Opening the Black Box of Seismic Anisotropy

Seismic velocity anisotropy (simply “anisotropy” for short) is ubiquitous in real rocks. Finally, modern seismic surveys have the necessary sampling to resolve anisotropic earth models, which in turn yield more accurate images and seismic attributes. Unfortunately, the “over-mathematization” of anisotropy concepts leaves the average geophysicist without an intuitive grasp of their importance for real-world prospecting. In this presentation, I seek to arm the geophysicist with enough basic anisotropy IQ to confidently take advantage of the potentially powerful anisotropic imaging and analysis products available on the marketplace…as well as avoid common pitfalls and misconceptions. I first illustrate basic anisotropy concepts in a “math-lite” fashion, then describe the many ways in which (ignored) anisotropy can degrade seismic imaging and interpretation. Finally, I provide a realistic framework for assessing the applicability of azimuthal anisotropy to infer natural fractures.
Dr. Morgan Brown holds degrees in applied mathematics (BA, 1997) from Rice University and in geophysics (PhD, 2004) from Stanford University. He worked in geophysical R&D at Hess Oil and 3DGeo, before joining Joe Higginbotham at Wave Imaging Technology. He served as CEO from 2008 to the company's sale in 2013 to GeoCenter. In 2014, Dr. Brown formed Tenax Geoscience, a geoscience consultancy and specialty seismic processing company.

[@gustavoteixeira8295]

Very interesting presentation. Thanks for sharing it.

[@MorganBrown]

my pleasure, Gustavo! Glad you enjoyed it.