# AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 97, No. 8 (August 2013), P. 13031324.

DOI:10.1306/02261312120

## Building a three-dimensional near-surface geologic and petrophysical model based on borehole data: A case study from Chemery, Paris Basin, France

### Paola Sala,1 Marcel Frehner,2 Nicola Tisato,3 O. Adrian Pfiffner4

1Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; sala@geo.unibe.ch
2Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; marcel.frehner@erdw.ethz.ch
3Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; nicola.tisato@erdw.ethz.ch
4Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; pfiffner@geo.unibe.ch

## ABSTRACT

The fact that velocity models based on seismic reflection surveys commonly do not consider the near-surface geology necessitates filling the gap between the top of a velocity model and the surface of the Earth. In this study, we present a new workflow to build a shallow geologic model based exclusively on borehole data and corroborated by laboratory measurements. The study area is in Chemery (France), located at the southwestern border of the Paris Basin, where a large amount of borehole data is publicly available. The workflow starts with identifying lithologic interfaces in the boreholes and interpolating them between the boreholes. The three-dimensional (3-D) geometry of the lithologies then allows interpretation of the position, orientation, and offset of fault planes. Given the importance of the fault interpretation in the modeling process, a combination of different approaches is used to obtain the most reasonable structural framework. After creating a 3-D grid, the resulting 3-D structural model is populated with upscaled velocity logs from the boreholes, yielding the final near-surface P-wave velocity model. To better constrain the velocity model, we conducted laboratory measurements of P- and S-wave velocities in dry and water-saturated conditions on all lithologies in the model. The laboratory data were used to populate the 3-D near-surface model with VP/VS ratio values. The presented workflow accounts for one-dimensional borehole data and is much more iterative and time-consuming than workflows based on two-dimensional seismic sections. Nevertheless, the workflow results in a robust 3-D near-surface model allowing for structural interpretations and revealing the 3-D seismic velocity field.

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