A 2.5D finite-element-modeling difference method for marine CSEM modeling in stratified anisotropic media

Abstract

We have developed a 2.5D finite-element modeling (FEM) method for marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) applications in stratified anisotropic media. The main feature of the method is that delta sources are used to solve the governing partial differential equations for cases with and without a resistive target and to obtain the difference of these two solutions as the scattered field from the target. The total field is then the sum of the analytical background field calculated with a 1D modeling method and the difference or scattered field mentioned above. Compared with a conventional direct solution (using delta sources directly in a 2.5D formulation), the new method has smaller near-field error as a result of the source singularity and smaller boundary reflections. The new method does not require a dense mesh in the source region, which thereby reduces the total number of variables to be solved. In this way, the modeling time can be kept within a few minutes for some cases. We show that the maximum relative error of the calculation can be kept within 2% for targets at depths of approximately 1km. The method is valid for stratified anisotropic media. The anisotropic modeling examples show that (1) marine CSEM is predominantly sensitive to target vertical resistivity and not to target horizontal resistivity, provided that the targets are thin, horizontal, high-resistivity layers and (2) marine CSEM is sensitive to the horizontal resistivity of the conductive sediments surrounding the target (e.g., the overburden). © 2008 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.