Numerical Modeling of High-Frequency Microseismology in the Permafrost Hard-Rock Formation with the Growing Vertical Gas-Filled Fracture

As the execution of the seismic measurements in the Arctic region is costly and requires significant resources, microseisms can be effectively used to study occurring processes in the deposit formation. Moreover, numerical modeling is an efficient way to study such dynamic processes and their effects on the seismic survey. Therefore, in the present work, the growth of the gas-filled, vertically oriented fracture is examined using the artificially generated high-frequency microseism, as the crack is a potentially dangerous object for the formation. The fracture growth is represented using the consecutive change in its size. The ground is simulated using the governing system of isotropic linear elasticity; equations are solved using the grid-characteristic method on structured grids. The microseism is represented by the 300 Hz Ricker impulse; the seismic receivers are set collinear to the crack. As a result, obtained wave patterns and synthetic seismograms are studied to determine the indicators of the fracture growth. Additionally, the positions of the signal generator and receivers are changed to verify the most preferable configuration for the investigation of the fracture size. The drawn conclusions can be used to solve inverse problems.