• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2002.09a
• /
• pp.67-84
• /
• 2002

A shallow high-resolution seismic reflection survey was carried out at the Mineopo tidal flat on the western coast of Korea. The purpose of the survey was to investigate shallow sedimentary structure of the tidal (fat associated with the recent sea level change. A total of 795 shots were generated at 1 m interval from a 5-kg hammer source and recorded on 48 channels of 100 Hz geophones along two mutually perpendicular profiles. The water-saturated ground condition resulted in suppressed ground rolls by significantly decreasing rigidity. In addition, seismic velocities over 1500 m/s provided easy segregation of reflected arrivals from lower velocity noise. As a consequence, seismic sections were created that are high in resolution and signal to noise ratio as well. The stack sections show that the tidal flat consists of 5 sedimentary sequences above acoustic basement. Although deposition is largely characterized by the transgressive sedimentary facies resulting from sea level rise, erosional surfaces are well-resolved within the sequences.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.301-312
• /
• 2015

A commercial gas field was found in the southwestern continental shelf of the Ulleung Basin, East Sea in the late 1990s. To develop additional gas field, an exploration well was drilled through the coarse infill of submarine canyon near the gas field, but it was uneconomic to develop hydrocarbons. Using newly acquired deep seismic reflection and previous well data, we have identified additional geological structure which has hydrocarbon potentials below submarine canyons in the southwestern margin of the basin. Based on the interpretation of the deep seismic reflection and well data, the sequences of the study area can be classified into the syn-rift megasequence(MS1), post-rift megasequence(MS2), syn-compressional megasequence(MS3), and post-compressional megasequence(MS4) in relation to the tectonic events. MS1, deposited simultaneously with the basin formation before the middle Miocene, is characterized by chaotic seismic facies with low- to moderate-amplitude and low frequency reflections. MS2 comprises laterally continuous, low- to moderate-amplitude reflections, showing progradational stacking patterns due to high rates of sediment supply during basin expansion in the middle Miocene. MS3 is mainly composed of continuous reflections with high amplitude and moderate- to high-frequency which are interpreted as coarse-grained sediments. The coarse-grained sediments of MS3 sequence is widely truncated by several submarine canyons which filled with fine-grained sediment of MS4 to form a stratigraphic trap of hydrocarbon. Therefore, the reservoir and seal of the hydrocarbon trap in the study area are coarse-grained sediment of MS3 and submarine canyon filled with fine-grained sediment of MS4, respectively. A flat-spot seismic anomaly, which may indicate the presence of hydrocarbon, is observed within the stratigraphic trap.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
• /
• v.11 no.1 s.12
• /
• pp.9-17
• /
• 2005

In the main target area of the block II, Targe-scale faults occur below the unconformity developed around 1 km in depth. The contrast of seismic velocity around the unconformity is generally so large that the strong multiples and the radical velocity variation would deteriorate the quality of migrated section due to serious distortion. More than 15 kinds of data processing techniques have been applied to improve the image resolution for the structures farmed from this active crustal activity. The bad and noisy traces were edited on the common shot gathers in the first step to get rid of acquisition problems which could take place from unfavorable conditions such as climatic change during data acquisition. Correction of amplitude attenuation caused from spherical divergence and inelastic attenuation has been also applied. Mild F/K filter was used to attenuate coherent noise such as guided waves and side scatters. Predictive deconvolution has been applied before stacking to remove peg-leg multiples and water reverberations. The velocity analysis process was conducted at every 2 km interval to analyze migration velocity, and it was iterated to get the high fidelity image. The strum noise caused from streamer was completely removed by applying predictive deconvolution in time space and ${\tau}-P$ domain. Residual multiples caused from thin layer or water bottom were eliminated through parabolic radon transform demultiple process. The migration using curved ray Kirchhoff-style algorithm has been applied to stack data. The velocity obtained after several iteration approach for MVA (migration velocity analysis) was used instead or DMO for the migration velocity. Using various testing methods, optimum seismic processing parameter can be obtained for structural and stratigraphic interpretation in the Block II, Yellow Sea Basin.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.369-379
• /
• 2003

Analysis of high-resolution seismic profiles and sediment data from the southeastern continental shelf of Korea reveals that the late Quaternary deposits consist of a set of lowstand (LST), transgressive (TST), and highstand systems tracts (HST) that corresponds to the sea-level change after the Last Glacial Maximum. LST (Unit I) above the sequence boundary consists of sandy mud or muddy sand deposited during the last glacial period and is confined to the shelf margin and trough region. TST (Unit II) between transgressive surface and maximum flooding surface consists of sandy sediments deposited during the postglacial transgression (15,000-6,000 yr BP). Although TST is widely distributed on the shelf, it is much thinner than LST and HST. On the basis of distribution pattern, TST can be divided into three sub-units: early TST (Unit IIa) on the shelf margin, middle TST (Unit IIb) on the mid-shelf, and late TST (Unit IIc) on the inner shelf, respectively. These are characterized by a backstepping depositional arrangement. HST(Unit III) above the maximum flooding surface is composed of the fine-grained sediments deposited during the last 6000 yrs when sea level was close to the present level and its distribution is restricted to the inner shelf along the coast.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.229-238
• /
• 2011

S-wave, which provides lithology and pore fluid information, plays a key role in estimating gas-hydrate saturation. In general, P- and S-wave velocities increase in the presence of gas-hydrate and the P-wave velocity decreases in the presence of free gas under the gas-hydrate layer. Whereas there are very small changes, even slightly increases, in the S-wave velocity in the free gas layer because S-wave is not affected by the pore fluid when propagating in the free gas layer. To verify those velocity properties of the BSR (bottom-simulating reflector) depth in the gas-hydrate prospect area in the Ulleung Basin, P- and S-wave velocity profiles were derived from multi-component ocean-bottom seismic data which were acquired by Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) in May 2009. OBS (ocean-bottom seismometer) hydrophone component data were modeled and inverted first through the traveltime inversion method to derive P-wave velocity and depth model of survey area. 2-D multichannel stacked data were incorporated as an initial model. Two horizontal geophone component data, then, were polarization filtered and rotated to make radial component section. Traveltimes of main S-wave events were picked and used for forward modeling incorporating Poisson's ratio. This modeling provides S-wave profiles and Poisson's ratio profiles at every OBS site. The results shows that P-wave velocities in most OBS sites decrease beneath the BSR, whereas S-wave velocities slightly increase. Consequently, Poisson's ratio decreased strongly beneath the BSR indicating the presence of a free gas layer under the BSR.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.50-57
• /
• 2011

For effective and accurate prediction of overpressure in the Efomeh field, located in the Niger delta basin of Nigeria, integrated seismic and borehole analyses were undertaken. Normal and abnormal pore pressure zones were delineated based on the principle of normal and deviation from normal velocity trends. The transition between the two trends signifies the top of overpressure. The overpressure tops were picked at regular intervals from seismic data using interval velocities obtained by applying Dix's approximation. The accuracy of the predicted overpressure zone was confirmed from the sonic velocity data of the Efomeh 01 well. The variation to the depth of overpressure between the predicted and observed values was less than 10mat the Efomeh 01 well location, with confidence of over 99 per cent. The depth map generated shows that the depth distribution to the top of the overpressure zone of the Efomeh field falls within the sub-sea depth range of 2655${\pm}$2m (2550 ms) to 3720${\pm}$2m (2900 ms). This depth conforms to thick marine shales using the Efomeh 01 composite log. The lower part of the Agbada Formation within the Efomeh field is overpressured and the depth of the top of the overpressure does not follow any time-stratigraphic boundary across the field. Prediction of the top of the overpressure zone within the Efomeh field for potential wells that will total depth beyond 2440m sub-sea is very important for safer drilling practice as well as the prevention of lost circulation.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.90-101
• /
• 2009

Analysis of multi-channel seismic reflection data from the Southern Ulleung Basin reveals that Plio-Quaternary section in the area consists of nine stacked sedimentary units separated by erosional unconformities. On the southern slope, these sedimentary units are acoustically characterized by chaotic seismic facies without distinct internal reflections, interpreted as debris-flow bodies. Toward the basin floor, the sedimentary units are defined by well-stratified facies with good continuity and strong amplitude, interpreted as turbidite/hemipelagic sediments. The seismic facies distribution suggests that deposition of Plio-Quaternary section in the area was controlled mainly by tectonic movement and sea-level fluctuations. During the Pliocene, sedimentation was mainly controlled by tectonic movements related to the back-arc closure of the East Sea. The back-arc closure that began in the Miocene caused compressional deformation along the southern margin of the Ulleung Basin, resulting in regional uplift which continued until the Pliocene. Large amounts of sediments, eroded from the uplifted crustal blocks, were supplied to the basin, depositing Unit 1 which consists of debris-flow deposits. During the Quaternary, sea-level fluctuations resulted in stacked sedimentary units (2-9) consisting of debris-flow deposits, formed during sea-level fall and lowstands, and thin hemipelagic/turbidite sediments, deposited during sea-level rise and highstands.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.225-238
• /
• 2019

Migration velocity analysis (MVA) for creating optimum depth-domain velocities in seismic imaging was applied to marine long-offset multi-channel data, and the effectiveness of the MVA approach was demonstrated by the combinations of conventional data processing procedures. The time-domain images generated by conventional time-processing scheme has been considered to be sufficient so far for the seismic stratigraphic interpretation. However, when the purpose of the seismic imaging moves to the hydrocarbon exploration, especially in the geologic modeling of the oil and gas play or lead area, drilling prognosis, in-place hydrocarbon volume estimation, the seismic images should be converted into depth domain or depth processing should be applied in the processing phase. CMP-based velocity analysis, which is mainly based on several approximations in the data domain, inherently contains errors and thus has high uncertainties. On the other hand, the MVA provides efficient and somewhat real-scale (in depth) images even if there are no logging data available. In this study, marine long-offset multi-channel seismic data were optimally processed in time domain to establish the most qualified dataset for the usage of the iterative MVA. Then, the depth-domain velocity profile was updated several times and the final velocity-in-depth was used for generating depth images (CRP gather and stack) and compared with the images obtained from the velocity-in-time. From the results, we were able to confirm the depth-domain results are more reasonable than the time-domain results. The spurious local minima, which can be occurred during the implementation of full waveform inversion, can be reduced when the result of MVA is used as an initial velocity model.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.131-146
• /
• 2014

High-resolution seismic profiles coupled with sediment sampling were analyzed to investigate the acoustic characters and distribution patterns of the late Holocene sediments in Gamak Bay of the South Sea, Korea. The mean grain size of surficial sediment lies around $6.3{\sim}9.7{\Phi}$. Sediments in the bay consist of silt and clay with progressive decrease toward the inner bay. The seismic sedimentary sequence overlying the acoustic basement can be divided into two sedimentary units (GB I and II) by a prominent mid-reflector (Maximum Flooding Surface; MFS). The acoustic basement occurs at the depth between 20 m and 40 m below the sea-level and deepens gradually southward. The GB I, mostly occupying the channel-fill, is characterized by reflection-free seismic facies. It can be formed as late Transgressive System Tract (TST), interpreted tidal environment deposits. MFS appears at the depth of about 15~28 m below the sea-level and is well defined by even and continuous reflectors on the seismic profile. The GB II overlying MFS is composed of acoustically transparent to semitransparent and parallel internal reflectors. GB II is interpreted as the Highstand System Tract (HST) probably deposited during the last 6,000 yrs when the sea level was close to the present level. Especially, it is though that the GB II was subdivided into two layers (GB II-a and II-b) by a HST-reflector and this was classified by wind, sea water flux, and tidal current.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.74-87
• /
• 2014

Analysis of multi-channel seismic reflection profiles collected from the Ulleung Basin reveals that the Quaternary sequence consists of four stratigraphic units separated by erosional unconformities. Individual stratigraphic unit includes eighteen mass transport deposits which are variable in geometric characteristics and spatial distribution. Each mass transport deposit on the seismic profile is acoustically characterized by chaotic or transparent seismic facies, and shows wedge or lens-shaped external geometry. The mass transport deposits, which comprise a succession of stacked wedges, mainly occur on the southern slope, and their thickness gradually decreases toward the basin plain. The time structure map of erosional unconformities shows that a tectonic-induced structural high and troughs toward the northwest and northeast are developed at the central part of the basin. Based on the isochron map, the mass transport deposits, originated from southern part of the study area, transported to the basin plain and can be divided into two groups by the structural high. Consequently, the mass transport deposits within the Quaternary sequence in the Ulleung Basin are largely controlled by the large amounts of sediment supply, dissociation of gas hydrate during the lowstands, and central structural high.