Using 3D full-waveform inversion to investigate bottom-simulating reflectors

We present velocity images across a bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) recovered using 3D high-resolution full-waveform inversion (FWI) and discuss its use as a tool for understanding the nature of the BSR.

FWI is a seismic imaging technique which generates highly resolved physical property models of the subsurface. FWI uses the full recorded waveform for inversion which leads to a superior resolution compared to other imaging methods, but also makes it computationally more expensive. Relative to 2D inversions, 3D FWI leads to image improvements due to an increase in azimuthal coverage and ability to map out-of-plane arrivals to the correct location, which is particularly important in a complex geological setting. Therefore, next to the advantage of a fully resolved 3D structure, the model will also be more accurate.

Caused by gas hydrate in an upper layer and/or free gas in a lower layer, a BSR indicates the base of the gas hydrate stability zone. This significant change of the physical properties in the upper few hundred meters of the marine sediment produces a distinct reflection, i.e. the BSR, that can be seen in the seismic image.

We are imaging and investigating a BSR at Puke Ridge, a thrust ridge on the accretionary wedge of the northern Hikurangi subduction margin, offshore the North Island of New Zealand. We are using seismic multichannel streamer data, belonging to the NZ3D dataset collected in 2018, to invert for the P-wave velocity. The resolved velocity model displays the geometry and the structure of a BSR characterised by a velocity increase followed by a sudden decrease and provides us with accurate velocities which we can use for rock physics modelling and interpretation.