The relationships between the velocities, attenuations and petrophysical properties of reservoir sedimentary rocks1

Abstract We have measured the velocities and attenuations of compressional and shear waves in 29 water‐saturated samples of sandstones and shales at a confining pressure of 60 MPa and at frequencies of about 0.85 MHz. The measurements were made using a pulse echo method in which the samples (diameter 5 cm, length 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm) were placed between perspex buffer rods inside a high‐pressure cell. The velocity of each seismic wave was determined from the traveltime difference of equivalent phase points (corrected for diffraction effects) of the signals reflected from the top and from the base of each sample. Attenuation was determined in a similar way by comparison of the diffraction corrected amplitudes of the signals. The attenuation data are presented as ‘quality factors’: Qp and Qs for compressional and shear waves respectively. The results show that Qs is strongly correlated with Vs, that Qp is weakly correlated with Vp, and that Qp is strongly correlated with Qs. Qp is strongly dependent on the volume percentage of the assemblage of intra‐pore minerals, whether they are clays or carbonates. It is concluded that the attenuation mechanism is due to the local fluid flow arising from the differential dilation of the solid rock frame and the intra‐pore mineral assemblage, which is a result of their very different elastic moduli.