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Shallow-water flow (SWF) from overpressured, unconsolidated/uncemented sands is a high-profile hazard in deep-water drilling. Thus, accurate predrill seismic prediction of SWF sands is an important practical problem. Laboratory measurements show high seismic compressional-to-shear velocity ([Formula: see text]) ratios in SWF sands. Thus, [Formula: see text] anomalies produced by elastic seismic inversion can provide a quantitative identification of SWF sands before drilling. Three 3D common-angle-aperture prestack time-migrated data sets from the Garden Banks area of the Gulf of Mexico are inverted simultaneously for [Formula: see text]. Two wells provide constraints. High [Formula: see text] values are observed in a known SWF zone in Shell Deepwater Development's well GB920 #1. In Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corporation's well GB877 #1, [Formula: see text] anomalies match well with independent predrill SWF sand predictions based on geologic information and seismic amplitudes. High [Formula: see text] anomalies (>9) are used to identify potential SWF sands away from the wells. We conclude that [Formula: see text] values are more diagnostic than seismic amplitudes alone for SWF sand detection, and that low S-impedance is the most salient indicator of SWF potential. Raw elastic seismic-amplitude variation with angle data provide unreliable indicators in cases where SWF sands are thin (where interference occurs between reflections from the layer tops and bottoms) or if viscoelasticity is significant.

House made two separate tours of China in April to strengthen the relationship between SEG and its constituents. Their visits marked the significance of SEG members and corporate members in the region. From 12-21 April, Abriel traveled to Beijing and Qingdao where he visited BGP, the Aramco Beijing Research Center (BRC), and the China University of Petroleum (CUP). House represented SEG at the SEG/Sinopec Forum on Foothill Exploration, 22-24 April, in Nanjing. Abriel's main events in Qingdao centered around the CGS/ SEG International Geophysical Conference, which had as its theme "geophysical challenges and prosperous development," and a two-day short course on reservoir geophysics. The short course was offered by Xingyao Yin. Thanks to three outstanding technical cochairs, Yin (CUP), Yanghua Wang (Imperial College London), and Zhijing (Zee) Wang (Chevron), as well as university faculty, the conference attracted more than 500 attendees for more than 400 presentations in eight concurrent oral and poster sessions. Thirty-five students, 30 professionals from BGP, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Daqing, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and five university students, attended the two-day lecture and team problem-solving sessions. The short course was scheduled two days ahead of the conference on the beautiful CUP campus in Qingdao. Abriel kicked off the conference with the CUP president and delivered a keynote speech on "Computer modeling of geoscience data: Its impact to oil and gas development," in which he promoted the research process of SEAM projects and the value of SEAM data. The highlights of Abriel's trip to Beijing and Qingdao were the conference itself and the business meetings with BRC, BGP, CUP, the Chinese Geophysical Society, and the SEG China Advisory Board. On 13 April, he visited the SEG Beijing office, where SEG China staff members were working hard to get ready for the upcoming conference in Qingdao. In the Saudi Aramco Beijing office, he was hosted by Khalid Al-Rufaii (vice president of BRC), Ali Al-Meshari (manager of EXPEC Advanced Research Center, Dhahran), and Mustafa Al-Ali (head of Aramco Geophysical Technology, Dhahran). Aramco hopes to make research breakthroughs helpful to Saudi production and expects to license or patent results. The company is looking for a substantial number of research geophysicists. BRC sees SEG as a vital partner in geophysical content and market connectivity. During the BGP visit, the hosts were BGP President Gou Liang, Vice President Zheng Huasheng, and several SEG members. They made sure to impress on SEG that they are the world's largest land seismic contactor and also engaged in processing and analysis to become competitive as a full-service provider. They have 30,000 geophysical employees. Zheng emphasized that BGP understands the value of certification and supports SEG initiatives Downloaded 10/16/20 to 44.224.250.200.