Seismic While Drilling for Geophysical Exploration in a Geothermal Well
- Key words
- Geophysics; borehole; seismic; while drilling; imaging
- Location
- Gabbs Valley, Nevada
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 2011
- Session
- Exploration; Geophysical surveys; Well logging
- Language
- English
Abstract
We present the results of a seismic-while-drilling (SWD) survey performed using the working drill-bit as a seismic source in a Geothermal well in the U.S. (Gabbs Valley, NV). The SWD method was tuned and adapted for geothermal exploration purposes, to provide while-drilling and after-drilling geophysical results. These consist of the while-drilling prediction of obstacles and structural variations ahead of the bit by means of single-offset vertical seismic profiles (VSP) and multi-offset VSP. They also include interpretation of selected diffractions as related to faults, and the imaging of the well area by SWD data migration. The SWD results are compared to the other well information, and are in agreement with the drilling and interpreted geological data.
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