3-D seismic data views
Vertical slices
As it arrives on tape from the processor, 3-D seismic data are organized into lines composed of traces. In the computer these are all merged into a dense cube of data. The data cube can be sectioned, or sliced, in several ways. Vertical cuts through the data cube are called lines or sections. For marine surveys, in-line is the direction of boat movement (parallel to receivers) and cross-line is perpendicular to boat movement. For land surveys, there is no uniform definition of in-line and cross-line. A vertical section that is neither in-line nor cross-line is an arbitrary line and may be oriented very irregularly as needed to pass through locations of interest.
Figure 1 shows how the vertical slices are labeled, depending on their orientation.
Horizontal slices
Horizontal or subhorizontal cuts through a seismic data cube are called horizontal slices. As illustrated in Figure 1, horizontal slices can be
- Time slices (horizontal cuts of a time cube)
- Depth slices (horizontal cuts of a depth cube)
- Horizon slices (from tracking)
- Fault slices
Depth slices are only available if the data delivered from the processor are converted to depth. Fault slices require very high-quality data with clear, mappable fault surfaces. Both are rarely encountered.
See also
References
- ↑ Liner, C., 1999. Elements of 3-D Seismology: Tulsa, PennWell.