On seismic imaging of fractured geological media

Abstract

Seismic waves propagating in a fractured geological medium are numerically simulated. Their dynamic behavior is described using a linear elastic model with an explicit description of all crack boundaries (a contact discontinuity problem is solved). An algorithm for seismic imaging of the fractured medium is proposed. A distinctive feature of this approach is the use of an initially fractured background model. The forward and adjoint wave fields are numerically computed by applying the grid-characteristic method on hexahedral meshes.