Deep seismic reflection profiling in east Taranaki using standard oil-industry acquisition parameters

Abstract

Acquisition of seismic reflection data designed to image the lower crust is usually an expensive operation. By taking advantage of current petroleum industry surveying, however, and with only slight changes to the acquisition parameters, 51 km of reflection profiles, capable of being processed as deep crustal seismic sections, have been recorded in east Taranaki at negligible additional acquisition cost. The quality of the processed sections is encouraging, and the data show a zone of marked reflectivity between 10 and 12 s two‐way time with a north‐trending apparent dip of between 5 and 10°. Two factors make interpretation of the data difficult: the short length of the profiles prevents them from being adequately migrated; and their orientation subparallel to the strike of a major fault may be giving rise to spurious, out‐of‐plane events on the seismic sections. © The Royal Society of New Zealand 1993.