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Volume 37 Number 6
  • E-ISSN: 1365-2478

Abstract

ABSTRACT

High resolution seismic reflection exploration for minerals places severe demands on field practice so as to maximize the signal‐to‐noise bandwidth. In particular, all horizontally propagating coherent noise, especially ground roll, must be attenuated.

The blocking effect of a trench between source and receiver has been investigated by means of two‐dimensional physical seismic model experiments. Rectangular, circular and wedge‐shaped saw‐cuts of various dimensions were studied. The results show that thin rectangular cuts of depth equal to one‐quarter of the Rayleigh wave noise wavelength produce a 12 dB or better improvement in the signal‐to‐noise ratio. Rayleigh wave attenuation is greater than 30 dB at a cut depth of one wavelength. In the field applications envisaged, this corresponds to trenches up to a few metres deep. The trenches should be filled with foam or loose sand to dampen out mode conversion and diffraction noise. There are obvious practical difficulties of implementing such a technique in routine CMP operations.

The technical effectiveness of the saw‐cut is illustrated by imaging a deeply‐buried small hole (diffractor) in an aluminium plate. Without the saw‐cut between source and receiver, the seismic record is dominated by Rayleigh wave noise, masking P‐wave arrivals from the target diffractor. However, with a saw‐cut of depth three‐quarters of a Rayleigh wave wavelength, the improvement is dramatic, making it easy to detect and identify the hole. When scaled to the field situation, this is equivalent to imaging a 6 m tunnel at a depth of 400 m, using a surface trench of depth 2 m to block ground roll.

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2006-04-27
2024-04-19

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