Estimation of Elastic Stress-Related Properties of Bottom Sediments via the Inversion of Very- and Ultra-High-Resolution Seismic Data

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of several seismic inversion approaches and their application to very- and ultra-high-resolution marine seismic datasets. The importance of seismic inversion is related to the current demands of the offshore engineering industry for estimates of elastic stress-related parameters of near-surface and bottom sediments. To meet these demands, the seismic inversion methods which facilitate the estimation of elastic properties of the subsurface should be developed for very high-resolution data. Several problems prevent the successful application of seismic inversion to high-resolution datasets. Firstly, borehole measurements, which are routinely applied to constrain seismic inversion, are often not available for the offshore near-surface. Secondly, very- and ultra-high-resolution seismic data are acquired in high frequency ranges, and low-frequency information is absent in such datasets. The elaboration of seismic inversion methods for ultra-high-resolution data is important for both practical and scientific purposes. In the paper, we share our experience in applying acoustic poststack inversion and prestack AVA inversion to very- and ultra-high-resolution marine seismic datasets.