Backus and Wyllie Averages for Seismic Attenuation

Backus and Wyllie equations are used to obtain average seismic velocities at zero and infinite frequencies, respectively. Here, these equations are generalized to obtain averages of the seismic quality factor (inversely proportional to attenuation). The results indicate that the Wyllie velocity is h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pure and applied geophysics 2018, Vol.175 (1), p.165-170
Main Authors: Qadrouh, Ayman N., Carcione, José M., Ba, Jing, Gei, Davide, Salim, Ahmed M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attenuation
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Frequencies
Geophysics/Geodesy
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical models
Permeability
Porosity
Properties
Q factors
Seismic attenuation
Seismic velocities
Seismology
Velocity
Viscosity
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Summary:Backus and Wyllie equations are used to obtain average seismic velocities at zero and infinite frequencies, respectively. Here, these equations are generalized to obtain averages of the seismic quality factor (inversely proportional to attenuation). The results indicate that the Wyllie velocity is higher than the corresponding Backus quantity, as expected, since the ray velocity is a high-frequency limit. On the other hand, the Wyllie quality factor is higher than the Backus one, following the velocity trend, i.e., the higher the velocity (the stiffer the medium), the higher the attenuation. Since the quality factor can be related to properties such as porosity, permeability, and fluid viscosity, these averages can be useful for evaluating reservoir properties.
ISSN:0033-4553
1420-9136
DOI:10.1007/s00024-017-1676-x