Precise time-depth conversion of coal measure strata based on velocity splicing: a case application in Qinshui basin

Transforming seismic data from the time domain to the depth domain is a very important step when using 3D seismic exploration to guide the exploration and development of coalbed methane (CBM). However, the conventional time-depth conversion method has difficulty meeting the control accuracy requirements of CBM development based on horizontal well technology when the 3D seismic data in a mining area are old. Therefore, a precise time-depth conversion method was found to improving the accuracy of time-depth conversion, which is based on the splicing of seismic inversion velocity and poststack migration velocity. The first step of this method is obtaining the standard layers in the time domain by precise interpretation of seismic data. Then, the inversion velocity and poststack migration velocity are spliced to obtain the complete interval velocity volume of the study area, and the results are corrected. The next step is the prediction of the coal seam floor elevation based on the spliced velocity, and the predicted coal seam floor elevation is corrected by borehole data. Finally, the mesh is between standard layers in the depth domain to obtain the 3D data volume in the depth domain. The method was applied to the time-depth conversion of 3D seismic data in the Yangquan X study area. The results show that the relative error between the predicted results and the borehole data of No. 3, No. 8 and No. 15 coal seam is only 0.72% through the validation of the reserved boreholes, indicating that the method is effective. This study provides a precise method of time-depth conversion for seismic data when there is only poststack seismic data in the mining area, which can not only improve the interpretation accuracy of standard layers but can also improve the prediction accuracy of other layers between standard layers, which can better guide the well location arrangement of coalfield and CBM.