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Seismic exploration in the mountainous areas of western Chinese is extremely difficult because of the complexity of the surface and subsurface, which results in shooting difficulties, seismic data with low signal-to-noise ratio, and strong interference. The complexity of the subsurface structure leads to strong scattering of the reflection points; thus, the curved-line acquisition method has been used. However, the actual subsurface structural characteristics have been rarely considered. We propose a design method for irregular acquisition based on common reflection points (CRP) to avoid difficult-to-shoot areas, while considering the structural characteristics and CRP positions and optimizing the surface-receiving line position. We arrange the positions of the receiving points to ensure as little dispersion of subsurface CRP as possible to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the seismic data. We verify the applicability of the method using actual data from a site in Sichuan Basin. The proposed method apparently solves the problem of seismic data acquisition and facilitates seismic exploration in structurally complex areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Reconstruction of seismic data is routinely used to improve the quality and resolution of seismic data from incomplete acquired seismic recordings. Curvelet-based Recovery by Sparsity-promoting Inversion, adapted from the recently-developed theory of compressive sensing, is one such kind of reconstruction, especially good for recovery of undersampled seismic data. Like traditional Fourier-based methods, it performs best when used in conjunction with randomized subsampling, which converts aliases from the usual regular periodic subsampling into easy-to-eliminate noise. By virtue of its ability to control gap size, along with the random and irregular nature of its sampling pattern, jittered (sub)sampling is one proven method that has been used successfully for the determination of geophone positions along a seismic line. In this paper, we extend jittered sampling to two-dimensional acquisition design, a more difficult problem, with both underlying Cartesian and hexagonal grids. We also study what we term separable and non-separable two-dimensional jittered samplings. We find hexagonal jittered sampling performs better than Cartesian jittered sampling, while fully non-separable jittered sampling performs better than separable jittered sampling. Two other 2D randomized sampling methods, Poisson Disk sampling and Farthest Point sampling, both known to possess blue-noise spectra, are also shown to perform well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we present a novel method for the estimation of sulphur deposit resources based on high-resolution shallow reflection seismic survey and well logging. The study area was sited in the northern part of the Carpathian Foredeep (SE Poland), where sulphur ore occurs in carbonate rocks at a depth of about 120 m, with a thickness of approximately 25 m. The results of many years of seismic monitoring performed in the area of the sulphur deposit allowed us to determine the quantitative relationships between the amplitude of the seismic signal reflected from the top of the deposit and its petrophysical parameters such as porosity and sulphur content. The method of evaluating sulphur deposit is based on extensive statistics concerning the reservoir properties obtained from borehole data. We also discuss a methodology for conducting field acquisition and processing of seismic data in the aspect of mapping the actual amplitudes of the signal reflected from the top of a deposit. The results of estimating the abundance of carbonate sulphur deposits are presented based on the example of a seismic cross-section from the Osiek sulphur mine. Obtained results allow indicating the most prospective zones suitable for exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present a high-resolution shallow seismic surveying method for imaging the inner structure of the Miocene evaporitic formation, where sulfur ore occurs. The survey was completed in the northern part of the Carpathian Foredeep (SE Poland) where sulfur deposits occur up to a depth of ca. 260 m. In this region, the sulfur ore is strata-bound and exists within a carbonate interval of a thickness of approximately 28 m. The average sulfur content reaches up to 30%. Five seismic profiles were acquired with a total length of 2450 m. The acquisition was designed to obtain high-resolution, long offsets and a satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio. In the field, we used 48 channels and variable end-on roll-along spread that allowed us to record offsets of up to 375 m. Data processing was aimed at preserving relative amplitudes (known as RAP, relative amplitude preservation processing), an approach that is necessary for seismic inversion application. With the utilization of well log data and results of simultaneous inversion, we were able to calculate the elastic properties of the deposit to evaluate sulfur ore content and changes in lithology. The sulfur content is strongly dependent on the carbonate reservoir's porosity. To evaluate porosity changes and associated sulfur content, a simultaneous inversion procedure was used. This is a pioneering approach in which we applied pre-stack inversion methods to shallow carbonate sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]