Seismic imaging of faults and fault systems

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The major goal of this research proposal is to improve the imaging and interpretation of geological faults and fault systems using reflection seismic data, which makes images of the subsurface. I have a unique opportunity to analyse and interpret high-quality 2D seismic data that was recorded across geological faults that slipped during earthquakes near Christchurch, New Zealand, in September, 2010 and in February, 2011. Rather than a single fault trace, faults that ruptured the ground surface during the September earthquake have an en-echelon pattern with step-overs from one fault segment to the next. This research will yield significant new information about how displacement is transferred between fault segments. My proposed research will also involve detailed analysis of faults and fault systems interpreted from 3D seismic volumes from Western Canada that my research group has collected or which have recently been made available to me from industry. These datasets are from areas in Alberta and British Columbia which are important economically, as they image oil and gas fields. We are seeing compelling evidence from the seismic data that faults are not single surfaces, but are complex networks of en-echelon surfaces. We will undertake a detailed analysis of 3D seismic volumes will enable us to map displacement fields along the strike length of individual fault surfaces and to understand the relationships between them and how faults compartmentalize reservoirs and impact reserves and production. Improved imaging and understanding of fault systems is critically important for many other applications. These include the geological storage of CO2 in which it is critical to be able to map and interpret faults in the storage caprock that may cause CO2 to leak from the reservoir, and for the development of unconventional resources such as shale gas, where faults can impact gas production.