Articles
Industrial research consortia in petroleum geophysics at Canadian universities
Larry Lines
This paper is based mostly on the author’s experience with five Canadian university research consortia and the experiences of other Canadian university colleagues. It is the story of a strong, dynamic funding vehicle for supporting research and researchers that has succeeded for more than four decades in North America. Research…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – University of Alberta
Mauricio D. Sacchi
Research and training of graduate students in the area of geophysics at the University of Alberta is carried out at the Department of Physics. At present, the geophysics group is composed of 12 faculty members, 48 graduate students and 14 postdoctoral fellows. Three members of the Geophysics group also hold…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – University of British Columbia
Felix J. Herrmann, Eldad Haber and Doug Oldenburg
The UBC Geophysical Inversion Facility (GIF) is a research unit at the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS). It is co-directed by Doug Oldenburg and Eldad Haber and our research is concerned with the development of numerical strategies and associated software needed to invert data from various types…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – University of Calgary
D.W. Eaton
The Department of Geoscience offers B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs in geophysics; by virtue of the University of Calgary’s location in Canada’s energy capital, these programs provide unparalleled access to the geophysical sector within the oil and gas industry. With 180 students majoring in geophysics, the undergraduate program is the…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – Carleton University
Raymond Caron
A research collaboration between Carleton University, the Federal Government, and Sander Geophysics headed by Dr. Claire Samson, Dr. Michel Chouteau, Dr. Martin Bates, and Ph.D. Candidate Raymond Caron, is currently working on a methodology that applies the helicopter- borne transient electromagnetic (HTEM) method to measuring the thickness of glaciolacustrine overburden…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – Dalhousie University
Mladen Nedimović
The current geophysical research programs at Dalhousie University are led by Christopher Beaumont, Keith Louden and Mladen Nedimović. Christopher Beaumont is a Professor in the Department of Oceanography and Canada Research Chair in Geodynamics (Tier 1). He is a globally recognized leader with a research program centered on quantitative modelling…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – University of Manitoba
I. Ferguson and A.W. Frederiksen
The geophysics research group at the University of Manitoba consists of three faculty members: Dr. Ian Ferguson (Professor), Dr. Andrew Frederiksen (Associate Professor), and Dr. Wooil Moon (Professor Emeritus), along with one technician and a variable number of graduate students (four as of July, 2014). The research of Ian Ferguson…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – McMaster University
Janok P. Bhattacharya, Joe I. Boyce and William A. Morris
The School of Geography and Earth Sciences (SGES) at McMaster University offers undergraduate and graduate degree (M.Sc., Ph.D) programs in Earth and Environmental Sciences. SGES currently has about 150 full-time undergraduates and about 90 graduate students in M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs. Undergraduate training in applied geophysics is offered through 3rd…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – Memorial University
Jeremy Hall
The Memorial geophysics group is active in a wide variety of fields. The research is supported by grants from government (e.g., NSERC, RDC NL, ACOA, PEEP, Turkish Research Council) and private-sector (oil and mining companies, active in the province and its offshore: e.g., Chevron Canada, Husky Energy, Hibernia MDC, Nalcor…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – Queen’s University
Alexander Braun
Geophysical research and education at Queen’s University in the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering has a legacy of inspiring some of the most influential leaders in the natural resources sector and academia. The most notable geophysical research group in the past conducted work on exploration seismology. Geophysics related…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – University of Saskatchewan
Jim Merriam
he geophysics group at the University of Saskatchewan, Sam Butler, Igor Morozov and Jim Merriam with seven graduate students, two technical support staff and emeriti, Don Gendzwill and Zoli Hajnal, are active in a number applied geophysics projects. Prof. Sam Butler’s research involves modelling continuum geophysical systems over lengths scales…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – University of Victoria
Stan E. Dosso, Lucinda J. Leonard, Jan Dettmer, John F. Cassidy, Kelin Wang
Geophysical research at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria (UVic), is carried out by faculty, students, and an active group of adjunct faculty (many at the Pacific Geoscience Centre of the Geological Survey of Canada, PGC/GSC). Research topics are diverse, but many focus on various aspects…
Geophysical research ROCKS at Canadian universities! – Western University
Gail Atkinson
Western University has partnered with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Industry partners TransAlta and Nanometrics in the initiation of a 5-year, $3.5 million multi-institutional collaborative research program on Induced Seismicity Processes and Hazards (2014 to 2019). Collaborating institutions include the University of Calgary, the University…
Joint Inversion of Multiphysics Data for Petrophysical and Engineering Properties
Aria Abubakar
A variety of measurements may illuminate the reservoir with varying coverage and resolution such as: electromagnetic (EM); controlled-source EM (CSEM); magnetotelluric (MT), surface-to-borehole EM (STB-EM); crosswell EM; seismic (surface seismic, crosswell seismic, and VSP); gravity (surface and borehole); and production history/well testing data. The interpretation of each measurement on its…
A Comparison of Trenched Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) to Trenched and Surface 3C Geophones – Daly, Manitoba, Canada
Rob Kendall
In the fall of 2012 we conducted a field test of a trenched fibre optic Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) system to trenched and surface 3C geophones in the Daly area of southwestern Manitoba, Canada. The test was designed to provide a comparison of the acoustic wavefield as measured by the…
3D VSP in an Unconventional Setting: Images, Anisotropy, Q, Multiples and Full Waveform Inversion
A. Campbell, S. Leaney, J. Gulati, O. Podgornova, J. Leslie-Panek, E. Von Lunen
A comprehensive seismic project including conventional and multi-component surface seismic and borehole seismic was acquired in a producing field in northeast British Columbia, Canada. Delineating productive zones within the fractured shale reservoir was the primary goal of the seismic recorded in the project. The borehole seismic includes a conventional P-wave…
Acquiring Low Frequencies Onshore: Sweep, Sensors, Sampling and Stories
Olivier Winter, Anna Leslie, Forest Lin and Peter Maxwell
The authors discuss the generation of low frequency onshore seismic exploration. Seismic vibrator sources, geophone and MEMS accelerometer sensor properties are discussed. This is followed by a brief discussion of processing implications outlining the need for some precautions to take in order to preserve the broadband characteristics. Several case studies…
Lithology Discrimination Using Elastic Rock Properties and Simultaneous Seismic Inversion in the Leduc Reservoir, NE Alberta
Elahe P. Ardakani, Tom J. Podivinsky and Douglas R. Schmitt
AVO attributes (elastic rock properties) crossplotting and simultaneous seismic inversion are used in an integrated approach to discriminate dolostone from limestone lithologies in the carbonate Leduc bitumen reservoir located in northeastern Alberta. The profile sections of density, compressional and shear impedance are generated through the simultaneous seismic inversion procedure. The…
Optimizing Hydrocarbon Recovery In Organic-Rich Reservoirs
Cristian H. Malaver
The search for hydrocarbons in tight reservoirs has become an integral part of the portfolio for oil and gas companies these days. Predicting reservoir quality indicators from tight facies such as organic-rich shales, tight oil carbonates, tight sands, and coal seams is a complex challenge demanding a multi-disciplinary effort. By…
Introduction to May Focus: Land Data Acquisition
R. Malcolm Lansley
This month’s Focus is related to land data acquisition. In the early days of recording 3D on land the general recording geometry was very similar no matter where in the World the survey was being acquired. Although we recorded data with both explosives and vibroseis and the geometries were slightly…
