3-D imaging of seismic data from a physical model of a salt structure

Seismic data from a physical model of the SEG/EAGE salt structure were migrated to test imaging of this complex structure and to benchmark imaging codes. The physical model was constructed at the University of Houston from a scaled-down rendition of the SEG/EAGE salt structure. Two simulated marine surveys were collected from it: one was a conventional towed streamer survey, the other a vertical receiver cable survey. The towed streamer data set is the focus of this study. 2-D prestack depth migrations were done to establish that imaging with a subset of data from a line provides a reliable and adequate image. A 3-D prestack depth migration of one line provides a better image than the 2-D image and improved imaging of some features than to the 2-D images.