3-D seismic discontinuity for faults and stratigraphic features: The coherence cube

TLDR

Seismic data are typically acquired and processed to image reflections. The paper proposes a method to process seismic data for imaging discontinuities such as faults and stratigraphic features. The method generates a 3‑D coherence cube, a volume of coherence coefficients that highlights faults as numerically separated surfaces. Figure 1 demonstrates that the new coherence‑cube method reveals fault surfaces in a 3‑D volume where traditional reflection imaging fails, marking the first published approach of its kind.

Abstract

Seismic data are usually acquired and processed for imaging reflections. This paper describes a method of processing seismic data for imaging discontinuities (e.g., faults and stratigraphic features). One application of this nontraditional process is a 3-D volume, or cube, of coherence coefficients within which faults are revealed as numerically separated surfaces. Figure 1 compares a traditional 3-D reflection amplitude time slice with the results of the new method. To our knowledge, this is the first published method of revealing fault surfaces within a 3-D volume for which no fault reflections have been recorded.