Focus Intro: Stratigraphy-Plays, Software, Processing

The last decade or two has seen seismic interpretation become less qualitative and more quantitative. Geophysicists now commonly work closely in teams with geologists and engineers, who think of the subsurface in terms of lithology and real rock properties. Numerous new techniques and methodologies have evolved to help move geophysicists into this more quantitative world – attribute analysis, 3D visualization, and AVO analysis to mention a few.

This issue of the RECORDER features three excellent articles concerned with the topic of stratigraphy. Matt Hall and Eric Trouillot (Accurate stratigraphic prediction from seismic) use a real data Western Canadian 3D data set to demonstrate the wide variety of tools and techniques available to interpreters hoping to gain a better understanding of the seismic stratigraphy and geomorphology in an area. In his article, Renjun Wen (3D Stratigraphic Modeling of Channelized Reservoirs: Methods and Applications in Seismic Attribute Facies Classification) outlines an intriguing and thought provoking methodology for modeling stratigraphic architectures of channelized reservoirs, that aims to bridge the gap between seismic resolution and an extremely high resolution litho-facies model. Lastly, Eric Andersen and John Boyd (Seismic Waveform Classification: Techniques and Benefits) use a Slave Point case study to provide the reader with a good understanding of the use of waveform classification to map facies distribution.