HR: 15:10h
AN: S33E-07    [Abstracts]
TI: SEAM: The SEG Advanced Modeling Project, Phase I
AU: * Fehler, M
EM: michael.fehler@gmail.com
AF: SEAM Corporation, c/o SEG 8801 South Yale, Tulsa, OK 74137, United States
AU: Cheng, A
EM: arthurcheng@alum.mit.edu
AF: Cambridge GeoSciences, 14090 Southwest Freeway, Suite 300, Sugar Land, TX 77478, United States
AB: The SEG Advanced Modeling Project (SEAM) is a consortium being run by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists whose goal is to use numerical modeling to develop geophysical datasets that mimic those used for exploration and characterization of petroleum resources. Phase I of the project is underway and involves the calculation of a large 3D seismic exploration dataset in deepwater using acoustic-wave modeling. There are several aspects of this phase that include: (1) the development of a realistic geological and geophysical model of a region that contains a salt body with subsalt petroleum reservoirs. The salt structure is derived from a well- characterized salt body in the Gulf of Mexico. Surrounding sediments and structures within the sediments are based on geological and seismological information that represent typical Gulf of Mexico geology. The initial model will be acoustic with variable density and compressional-wave velocities; a subsequent model will be elastic and possibly contain anisotropy. EM and gravity models are also being considered (2) Characterization and development of a suitable numerical modeling scheme. The scheme must be capable of reproducing reliable amplitude and traveltime information for wave propagation in the realistic model for frequencies up to approximately 20 Hz and propagation distances of several hundred wavelengths. (3) Development of an acquisition scheme that includes shotpoints and locations of receivers on both the surface and within the Earth's subsurface. (4) Numerical modeling for tens of thousands shot points located on the Earth's surface, and (5) Storage of data and its distribution to industrial, academic and government laboratory investigators who will use the data for a variety of individually-developed research projects. The overall goal of Phase I the project is to provide a large, relatively high-frequency, high-fidelity dataset for a realistic petroleum resource located in deep water that researchers can use for development of improved approaches for analyzing seismic data using multiple approaches for petroleum exploration and reservoir characterization.
UR: http://www.seg.org/SEAM
DE: 0545 Modeling (4255)
DE: 0550 Model verification and validation
DE: 0902 Computational methods: seismic
DE: 3285 Wave propagation (0689, 2487, 4275, 4455, 6934)
SC: Seismology [S]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting