Executive Message

…The CSEG, like so many organizations, is highly dependent on volunteer labour. Most of the volunteers are unsung heroes, whose efforts are not, unfortunately, usually brought to the attention of the general membership. Behind the high-profile executive there are many committees working hard to provide quality services, advice and social…

Editor’s Message

…This issue of the RECORDER is the first of two 'Special Issues' (June and September 2001) being published, focussing on the theme 'Significant developments in Seismic Exploration in the last decade and future directions'. The overwhelming response that we received to our request for contributions to the 'Special Issue' has…

Grapevine

…Excellence in Engineering and Geoscience Recognized at the 2001 APEGGA Summit Awards Gala Over 1,000 guests attended the 2001 Summit Awards Gala, Thursday, April 26 at the TELUS Convention Center in Calgary. This event hosted by the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) acknowledges outstanding individuals…

Tracing the Industry

…Veritas is pleased to announce that Mark Ambrosi has been promoted to the position of Manager, Data Management Development. Jeff Allison has joined Veritas to take on Mark's former position of Manager, Exploration Data Management. Jeff has over 12 years experience in geophysical exploration including data management, field operations, processing…

Natural Gas Hydrate Studies in Canada

R.D. Hyndman and S.R. Dallimore

…Introduction Scientific field studies of natural gas hydrates have been carried out in Canada for many years by the Geological Survey of Canada and by a number of universities. This article describes the two largest programs: (1) Arctic permafrost-related hydrate studies, including the Mallik research drilling on the Mackenzie Delta…

Vibroseis Deconvolution: An Example from Pikes Peak, Saskatchewan

Katherine Brittle and Larry Lines

…Introduction - Vibroseis deconvolution Vibroseis has enjoyed worldwide popularity in land seismic acquisition ever since its development by Conoco’s researchers (Crawford et al., 1960). Crosscorrelation of the sweep with the recorded data, which emulates the methods developed in chirp radars by Klauder et al. (1960), will ideally produce zero-phase wavelets…

The Application of AVO and Inversion to the Estimation of Rock Properties

David Gray and Eric Andersen

…Summary Inversion of Amplitude versus Offset (AVO) results can be used to derive elastic rock properties, which can in turn be used for quick determination of lithology and fluid content of reservoirs. In this paper, this approach is illustrated using case histories from a Western Canadian gas-field development, exploration in…

Rock Physics for the Rest of Us – An Informal Discussion

Jan Dewar

…What is Rock Physics? Rock Physics describes a reservoir rock by physical properties such as porosity, rigidity, compressibility; properties that will affect how seismic waves physically travel through the rocks. The Rock Physicist seeks to establish relations between these material properties and the observed seismic response, and to develop a…

International Geophysicists in Canada

Gordon Cope

…With the rapid expansion of the Canadian oilpatch into international waters over the last decade, many native-born geophysicists have had the opportunity to travel and work around the world. Just as importantly, geophysicists from all points of the globe have had the chance to come to Calgary and practice their…

Have flexibility, adaptability and the willingness to change continuously.

An Interview with Fred Hilterman

…Fred, why did you choose to become a geophysicist? When I entered Colorado School of Mines, they experimented with the incoming 300 freshmen. The students with the top high school grades were placed in the same class for the first two years. At the end of my sophomore year everybody…

Executive Message

…As I join the society in the capacity of Vice President, I see this successful organization undergoing rapid change. The society is becoming even stronger by representing a broader perspective of the membership, and by providing more services to those members and our sponsoring companies. The potentia l for growth…

Technical Terms of the Month

…Pressure terms clarified Any fluid which is contained within subsurface rocks is under pressure. As is often the case in geophysics, there are many and varied terms to describe pressure. Here's a summary of commonly used pressure terms.   is... is also known as ... Confining pressure The weight of…

Grapevine

…Golden Software Inc. Releases New Program Golden Software Inc. has just released a new version of their thematic mapping program, MapViewer. MapViewer has been around since 1990 and users include GIS analysts, cartographers, geographers, academic professors, sales managers, climatologists, geologists, and more. Millennium Seismic Ltd. Announces 3D Seismic Activity in…

Tracing the Industry

…Scott Pickford is pleased to announce that Mark Anderson has joined their team as Senior Geophysicist. Mark brings over 14 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Scott Pickford, Mark spent the last few years with Gulf Indonesia. Mark can be reached at (403) 571-1564 or email manderson@scopica.com Veba Oil…

‘Stay fresh, stay young and enjoy your work ...’

An Interview with Bob Tatham

…[Satinder]: You received your undergraduate degree in Physics at Cal State Northridge in 1967, and then switched over to Geophysics and got your Master’s in 1970. What made you switch from Physics to Geophysics, and why did you choose to become a Geophysicist? Well, actually, I became a Geophysicist with…

Aliasing for the Layperson

Larry Lines, Katherine Brittle, Ian Watson, and Peter Cary

…Introduction - Aliasing in Everyday Life Examples of aliasing can be observed in western movies by watching the motion of stagecoach wheels. As the stagecoach starts to move, we observe its wheels rotating in the expected forward direction. As the stagecoach speeds up, we see that the wheels appear to…

3D Model Evaluation by Data Simulation

Norm Cooper and Michael Cooper

…In the past, we have separated 3D programs into discrete stages. In the design and modeling phase, we look at plots of fold, offset and azimuth statistics to speculate whether a model is of sufficient quality to map an objective. The acquisition phase often seems to be devoted to perturbing…

A Master License Agreement

G. Fairs, J. Boyd, P. Einarsson, L. Hunt, B. Korchinski, L. Ramescu, C. Walls, B.L. Parlee

…Summary For decades the licensing of seismic data was based mostly upon a handshake and an understanding of common industry practice. Over time common industry practice as it relates to the use of licensed seismic data has become quite diverse, even to the point where it could be said that…

Wembley Halfway B Pool – A Test Case for 3D Visualization Technology

Ronald C. Hinds and Hugh Lavallee

…Introduction The Wembley Halfway B Pool is situated 20 km northwest of Grande Prairie, Alberta and was discovered in 1978. This Middle Triassic pool contains an oil leg with 23 x 106m3 inplace (145 MM barrels-in-place) and an associated gas cap with 5.7 x 109m3 in-place (204 bcf-in-place). The Halfway…

Executive Message

…The CSEG is in its 51st year of operation. The original purpose of the Society is still somewhat the same as the original Executive had in tended, however the methods have drastically changed over time. In 1949 geophysics was done using analogue methods, whereas today everything is in digital format,…