Seismic signature of modern sediments ? application to petroleum exploration

Abstract

All sedimentary rocks are the product of their provenance, dispersal and depositional environment, and indications of these factors are preserved in the geologic record. The classical Uniformitarian Principle of Geology that 'the present is the key to the past' suggests that study of modern sediments, processes and depositional environments' can be used to understand and explain ancient sediments. The same may be said of geophysics; examination of the seismic signatures of modern sediments can be applied, by analogy, to the interpretation of the seismic record of ancient sediments. High resolution seismic profiles from late Quaternary marginal-marine and reefal environments of the Queensland continental shelf are presented. It is suggested that a study of the seismic response of these modern sediments, which are uncon-solidated and free from the effects of tectonism, can assist in the genetic interpretation of petroleum seismic data.