Azimuthal Seismic Attenuation and Anisotropy in Fractured Media: An Integrated VSP Study

Azimuthal Seismic Attenuation and Anisotropy in Fractured Media: An Integrated VSP Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Azimuthal Seismic Attenuation and Anisotropy in Fractured Media: An Integrated VSP Study Javad Jamali, Abdolrahim Javaherian This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8909567/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Fracture-induced anisotropy and seismic attenuation strongly influence wave propagation in fluid-saturated reservoirs but are challenging to quantify jointly from seismic data. We present an integrated vertical seismic profiling (VSP) framework for estimating azimuthal anisotropy and attenuation in fractured media. A layer-stripping tomographic inversion of offset VSP first arrivals is used to derive azimuthally anisotropic P - and S -wave velocity models, while quality factors ( Q ) are estimated from VSP waveforms in the time–frequency domain. The resulting elastic and attenuation parameters are incorporated into a viscoelastic rock-physics model based on anisotropic Gassmann theory to generate azimuth-dependent synthetic VSP responses. Field data analysis reveals systematic azimuthal variations in both velocities and Q factors, indicating that fractures are the dominant source of anisotropy. Maximum velocities are aligned with the principal fracture orientation, whereas minimum velocities occur in fracture-normal directions. The lowest Q values are observed along fracture-parallel azimuths due to enhanced scattering and anelastic energy loss, while higher Q values correspond to mechanically stiffer directions. These trends are consistently observed across multiple depth intervals and are well reproduced by synthetic modeling. The results demonstrate that joint analysis of azimuthal anisotropy and attenuation from VSP data provides a robust tool for fracture characterization and reservoir development in fractured carbonate systems. Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Physics Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences Fracture-induced anisotropy Seismic attenuation Quality factor (Q) Azimuthal anisotropy Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 16 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 14 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 24 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 19 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 19 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 18 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8909567","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":600742144,"identity":"06df9dbe-9c42-49f4-b497-2e67f66434ec","order_by":0,"name":"Javad Jamali","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Amirkabir University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Javad","middleName":"","lastName":"Jamali","suffix":""},{"id":600742145,"identity":"7bc531a8-0d9f-4013-a490-549a30cb35fd","order_by":1,"name":"Abdolrahim Javaherian","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYGBmYgzQOkDiCJEaeFLYGBIYEILSDADKF4DKBaCClvP2P4uaDingz/7J6Pn3l/MMjzNzC3fcDrsJ4cY+kZZ4p5JO6c3SzNk8BgOOMAY/MM/H5JS5DmbUvgYbiRuwGkhXEDA2MzXocx9j9L/s37L4FH/kbO499ALfaEtcxIPibN25DAY3Ajhw1kSyIRWh4fs+Y5lsBjeCPNzHJOmkTyjMMEtBj2Jzbf5qlJsJe7kfz4xhsbG9v+9vbH+LU0oPIl4NGEE8gTkB8Fo2AUjIJRwMAAAClDQltT8E7NAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Amirkabir University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdolrahim","middleName":"","lastName":"Javaherian","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-18 12:54:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8909567/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8909567/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104401939,"identity":"2abdeabd-99a2-41ec-909d-9b05a8a9aa76","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:13:56","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1138534,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"JamaliJavaherianManuscript19Feb26.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8909567/v1_covered_fffd6e67-65b5-44a6-9f4c-57d09b206039.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Azimuthal Seismic Attenuation and Anisotropy in Fractured Media: An Integrated VSP Study","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Fracture-induced anisotropy, Seismic attenuation, Quality factor (Q), Azimuthal anisotropy","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8909567/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8909567/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFracture-induced anisotropy and seismic attenuation strongly influence wave propagation in fluid-saturated reservoirs but are challenging to quantify jointly from seismic data. We present an integrated vertical seismic profiling (VSP) framework for estimating azimuthal anisotropy and attenuation in fractured media. A layer-stripping tomographic inversion of offset VSP first arrivals is used to derive azimuthally anisotropic \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e- and \u003cem\u003eS\u003c/em\u003e-wave velocity models, while quality factors (\u003cem\u003eQ\u003c/em\u003e) are estimated from VSP waveforms in the time\u0026ndash;frequency domain. The resulting elastic and attenuation parameters are incorporated into a viscoelastic rock-physics model based on anisotropic Gassmann theory to generate azimuth-dependent synthetic VSP responses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eField data analysis reveals systematic azimuthal variations in both velocities and \u003cem\u003eQ\u003c/em\u003e factors, indicating that fractures are the dominant source of anisotropy. Maximum velocities are aligned with the principal fracture orientation, whereas minimum velocities occur in fracture-normal directions. The lowest \u003cem\u003eQ\u003c/em\u003e values are observed along fracture-parallel azimuths due to enhanced scattering and anelastic energy loss, while higher \u003cem\u003eQ\u003c/em\u003e values correspond to mechanically stiffer directions. These trends are consistently observed across multiple depth intervals and are well reproduced by synthetic modeling. The results demonstrate that joint analysis of azimuthal anisotropy and attenuation from VSP data provides a robust tool for fracture characterization and reservoir development in fractured carbonate systems.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Azimuthal Seismic Attenuation and Anisotropy in Fractured Media: An Integrated VSP Study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-05 05:09:58","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8909567/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-04-16T07:47:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-14T13:40:01+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"232056985461448314809591566129193643049","date":"2026-03-30T09:38:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-07T03:06:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"9164895294410188917970908246978527092","date":"2026-03-04T15:38:28+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"248599616788374710737500295534077791191","date":"2026-03-02T11:37:17+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-02T10:44:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-24T05:04:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-02-20T02:35:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-02-20T02:33:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2026-02-18T12:47:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2f513787-d3b0-4ae7-b234-b4c5b8b36dbf","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 5th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"in-revision","subjectAreas":[{"id":63930099,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":63930100,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics"},{"id":63930101,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-12T03:10:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-05 05:09:58","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8909567","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8909567","identity":"rs-8909567","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}