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Journal of the Acoustical Society of America / Volume 131 / Issue 2 / JASA EXPRESS LETTERS

Contrasting behavior between dispersive seismic velocity and attenuation: Advantages in subsoil characterization

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 131, Issue 2, pp. EL170-EL176 (2012); (7 pages)

Alimzhan Zhubayev and Ranajit Ghose

Department of Geotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, Netherlands a.zhubayev@tudelft.nl, r.ghose@tudelft.nl

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A careful look into the pertinent models of poroelasticity reveals that in water-saturated sediments or soils, the seismic (P and S wave) velocity dispersion and attenuation in the low field-seismic frequency band (20–200 Hz) have a contrasting behavior in the porosity-permeability domain. Taking advantage of this nearly orthogonal behavior, a new approach has been proposed, which leads to unique estimates of both porosity and permeability simultaneously. Through realistic numerical tests, the effect of maximum frequency content in data and the integration of P and S waves on the accuracy and robustness of the estimates are demonstrated.

© 2012 Acoustical Society of America

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by Deltares and the Delft Earth research programme of Delft University of Technology.

Article Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. Dispersive seismic velocity and attenuation in water-saturated soils
  3. Results and discussion

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

acoustic dispersion, acoustic wave velocity, elasticity, permeability, sediments, seismic waves, soil

PACS

  • 43.20.Jr

    Velocity and attenuation of elastic and poroelastic waves

  • 43.30.Ky

    Structures and materials for absorbing sound in water; propagation in fluid-filled permeable material

  • 43.40.Ph

    Seismology and geophysical prospecting; seismographs

  • 43.28.We

    Measurement methods and instrumentation for remote sensing and for inverse problems

ARTICLE DATA

History
Received 01 Nov 2011
Accepted 03 Jan 2012
Published online 26 Jan 2012
Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.3678692

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0001-4966 (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef Acoustical Society of America

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Figures (click on thumbnails to view enlargements)

FIG.1
P and S wave dispersive velocity and attenuation (inverse quality factor) estimated using the Stoll and Bryan (1970)19 model for four different permeability (k) and porosity (n) values, representing four different soil types. The dashed box represents the typical field seismic frequency band in soft soil.

FIG.1 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.2
Cost functions in the n-k domain [see Eqs. ( 4 , 5 , 6 )] for (a) VP, (b) αP, (c) VS, (d) αS, (e) integrated VP + αP + VS + αS, and (f) integrated VS + αS. The frequency band used in 20–200 Hz. The deep blue color indicates the cost function minimum. The difference in behavior between VP and αP and that between VS and αS in the n-k domain are driven by the underlying physics of poroelasticity pertinent to such media.

FIG.2 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.3
Effect of the maximum frequency content in the field-observed seismic dispersion on the n and k estimates when (a) VS and αS are integrated, and (b) when VP, αP, VS, and αS are integrated, following Eq. ( 6 ). The three columns represent three different values of the maximum frequency in the data. The four rows represent four different values of n and k (taken as true values); from top to bottom: n = 0.35, k = 1.09 × 10 − 9 m2; n = 0.40, k = 1.05 × 10−10 m2; n = 0.45, k = 1.42 × 10−11 m2; and n = 0.55, k = 3.31 × 10−12 m2. The typical soil types representing these permeabilities are marked.

FIG.3 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint



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