Seismic imaging of complex structures in the tarim basin

Conventional time imaging techniques are not capable of producing accurate seismic imaging of the subsurface in the mountain front of the Tarim Basin, China. Their imaged structures have led to some major drilling failures before, bearing a disrepute that "their structural closures have wheels and their structural highs have springs". This article first lists the imaging challenges, and explains in a schematic why the time imaging techniques fail in this area. Then through a series of real data examples, it demonstrates that when there exist lateral velocity variations, depth imaging is the only solution to tackle the imaging challenges in this area. Depth imaging accounts for the complexity of the wavefield, therefore produces superior and geological plausible images. The core task in properly performing depth imaging is building the velocity model. This article stresses some the main aspects in this regard.