A METHOD TO DETERMINE THE VELOCITIES OF THE SEAFLOOR AND NEAR‐SURFACE SEDIMENTS*

• Published in: Geophysical Prospecting
• Main Authors: BERGE, A. M., BESKOW, B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1985
• Subjects: Barents Sea; Norway
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2478.1985.tb00442.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2478.1985.tb00442.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2478.1985.tb00442.x

ABSTRACT Shotpoint gathers from conventional reflection seismic surveys contain both reflected and refracted waves. In this study shot records were processed and analyzed, and the data were modeled with reflected, refracted, and reflected‐refracted waves to fit the recorded data. The result is a detailed velocity model. The inverse problem for refracted waves was solved by using the Wiechert‐Herglotz inversion. A 500‐km‐long 26‐fold reflection seismic line from the Barents Sea, north of Norway, has been investigated. The data show high velocities, multiple reflections, and various types of noise. To test the method a total of 34 shot gathers were analyzed along this line. The aim of the interpretation was to determine the velocity in the seafloor and the near‐surface sediments. It is possible to map the vertical as well as the lateral velocity distribution in detail. Depending on the length of the streamer and the velocity gradient in the sediments, the calculated depth varies between 300 and 500 m below the seafloor. These velocities were also compared to the stacking velocities obtained from the reflection seismic data to see how the velocities determined by different methods were related. The velocity distribution in the sediments is one of the key factors in seismic interpretation. The technique discussed in this paper can contribute to velocity information both in the processing and interpretation of seismic data.