Interpretation of Three-Dimensional Seismic Data / Интерпретация трехмерных сейсмических данных

This quotation is familiar to all geoscientists, but it is just as pertinent today as it has ever been. Today’s advanced geophysical workstations are truly magnificent tools, but we should remember that they are only tools. The skill remains the geological interpretation of geophysical data. I sometimes apologize to myself and others that this still needs to be said — but it surely does! I am indeed disappointed by the general standard of seismic interpretation in the world today.

Too many interpreters rely on the workstation to find the solution. All too often, I am in contact with seismic interpreters who have misidentified a horizon, failed to understand the phase and polarity of their data, distorted the result with a poor use of color, used an inappropriate attribute, failed to recognize a significant data defect, or are still frightened by machine autotracking. We cannot benefit from some of the more advanced techniques available today until these issues have been properly overcome. More education at a fairly fundamental level is still required.
For these reasons, I have resisted the temptation to expand the book into various recent and more advanced topics. The present book is large enough, anyway! So, I freely acknowledge the omission or incomplete treatment of inversion, amplitude variations with offset, geostatistics, visualization, and converted and shear wave interpretation.

The modifications for the Sixth Edition, then, are not extensive. There are several updates and corrections, and some new data examples. Those still grappling with the phase and polarity of their data may find assistance in Appendix C. Appendix D is a Summary of Recommendations to help today’s interpreter get more out of 3-D seismic data within a reasonable period of time. These recommendations and much of the book are aimed at redressing the problems discussed above. Please consider basic interpretation issues in conjunction with modern workstation techniques. Let’s get the balance between geology, geophysics, and computer science right!