Shallow Imaging of Gas and Hydrate Using the Deep-towed ACS Data in Joetsu Basin, Niigata, Japan

The deep-towed Autonomous Continuous Seismic (ACS) is a deep-towed marine seismic acquisition method. The ACS utilizes high frequency seismic source (ranging from 700 Hz to 2300 Hz) and multi-channel receivers that both source and receivers can be located close the seafloor. Moreover, the ACS is suitable to obtain high-resolution image of shallow geological structures. Since ACS data acquisition can be operated near the seafloor, the ocean (strong) current makes the position of both receivers and sources irregular (unstable) and it is hard to measure the absolute depth of both receivers and sources. During data processing, the unstable depth of both sources and receivers not only make the recorded seismic reflection curve (hyperbolic curve) rugged, but also makes the velocity analysis process more difficult because the velocity semblance is not clear. In this study, we propose a processing scheme to solve the unstable source–receiver position problem and thus to construct an accurate final stack profile (Hutapea et al., 2020 doi:10.1016/j.jngse.2020.103573). We used deep-towed ACS data acquired in the Joetsu Basin in Niigata, Japan, where hydrocarbon features in the form of gas chimneys, gas hydrate, and free gas have been observed. Furthermore, sidelobes in the ACS source signature defocus the source wavelet and decrease the bandwidth frequency content. We designed a filter to focus the source signature. Our proposed approach considerably improved the quality of bandwidth frequency of the source signature and the final stacked profile. Even though depth information was not available for all receivers, the velocity semblance was well focused. Our seismic attribute analyses for the final stack section shows that free gas accumulations are characterized by low reflection amplitude and an unstable frequency component, and that hydrate close to the seafloor can be identified by its high reflection amplitude.