This paper presents a novel approach to modeling the propagation of seismic waves in a medium containing subvertical fractured inhomogeneities, typical for mineralization zones. The developed method allows us to perform calculations on a structural computational grid, which avoids the construction of unstructured grids. For the calculations, the grid-characteristic method is used. We also present a comparison of the proposed method with the one described at earlier works and discuss the areas of its practical application. As an example, the numerical results for a cluster of subvertical fractures are given. A new approach for modeling fractures makes it quite easy to incorporate fractured objects into the seismic models and perform calculations without using algorithms on unstructured and curved grids.

Today, the exploration of the Arctic region is one of the most important direction of research in our country, because large amounts of unexplored oil and gas deposits are located there. Large hydrocarbon deposits are situated within the Northern seas. Their development is complicated by gas explosions resulting from an accidental opening and further spread of the gas. Since the region with gas layers cannot be frequently monitored, an area with already detected gas deposits is numerically modeled instead. In this work, seismic waves propagating in multilayered geological models with gas-containing inclusions were numerically modeled over a four-year interval by applying the grid-characteristic method. Wave patterns of seismic reflections and seismograms for the described problem were obtained. The wave patterns and seismograms obtained in the two- and three-dimensional cases were compared. The results were found to be in good agreement.

One of the most urgent problems of oil and gas reservoir monitoring is the assessment of fractured reservoir infill type — with fluid-filled, gas-filled, or closed (no-reservoir situation) fractures, which is of significant value for time-lapse seismic technology. We used the grid-characteristic method for numerical modeling of seismic responses from fractured periodic elastoacoustic structures. We consider every single fracture individually (without using the effective medium approach), and we set explicit boundary conditions on fracture surfaces. We assume realistic height-to-thickness ratios — fracture opening (aperture) — equaling three to five orders of magnitude. These techniques make our models as close to real fractured reservoirs as possible. Analyzing the simulated seismic responses, we solve the problem of assessing the fractured reservoir infill type. As a result, previously unknown properties of seismic responses from fractured reservoirs were revealed. We use amplitude variation with offset (AVO) as the main tool for the analysis of the fracture infill type effect on the seismic response in three frequency ranges. Three out of four models exhibit a stable positive AVO gradient regardless of the rock type and frequency range. The analysis of linearized Zoeppritz equations confirms such AVO behavior. We have developed quantitative criteria (indicators) for recognition of a fracture infill type. Amplitude-frequency analysis is shown to expand the capabilities of the infill type recognition. Thus, a method for determining the fractured reservoir infill type is established for carbonate and shale formations, which could become the basis for a new direction in time-lapse technology.

We present the solution to the problem of detecting the gas layers in the Arctic conditions through the numerical modelling of the seismic waves spread in the heterogeneous media. The grid-characteristic method of the third order of accuracy is used in all the computations. We build the models with the different numbers of the gas layers and analyze the full wave fields in the heterogeneous media and the anomalous fields, excluding the seismic reflections from all the geological layers except for the gas layers. The results demonstrate the possibility of applying the grid-characteristic method to solving these problems. The result seismograms allow us to determine the location of the gas layers through collecting the time moments of the coming reflections from the gas layers to the seismic receivers.

The paper presents the results of application of a grid-characteristic method to simulation of wave processes in media with linearly-elastic and acoustic layers on the example of seismic exploration of the Arctic shelf. The grid-characteristic method correctly describes the contact and boundary conditions. The results of numerical simulation are presented, the method is shown to be applicable to solution of seismic exploration problem on the Arctic shelf.