SEISMIC TRAVELTIME INVERSION FOR TRANSVERSE ISOTROPY

Quantitative measurements of seismic anisotropy can provide a valuable clue to the lithology and degree of stratification in sedimentary rocks with hydrocarbon potential. We present a practical technique for obtaining anisotropy parameters (i.e., five stiffness coefficients A, C, F, L and M) from seismic traveltime measurements for horizontally layered, transversely isotropic media. The technique is based on the construction of ray-velocity surfaces in terms of five measurement parameters. An iterative model-based optimization scheme is then used to invert the traveltime parameters for the five stiffness coefficients in a layer-stripping mode. -from Authors