Attenuation of seismic waves is emerging as an important indicator of oil and gas presence in the subsurface. This is mostly used empirically as existing theories of seismic attenuation/dispersion in fluid-saturated rocks are largely untested.

We propose to perform comprehensive experimental testing of these theories using broadband measurements of dynamic elastic properties of rock samples. Experiments will be done using a combination of forced-oscillation strain gauge measurements (10 Hz – 2KHz), laser interferometry (100 Hz – 200 kHz) and ultrasonic testing (100-1000 kHz). The results will be compared with theoretical predictions computed using numerical simulations.

Researcher(s):
Dr. Maxim Lebedev (M.Lebedev@exchange.curtin.edu.au),
Prof. Boris Gurevich (B.Gurevich@curtin.edu.au)