing the first geophysical signature of faulting for this site. Within the same place, a 3-D GPR volume over a 20 20 m area has been collected. The collection of radar echoes in three dimensions allows to map both the vertical and lateral continuity of shallow geometries of the fault zone (Fz), imaging features with high resolution, ranging from few metres to centimetres and therefore imaging also local variations at the microscale. Several geophysical markers of faulting, already highlighted on this site, have been taken as reference to plan the 3-D survey. In this paper, we provide the first 3-D subsurface imaging of an active shallow fault belonging to the Umbria-Marche Apennine highlighting the subsurface fault geometry and the stratigraphic sequence up to a depth of about 5 m. From our data, geophysical faulting signatures are clearly visible in three dimensions: diffraction hyperbolas, truncations of layers, local attenuated zones and varying dip of the layers have been detected within the Fz. The interpretation of the 3-D data set provided qualitative and quantitative geological information in addition to the fault location, like its geometry, boundaries and an estimation of the fault throw.

Description: To estimate the seismic hazard, the geometry (dip, length and orientation) and the dynamics (type of displacements and amplitude) of the faults in the area of interest need to be understood. In this paper, in addition to geomorphologic observations, we present the results of two ground penetrating radar (GPR) campaigns conducted in 2010 and 2011 along the Emeelt fault in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia, located in an intracontinental region with low deformation rate that induces long recurrence time between large earthquakes. As the geomorphology induced by the fault activity has been highly smoothed by erosion processes since the last event, the fault location and geometry is difficult to determine precisely. However, by using GPR first, a non-destructive and fast investigation, the fault and the sedimentary deposits near the surface can be characterized and the results can be used for the choice of trench location. GPR was performed with a 50 MHz antenna over 2-D lines and with a 500 MHz antenna for pseudo-3-D surveys. The 500 MHz GPR profiles show a good consistency with the trench observations, dug next to the pseudo-3-D surveys. The 3-D 500 MHz GPR imaging of a palaeochannel crossed by the fault allowed us to estimate its lateral displacement to be about 2 m. This is consistent with a right lateral strike-slip displacement induced by an earthquake around magnitude 7 or several around magnitude 6. The 2-D 50 MHz profiles, recorded perpendicular to the fault, show a strong reflection dipping to the NE, which corresponds to the fault plane. Those profiles provided complementary information on the fault such as its location at shallow depth, its dip angle (from 23° to 35°) and define its lateral extension.

Description: A new method to obtain the statistics of a geostatistical model is introduced. The method elicits the statistical information from a geological expert directly, by iteratively updating a population of vectors of statistics, based on the expert's subjective opinion of the corresponding geological simulations. Thus, it does not require the expert to have knowledge of the mathematical and statistical details of the model. The process uses a genetic algorithm to generate new vectors. We demonstrate the methodology for a particular geostatistical model used to model rock pore-space, which simulates the spatial distribution of matrix and pores over a 2-D grid, using multipoint statistics specified by conditional probabilities. Experts were asked to use the algorithm to estimate the statistics of a given target pore-space image with known statistics; thus, their numerical rates of convergence could be calculated. Convergence was measured for all experts, showing that the algorithm can be used to find appropriate probabilities given the expert's subjective input. However, considerable and apparently irreducible residual misfit was found between the true statistics and the estimates of statistics obtained by the experts, with the root-mean-square error on the conditional probabilities typically 〉0.1. This is interpreted as the limit of the experts’ abilities to distinguish between realizations of different spatial statistics using the algorithm. More accurate discrimination is therefore likely to require complementary elicitation techniques or sources of information independent of expert opinion.

Description: We show analytically that a well-known transfer function previously derived for the scalar acoustic problem that converts measurements from a 3-D (real-world) setting to a 2-D equivalent is directly applicable to the vector electromagnetic borehole ground penetrating radar problem. We also show that the transfer function's precision is improved for the low-loss case through the use of complex velocity. The transfer function has a strong effect on amplitude, and is therefore a critical preprocessing step for 2-D full-wave inversion when finding conductivity is of concern. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the transfer function through various numerical experiments and a synthetic frequency-domain full-wave inversion. We also compare the effectiveness of this curved-ray transfer function to a quasi-straight-ray transfer function. The inversion demonstrates the positive effect the transfer functions have on recovering conductivity and also that they are effective even when there are sharp velocity contrasts.

Description: We report and analyse the tsunami recorded in the northwestern Indian Ocean at the Makran region following the M w 7.7 Pakistan inland strike-slip earthquake on 2013 September 24. We analyse eleven tide gauge records as well as one DART record of this tsunami and perform numerical modelling of the tsunami that would be triggered by a range of possible sources. The tsunami registered a maximum wave height of 109 cm at the Qurayat tide gauge station (Oman). The dominant period of the tsunami was around 12 min, although wavelet analysis showed that parts of the tsunami energy were partitioned into a slightly wider period range of 7 and 16 min. Tsunami backward ray tracing showed that the tsunami source was possibly located offshore Jiwani (Pakistan) and that the tsunami was most likely triggered by the main shock. The aftershocks are distributed in the inland region and the coseismic vertical and horizontal displacements are also limited inland implying that the tsunami was generated by secondary sources triggered by the earthquake. Different possible tsunami sources including a mud volcano at the location of the newly generated island, and a mud volcano or diapir at offshore deep water were examined through numerical modelling and all failed to reproduce the observed waveforms. Numerical modelling showed that a submarine slump with a source dimension of about 10–15 km and a thickness of about 100 m located at 61.49°E and 24.62°N, that is, about 60–70 km off the Jiwani coast (Pakistan), seems capable of reasonably reproducing the wave amplitudes and periods of the observed tsunami waveforms. This event was the second instrumentally recorded tsunami in the region, after the Makran tsunami of 1945 November, and provides evidence for a hazard from landslide/slump-generated waves following seismic activity in the area.

Description: Joint inversion of different geophysical data sets is becoming a more popular and powerful tool, and it has been performed on data sensitive both to the same physical parameter and to different physical parameters. Joint inversion is undertaken to reduce acceptable model space and to increase sensitivity to model parameters that one method alone is unable to resolve adequately. We examine and implement a novel hybrid joint inversion approach. In our inversion scheme a model—the reference model—is fixed, and the information shared with the subsurface structure obtained from another method will be maximized; in our case conductivity structures from magnetotelluric (MT) inversion. During inversion, the joint probability distribution of the MT and the specified reference model is estimated and its entropy minimized in order to guide the inversion result towards a solution that is statistically compatible with the reference model. The powerful feature of this technique is that no explicit relationships between estimated model parameters and reference model ones are presumed: if a link exists in data then it is highlighted in the estimation of the joint probability distribution, if no link is required, then none is enforced. Tests performed verify the robustness of this method and the advantages of it in a 1-D anisotropic scenario are demonstrated. A case study was performed with data from Central Germany, effectively fitting an MT data set from a single station within as minimal an amount of anisotropy as required.

Description: Several slope failures are observed near the deformation front on the frontal ridges of the northern Cascadia accretionary margin off Vancouver Island. The cause for these events is not clear, although several lines of evidence indicate a possible connection between the occurrence of gas hydrate and submarine landslide features. The presence of gas hydrate is indicated by a prominent bottom-simulating reflector (BSR), at a depth of ~265–275 m beneath the seafloor (mbsf), as interpreted from vertical-incidence and wide-angle seismic data beneath the ridge crests of the frontal ridges. For one slide, informally called Slipstream Slide, the velocity structure inferred from tomography analyses shows anomalous high velocities values of about 2.0 km s –1 at shallow depths of 100 mbsf. The estimated depth of the glide plane (100 ± 10 m) closely matches the depth of these shallow high velocities. In contrast, at a frontal ridge slide just to the northwest (informally called Orca Slide), the glide plane occurs at the same depth as the current BSR. Our new results indicate that the glide plane of the Slipstream slope failure is associated with the contrast between sediments strengthened by gas hydrate and overlying sediments where little or no hydrate is present. In contrast, the glide plane of Orca Slide is between sediment strengthened by hydrate underlain by sediments beneath the gas hydrate stability zone, possibly containing free gas. Additionally, a set of margin perpendicular normal faults are imaged from seafloor down to BSR depth at both frontal ridges. As inferred from the multibeam bathymetry, the estimated volume of the material lost during the slope failure at Slipstream Slide is about 0.33 km 3 , and ~0.24 km 3 of this volume is present as debris material on the ocean basin floor. The 20 per cent difference is likely due to more widely distributed fine sediments not easily detectable as bathymetric anomalies. These volume estimates on the Cascadia margin are approaching the mass failure volume for other slides that have generated large tsunamis—for example 1–3 km 3 for a 1998 Papua New Guinea slide.

Description: The method presented here aims to assess the tsunami threat very rapidly after the occurrence of a large earthquake, using as input the parameters of the seismic source, and an approach based on Green's summation. We show that the main weakness of the approach (the need to consider only linear shallow water propagation) is largely compensated by the advantages in terms of computing performance and independence with respect to pre-computed scenarios. To test the approach and to illustrate its implementation in a real environment, we focus on the Sea of Oman, a tsunamigenic area characterized by Makran subduction zone which detailed structure is partially unknown and where secondary tsunami sources must also be taken into account, both for hazard studies and warning purposes. The potential source area is partitioned into a grid of unity water sources. A shallow water (SW) numerical model is used to pre-compute the corresponding empirical Green's functions on several points of interest located on the coasts of Iran, Pakistan and Oman. The comparison between Green's summation and the direct SW computation using the full resolution of the bathymetric grid shows that the accuracy is good enough for practical applications.

Description: Clay minerals as products of hydrothermal alteration significantly influence the hydraulic and mechanical properties of crystalline rock. Therefore, the localization and characterization of alteration zones by downhole measurements is a great challenge for the development of geothermal reservoirs. The magnetite bearing granite of the geothermal site in Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) experienced hydrothermal alteration during several tectonic events and clay mineral formation is especially observed in alteration halos around fracture zones. During the formation of clay minerals, magnetite was oxidized into hematite, which significantly reduces the magnetic susceptibility of the granite from ferrimagnetic to mostly paramagnetic values. The aim of this study was to find out if there exists a correlation between synthetic clay content logs (SCCLs) and measurements of magnetic susceptibility on cuttings in the granite in order to characterize their alteration mineralogy. Such a correlation has been proven for core samples of the EPS1 reference well. SCCLs were created from gamma ray and fracture density logs using a neural network. These logs can localize altered fracture zones in the GPK1-4 wells, where no core material is available. Mass susceptibility from 261 cutting samples of the wells GPK1–GPK4 was compared with the neural network derived synthetic logs. We applied a combination of temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements with optical and electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to discriminate different stages of alteration. We found, that also in the granite cuttings an increasing alteration grade is characterized by an advancing oxidation of magnetite into hematite and a reduction of magnetic susceptibility. A challenge to face for the interpretation of magnetic susceptibility data from cuttings material is that extreme alteration grades can also display increased susceptibilities due to the formation of secondary magnetite. Low magnetic susceptibility can also be attributed to primary low magnetite content, if the granite facies changes. In order to interpret magnetic susceptibility from cuttings, contaminations with iron from wear debris of the drilling tools must be eliminated. Provided that the magnetic mineralogy of the granite is known in detail, this method in combination with petrographic investigations is suited to indicate and characterize hydrothermal alteration and the appearance of clay.

Description: Elastic and mechanical weakening from water saturation are widely known to occur in sedimentary rocks, and particularly in carbonate rocks. To improve our understanding of the physics underlying this phenomenon, ultrasonic ( f  ~ 0.5 MHz) elastic properties are measured on a large suite of clean limestones and sandstones at very low saturations from relative humidity (RH) variations at ambient conditions. Measurements clearly highlight an elastic weakening (i.e. decrease in elastic wave velocity) from moisture adsorption. P - and S -wave velocities are similarly affected by adsorption, but in a different way for limestones and sandstone samples. While the elastic properties of limestone samples show almost no RH dependence, a large weakening is observed for samples of Fontainebleau sandstone that increases with the samples’ porosity. The main elastic weakening effect is likely to result from adsorption of fluid at grain contacts. It thus affects particularly granular rocks such as sandstones while well-cemented limestones are not affected. The granular model from Murphy et al. , accounting for surface energy effects, proves to be appropriate. Applying this model, it is shown that (i) P - and S -wave velocities have the same dependence on surface energy, which is consistent with the measurements and (ii) surface energy values obtained from the ultrasonic data using this model correlate with RH, and are consistent with the expected value for quartz crystals at vapour pressure. Yet, porosity, which relates to degree of cementation in the particular case of Fontainebleau sandstone, appears to be an additional parameter. A modified model is thus derived using the cementation model from Digby, accounting for a bonding radius at grain contact. It proves to apply well to the measured data. The fundamental difference between limestones’ and sandstones’ dependence to RH appears to be related to a microstructural difference. Saturation variations from RH increase depend on specific surface area, which is particularly low in Fontainebleau sandstones and large in microporous limestones. However elastic weakening from RH is more important in sandstones owing to their granular microstructure.

Description: A novel experimental method is introduced to estimate the Thomsen's elastic anisotropy parameters and of a transversely isotropic shale under variable stress and saturation conditions. The method consists in recording P -wave velocities along numerous paths on a cylindrical specimen using miniature ultrasonic transducers. Such an overdetermined set of measurements is specifically designed to reduce the uncertainty associated with the determination of Thomsen's parameter compared to the classical method for which a single off-axis measurement is used (usually at 45° to the specimen's axis). This method is applied to a specimen of Opalinus Clay recovered from the Mont-Terri Underground Research Laboratory in Switzerland. The specimen is first saturated with brine at low effective pressure and then subjected to an effective pressure cycle up to 40 MPa, followed by a triaxial loading up to failure. During saturation and deformation, the evolution of P -wave velocities along a maximum of 240 ray paths is monitored and Thomsen's parameters α , and are computed by fitting Thomsen's weak anisotropy model to the data. The values of and obtained at the highest confining pressures reached during the experiment are comparable with those predicted from X-ray diffraction texture analysis and modelling for Opalinus Clay reported in the literature. These models neglect the effect of soft-porosity on elastic properties, but become relevant when soft porosity is closed at high effective pressure.

Description: We present a novel accurate and efficient goal-oriented adaptive finite-element method solution for complex multi-electrodes resistivity system with arbitrary smooth surface topographies. A simple Green's function of a half-space model is adopted to eliminate the singularity. A unified boundary value problem for the regular potential is formulated for a multi-electrodes system so that it shares a common system matrix. In addition, a goal-oriented error estimation technique is developed to generate an optimal common grid so that highly accurate solutions are obtained with minimum computation cost. Synthetic models are used to verify our algorithm and excellent agreements are obtained by comparing with other methods.

Description: The Geological Survey of Sweden has been collecting airborne tensor very low frequency data (VLF) over several decades, covering large parts of the country. The data has been an invaluable source of information for identifying conductive structures that can among other things be related to water-filled fault zones, wet sediments that fill valleys or ore mineralizations. Because the method only uses two differently polarized plane waves of very similar frequency, vertical resolution is low and interpretation is in most cases limited to maps that are directly derived from the data. Occasionally, 2-D inversion is carried out along selected profiles. In this paper, we present for the first time a 3-D inversion for tensor VLF data in order to further increase the usefulness of the data set. The inversion is performed using a non-linear conjugate gradient scheme (Polak-Ribière) with an inexact line-search. The gradient is obtained by an algebraic adjoint method that requires one additional forward calculation involving the adjoint system matrix. The forward modelling is based on integral equations with an analytic formulation of the half-space Green's tensor. It avoids typically required Hankel transforms and is particularly amenable to singularity removal prior to the numerical integration over the volume elements. The system is solved iteratively, thus avoiding construction and storage of the dense system matrix. By using fast 3-D Fourier transforms on nested grids, subsequently farther away interactions are represented with less detail and therefore with less computational effort, enabling us to bridge the gap between the relatively short wavelengths of the fields (tens of metres) and the large model dimensions (several square kilometres). We find that the approximation of the fields can be off by several per cent, yet the transfer functions in the air are practically unaffected. We verify our code using synthetic calculations from well-established 2-D methods, and trade modelling accuracy off against computational effort in order to keep the inversion feasible in both respects. Our compromise is to limit the permissible resistivity to not fall below 100 m to maintain computational domains as large as 10 10 km 2 and computation times on the order of a few hours on standard PCs. We investigate the effect of possible local violations of these limits. Even though the conductivity magnitude can then not be recovered correctly, we do not observe any structural artefacts related to this in our tests. We invert a data set from northern Sweden, where we find an excellent agreement of known geological features, such as contacts or fault zones, with elongated conductive structures, while high resistivity is encountered in probably less disturbed geology, often related to topographic highs, which have survived predominantly glacial erosion processes. As expected from synthetic studies, the resolution is laterally high, but vertically limited down to the top of conductive structures.

Description: Induced polarization is a geophysical method looking to image and interpret low-frequency polarization mechanisms occurring in porous media. Below 10 kHz, the quadrature conductivity of metal-free sandy and clayey materials exhibits a distribution of relaxation times, which can be related to the pore size distribution of these porous materials. When the polarization spectra are fitted with a Cole–Cole model, we first observe that the main relaxation time is controlled by the main pore size of the material and that the Cole–Cole exponent c is never much above 0.5, a value corresponding to a Warburg function. The complex conductivity is then obtained through a convolution product between the pore size distribution and such Warburg function. We also provide a way to recover the pore size distribution by performing a deconvolution of measured spectra using the Warburg function. A new dataset of mercury porosimetry and induced polarization data of six siliciclastic materials supports the hypothesis that the Cole–Cole relaxation time is strongly controlled by the pore size, and especially the characteristic pore size corresponding to the peak of the pore size distribution from mercury porosimetry. The distribution of the pore throat sizes of these materials seems fairly well recovered using the Warburg decomposition of the spectral induced polarization spectra but additional data will be needed to confirm this finding.

Description: We propose a new, simple and efficient method to image electrical resistivity between a set of wells. Our procedure consists of two steps: first, we map the interfaces between various subsurface formations using seismoelectric conversions; second, we derive the formation resistivity using image-guided cross-well electric tomography. In the first step, we focus seismic energy at a set of points located on a regular grid between wells, which enables us to map the geological formations in terms of heterogeneities in electrical, hydraulic and/or seismic properties. The density of the scanning points (i.e. the seismoelectric image resolution) is related to the wavelength of the seismic impulse used to scan the formations. Each time the seismic energy is focused at a point, the resulting electrical potential burst (equivalent to the one generated by a volumetric seismic source) is recorded remotely at a set of electrodes positioned in wells (the reference electrode can be located on the ground surface or far enough to be considered at infinity). We construct a high-resolution ‘seismoelectric’ image by assigning the electrical potential simulated at these fixed electrodes to the location of the seismic focus. In a follow-up step, the structure of this image is used in image-guided inversion to improve electrical resistivity tomography between the two wells. The structural information from the seismoelectric image is used to impose constraints on the model covariance matrix used in the inversion of the electrical resistivity data. This approach offers new perspectives in recovering fine structure of resistivity (high definition resistivity tomography) between the wells, which cannot be resolved through conventional cross-well resistivity or from seismic tomography alone.

Description: In subduction zones, shallow subsurface structures are the manifestation of the plate interactions at depth. However, significant water depths, rough bathymetry and presence of heavily deformed accretionary wedge materials hamper imaging of the near-surface features to a great extent using conventional imaging techniques. In this study, we show results using an integrated processing technique to a multichannel seismic data set acquired in 2006 from the northwestern offshore Sumatra. We start with first downward continuing the 12-km-long surface streamer data to the seafloor, followed by a high-resolution traveltime tomography of refracted phases to determine a detailed velocity–depth model of subsurface, which in turns, is used for pre-stack depth migration in order to delineate the shallow subsurface structures beneath the trench, subduction front and outer accretionary wedge. Our velocity–depth model and the depth migrated image depict variation of sediment properties across the front and structures of uppermost sedimentary sequence with an unprecedented high resolution providing the precise location of the frontal and conjugate thrusts, highly folded sedimentary sequences, which in turns describe their relationship with the top of the subducting plate and factors that control rupture propagation to the trench. Furthermore, we estimate the porosity distribution across the front, where we find a 12 and 18 per cent decrease in porosity beneath the deformation front and the inner accretionary plateau at 500 m below the seafloor, respectively, which we interpret to be due to the compaction. A significant decrease in porosity at the plate interface below 5–6-km thick sediments near the deformation front would increase the coupling, leading to the rupture propagation up to the trench, uplifting 4.5 km water and producing large tsunami.

Description: We present a scale- and parameter-adaptive method to pre-condition the gradient of the parameters to be inverted in time-domain 2-D elastic full-waveform inversion (FWI). The proposed technique, which relies on a change of variables of the model parameters, allows to balance the value of the gradient of the Lamé parameters and density throughout the model in each step of the multiscale inversion. The main difference compared to existing gradient pre-conditioners is that the variables are automatically selected based on a least-squares minimization criteria of the gradient weight, which corresponds to the product of the gradient by a power of the parameter to be inverted. Based on numerical tests made with (1) a modified version of the Marmousi-2 model, and (2) a high-velocity and density local anomaly model, we illustrate that the value of the power helps to balance the gradient throughout the model. In addition, we show that a particular value exists for each parameter that optimizes the inversion results in terms of accuracy and efficiency. For the two models, the optimal power is ~2.0–2.5 and ~1.5 for the first and second Lamé parameters, respectively; and between 3 and 6, depending on the inverted frequency, for density. These power values provide the fastest and most accurate inversion results for the three parameters in the framework of multiscale and multishooting FWI using three different optimization schemes.