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Inside This Issue

NEWSLETTERVOL. 39, NO. 6 February 2005

President’s Column continued on page 13.

Dobrin LectureFebruary 28th

Geophysical Auxiliary .......................... 3 Membership Report ....................... 10Dobrin Lecture .................................... 5 SIPES Luncheon ............................ 13Rock Physics SIG ................................ 8 GSH Golf Tournament .................... 15Letters to Editor .................................. 9 Calendar of Events ........................ 16Web Notes .......................................... 9

Technical LuncheonDate: Tuesday, February 15, 2005Time: 11:30 AMLocation: Westchase Hilton

9999 WestheimerHouston, TX 77042(just inside Beltway 8)713/974-1000

Cost: $22 w/reservation$27 at the door

Reservations: GSH 713/463-9477Email: Joan@hgs.org(reservations are encouraged)

Title: A New Year’s Resolution:“Think Thin”Spectral DecompositionApplications Beyond theSeismic Bandwidth

Speakers: John CastagnaOleg PortniaguineMike BurnettSarah TiradoShengjie SunBill Lamb

Technical Luncheon continued on page 10.

Skewed Perceptionsby Seth Berman, Treasurer

Abstract:Spectral decomposition of seismic traces hasexisted since the earliest days of seismology.A new paradigm in the use of spectralinformation has developed over the lastfive years beginning with the pioneeringwork of Greg Partyka, Kurt Marfurt andothers at Amoco Research. The fundamentalchange in thinking has resulted fromworkstation technology that has allowed therapid computation and visualization of Fourierspectra calculated with small windows asa continuous attribute. Such spectra are

My aunt used to pass along annoying chaine-mails to me about once a month decryingthe high cost of gas at the pump and callingfor a national “no-buy” day. Her Long Island,NY sensibilities told her that paying more than$2.00 per gallon was an outrage. Like manyAmericans, I think that if she could edit theDeclaration of Independence to encompassthe perceived unalienable right of cheap fuel,she would do it without breaking a sweat. Andif she did break a sweat, she would drink herbottled water (~ $6.40 per gallon). Don’t getme wrong - I love my aunt. I’m sure that weall know folks who have a mindset similar tomy aunt. For that matter, our economy hasthat mentality. I’m not much of an economist,but I am sharp enough to keep up with my401k and I haven’t bought any of those realestate programs advertised at 2:00 a.m. Youknow the one I’m talking about, right? Itcomes on in the middle of the James Bondmovie marathon with promises of $20,000extra income a month with just 2 hours ofwork a day. Sounds believable. I stand inhumbled appreciation to those generous soulsfor saving their special announcement forlike-minded insomniac entrepreneurs whohave a penchant for “Dr. No” and my personaloutrageous favorite, “You Only Live Twice”.

So, it troubles me when the price at the pumpgoes up a few cents, heads of brokeragehouses across the country simultaneouslystroke their beards and ominously whisper thatthe economic growth of our fair land is headed

GSHBoard

RockPhysics SIG

GSHLuncheon

MarchNewsletterDeadline

SIPESLuncheon

DobrinLecture

Presidents’Day

SpecialAnnouncement

SEG 75thAnniversary

11:30 A.M.March 11, 2005Houston Club

811 RuskHouston, TX 77002

The GSH is sponsoring acommemorative luncheon incelebration of the 75th Anniversaryof the formation of the Society ofExploration Geophysics. It will beheld very near the location of theearlier luncheon on March 11,1930, which was held at theUniversity Club. A program is inthe planning phase that should bothenlighten as well as entertain. Backin 1930, only 30 people were inattendance. We are hoping for aconsiderably larger group in 2005.Please put this date on yourcalendars and plan to attend. Thedetails of the program plus a mapwill be in the March newsletter andon the GSHtx website.

President’s Column

2 Geophysical Society of Houston February 2005 February 2005 Geophysical Society of Houston 15

DATE: Monday, May 16, 2005 FORMAT: Four Man Florida ScramblePLACE: Kingwood Country Club COST: $125 per personTIME: 9:30 AM Registration DEADLINE: April 15, 2005

11:30 AM Tee off (Shotgun)

MAIL ENTRIES TO: MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:Geophysical Society of Houston Geophysical Society of Houston10575 Katy Freeway ORSuite 290 � AMEX � VISA � MCSugarland, TX 77478Attn: George Lauhoff Card # __________________________

Expiration Date:__________________

Signature: _______________________

GOLFERS READ CAREFULLY

The three courses at Kingwood are available to the first 432 entrants. No entry will be accepted until the entry form and fees arereceived in full. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

MULLIGANS $5.00 EACH (MAX. 2/PERSON) AVAILABLE AT CHECK-IN

If you are not playing golf but want to join your friends attending the dinner following the tournament, please sendin $15.00 per person to cover the cost of the dinner. Make a note at the bottom of the check “Dinner Only”. Thesechecks should also be payable to the Geophysical Society of Houston.

Golf Tournament and DinnerGeophysical Society of Houston

Course Preference: ISLAND LAKE MARSH DEERWOOD(Circle One)

Name: ____________________________

Company: _________________________

Phone: __________ HDCP: __________

Name: ____________________________

Company: _________________________

Phone: __________ HDCP: __________

Name: ____________________________

Company: _________________________

Phone: __________ HDCP: __________

Name: ____________________________

Company: _________________________

Phone: __________ HDCP: __________

GOLF TOURNAMENT FORMYou may select your own foursome, if not you will be assigned to a group.

The first name listed will be considered the TEAM SPOKESPERSON.

GEOPHYSICAL SOCIETY OF HOUSTONJoan Henshaw, Office Manager • 10575 Katy Freeway, Suite 290 • Houston, TX 77024 • Office Hours 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Phone: (713) 463-9477 • Fax (713) 463-9160email: joan@gshtx.org • website - http://www.gshtx.org

GSH Board of Directors = GSH Executive Committee + SEG Section Representatives

PHONE FAX E-MAILPRESIDENT .................................... Steve Danbom ................... 713/937-7530 ................................................ steve.danbom@worldnet.att.net

Corp. Relations ........................ Roy E. Clark, Jr. ................ 281/654-5651 ............ 281/654-5891 ............ roy.e.clark@exxonmobil.comHistorian .................................. Art Ross ............................ 281/360-9331 ................................................ artross@airmail.netHonors & Awards .................... Roy E. Clark, Jr. ................ 281/654-5651 ............ 281/654-5891 ............ roy.e.clark@exxonmobil.comMuseum ................................... Tom Fulton ........................ 281/242-1806 ................................................ etinsl@alltel.netNominating .............................. Steve Danbom ................... 713/937-7530 ................................................ steve.danbom@worldnet.att.netScholarship Liaison ................. Art Ross ............................ 281/360-9331 ................................................ artross@airmail.net

PRES.-ELECT. ................................. Pat Peck ............................ 713/461-7178 ............ 713/461-2788 ............ pat.peck@oildata.comAcademic Liaison .................... Dale Sawyer ...................... 713/348-5106 ............ 713/784-7906 ............ dale@rice.eduAdvisory .................................. Lee Lawyer ....................... 281/531-5347 ................................................ llawyer@prodigy.netEmployment Ref. ..................... Sam LeRoy ....................... 281/556-9766 ............ 281/556-9778 ............ earthview@aol.comFinance .................................... Keith Matthews ................. 281/275-7578 ................................................ kmatthews@fairfield.comOffice ....................................... Dave Agarwal ................... 281/920-4450 ............ 281/920-1576 ............ dave0836@aol.comVolunteers ................................ Jerry Donalson .................. 713/464-6188 ............ 713/464-6440 ............ jdonalson@seismicmicro.com

FIRST VP ......................................... John Parrish ...................... 281/300-2570 ............ 281/859-6362 ............ 1st_Vice_President@gshtx.orgContinuing Education .............. John Parrish ...................... 281/300-2570 ............ 281/859-6362 ............ 1st_Vice_President@gshtx.orgSpeakers ................................... John Parrish ...................... 281/300-2570 ............ 281/859-6362 ............ 1st_Vice_President@gshtx.orgTech Breakfasts ....................... Scott Wallace .................... 713/917-6783 ................................................wallace@dawson3d.comTech Luncheons ....................... Steve Cochran ................... 281/275-7509 ............ 281/275-7660 ............ scochran@usa.netTech Committee ...................... Karl Seibert ....................... 281/578-9712 *111 ....................................... karl@3dgeo.comSIGSData Processing ....................... Ray Abma ......................... 281/366-4604 ................................................ abmar1@bp.com................................................. Karl Seibert ....................... 281/578-9712 *111 ....................................... karl@3dgeo.com

Potential Fields ........................ Dale Bird ........................... 281/463-3816 ............ 281/463-7899 ............ dale@birdgeo.comRock Physics ........................... Keith Katahara .................. 713/759-1770 ............ 713/356-1800 ............ keith@spinexp.com................................................. Tad Smith .......................... 832/351-8980 ................................................ tad_smith@veritasdgs.com

SEC. VP ............................................ George Marion .................. 713/408-0147 ................................................ george@seisborg.comAnnual Meeting ....................... Jim Moulden ..................... 832/636-8665 ................................................ jim_moulden@anadarko.comAwards Banquet ....................... Steve Davidson ................. 281/529-3210 ............ 281/293-0641 ............ steve@kelman.comGolf Tournament ..................... George Lauhoff ................. 281/275-7623 ............ 281/275-7550 ............ glauhoff@fairfield.comSalt Water Tournament ............ Bobby Perez ...................... 281/240-1234 ............ 281/240-4997 ............ r_ perez@seismicventures.comShrimp Peel ............................. Lee Shelton ....................... 832/351-8814 ................................................Lee_Shelton@veritasdgc.comSporting Clays ......................... Alan Foley ........................ 713/526-6680 ................................................ alanfoley@aol.comTennis Tournament .................. Joe Jones ........................... 281/438-5626 ................................................ hjones7318@houston.rr.com

SECRETARY ................................... Paul Schatz ........................ 713/975-7434 ................................................ paul.schatz@int.comDirectory .................................. Laura Self .......................... 713/952-7526 ............ 713/952-6784 ............ eargle4@aol.comGSH Membership .................... Claire Bresnahan ............... 713/880-5910 ................................................ cmbresn@attglobal.netLadies Auxiliary ...................... Luann Cefola .................... 281/759-7338 ................................................ lcefola@earthlink.netOTC Rep. ................................. Alf Klaveness .................... 713/468-5123 ............ 713/468-5123 ............ noneSEG Membership .................... Mike Fenton ...................... 713/215-7452 ................................................mike_fenton@oxy.com

TREASURER ................................... Seth Berman ...................... 281/275-7506 ............ 281/291-0567 ............ seth_quake@yahoo.comEDITOR ........................................... John Sumner ..................... 713/666-7655 ................................................ sumnergeo@earthlink.net

Assistant Editor ....................... Fernanda Araujo ................ 713/431-6126 ................................................ fernanda.v.araujo@exxonmobil.comCompany Contacts .................. Scott Sechrist .................... 281/856-8029 ............ 281/856-7445 ............ acoustic@airmail.netElectronic Pub ......................... Scott Sechrist .................... 281/856-8029 ............ 281/856-7445 ............ acoustic@airmail.netPhotography ............................. John Sumner ..................... 713/666-7655 ................................................ sumnergeo@earthlink.netPublicity ................................... Scott Sechrist .................... 281/856-8029 ............ 281/856-7445 ............ acoustic@airmail.netWeb Site ................................... Dave Agarwal ................... 281/920-4450 ............ 281/920-1576 ............ dave0836@aol.com

PAST PRES. .................................... Roy E. Clark, Jr. ................ 281/654-5651 ............ 281/654-5891 ............ roy.e.clark@exxonmobil.comPRIOR PAST PRES. ........................ Dan Ebrom ........................ 281/366-3011 ............ 281/366-7561 ............ ebromda@bp.comSEG SECTION REPS. ..................... Claire Bresnahan ............... 713/880-5910 ................................................ cmbresn@attglobal.net

................................................. Lee Lawyer ....................... 281/531-5347 ................................................ llawyer@prodigy.net

................................................. Dave Agarwal ................... 281/920-4450 ............ 281/920-1576 ............ dave0836@aol.comALTERNATE SEG REPS ................ Bill Gafford ....................... 281/370-3264 ................................................ geogaf@hal-pc.org

................................................. Art Ross ............................ 281/360-9331 ................................................ artross@airmail.net

................................................. Tom Fulton ........................ 281/242-1806 ................................................ etinsl@alltel.net

................................................. Frank Dumanoir ................ 281/275-5527 ............ 713/393-4801 ............ dumanoir@nutecenergy.com

Editor’s Note

14 Geophysical Society of Houston February 2005 February 2005 Geophysical Society of Houston 3

Auxiliary

AnnouncementsGSH LuncheonFebruary 15, 2005

Rock Physics SIGFebruary 16, 2005

SIPES LuncheonFebruary 17, 2005

Dobrin LectureFebruary 28, 2005

SEG 75th AnniversaryLuncheon

March 11, 2005

The Geophysical Auxiliaryof Houston Looks Forward to Spring!

To insure your informationreaches the GSH society membersin a timely manner it mustappear in the appropriatenewsletter issue. Please note thefollowing deadlines and planyour function’s publicity strategyaccordingly. Items must bereceived on or before the corre-sponding deadline date. Pleasesend any obituary or memorialarticles of recently deceasedmembers to the Editor for inclu-sion in the newsletter. Materialscan be emailed to John Sumnerat sumnergeo@earthlink.net witha copy sent to Fernanda Araujo atfernanda.v.araujo@exxonmobil.com.If you have any questions pleasecall John Sumner at 713/666-7655or Fernanda Araujo at 713/431-6126.

GSH Advertising Rates

To reserve your advertisement spaceor for more information contact

Lilly Hargrave at: 713/463-9477or email: lilly@gshtx.org.

No. ofIssues: 1/8 pg. 1/4 pg. 1/2 pg. full page

1 $125 $200 $400 $7502 $208 $335 $660 $12503 $278 $448 $880 $16704 $348 $560 $1100 $20905 $425 $680 $1360 $25156 $490 $782 $1565 $29357 $560 $895 $1790 $33558 $630 $1008 $2016 $37809 $700 $1120 $2240 $4200

10 $735 $1175 $2350 $4400

Business Cards:$125 for 10 issues

As winter moves on, the Geophysical Auxiliary is looking forward to Spring andhopes you will join us for a series of terrific Spring events.

The Geophysical Auxiliary’s annual Spring Brunch willbe held on Sunday, March 13 at Lakeside Country Club.Members, spouses and guests are invited to enjoy thelovely surroundings, an elegant buffet and be entertainedby a group from the Country Playhouse performing from“Compleat Works...Shakespeare”. You don’t need toknow anything about Shakespeare to enjoy this irrever-ent fast-paced romp through his plays. This is always awonderful opportunity to bring your spouse and friendsand join us in celebrating spring as we visit among theazaleas at the beautiful Lakeside facility. Make your res-ervations now. Please contact Chairperson GeorgeannMassell at 281-353-7894 for more information.

Our Spring Event, scheduled for Wednesday April 20th, will be a trip to Martha’sBloomers in Navasota, Texas. We will be treated to a presentation on plants and herbsfrom this well-known nursery, followed by a luncheon in the Café M Bloomers. Thiswill be a fantastic opportunity to shop and prepare for your spring gardens. Here aresome of the items you will find: water gardens, birder goods, yard art, stones andboulders to accent your landscape, and plants.

The GAH Annual Business Meeting and Luncheon will be held on Thursday, May19th at Carmelo’s Restaurant located at 14795 Memorial Drive. We will enjoy adelicious luncheon, and our guest speaker will be Valerie Koehler of Bluewillow Books.Valerie will provide us with the latest information on popular books for a summer ofreading in the sun.

The Geophysical Auxiliary of Houston invites the wife of any present or past memberof the GSH or SEG, the widows of former members of the GSH and SEG, andwomen members of these organizations to join us and become a member for 2005.Our Membership Chairperson, Kathi Hilterman, wants to hear from you! We arebusy planning events for your enjoyment and yearly dues are only $15.00. We arelooking forward to our upcoming events and would welcome you to join us. Call nowand don’t miss out! Call Kathi at 713-467-2599 or GSH Liaison, Luann Cefola at281-759-7338 for a membership application and information on how to join.

2005 GSH NewsletterDeadlinesIssue ........................ March 2005Deadline........... February 8, 2005

Issue .......................... April 2005Deadline............... March 8, 2005

4 Geophysical Society of Houston February 2005 February 2005 Geophysical Society of Houston 13

President’s Column continued from page 1.

for an almost immediate plateau. Sounds prettyfrightening. I’m almost to the point where itscares me so much that I want to sleep withthe lights on, but I guess that would be counterproductive. So, what should I do? What can Ido? Work more and help find more oil? Saveenergy and type with my monitor turned off?I’m perplexed. I know that we don’t controlthe brokerage house mentality, but personalmentality we do have influence on. I finally got

my aunt off my back by reminding that “BigOil” did not force her to buy her “Big SUV” totote all one of her children around to spotswithin pogo-stick distance. I also did a bit ofgoogling to find out the price per gallon ofsome common liquids and passed the list onto her. Since, then I haven’t gotten any of thosechain mails. Then again, I haven’t gotten myannual calendar at Christmas either. I’ll endmy philippic with some that I shared with her.

Proceed with caution; insensibilities are afragile thing.

1. Bottled Water $ 6.402. Chocolate Syrup $ 13.333. Dandruff Shampoo $ 37.744. Hot Sauce $ 94.465. Vanilla extract $ 127.846. Human blood $ 1500.007. Her favorite perfume $25000.00

SIPES LUNCHEON

Date: Thursday, February 17, 2005Time: Social 11:15 a.m. Lunch 11:45 a.m.Location: Petroleum Club

800 Bell (downtown Houston)Cost: $30 for members and affiliates pre-registered by 12 noon Tuesday before the Luncheon.

(No-shows will be billed.) $35 for non-members, guests, and walk-ups.Reservations: Telephone (713-651-1639), Fax (713-951-9659), Web-site (www.sipes-houston.org),

or e-mail (bkspee@aol.com) to B. K. Starbuck-Buongiorno by 12 noon Tuesday, before the meeting.Title: Gulf of Mexico Shelf Stratigraphic and Structural Interpretation From Spectral ImagingSpeakers: Barbara Radovich, Adam Gersztenkorn, and John Smythe, Fairfield Industries.

See the Technical Luncheon write-up in the January 2005 GSH Newsletterfor the Abstract and Biographies.

“The Place to Go”For GOM Gravity Data and Interpretations

Complete, NewData Coverage

PSDM Support3D Modeling

Fugro Robertson Inc.(Formerly Fugro-LCT)GRAVITY AND MAGNETICSBrian Anderson – Dave SchwartzTel: 713-369-6100 www.fugro-lct.com

February 2005 Geophysical Society of Houston 512 Geophysical Society of Houston February 2005

AnnualMilton B. Dobrin Lecture

in GeophysicsMonday, February 28, 2005

University of Houston Hilton HotelWaldorf Astoria Ballroom

5:30 PM Social Hour (Cash Bar)7:00 PM Lecture

Ruben D. MartinezPGS Marine Geophysical

Some Salient Issues in Seismic Data Processing Prior to ImagingIf you plan to attend this FREE lecture, please contact Tram Nguyen via email, tnguye36@central.uh.edu

Over the last twenty five years,seismic data process ing

technology development has beendominated by work on imagingmethods. We find this evident in thegeophysical literature. This is notunexpected since the principaleconomic engine in the seismic dataprocess ing business is seismicimaging. It also explains why mostof the research and developmentresources in the industry areallocated to imaging developmentprojects.

When I read publications aboutimaging technology, I observe thatmany of the imaging techniquespublished assume that the wavefieldis recorded per fect ly ( i .e. , thesampling requirements are met usingregular recording geometries so theimaging techniques will performoptimally). It is also assumed that allmodes of wavefield propagationexcept primaries have been removedor suff ic ient ly at tenuated.Furthermore, the recording datum isgenerally assumed to be flat over theentire 3D survey area. In general,these assumptions are seldom validin the real world! These publications

appear to imply that the pre-imagingprocessing techniques are problemfree or that those problems are, forthe most part, solved.

Today, fewer resources are dedicatedto research and development of pre-imaging seismic data processingtechniques ( i.e., deconvolution,transmiss ion and absorpt ioncompensat ion, stat ics, noiseattenuation, multiple attenuation,regularization, trace interpolationand veloci ty analys is ) . Ear l ierresearchers developed thesetechniques to solve the pre-imagingprocessing problems of their time.Do these techniques solve the pre-imaging processing problems oftoday? It is well-known that thesuccessful application of these pre-imaging techniques in seismic dataprocessing is essential for the successof any imaging technique. If the pre-imaging processing techniques arenot evolving at the pace of theimaging processing techniques, wecannot expect that the imagingtechniques will perform optimally.

In this lecture, rather than presentingimaging techniques, I address issues

related to the application of pre-imaging seismic data processingtechnology and the role of seismicdata acquisition technology. I discuss,and illustrate, common problemsencountered in seismic dataprocessing prior to imaging and theirrelationship with the field recordinggeometries typically used to acquirethe data. This analysis gives us someinsights to define technical challengesthat may help to motivate futureresearch and development work onthese important process ingtechniques.

Ruben D. Martinez is Vice President- Seismic Processing Technologywith Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS)and has been active in the seismicindustry for twenty eight years. Hiscurrent respons ib i l i ty i s thedi rect ion of PGS’s se ismicprocess ing technology R&D,software commercialization andsupport . He earned a BSc inGeophysics from the Inst i tutoPolitécnico Nacional (México), MScin Geophysics from the ColoradoSchool of Mines and a PhD inGeosciences from the University ofTexas at Dallas.

February 2005 Geophysical Society of Houston 116 Geophysical Society of Houston February 2005

February 2005 Geophysical Society of Houston 710 Geophysical Society of Houston February 2005

8552 Katy Freeway, Suite 140 - Houston, Texas 77024713-468-2333 / Fax 713-468-1918

Joe Smith, Presidentjsmith@petrophysics.com

January 6, 2005GSH Board MeetingClaire M. Bresnahan,Membership Chair

ActiveGeorge L. Clinkscales,

Baker Atlas

Kirk B. Dice,Wadi Petroleum

Peter Hansen,ExxonMobil

Ted Roop,Apache Corporation

J. Haynie Stringer.Schlumberger-Western

GECO

AssociateBarry Fitzsimmons,

Western GECO

Christianne Gell,Landmark Graphics

Douglas P. Hoffman,Isilon Systems

Richard A. Lang,Schlumberger

Members GSHas of January 6, 2005

(Includes today’s new members)

Active 1016Associate 328Comp 21Emeritis 60Honorary 30Life 32Student 10

Total 1497

MembershipCommitteeReport

Technical Luncheon continued from page 1.

dominated by local reflectivity patterns.Anomalous geological features such aschannels and hydrocarbon-filled reservoirscan have anomalous frequency responses.Thus, visualizing the data at discretefrequencies may reveal anomalous ordiagnostic behavior not readily apparenton the broad-band seismic data. Recently,wavelet transform techniques have beenused to reveal spectral characteristics ofindividual composite reflections. A numberof examples will be shown to illustratedifferences in frequency response ofcomposite reflections caused by thinhydrocarbon reservoirs. It is interesting tonote that for thin reservoirs, seismicattenuation is a secondary effect, andfrequency spectra are dominated by thereflectivity spectra. The result is that lowimpedance gas reservoirs often haveanomalously high peak frequencies thatcan be used as a diagnostic hydrocarbonindicator.

According to the Widess model (whichconsists of an isolated thin bed) the peakfrequency of the seismic response is higherthan that of the wavelet; below 1/8th of awavelength the seismic response becomesthe derivative of the wavelet and does notchange shape with changing thickness.Our experience with spectraldecomposition has led to the surprisingconclusion that the Widess model of thinbed response is a very special case that isvery different from most combinations ofreflection coefficients. When the reflectioncoefficients at the top and base of a thinbed are not exactly equal and opposite, amore general behavior is observed wherethe peak frequency decreases as thicknessdecreases below the tuning frequency. Thistells us that the seismic response is moresensitive to thin beds than thoughtpreviously. In fact, we find that encodedin the spectral decomposition of a seismictrace is information that exceeds thebandwidth of the actual seismic signal andallows us to make inferences about thinbeds that are far thinner than classicall imits of seismic resolution. Suchknowledge can be used to remove theseismic wavelet without magnifying noiseand can thus be used to produce highresolution reflectivity sections that are farsuperior to conventional seismic sectionsin resolution and interpretability.

Biography:John P. Castagna is the Sheriff Chair,University of Houston; Director, Institutefor Exploration and DevelopmentGeosciences, University of Oklahoma;and Chairman & CEO, Fusion PetroleumTechnologies Inc. He specializes inexploration geophysics research anddevelopment. He is widely known for hiswork in direct hydrocarbon detection andreservoir characterization.

Dr. Castagna is a graduate of BrooklynCollege, where he earned a bachelor ofscience degree in geology in 1976 and amaster’s degree in high temperaturegeochemistry in 1981. He completed hisdoctoral degree in exploration geophysicsat the University of Texas at Austin in1983.

He joined ARCO’s in 1980. He served thecompany in a number of research,exploration, field-development andmanagement positions through 1995.

In 2000, Dr. Castagna founded FusionGeophysical, a geophysical contractorspecializing in integrated seismic analysis.

His main technical interest is quantitativeseismic analysis in exploration andreservoir characterization.

We had over 267 registered for the DISC on February 13. Paul Weimer, the Distinguished Lecturer, blew in the night before from Colorado with a strong cold front. Just to make him feel at home, the hall in the new Hilton Americas in Houston waskept cold enough that he ended up wearing his jacket at the onset of the day. Paul spoke on the Petroleum Systems of Deep-WaterSettings to a diverse and enthusiastic crowd. Participants patiently waited through the registration process and everyone was seatedand ready for the 8 o’clock start time. For the early arrivals, there was a continental breakfast.

Paul mentioned that Houston had the largest crowd, the best venue, and the best food of any of his lecture locales.

Those who attended said that on a scale of 1 to 10, the DISC was a 12!

The GSH sponsored the event andmay have “made” about $1,000.Any excess earnings will be donatedto the SEG Foundation to supportfuture DISC offerings.

DISC Report

February 2005 Geophysical Society of Houston 98 Geophysical Society of Houston February 2005

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2005Time: 5:30 p.m.Location: Visualization Center

Veritas DGC, Inc.10300 Town Park Dr.Houston, TX 77072

Title: Frequency-Dependent Seismic Response from ReservoirsSpeaker: Gennady Goloshubin, University of Houston

ROCK PHYSICS SIG

Abstract:It is known experimentally that porous media strongly reflect low-frequency seismic energy. The reflectivity is also incident-angle and frequency dependent and contains information about type and mobility of fluid saturation. The relationship be-tween seismic response and fluid saturation in a reservoir depends on many factors such as porosity and permeability of thereservoir rocks, viscosity and compressibility of the fluid, reservoir thickness, and physical properties of the surroundingmedium.

In the Figure below, the oil-saturated domains of both the sandstone reservoir and fractured shale reservoir create the low-frequency (10 Hz), high amplitude effects for the reflected seismic energy. The 10 Hz image reveals good correlation withwell data.

Conventional Seismic Section Low Frequency (10 Hz) Image

Oil Water Oil Water

A recently developed elastic fluid-flow model accounting for the frequency-dependent phenomena at low seismic frequencieswill be discussed. Besides the model, seismic observations from different oil fields will be presented.

Biography:

Gennady Goloshubin received his MS(1972) in geophysics from Tyumen In-dustrial Institute and PhD (1981) &Dr.Sc. (1991) in physics & mathemat-ics from Institute of the Physics of theEarth, Russia. He spent more than 20years working in the Western Siberianoil & gas industry. In 1992 - 1993 he

was a research consultant at NorskHydro Research Centre, Bergen, Nor-way. From 1994 to 2002 he workedas head scientist and deputy director(R&D) for the West-Siberian ResearchInstitute of Geology and Geophysics(ZapSibNIIGG), Tyumen, Russia. In2002 he joined the University of Hous-

ton as a research professor. His re-search interests include seismic survey(reflection and refraction), wave propa-gation in porous fluid-saturated media,imaging, velocity and AVO analysis,reservoir characterization and seismicmonitoring.

Comments on book report, The Discovery ofGlobal Warming

We all should learn about new books that make ourknowledge of geophysics better. The book-review thistime was on The Discovery of Global Warming bySpencer R. Weart and it almost made me a “red-eye”reader. I like the title, because such topic like “Globalwarming” must indeed be a discovery (!!!) since suchbooks use “junk-science” from the politico-scientists.Being a geophysicist for almost 4 decades, we stilldebate over a fundamental issue, “Velocity,” and muchresearch is being done to perfect extracting it, whereasso called “global-warming” dreamers keep on manu-facturing evidence from “raw data” that can hardlybe processed with credibility.

Just to remind my geophysical community that I re-member distinctly when a Presidential-candidate stoodin NY on a winter day denouncing the “Global Warm-ing” when the outside temperature was freezing!!! NewYorkers must have felt warm from laughing aloud.

Have you noticed that the “freeze-line” has gone downas far as South Florida over the last few years? Geor-gia was once a major citrus producer and now can’teven plant anything due to a serious winter each year!

S. BhattacharjeeGeophysicist

Editor’s Note:More web sites explore this fascinating topic. Thanks toKeith Katahara for the following links:

http://www.realclimate.org/http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/http://www.cspo.org/products/articles/

excess.objectivity.htmlhttp://www.cspo.org/ourlibrary/documents/

environ_controv.pdf

Jim Wood writes from Colorado with somecomments and bits of advice:

I just realized that I couldn’t justify all my O&G mem-berships, so I’m dropping most. The GSH is such agood deal that I can’t let it go. My first advice is: Ifyou’re a little older, you might read the Bylaws - there’sa savings of $100 on dues and fees that’s there forthe taking.

My second bit of advice is: Volunteer to help on oneof the Convention committees. The first volunteer jobis the hardest to commit to - the rest usually comealmost too easily - until you’re president of something.Even though you might have to work for Lee Lawyeron the convention, you’ll make friends you’ll have therest of your career. The last time I volunteered to workfor Alf Klaveness on the OTC, I got in free and gotfree parking. You’ll probably find that committee meet-ings fit most schedules better than do most Luncheonand Technical meetings.

I stayed in Houston a little longer than I probablyshould have, since I thought anyone should be able tosell a 300 BCF prospect. I plan to retire my 70-pagereport of maps and displays along with the packageof detail logs while I wait for the next boom.

This brings me to my last advice: Give yourself nomore than two years to remain in the pool of pros-pect promoters/consultants if you know you wouldreally prefer to live in another part of the country.

Jim Wood1390 East 3rd Street

Delta, Colorado 81416jawood04@msn.com

Letters to the Editor

Web Notesby Dave Crane, Webmaster, and Dave Agarwal, Web Site Coordinator

Archived copies of the GSH Newsletterare online. In the navigation area,mouse-over News/Publications and clickon Archived Newsletters. They are athttp://gshtx.org/newsletters/index.aspwith the most recent Newsletter posted

at about the same time that they aremailed out.

The GSH board has approved that weshare our calendar with the HGS (Hous-ton Geological Society).

When entering from the GSH web site:

1.GSH events are the default on theCalendar and List.

2.The GSH/HGS/SPE-GCS Calendarlists all the events presently scheduled.