Overcoming complex near-surface conditions for improved seismic imaging in Tarim Basin, China

Abstract Seismic imaging in the Tarim Basin, China, presents significant challenges due to complex near-surface conditions, including desert environments, foothills, and loess mountains. These challenges are comparable to those found in regions such as the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Andes Mountains, and other complex terrains worldwide. Recent advancements in seismic imaging aimed at overcoming these obstacles include: (1) advanced constrained near-surface tomography, which has significantly enhanced the robustness of near-surface velocity-depth model estimation, leading to improved resolution of deep reservoir images; (2) a recent ultra-long-offset (greater than 15 km) experiment in the foreland basin of the Tarim Oilfield, demonstrating that more accurate and deeper near-surface velocity models can be generated on land using turning-ray tomography; (3) finite-frequency wavepath tomography, which has been proven through field data examples to be a robust alternative to traditional full-waveform inversion for land seismic data; and (4) integrated tomography, which combines diving waves and reflected seismic data to develop a comprehensive velocity model from shallow to deep sections for anisotropic prestack depth migration from topography. These technologies, developed for and applied to the Tarim Basin, can be applied, with modifications, to other land basins around the world.