Geophysical Society of Houston Calendar Events RSS Feed

Daylight Savings Time Begins

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:30:00 GMT

Daylight Savings Time Begins
Start Date: 14-Mar-10 8:30 AM
End Time: 14-Mar-10 5:30 PM

GSH Technical Lunch

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:30:00 GMT

GSH Technical Lunch
Start Date: 16-Mar-10 11:30 AM
End Time: 16-Mar-10 1:30 PM
Location: Pellazzio/The new Omni Palace, Houston, TX 77077
Speaker: Craig Beasley

Event Details:

Dealing with external interferences imposed on a desired seismic signal is fundamental to achieving the goals of a seismic survey. Whether it be related to Earth transmission effects or external noise, this is the stuff of acquisition, processing and, ultimately, interpretation of seismic data.

From time-to-time, geophysicists have taken a different point of view and have attempted to use interfering “noise” as usable signal with mixed results. Recently, there has been renewed interest in this topic—in particular for the case of deploying and activating multiple seismic sources that intentionally interfere with one another. While long a topic of research and field practice for land vibrator acquisition, so-called simultaneous source (SimSrc) acquisition is relatively new to the world of impulsive sources as are commonly used for marine acquisition.

Proposed and demonstrated 10 years ago, the subject of marine SimSrc has lain fallow until the recent uptake of wide-azimuth marine surveys. Typically, in a wide-azimuth marine survey, multiple marine vessels are deployed to achieve efficient acquisition and sufficient azimuth and fold. The desire to make better use of these vessels and, at the same time, to achieve better coverage has driven geophysicists to pursue SimSrc for marine acquisition. The benefits promised by SimSrc are substantial. Some topics under consideration are reduced shot spacing, unlimited record length, increased sampling in the azimuth domain allowing azimuthal analysis, faster acquisition (particularly for VSP), improved land acquisition with new technology derived for marine, reduced undershooting time, and other safety benefits.

In this talk I will discuss the achievements of SimSrc and the challenges that remain for both land and marine if it is to become a mainstream acquisition methodology.

Pellazzio/The new Omni Palace

12121 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX United States 77077

GSH Technical Lunch

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:30:00 GMT

GSH Technical Lunch
Start Date: 17-Mar-10 11:30 AM
End Time: 17-Mar-10 1:30 PM
Location: Petroleum Club of Houston, Houston, TX 77002
Speaker: Craig Beasley

Event Details:

Petroleum Club of Houston

800 Bell

Houston, TX United States 77002

Potential Fields SIG

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:30:00 GMT

Potential Fields SIG
Start Date: 18-Mar-10 5:30 PM
End Time: 18-Mar-10 8:30 PM
Location: Hess Club, Houston, TX 77056
Speaker: Dr. Philip Ball

Event Details:

Constraints on continental break-up within the Great Australian Bightfrom seismic reflection, gravity and magnetic data analyses

Weakly magmatic passive margins record large amounts of extensional strain prior to breakup, but the role of magma intrusion and the along-strike variability of strain remain poorly understood. This study utilized existing onshore and offshore gravity, magnetic, seismic reflection, and well data to probe the evolution of rifting, continental breakup, and seafloor spreading across the Australo-Antarctic margins. Continental rifting along the largely non-volcanic southern margin of Australia occurred during two discrete phases, Syn-rift 1 (165-140 Ma) and Syn-rift 2 (100-83 Ma), but existing data are too sparse to map their spatial extent.

The crustal thickness and structure onshore varies between tectonic domains, thinning from 35-40 km onshore to approximately 10 km beneath the magnetic quiet zone offshore. Euler deconvolution solutions calibrated with seismic reflection data reveal two discrete sub-parallel rift systems. Rift Structures of the western rift system overlap that of the eastern rift system, but they are separated by approximately 200 km. Each system terminates at or near to the boundary of the Gawler craton, suggesting that the craton served as an obstacle to rift propagation.

The Ceduna sub-basin, which contains up to 15 km of primarily post-rift strata, lies between the two rift zones. During Syn-rift II, a new rift zone developed oceanward of the Syn-Rift I along the western rift zone. Minor magmatism and possible mantle exhumation is observed during the second rifting stage and within ~10 My prior to the first well-defined seafloor spreading anomaly. The asymmetry of the conjugate Australian and Antarctic margins may be explained by the along-axis propagation of two spatially separated rifts that eventually linked via a NW-striking system of faults, or through discrete rift jumps to the NE within the rift-overlap zone. Using observations of the location and distribution of basement related structures, a revised model for breakup between Australia and Antarctica is proposed.

HESS Club

5:30 - 6:30 Social Hour

6:30 Dinner

Talk After dinner

Hess Club

5430 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77056

Data Processing SIG

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Data Processing SIG
Start Date: 24-Mar-10 5:00 PM
End Time: 24-Mar-10 6:30 PM
Location: Fugro, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: Bee Bednar & Sergey Fomel

Event Details:

How Many Beams Would a Beamer Form if a Beamer could form Beams?

This talk attempts to explain that mysteries of mysteries loosely referred to as Beam Migration. On the one hand, Beam Migration is one of the oldest and simplest approaches to imaging seismic data ever invented. On the other hand, modern approaches and algorithms cloud Beam Migration’s simplicity making it seem to be complex and mysterious. This presentation focuses to remove the cloud and reveal the inner practical workings of the emerging Beam Migration methods. This includes computerized historical approaches (what I like to call hand migration) more modern raytrace based methods, including Beam Stack and Gaussian Beam methods, and finally, full wave equation “delayed” shot migration. These concepts are explained through the use of practical graphics and examples while avoiding complex mathematical or physical concepts.

Time-domain seismic imaging using beams

Gaussian beams are locally coherent seismic events characterized by amplitude, position, slope, and complex-valued curvature. We apply analytical derivations to analyze the transformation of Gaussian beams in time-domain imaging, including prestack and post-stack time migration, as well as offset continuation and transformation to zero offset. We show that all common time-domain imaging operations for Gaussian beams can be described by analytical equations. Moreover, if both midpoint and offset (or, equivalently, source and receiver) slopes are defined in the prestack case, time-domain imaging of Gaussian beams is a straightforward mapping that does not require knowledge or estimation of seismic velocities.

Fugro

6100 Hillcroft

Houston, TX 77081

ROCK PHYSICS SIG

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:30:00 GMT

ROCK PHYSICS SIG
Start Date: 24-Mar-10 5:30 PM
End Time: 24-Mar-10 6:30 PM
Location: CGG Veritas (at the new learning center), Houston, TX 77072
Speaker: Enru Liu

Event Details:

Seismic Fracture Prediction: Status and Challenges

During the past two decades or so, significant progress has been made in our theoretical understanding of the mechanical (elastic) and hydraulic (transport) behavior of fractures. On an empirical level, we have made enough observations, both in the laboratory and on real data, to be able to categorize pretty well how seismic waves behave in fractured rock. For instance, we know that the size, shape, contacts and connectivity of the surfaces of fractures are important, as are the number of fracture sets and their orientations. Geophysicists may argue that we now know enough about the seismic response to fractures and may be able to predict their presence and spatial distribution in reservoirs. However, we cannot yet claim success in obtaining these fracture parameters from seismic data since we have not yet convinced reservoir engineers to routinely use seismically derived ‘fracture’ parameters in their flow simulations.

In this presentation, I will review the concept of fracture prediction from seismic data, focusing on fracture modeling, and will highlight our current understanding of its limitations and the challenges ahead.

CGG Veritas (at the new learning center)

10300 Town Park Dr.,

Houston, TX 77072

GOOD FRIDAY/OFFICE CLOSED

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:30:00 GMT

GOOD FRIDAY/OFFICE CLOSED
Start Date: 2-Apr-10 8:30 AM
End Time: 2-Apr-10 5:30 PM

EASTER

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 13:30:00 GMT

EASTER
Start Date: 4-Apr-10 8:30 AM
End Time: 4-Apr-10 5:30 PM

Technical Breakfast

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Technical Breakfast
Start Date: 14-Apr-10 7:00 AM
End Time: 14-Apr-10 8:30 AM
Location: Fugro Building, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: David Monk

Event Details:

Reducing Infill Requirements Using Fresnel Zone Binning* and Steerable Streamers

Historically it has become accepted that in 3D surveys that the adequacy of fold coverage a survey is assessed by sampling the survey in “bins” and then examining how many traces, and with what offset distribution, fall into each of the survey bins. In marine 3D’s such binning analysis is commonly used in the field to assess whether infill data is required. However, the dimensions of the conventional bins are usually based on the assumption that the traces within these bins will be stacked together. When pre-stack migration is part of the processing scheme, the traces which are stacked are the traces which are output from pre-stack migration and a different coverage assessment may be appropriate.

For a typical marine 3D seismic survey, infill shooting may be as much as 25% or more of the total cost of prime seismic acquisition. By combining the use of an alternative method involving Fresnel zone computation for assessing subsurface coverage, with steerable streamer control, infill can be significantly reduced. Over the last 12 months, these ideas have been developed into a working onboard system that optimized infill reduction using the combination of Fresnel zone binning fold and coverage assessment techniques with steerable streamers. The background ideas will be described, and some examples from recent real 3D surveys shown.

* patents pending

Fugro Building

6100 Hillcroft Ste 100

Houston, TX 77081

GSH Technical Lunch

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:30:00 GMT

GSH Technical Lunch
Start Date: 20-Apr-10 11:30 AM
End Time: 20-Apr-10 1:30 PM
Location: Pellazzio/The new Omni Palace, Houston, TX 77077
Speaker: Patrick Connolly

Event Details:

Over the past two decades, BP has developed workflows to make predictions about lithology and fluid from seismic amplitudes. Their current form, which has stabilized in recent years, is based around a few fairly simply steps: two-term AVO coordinate rotations, spectral shaping derived from a power-law Earth spectrum model, and map-based detuning and calibration. These are underpinned by careful conditioning of the seismic and by close integration with petrophysical rock property analysis.

These processes have evolved to meet a number of criteria: (1) robustness and repeatability, (2) avoiding parallel workflows by integrating within existing practices, and (3) allowing most steps to be carried out by nonspecialist geophysicists.

Achieving robustness is also a prerequisite for making uncertainty estimates, which has many potential benefits: ranking the sources of uncertainty; validating our prediction models; providing a framework for integrating with other data types; and helping to understand the theoretical limits of seismic prediction.

In this talk, I’ll outline the concepts behind the main steps in the seismic characterization workflow and discuss approaches to uncertainty estimation.

Pellazzio/The new Omni Palace

12121 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX United States 77077

GSH Technical Lunch

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:30:00 GMT

GSH Technical Lunch
Start Date: 21-Apr-10 11:30 AM
End Time: 21-Apr-10 1:30 PM
Location: Petroleum Club of Houston, Houston, TX 77002
Speaker: Patrick Connolly

Event Details:

In this talk, I’ll outline the concepts behind the main steps in the seismic characterization workflow and discuss approaches to uncertainty estimation.

Petroleum Club of Houston

800 Bell

Houston, TX United States 77002

SEG/EAGE Distinguished Instructor Short Course

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:00:00 GMT

SEG/EAGE Distinguished Instructor Short Course
Start Date: 22-Apr-10 8:00 AM
End Time: 22-Apr-10 5:00 PM
Location: WesternGeco, Houston, TX 77042
Speaker: Colin Sayers

Event Details:

Geophysics under stress: Geomechanical applications of seismic and borehole acoustic waves

Overview
The state of stress within the earth has a profound effect on the propagation of seismic and borehole acoustic waves, this leads to many important applications of elastic waves for solving problems in petroleum geomechanics. The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the sensitivity of elastic waves in the earth to the in-situ stress, pore pressure, and anisotropy of the rock fabric resulting from the depositional and stress history of the rock, and to introduce some of the applications of this sensitivity. The course will provide the basis for applying geophysics and rock physics solutions to geomechanical challenges in exploration, drilling, and production. A variety of applications and real data examples will be presented, particular emphasis will be placed on the rock physics basis underlying the use of geophysical data for solving geomechanical problems.

Summary

The following topics will be addressed in the course:

Introduction to the effects of stress in the earth. Why pore pressure, in-situ stress and geomechanical properties are important.
Sediment compaction and the state of stress in the earth. Vertical stress, pore pressure and sediment compaction. Horizontal stress in a relaxed basin. Estimation of the minimum and the maximum horizontal stress. Tectonic strains.
Pore pressure. Velocity vs. effective stress relations. Pore pressure estimation from velocity. Clay diagenesis. Unloading. The need for fit-for-purpose seismic velocities. Uncertainty analysis. Combining seismic velocities with well velocities for improved pore pressure estimation. Dipping layers and lateral pore pressure transfer.
Stress sensitivity of sandstones. Third-order elasticity theory. Dependence of elastic wave velocities on porosity in sandstones. The importance of compliant grain boundaries, microcracks and fractures on velocities in sandstones. The use of elastic waves to monitor stress-induced damage.
Wellbore stability and wave velocities near a borehole. Stress changes in the vicinity of a borehole. Mechanical behavior of rock in the vicinity of a borehole. Stress dependence of elastic wave velocities. Linearized expressions for the change in velocity for small changes in stress.
Reservoir geomechanics and 4D seismic monitoring. Reservoir stress path. The effect of stress path on rock deformation and failure. Rock failure. Monitoring reservoir stress changes using time-lapse seismic. The difference in reservoir stress path between injection and depletion.
Fractured reservoirs. Effects of fractures on seismic waves. Multiple fracture sets. Amplitude Versus Offset and Azimuth (AVOA). Simplifications for weak anisotropy. Effects of inequality between the normal and shear compliance of fractures. Microstructural models of fracture compliance.
The seismic anisotropy of shales. The relation of shale anisotropy to microstructure. The effect of interparticle regions on seismic anisotropy. Clay mineral anisotropy. Effect of disorder in the orientation of clay particles. The static elastic moduli for a TI medium and the implications for hydraulic fracture containment.

Who should attend
The integrated nature of this course means that it is suitable for individuals from all subsurface disciplines including geophysics, geomechanics, rock physics, petrophysics, geology, geomodeling, and drilling, reservoir, and petroleum engineering. The short-course presentation, limited to one-day, will provide an overview of the basic concepts and applications, and minimizes the use of mathematical developments. As a result, the course presentation does not require a theoretical background and can be attended by a broad section of working geoscientists and engineers interested in applying geophysical data to the solution of geomechanical problems. The course book will provide support for the course, and further extend some of the more technical considerations.

WesternGeco

10001 Richmond Ave

Houston, TX 77042

Honors and Awards Banquet

Thu, 06 May 2010 22:30:00 GMT

Honors and Awards Banquet
Start Date: 6-May-10 5:30 PM
End Time: 6-May-10 8:30 PM
Location: Lakeside Country Club, Houston, TX 77042
Event Details:

Lakeside Country Club

100 Wilcrest Dr

Houston, TX 77042

GSH GOLF TOURNAMENT

Mon, 10 May 2010 14:30:00 GMT

GSH GOLF TOURNAMENT
Start Date: 10-May-10 9:30 AM
End Time: 10-May-10 6:00 PM
Location: Kingwood Country Club
Event Details:

GSH GOLF TOURNAMENT

Monday – May 10,2010

10:00 a.m. Shotgun

Kingwood and Deerwood Country Club

You are cordially invited to the 2010 Geophysical Society of Houston Golf Tournament on May 10, 2010 at the Kingwood Country Club. This year’s tournament promises to be a great event with more door prizes and several enhancements to the golf tournament. We are excited to announce that we will be also be utilizing Deerwood Country Club along with the Marsh, Lake, and Island courses at Kingwood. Breakfast will be served at both clubs, prior to play and is included in the entry fee! Please note the earlier tee times. This will allow people to get home at a decent time.

The entry fee is $125.00 per person $500.00 per team before April 30

$150.00 per person $600.00 per team after April 30

Entries are limited and will be accepted on a first come/first served basis. Entry Fee includes: Golf with cart, Breakfast, Range balls, On–course beverages and Fabulous door prizes. A cash bar will be available during dinner and awards presentation.

Schedule of Events:
8:30 – 10:30 a.m. Registration and Driving Range

8:30 – 10:30 a.m. Breakfast

10:00 a.m. Shotgun start (Deerwood)

10:30 a.m. Shotgun start (Kingwood courses)

3:30 p.m. Cash Bar and Open Dinner Buffet

4:00 p.m. Dinner, Awards presentation.

If interested in sponsorships or have further questions, please contact
Dennis Sump at 281-698-8852(direct), 713-819-0919(cell).
Sponsorship forms are available on the GSH website or by contacting Dennis Sump.

MAIL or FAX ENTRIES with entry fees to

Spectrum Geo
Attn: Dennis Sump

16225 Park Ten Place Suite 300
Houston, TX 77084
281-698-8852(direct)       281-647-0926(Fax)

(Make checks payable to Geophysical Society of Houston)

To download entry form

Sponsorship information

Kingwood Country Club

GSH Annual Meeting

Thu, 13 May 2010 23:00:00 GMT

GSH Annual Meeting
Start Date: 13-May-10 6:00 PM
End Time: 13-May-10 9:00 PM
Location: Houston Zoo, Houston, TX 77030
Event Details:

Houston Zoo

6200 Hermann Park Dr

Houston, TX 77030

10th ANNUAL GSH / HGS SALTWATER TOURNAMENT

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:00:00 GMT

10th ANNUAL GSH / HGS SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
Start Date: 19-Jun-10 6:00 AM
End Time: 19-Jun-10 5:00 PM
Location: Fish Spot Marina, Texas City, TX 77590
Event Details:

This year’s Saltwater Fishing Tournament will include an Offshore Division to be held on Saturday, June 19 at the Tackle Box Storage & Fish Spot Marina, Texas City, Texas. We are looking forward to a big event this summer and we encourage full family participation.

Galveston Bay Complex Division
Trophies will be awarded for the heaviest individual Redfish (Non-Tagged), Speckled Trout, and Flounder. Trophies will also be awarded for the heaviest individual Stringer - 1 Redfish, 3 Speckled Trout, and 1 Flounder.

Galveston Offshore Division
Trophies will be awarded for the heaviest individual Red Snapper, King Mackerel, and Mahi-mahi

Registration fee includes: Launch Fee, GSH/HGS Fishing Cap, Fish Fry Meal after weigh-in, Refreshments, Trophies, and DOOR PRIZES. For more information, please contact:

Bobby Perez(HGS & GSH)

OFFICE: 281-240-1234 ext 219

FAX: 281-240-4997

CELL: 281-787-2106

HOME: 281-495-8695

EMAIL addresses:rdphtx@aol.com or r_perez@seismicventures.com

The Geophysical Society of Houston and the Houston Geological Society are non-profit organizations serving the Geosciences Community. Corporate and individual contributions are appreciated and will be acknowledged on several sponsor boards and banners at the Weigh-In Station and Marina. All contributors will be recognized in the GSH newsletter and HGS Bulletin following the tournament. This is a great way to entertain friends, family, business associates, and clients. So spread the word!