REWARE: a seismic processing algorithm to retrieve geological information from the water-column

Abstract

Summary When interpreting marine Very High-Resolution (VHR) single-channel seismic reflection data, the signal in the water-column is generally considered as noise and is often eliminated by a water-mute application to focus on geological information under the seafloor. Alternatively, the signal in the water-column can be used to study ocean currents or gas/fluid emissions. To provide images of the sedimentary formations and tectonic structures beneath the seafloor in shallow water regions, such as continental shelves and lakes, marine seismic reflection profiles are often acquired using a single-channel streamer and sparker-type source, providing VHR data, with limited penetration-depth. To exploit the full potential of these single-channel data, we propose a simple algorithm, called REWARE (Recovery of Water-column Acoustic Reflectors). This algorithm allows to extract further geological information from the water-column data using open-source codes (Seismic Un*x), adding the coherent signal from the previous shots, recorded in the water-column, to the previous traces. The record length becomes longer while maintaining a very high trace-to-trace consistency. To demonstrate its efficiency, we present two examples of the REWARE processing in two different geological contexts: the East Sardinia shelf (Italy) and the North Evia Gulf (Greece). This method provides deeper images than with original data for seismic data acquired across steep slopes, such as canyons or continental shelf breaks. Thus, depending on the seafloor geometry and sub-seafloor structures, it is possible to image or map sediment layers and tectonic structures at depth, keeping a very high structural resolution.